About the SMART Center

Mission

The mission of the SMART Research, Training, and Treatment Center is to develop scholarly research in the field, provide competency-based professional training and consultation to the community, provide training in higher education to support the workforce development of this growing field, provide effective, evidence-based therapeutic interventions, and advance the responsible use of technology in school-based and mental health practice. The mission of the program is to provide easily accessible and affordable support services for tele-behavioral health in the region.

Meet the Team

The SMART Center providers currently include 1 Tennessee licensed clinical social workers (LCSW), 1 master social worker (MSW), 1 licensed school social worker (LSSW), and 5 graduate level interns, who are organized into treatment teams led by a clinical supervisor/ faculty member. All clinical supervisors, Tennessee LCSWs with over 16 years of post-graduate experience, hold faculty appointments in the University of Memphis School of Social Work. Our clinical team expands with the needs of the community. We are always growing our clinical team and program.

Dr. Susan Elswick
Director, SMART Center
selswick@memphis.edu
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In June 2020, Dr. Susan Elswick received funding from the Urban Child Institute and The University of Memphis Institute for Interdisciplinary Memphis Partnerships to Advance Community Transformation (iIMPACT) to develop a tele-behavioral health training and treatment program for the region due to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health service delivery in the region. With this seed funding, Dr. Elswick launched the School Mental Health Access to Resources through Telehealth (SMART).

Dr. Susan Elswick,  SMART Center Director, has over 16 years of clinical mental health experience that includes community mental health, case management, residential programming, ABA-based programming, school-based programming, parent coaching, integrated behavioral health, infant mental health, and home-based services. Her research interests include the use of evidence-based behavioral interventions for addressing client’s needs, the use of expressive art therapies/ experiential therapies in the field of social work practice, and the use of informatics and technology in the field of social work.

Debbie Trimble
SMART Center Coordinator
dtrimble@memphis.edu

For more than 4 years, Debbie has served as an intern at the clinic, gaining extensive experience in patient care and clinic operations. She holds a Master of Social Work (MSW) and is a Licensed Social Worker (LSSW). In addition to her clinical knowledge, she is certified in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Bounce Back, and Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS). Debbie is a certified trainer in Question, Persuade, and Refer (QPR) as well as Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) education. She is currently pursuing certifications in Play Therapy, Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP), Safe Baby Court, and Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), further expanding her clinical skill set. Her combination of training, hands-on experience, and deep familiarity with the clinic’s operations equips her to support both patients and staff with evidence-based interventions, allowing her to continue to spearhead the growth and development of the SMART Center at the Univeristy of Memphis.

Clinical Staff

Melissa Hirschi, PhD, LCSW

Dr. Melissa Hirschi is Assistant Professor of Social Work at the University of Memphis. She received her MSW from Boston University in 2007 and her joint sociology and social work PhD from Boston University in 2017. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and has extensive practice experience working with members of disadvantaged and marginalized communities such as formerly homeless and incarcerated women, individuals living with mental illness, first responders, providing health clinic social work services to individuals and families, and as a clinical caseworker with the Division of Child and Family Services in Utah.

In Loving Memory:

Christy Peterson
SMART Center Coordinator

With a broken heart, we must annouce our beloved clinic coordinator Christy Peterson passed away in January 2025. We miss her deeply as the months continue to pass by. 
For more than 10  years, Christy  served as a Project Coordinator for the University of Memphis where she oversaw training and data programs related to administering national evaluation studies and projects. Those duties involve intervention research, translating basic science, and other forms of data into applied skills and points of intervention. She also filled the role of Associate Director for the Center for the Advancement of Youth Development. In this role she was responsible for creating, organizing, and maintaining datasets, conducting statistical analyses, assisting with development of study designs for evaluation components  of  projects. She is certified in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), Bounce Back, and Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS ).She will now spearhead the growth and development of the SMART Center at the University of Memphis.

Interns

The SMART Center clinical interns are provided training, supervision, and on-going support in the processes of tele-behavioral health best practices and solid clinical training in the most successful evidence-based interventions for children and youth. 

Brittany Clements, MSW 

Bailey Hooper, MSW

Brooke Lillard, MSW

Madison Presley, MSW

Jonathan Schmidt, MSW