Cherokee Nation Behavioral Health

19600 East Ross St Tahlequah, OK 74464

Contact:

Marti Velez Psy.D.

  • (918) 772-4028

  • marti-velez@cherokee.org

Supervision Provided:

  • A minimum of two hours per week of individual supervision

Intern Activities:

  • Individual therapy

  • Group therapy

  • Psychodiagnostic assessment intakes

  • Case management services

  • Psychological testing

  • Treatment plan development

  • Crisis management

  • Consultation

  • Program development

  • Opportunities for pediatric/ behavioral health integration

  • Opportunities for bariatric surgery screenings and dementia screenings

  • Opportunities to participate in Cherokee Nation IRB and other board meetings (i.e., Health Advisory Board)

Funding:

  • $28,700

  • Payment is every other week

Time Intern is Expected to Be On Site:

  • 36 hours

Supervisor profiles below

Cherokee Nation Behavioral Health is a tribal, not-for-profit, outpatient behavioral health clinic located on the 3rd floor of the Cherokee Nation Outpatient Health Center (CNOHC). Cherokee Nation Health Services is the largest tribally-operated health system in the country and offers a variety of services. Cherokee Nation’s newest 469,000-square-foot, four-story outpatient health facility, (CNOHC), is the largest health center operated by the Cherokee Nation and the largest Indian Health Service joint venture health facility in the United States. 

Cherokee Nation Behavioral Health (CNBH) offers a variety of services and programs across the lifespan to Cherokee Nation citizens, as well as citizens of other federally recognized tribes. These include mental health and substance use disorders counseling, community prevention, community outreach, research, and evaluation.  Outpatient services include individual and group therapy, grief and trauma counseling, substance abuse counseling, relapse prevention, medication assisted therapy (suboxone) clinic, parenting skills for disorders of childhood, psychiatry, psychological testing, and crisis intervention. 

Cherokee Nation Adult Behavioral Health provides tribal citizens age 21 and older with individual and group outpatient therapy, as well as psychiatric medication management for mental health and substance/alcohol use disorders. Inpatient referrals can be provided for psychiatric stabilization, residential mental health, substance/alcohol use disorders, and withdrawal management. Patients must complete assessments from one of our locations and qualify for Contract Health Services. In addition to these services, the Cherokee Nation Behavioral Health Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) program utilizes an integrated behavioral health team approach to help treat opioid use disorder. 

Hero Project/Cherokee Nation’s Children’s Behavioral Health’s goal is to support children, youth, families, and communities. They provide counseling and support services for families with children from newborn to 21 years of age who are citizens of a federally recognized tribe. 

Interns also have the opportunity to also obtain experience in integrative services where they will gain training in implementing brief consultation and intervention in various medical clinics. Diagnostic skills and implementation of appropriate recommendations/referrals will be emphasized. Intervention experience will be provided in numerous areas, including, but not limited to adjustment to chronic illness, health-maintenance behaviors, behavior management, emotional problems, school accommodations, toileting problems, and sleep difficulties. Consultation with other agencies, including schools or other health providers, will be provided as needed.

CNBH staff are trained in the following: Trauma Focused-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT); Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT); Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT); Child Parent Psychotherapy (CPP); Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR); Positive Parenting Program (Triple P); Circles of Security (COS); Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS); Motivational Interviewing (MI); Infant Mental Health; Integrated Behavior Health

 To learn more about Cherokee Nation Behavioral Health, go to https://health.cherokee.org/services-and-programs/behavioral-health/

  • Marti Velez Psy.D.

    Marti Velez, PsyD, is a licensed clinical psychologist, employed by the Cherokee Nation since November 2015. Dr. Velez works primarily with children and adolescents. She provides evaluation services to CNOHC patients. Dr. Velez has a Masters in Counseling Psychology from Northeastern State University and a PsyD in Clinical Psychology from Forest Institute of Professional Psychology. Dr. Velez completed her internship and post-doctoral supervision at Rogers Memorial Hospital in Milwaukee, WI. Dr. Velez specializes in treating children and adolescents who have experienced trauma. She published a children’s book titled, Tac the Therapy Dog Explains TF-CBT. Dr. Velez is trained in TF-CBT, DBT, CPP, Triple P, COS, CAMS, MI, and infant mental health. She is a citizen of Cherokee Nation.