Doctor of Behavioral Health

The Nicholas A. Cummings Doctor of Behavioral Health Program,

School of Letters and Sciences, Arizona State University

Endowed with a legacy gift of $3 million from The Nicholas & Dorothy Cummings Foundation, the Doctor of Behavioral Health (DBH degree) was launched in 2009 as the first in the nation. Housed in the Downtown (Phoenix) Campus of the newly established School of Letters and Sciences rather than the Tempe Campus’ College of Letters and Sciences, it is separate and independent of the Psychology Department, and has a unique three-fold mission:

1. To train behavioral care providers (BCPs) to work side by side with primary care physicians (PCPs) as an integrated behavioral/primary care profession, rendering psychotherapy and other behavioral care interventions as a primary care profession inasmuch as psychological issues first present themselves to primary care.
2. Eliminate the two silos of physical health vs. mental health care, resulting in behavioral health’s rightful place as an integral, indispensable part of the mainstream healthcare system.
3. Make psychotherapy the first line intervention in behavioral healthcare, restoring psychopathology and pathophysiology to psychotherapy practice.
4. A possible fourth mission is to eliminate the internecine warfare among psychologists, social workers, counselors, and marriage/family therapists by upgrading to doctoral-level BCPs.

The Program is a four semester sequence post masters degree, operating all year round, thus making it possible to graduate in 18 months with the DBH degree. The student learns not only healthcare lingo, but also how the medical/surgical system operates. The courses include practica in primary care and other medical settings, medical psychology, psycho- pharmacology, healthcare economics and entrepreneurship, use of the “hallway handoff,” and other procedures that are useful and integral to practice in medical/surgical settings. The student is taught psychopathology which is rarely if ever taught now, the difference in engaging and treating neurotic and psychotic conditions as opposed to managing personality disorders (Axis II patients that are intractable and create havoc in the healthcare system). The dissertation is eliminated in favor of a culminating project similar to that required in medical schools. The goal is to train highly skilled practitionerswho are intelligent consumers of science, rather than so-called scientist-practitioners that has resulted in producing mediocre scientists and less than skilled practitioners.

Entrance requirements include:

1. an accredited masters degree in psychology, counseling, social work, or MFT
2. a valid state license in a subdoctoral mental health profession
3. several years of actual practice

The program may be taken in-residence (classroom) or online. Each entry class has been 50+ students, and all are doctoral candidates only.

For information: www.dbh.asu.edu

The program is accredited by the American Behavioral Health Institute and is closely allied with the National Institute of Behavioral Health Quality (NIBHQ).

Leadership:

Ronald O’Donnell, Ph.D. Director
Pedro Choca, Ph.D. Assistant Director
Colleen Clemency, Ph.D.  Associate Professor
Janet L. Cummings, Psy.D. Adjunct Associate Professor
Nicholas Cummings, Ph.D., Sc.D. Distinguished Professor