​​​​​​​​​​Behavioral Health Services for Youth of All Ages

The Boys Town Behavioral Health Clinic offers outpatient services for families with children from ages 2 to 22 who are experiencing social/emotional, academic, or behavior concerns. Learn more about our clinic and our staff below.

To make an appointment please call 308-381-8851 or for more information, email us at gi-bhc@boystown.org.

• About Our Clinic

  We have the training, experience and expertise necessary to provide your family with the support and guidance that your child or adolescent needs to help them succeed.

  If you are a physician, educator, or parent who is concerned about a child or adolescent's current functioning, turn to the Boys Town Central NE Behavioral Health Clinic in Grand Island.​ The Clinic offers a wide range of outpatient services for children of all ages who are experiencing behavioral, emotional, social, or academic concerns.

  • Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
  • Autism Spectrum Disorder
  • Oppositional and Conduct Problems
  • School-Based Behavioral and Academic Problems
  • Anxiety/Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Worry
  • Depression
  • Verbal/Physical Aggression and Anger Management
  • Bedtime Problems and Sleep Disorders
  • Following Instructions/Accepting Decisions
  • Peer and Sibling Relationships
  • Phobias
  • Enuresis (Wetting the bed/pants)
  • Encopresis (Soiling underpants)
  • Habits (hair pulling, fingernail biting, and thumb sucking)
  • Feeding Problems and Eating Disorders
  • Difficulties with adjustment (Divorce, relocation, significant changes in the family)
    
  • Trauma
    

   

• Our Professional Staff

  ​​​​​​​​​​​​Our staff actively works to coordinate care with your family, primary care physician, school teachers and others to provide a comprehensive, inclusive approach that ensures long-term success.

  Carley D. Starling, Psy.D., Clinic Director
  

  

  Starling, PsyD has been working with children, adolescents, and adults since 2006, providing behavioral therapy, developing behavioral plans, and conducting diagnostic assessments. She received her BA in Psychology from the University of Colorado – Colorado Springs in 2009, her MA in Psychology in 2015, and her doctorate in Clinical Psychology, with a concentration in Neuropsychology, in 2017.
  

   ​​
  

  Mackenzie Boon, Ph.D., LP, Supervising Psychologist​
  

  

  Mackenzie Boon, Ph.D., began providing outpatient behavioral health services and conducting diagnostic assessments at the Boys Town Behavioral ​Health Clinic in Grand Island, NE in 2021. She received her B.A. in Psychology from the University of Nebraska at Kearney in 2012, her M.Ed. in School Psychology from the University of Utah in 2015, and her Ph.D. in School Psychology from the University of Utah in 2017. Dr. Boon completed her pre-doctoral internship and post-doctoral fellowship in the Pediatric Developmental Disabilities Clinic at the John Hopkins University School of Medicine/Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, MD, before returning to central Nebraska.
  

   
  

  Heather Calkins, Ph. D., LP, Licensed Psychologist​​
  

  

  Heather Calkins, Ph.D., began providing outpatient behavioral health services and conducting diagnostic assessments at the Boys Town Behavioral Health Clinic in Grand Island, NE in 2020. She received her BA in Psychology from Illinois Wesleyan University in 2016, her MS in Psychology from Illinois State University in 2019, and her doctorate in School Psychology from Illinois State University in 2021.​
  

  Dr. Calkins completed her pre-doctoral internship and post-doctoral fellowship at the Boys Town Behavioral Health Clinic in Grand Island, NE, and happily chose to remain at the clinic as a psychologist.​
  

   ​
  

  Carrie Woody, RBT, Registered Behavior Technician

  
  

• Insurance Accepted

  We currently accept the following insurance:

  • Aetna
  • Beacon
  • Beacon Health Options
  • Blue Cross Blue Shield
  • Cigna
  • Coventry HealthCare National-First Health
  • Health Alliance
  • Midlands Choice
  • MHNet Behavioral Health
  • Nebraska Medicaid
  • Nebraska Total Care
  • PHCS – Multiplan
  • QualChoice
  • Tricare
  • UBH
  • United HealthCare Community Plan Nebraska
  • Wellcare of Nebraska

  Please call for our affordable private pay rates.

• Testimonials

  ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​We pride ​​ourselves in providing unmatched care to children and families in need of outpatient services, but ​nothing means more to us than hearing how ​we helped a family​​ handle a ​difficult time.

  "My son is 8 years old. He was diagnosed at 5 years old by the same woman we see today. In three years his diagnosis has evolved and we've slowly cracked the cover and are beginning to understand a person that I've wanted nothing more than to understand for his entire life. My son was the happiest kid when he was allowed to play and be himself all day long, but when school started and expectations of normalcy mounted he quickly became an aggressive, difficult-to-control shell of his former self. Slowly we withdrew from our "normal" life because the slightest inconvenience would set him off and we'd have to leave anyway - so why bother going? I caused both of my children immeasurable misery by not understanding. Our school district didn't understand - they told me throughout dozens of meetings he was a just difficult kid, he needed time to adjust. No amount of working at home or school was making a difference. He was withdrawing, I could see it and I was losing hope as quickly as he was. I reached out to services recommended by friends in the community - it took months to get into services but when we did - we landed a proverbial unicorn. I can't imagine what our lives would be like without the services we receive from Boys Town Behavioral Health and Dr. Carley Starling. We live 45 minutes from the clinic - we've sometimes had as many as two appointments a week to manage my sons' mental health. We make the drive to receive the quality care that is provided. I'm sure that you can all see the glaring issues with today's mental health sparsity. The disregulation of insurances and their provision of care (specifically ABA care to kids who need it), the availability of day programs, the excessive wait list for programs that ARC of Nebraska is fighting for. I don't expect to wake up one day to a litany of laws that make everything better - but I'd like to think that a lawmaker somewhere is willing to match the effort that my son puts in to make it through a simple day of going to school. I'd like to think that you'd put in the same level of effort that I put in working my full-time job, part-time job, as well as the hours I put in traveling to receive crucial mental health services and the time I spend reinforcing them for the benefit of my son and those he comes in contact with. Given the strain the last year and Covid-19 has placed on the nation it's safe to say that without more readily available mental health services we may find ourselves spiraling into a depression that no amount of bailouts can fix. "
  - Carrie Lurz

   

Locations

Kid T.I.P.S - From the Experts at Boys Town

​

Download the Booklet​

A publication for parents on the emotional, social and behavioral development of children.

Boys Town has been caring for children and supporting families for more than 100 years, so we understand the needs of parents and the best strategies for meeting the challenges they face, like teaching children how to consistently follow instructions, work hard in school, get along with others, and make good decisions. We pride ourselves on not only doing research on parenting, but also putting that research into action. You can be confident that our strategies give parents real-world solutions that work.