What the fellowship is
Aura Integra Behavioral Health, PLLC is a new psychiatric and addiction care practice in Worcester, Massachusetts. The Community Fellowship is a short program that invites a small group of people who care about behavioral health to work alongside the practice while it grows. Fellows help with outreach, content, operations, and other work that a new practice needs to do well, and in return they get real experience, honest feedback, mentorship, and a portfolio piece they can point to afterward.
Cohorts are small on purpose. Up to four fellows at a time, so nobody is a spare set of hands and every fellow gets meaningful time and attention.
Looking for a non-clinical way to help? The Community Ambassador Program is project-scoped community engagement for people who want to contribute without a clinical role. Translating materials, staffing a booth, sharing accurate information in your own community.
The four tracks
Pick the one that fits. Fellows work primarily inside one track, but there is room to help across tracks when something interesting comes up.
- Community outreach. Help the practice show up where people already are. Contact churches, community centers, recovery programs, employers, and cultural organizations. Introduce Aura Integra, explain what the practice does, and build a warm list of community partners.
- Content and health education. Draft short, plain-language explainers about mental health and addiction care. Help build a small library of posts, reels, and printable one-pagers that meet Worcester where it is, including in Spanish, Portuguese, and Haitian Creole where possible.
- Practice operations and light research. Help build the quiet infrastructure a good practice runs on. Simple workflows, checklists, resource lists, and community-need research that shapes which services show up in which neighborhoods.
- Clinical shadowing. Available when the caseload allows, and only for fellows in appropriate clinical training. This is observation, not a placement, and does not count toward academic practicum hours or licensure hours of any kind.
What you get out of it
- Portfolio work. Real deliverables you can show. Not busywork, and not something invented for a fellowship.
- Mentorship. Weekly check ins with Augustine Mensah, MSN, BSPH, APRN, PMHNP-BC, on how the work is going and what you want to learn next.
- Feedback that is useful. On writing, outreach, workflow design, and how the behavioral health system actually works in Massachusetts.
- Resume and reference support. A resume review at the end of the term and a real reference letter when you have earned one.
- Certificate of Completion. Issued at the end of the term to fellows who complete the program in good standing.
- Practice apparel and gear at cost. Branded fellowship merch is available to fellows at cost, with no markup. Wear the work you helped build.
About the unpaid part, plainly
This fellowship is unpaid. We would rather say that up front than dress it up as something it is not. What we can offer is a small, thoughtful program with genuine mentorship, real professional development, and a portfolio piece that stands on its own.
As Aura Integra grows and the caseload stabilizes, paid opportunities will open. Fellows will be first in line to hear about them. That is a real possibility, not a guarantee, and we would rather say so plainly than promise something the practice cannot yet deliver.
What we ask of fellows
- About five to ten hours a week for twelve to sixteen weeks, on your own schedule around class or work.
- One thirty minute check in each week by video, plus a group cohort call every other week.
- HIPAA training. A short online HIPAA course before starting, and a signed confidentiality agreement. We provide both.
- A signed Fellowship Agreement. Plain language, describes the scope, that this is educational and not employment, and that any intellectual property created for the practice belongs to the practice.
- Honest feedback. Tell us when something is not working. That is how the program gets better.
Who this tends to fit
None of this is a requirement. It is an honest picture of who tends to do well here.
- Undergraduate and graduate students in social work, nursing, public health, psychology, communications, or a related field.
- Career changers exploring behavioral health, and recent graduates looking for a first real project.
- Community members with lived experience who want to help shape how mental health and addiction care is offered in Worcester.
- Bilingual applicants especially welcome. Spanish, Portuguese, and Haitian Creole speakers meet Worcester where a lot of the community already is.
- Massachusetts residents are preferred so we can meet in person occasionally, though most of the work is remote and the right applicant elsewhere in the state will fit.
What this fellowship is not
- Not an academic practicum or internship. It does not count toward LCSW, LICSW, or LMHC supervision hours, and it does not count toward psychiatric nurse practitioner clinical hours.
- Not employment. It creates no employer relationship, offers no wages, and provides no benefits.
- Not a substitute for a required clinical placement. If your program requires one, please arrange it through your school.
How to apply
- Read this page and decide. If a track speaks to you and the honest picture of the fellowship still fits, keep going.
- Fill out the short application. It takes about ten minutes and asks who you are, which track interests you, why you want to be here, and when you can start.
- Short conversation. If it looks like a fit, we schedule a thirty minute video call to talk it over both ways.
- Onboarding. Fellowship Agreement, HIPAA training, and a warm welcome into the cohort.
The application opens in a new tab through Google Forms.
Common questions
Is this paid?
No. It is unpaid. Fellows do get real mentorship, real deliverables, professional development, and practice apparel at cost. Paid opportunities may open as the practice grows, and fellows will hear about them first.
Do I have to be in Worcester?
No. Most of the work is remote and you can be anywhere in Massachusetts. Occasional in person meetings happen in Worcester when that is useful, and they are optional for fellows who are farther away.
Do fellowship hours count toward my LCSW, LICSW, or LMHC supervision hours?
No. This is a community fellowship, not a licensed clinical placement, and no fellowship hours count toward supervision hours for any licensure track. If your program requires a supervised placement, please arrange that through your school.
Do fellowship hours count toward psychiatric nurse practitioner clinical hours?
No. Clinical shadowing when available is observation only, and none of it counts toward academic clinical hours.
Can I do more than one track?
You are placed primarily in one track, but you can help across tracks when a fellow in another track needs a hand and the timing works. That flexibility is one of the more interesting parts of a small cohort.
What happens if I need to step back midway?
Tell us as soon as you know. Fellows who need to leave the program early can still receive a partial reference and a written summary of what they contributed. This work has to fit around real life.
When do cohorts start?
Cohorts are rolling. When enough strong applications come in for a track, that track opens. Filling out the application at any time is fine.
Questions before you apply
Write to info@auraintegra.com with the subject line Community Fellowship question. Please do not send patient information or clinical detail about anyone by email.
If you are a patient or a family member looking for care, this is not the right page. Please reach out here instead. If you are in crisis right now, call or text 988, or call 911. More crisis resources.