Rachel Tolliver
Alyson De Jesus
Christopher Davila
The growing need for behavioral health solutions for pediatric patients and their families has inspired LifeSpring Community Health to expand and add behavioral health to its services. The nonprofit pediatric clinic recently announced the appointments of Rachel Tolliver, DNP, APRN, PMHNP, CCM, Alyson De Jesus, MFT-I and Christopher Davila to its Behavioral Health Team.
Ms. Tolliver serves as LifeSpring’s Behavioral Health director. She is responsible for establishing and managing the newly developed behavioral health program, pursuing and managing behavioral health grants, and developing community based workshops and programs. Prior to joining LifeSpring Community Health, Ms. Tolliver served as a licensed, board certified, psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner at the UT-Chattanooga Counseling Center. She is a graduate of Southern Adventist University in Collegedale, earning a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree with a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner emphasis.
Ms. De Jesus joins LifeSpring Community Health as a bilingual, Marriage and Family Therapy intern. Prior to joining LifeSpring, Ms. De Jesus worked at Integrate Christian Counseling, a private practice counseling center in Chattanooga, as well as the Marriage and Family Clinic at Lee University. She earned both a B.S. in Psychology and M.S. in Marriage and Family Therapy from Lee University. Ms. De Jesus is certified in both TBRI (trust based relational intervention) and TFCBT (trauma focused cognitive behavioral therapy). She uses her experience as a second generation Latina and training in systems theory in order to inform culturally sensitive treatment that is focused on the needs of her patients.
Christopher Davila joins LifeSpring’s Behavioral Health team as a Community Health Worker. In this role, he will engage with patients’ families, the community, and LifeSpring’s partners around behavioral health education, advocacy, and evaluation. A graduate of Covenant College, Mr. Davila has lived in several countries throughout Latin America and has worked in Volunteer Behavioral Healthcare System. He has certifications in Youth Mental Health Aid and Motivational Interviewing.
“We are so incredibly excited to offer LifeSpring Behavioral Health Services for our patients and their families,” Jill Fikkert, co-founder of LifeSpring Community Health. “We are addressing the growing need for culturally competent, affordable behavioral health counseling. Anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation have increased in youth and added enormous burdens on already stressed parents and households. Our approach in addressing these needs is twofold - direct services which will provide counseling to patients and their families and community based activities which will develop behavioral health awareness, education and explore innovative ways to improve the mental health of youth in our community."
To learn more about LifeSpring Community Health and the healthcare services the pediatric clinic offers, visit lifespringcommunityhealth.org or call 624-4846.