In one of her first chances to speak to a Tulsa audience, the state’s top mental health official opened up about her new job, her thoughts on leadership, and her own family experiences with mental health.
Allie Friesen, a Tulsa native who took over in January as commissioner of the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, took part Wednesday in a panel discussion on women in leadership. It was hosted by GRAND Mental Health as part of a series of Women’s History Month-related events.
“I’m on a steep learning curve right now. I’m one month in,” Friesen said. “But I think that’s part of being a leader — acknowledging what you don’t know and learning from the experts around you.”
Joining Friesen on the panel were Tulsa Public Schools Superintendent Ebony Johnson; Susan Savage, former Tulsa mayor and CEO of Morton Comprehensive Health Services; Sarah Grounds, CEO of the City Lights Foundation of Oklahoma; Tulsa County Commissioner Karen Keith; and Kimberly Hill-Crowell, chief clinical officer of GRAND Mental Health.
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The event was titled “Women Who Lead: Trailblazers For Healing Wholeness In Community.”
Friesen, who moved to Edmond from Tulsa as a child, said the subject of mental health is personal to her.
“Everybody probably in this room has a personal connection to a mental health challenge or substance use disorder,” she said. “My biological father has been an alcoholic for decades and still is an alcoholic and has bipolar disorder.”
Friesen said her father’s struggles have had a profound impact on her, as well as on her sister, her husband, and now, her 3-year-old daughter.
“We had to make some really challenging decisions around boundaries that had to be laid,” she said. “We all carry that experience with us, and it certainly filters every interaction I have.”
“It’s something I continue to be mindful of as I try to lead with empathy and compassion and truly connect and have relationships with those around me.”
A licensed mental health professional since 2014, Friesen, a graduate of Texas Christian University, was previously director of clinical programs in behavioral health at INTEGRIS.
Responding to a question about what led her to want to go into leadership, she said: “Leadership, in my opinion, is about moving things out of the way and getting the right people together to collaboratively come to solutions and better the communities around us.
“I went to school to be a clinician and to work with patients, and that is where my heart will always reside,” she said. “But I’m someone that doesn’t tolerate the status quo. I always ask why — why are we doing it this way? Can we think about it maybe a different way? … Finally I just said, ‘Well, OK. If I have to give up the clinician hat to put on the leader hat and help solve these problems, then let’s do that.’”
Asked about how she will promote diversity and inclusion in her department, Friesen said there’s been too much “politicization” around the topic. She said her goal as commissioner is to focus on the data and on addressing the disparities and gaps in mental health care in Oklahoma wherever they exist.
“It does not matter what your background is, what your socioeconomic status or religious affiliation are, etc. You’re a human being. You deserve the care,” Friesen said.
At the Department of Mental Health, “we’re going to focus on the data and let that drive our decision-making process,” she added. “Every Oklahoman should have access to the high quality mental health and substance abuse services that they require. And it’s our job to make sure that happens.”
Friesen was named to the office in January by Gov. Kevin Stitt, following the departure of Carrie Slatton-Hodges, who took a position with a national mental health association.