** The DBH program is now accepting applications for the fall 2010 semester. In order to begin the application process, please follow this link “How to Apply to the DBH program.” If you have questions about the application process, please contact the DBH administrative assistant, Candace Kistner, at (602) 496-1354 or candace.kistner@asu.edu. If you would like to speak with the DBH faculty head about the program, please e-mail Ron O’Donnell at Ronald.ODonnell@asu.edu or contact Candace if you would like to schedule a teleconference. The DBH program will not be enrolling students in the spring 2010 semester. **

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The School of Letters and Sciences is pleased to announce the Doctor of Behavioral Health (DBH) degree program, funded by Nicholas A. Cummings, a pioneer in promoting the practice of brief, focused therapy and integrated behavioral care. The DBH is offered by the School of Letters and Sciences on the Downtown Phoenix campus.

There is emerging consensus that health-care reform proposals will lead to evidence-based, brief therapy interventions in primary care settings. Many primary care patients have untreated behavioral conditions that lead to increased medical costs as patients visit their PCP, are referred to specialists, and have extensive lab work when effective brief behavioral treatment can resolve many of these complaints. Yet traditional training for behavioral clinicians does not prepare them with the clinical, medical, and business skills necessary to take advantage of this emerging opportunity in the health-care marketplace.

In response to this unmet educational agenda, the Cummings Foundation has partnered with Arizona State University to launch the DBH. The program is an upgrade for master’s-level clinicians and reflects a paradigm shift from traditional education to a curriculum based on an interrelated knowledge foundation of:

• Health-care financing, economics, and policy in order to understand and respond to impending health-care reforms and the needs of payers in the marketplace.
• Business entrepreneurship skills such writing a business plan, marketing, return on investment, and business law.
• Skills as a Behavioral Care Provider, the equivalent to the PCP, understanding the medical illnesses encountered in primary care, consultation in a medical team, and working in the fast-paced, action-oriented ecology of primary care.
• Evidence-based brief therapy skills, including the revised and updated Biodyne clinical training that has repeatedly demonstrated the medical cost offset so highly valued by government, health plans, and employers interested in the future of health-care delivery.

The DBH Program . . .

• Is cohort based . . . students move in unison to graduation.
• Is accelerated . . . master’s-level students will complete the DBH in 18 months.
• May also be taken part time and is available as a web-based distance learning program.
• Replaces the Dissertation with a Culminating Project that demonstrates the students’ integration of business, health care, and clinical skills.
• Replaces the internship with hands-on practicum experience in integrated primary care settings.
• Relies heavily on part-time faculty who are experts in their respective areas and making their living (i.e., actually doing) what they are teaching.

For more information on the Arizona State University DBH, contact:
Ronald R. O’Donnell, Ph.D., Director, DBH Program, Arizona State University at (602) 496-1352, Ronald.ODonnell@asu.edu or dbh@asu.edu