This letter is to express my interest in serving as co-chair for the Primary Care Behavioral Health Special Interest Group (PCBH-SIG). In my current position, I am an Assistant Professor/Clinical with UT Health San Antonio. My responsibilities are to provide direct clinical care and teaching to a variety of learners including pre-doctoral psychology externs, interns, and family medicine residents. The clinic in which I currently practice adheres to the Primary Care Behavioral Health model of integration. My interest in this position stems from my enthusiasm for improving healthcare delivery for all, especially those who have historically been marginalized as well as my passion for providing training and education to healthcare professionals and learners aspiring to join the integrated care movement. As co-chair, I hope to continue collaborating with all PCBH-SIG and SLP members, creating learning opportunities, disseminating up to date research, and growing our mentoring relationships. If elected, I hope to be able to help the PBCH-SIG grow interest and enthusiasm among existing and new CFHA members. I believe my previous training in integrated care, experience in providing education and training to various health professionals, as well as my current leadership and service activities, including my most recent role as the early career representative for the PCBH-SIG, have all prepared me to take on this role as co-chair. I look forward to making a valuable contribution as co-chair and welcome the opportunity to apply my skillset, knowledge, and passion to further the goals of the PCBH-SIG and the mission of CFHA.

Dr. David Johnson is an Assistant Professor in the Psychiatry and Behavioral Science Department of the School of Medicine at Mercer University. Dr. Johnson specializes in systemic behavioral healthcare. His research incorporates mobile technology to improve health disparities for patients at integrated care clinics. He is a member of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) and an AAMFT approved clinical supervisor for behavioral health providers at Mercer University.

Thank you for your consideration.

My name is Kristin Erickson and I would be honored to serve CFHA’s PCBH SIG as your early-career professional representative. I am a licensed clinical social worker serving as a Behavioral Health Consultant (BHC) at a Federally Qualified Health Center with Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, Oregon. I have been in the human services field for 12 years and have worked in a number of settings. I have recently found my professional home in the world of integrated behavioral health. I first took on a BHC role in March 2021 and have been continuously energized and inspired by the profound change that can happen when a multidisciplinary team works together to support patients’ whole health.

As a PCBH SIG leadership member, I hope to build on current SIG efforts including supporting the SLP taskforce, identifying best practices in assessment and outcome measurement, nurturing a mentorship culture and creating space for community conversations to promote the advancement and growth of the PCBH model.

I would like to partner with SIG membership and the wider CFHA family to cultivate cross-discipline involvement in the SIG and CFHA as a whole. The future success of the model does not rest on behavioral health clinicians alone. It’s time to bring our physician, nurse, medical assistant, pharmacist and non-clinical colleagues into the CFHA fold.

We know that behavioral health integration is only going to continue to build momentum as our healthcare system faces unprecedented challenges. Our communities and institutions are primed for innovative and evidenced based models to support both patients and professionals alike. To respond to this need, I hope to identify and implement innovative methods to get students and professionals of all ages excited about and trained in the PCBH model of care so that we can be well equipped to answer to the urgent needs of the moment.

I am writing to nominate myself for consideration for the Early Career Representative on CFHA’s PCBH SIG Leadership team. I am coming up on my 2-year anniversary as a licensed psychologist working in a PCBH setting. My work is primarily focused on adults with Medicare. As a member of my team, I have led projects such as creating and developing a metrics outcome dashboard to monitor the outcomes and work of our team’s BHC’s. I also developed and expanded a monthly admissions review where our BHC’s meet to discuss cases for patients who have recently been admitted for inpatient psychiatric care. These leadership opportunities have been a joy and have fueled my passion to continue to lean in to support others who are passionate about working within the PCBH model. My hope for the role on the leadership team would be as someone who could connect with other early career professionals to ensure their voices are heard, especially members who have historically been left out of the conversation. I work hard to practice cultural humility as a way to promote equity among my peers who identify as members of racial, ethnic, sexual, class, or other minority. I also recognize I have a great deal to learn, and I hope to approach the opportunity with a servant leader mentality to benefit the rest of the leadership team, the PCBH SIG, and CFHA as a whole. This past conference in Boise deeply rejuvenated me, and I’m eager to forge ahead to make healthcare better for all.

Thank you very much for considering my nomination.

My name is Rosemary Hale and I am a clinical psychologist/BHC applying to be the early career professional representative for the PCBH sig. I served as a student rep for the PCBH sig in 2021, and I have since finished my doctorate and am now building a PCBH program for Riverview Health in Indiana. I loved serving with the sig and have stayed an active member since leaving the leadership team. This past year I have been excited about many of the projects the PCBH sig is pushing forward (community conversations, webinars, mentorship connections, outcomes measurement survey, and more!). I am inspired by this team’s passion for PCBH and would be grateful for the opportunity to help guide future efforts to champion equitable and compassionate care. I would love to see the sig highlighting different voices and perspectives on PCBH and offering support for members who are building new programs or are the only BHC/one of few in their system. I also think it is important to continuing building relationships among PCBH enthusiasts across disciplines, education levels, and geographic locations. I would like to see the sig sharing wins, vulnerabilities, challenges, and resources to facilitate a sense of community and shared mission. Our biggest strength is each other.

My name is Bridget Murphy, and I am interested in being the Primary Care Behavioral Health (PCBH) SIG student representative. I’m a learner currently working on my pre-doctoral internship at UTHealth San Antonio. My journey in integrated primary care began in Detroit, MI as a therapist doing pediatric co-located care. Our team was able to provide mental and behavioral health services for a population with high levels of need and low levels of access. Now in a fully integrated primary care clinic, I have been able to expand my skills and learn more about providing accessible, population-based behavioral health. For my career, I hope to work in academic medicine, practicing, teaching, training, and doing research in PCBH. During graduate school, I have served on several committees that have prepared me to take on the student representative role. As the Vice President of Events and Service on the Clinical Psychology Graduate Student Organization, I planned service events for students to use their skills to help the Detroit community. On the psychology department’s Inclusion Diversity Equity and Antiracism Committee, my project as the graduate student chair was to recruit and retain students to serve on various subcommittees. As the student representative for the PCBH SIG, I would hope to learn more about PCBH as well as grow the community of learners involved with the SIG over the course of my term. Through making connections with people coming into the field, I believe we can strengthen the PCBH network, creating a stronger community to provide the best care for patients across the country.

Nominated by Michael Bruner 

Ciara Incorvati, M.A., is currently a 4^th-year doctoral student in Xavier University’s PsyD program, and a practicum student under my supervision at HealthSource of Ohio. At HSO, Ciara has worked and trained as a behavioral health consultant under the primary care behavioral health model since June of 2021. Although she came to me with a plan to pursue a career in sports psychology, she has become passionate about PCBH and intends to work in primary care. Although she is a natural-born BHC on all counts, it is her astounding capacity for acceptance and compassion that I most value in her. In fact, it was the plight of so many of our patients – especially their difficulties in accessing quality behavioral healthcare – that cemented her decision to remain in primary care. She has a relentless dedication to serving the underserved and marginalized. I believe that Ciara would make a fantastic student representative for CFHA’s PCBH special interest group. I have no doubt that she would bring the same contagious energy to this work that she does in her clinical and training activities at HealthSource. Thank you for considering her for this position.