Mental Health Counseling and Behavioral Medicine Program Assessment Modifications and Enhancements to Reflect Changes in Accreditation Standards Carryl P. Navalta, Ph.D. Laurie Craigen, Ph.D. Division of Graduate Medical Sciences BUSM

Who do we educate and train? Mental Health Counseling and Behavioral Medicine Program Who do we educate and train?

Mental Health Counseling and Behavioral Medicine Program Commonwealth of Massachusetts licenses several behavioral healthcare professionals Mental health counselor (LMHC) Social worker Marriage and family therapist Rehabilitation counselor Alcohol and drug counselor Applied behavior analyst Psychologist Medicine Psychiatrist Physician assistant Psychiatric nurse

Mental Health Counseling and Behavioral Medicine Program Mental health counselors All 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico license or certify mental health counselors for private practice ~140,000 mental health counselors in the U.S. (U.S. Dept. of Labor, 2016) Mental health counselors are an integral part of the behavioral healthcare workforce

Mental Health Counseling and Behavioral Medicine Program

Mental Health Counseling and Behavioral Medicine Program Clinical mental health counselors offer a full range of services: Assessment and diagnosis Psychotherapy Treatment planning and utilization review Brief and solution-focused therapy Alcoholism and substance abuse treatment Psychoeducational and prevention programs Crisis Management American Mental Health Counselors Association

Mental Health Counseling and Behavioral Medicine Program Accreditation

Mental Health Counseling and Behavioral Medicine Program Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP): national accrediting agency across seven specialties Addiction counseling Career counseling Clinical mental health counseling Clinical rehabilitation counseling College counseling and student affairs Marriage, couple, and family counseling School counseling

Mental Health Counseling and Behavioral Medicine Program CACREP: eight core content areas common across all specialties Professional counseling orientation and ethical practice Social and cultural diversity Human growth and development Career development Counseling and helping relationships Group counseling and group work Assessment and testing Research and program evaluation

Mental Health Counseling and Behavioral Medicine Program CACREP: additional standards specific to each specialty area Foundations Example: neurobiological and medical foundation and etiology of addiction and co-occurring disorders Contextual dimensions Example: cultural factors relevant to clinical mental health counseling Practice Example: strategies for interfacing with integrated behavioral health care professionals

Mental Health Counseling and Behavioral Medicine Program MHCBM Program was accredited in 2014 under the 2009 CACREP Standards 2016 CACREP Standards are now in place MHCBM Program is up for re-accreditation in 2022 Self-study needs to be initiated in early 2020 and completed in 2021

Mental Health Counseling and Behavioral Medicine Program

What did we learn in regard to changes in accreditation standards? Mental Health Counseling and Behavioral Medicine Program What did we learn in regard to changes in accreditation standards?

Mental Health Counseling and Behavioral Medicine Program Differences in number of standards

Mental Health Counseling and Behavioral Medicine Program Differences in number of standards

Mental Health Counseling and Behavioral Medicine Program Additional terminology Key performance indicators (KPIs): student learning outcomes that are connected to the curriculum and chosen by faculty to represent student knowledge and skills related to program objectives Additional student characteristics Professional dispositions: commitments, characteristics, values, beliefs, interpersonal functioning, and behaviors that influence the counselor's professional growth and interactions with clients and colleagues

Mental Health Counseling and Behavioral Medicine Program The mission of the Mental Health Counseling and Behavioral Medicine (MHCBM) Master’s Degree Program at Boston University School of Medicine is to provide exceptional academic and clinical fieldwork experience that emphasizes the core competencies of clinical mental health counseling with complementary training in behavioral medicine and neuroscience. Accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling & Related Educational Programs (CACREP), the MHCBM Program places great value on excellence, diversity, integrity, social justice, advocacy, collegiality, equality of opportunity, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Our Program offers theoretical, experiential, clinical, and research-supported activities related to clinical mental health counseling with adults, adolescents, and children on the medical campus as well as in community settings. We accept and educate a broad range of outstanding students who seek careers as clinical mental health counselors. Graduates of the MHCBM Program generally become independently licensed and are trained to work in settings where traditional mental health interventions can be informed by evidence-based practice, an understanding of neuroscience, and strategies to address physical illness and health promotion.

Mental Health Counseling and Behavioral Medicine Program At the completion of the MHCBM Program, students are able to: Demonstrate the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values that uniquely embody clinical mental health counselors Apply theories and methods derived from the mental health counseling field to the assessment, prevention and treatment of health and mental health conditions Integrate multicultural and diversity competence into their counseling practice Articulate how a behavioral medicine framework and neuroscience evidence can inform mental health counseling interventions Establish that they possess the requisite knowledge to become licensed to practice as mental health counselors within the behavioral healthcare workforce

Assessment of Students Mental Health Counseling and Behavioral Medicine Program Assessment of Students

Mental Health Counseling and Behavioral Medicine Program Program faculty systematically assesses each student’s progress throughout the program by examining student learning in relation to a combination of knowledge and skills Identification of key performance indicators (KPIs) of student learning in each of the eight core areas and in each student’s respective specialty area(s)  minimum 9 KPIs Measurement of student learning conducted via multiple measures and over multiple points in time Review or analysis of data

Mental Health Counseling and Behavioral Medicine Program Program faculty systematically assesses each student’s professional dispositions throughout the program Identification of key professional dispositions Measurement of student professional dispositions over multiple points in time Review or analysis of data Program faculty has a systematic process in place for the use of individual student assessment data in relation to retention, remediation, and dismissal

Evaluation of the Program Mental Health Counseling and Behavioral Medicine Program Evaluation of the Program

Mental Health Counseling and Behavioral Medicine Program Programs have a documented, empirically-based plan for systematically evaluating the program objectives, including student learning Data that will be collected Procedure for how and when data will be collected Method for how data will be reviewed or analyzed Explanation for how data will be used for curriculum and program improvement

Mental Health Counseling and Behavioral Medicine Program Program faculty demonstrate the use of the following to evaluate the program objectives Aggregate student assessment data that address student knowledge, skills, and professional dispositions Demographic and other characteristics of applicants, students, and graduates Data from systematic follow-up studies of graduates, site supervisors, and employers of program graduates

Mental Health Counseling and Behavioral Medicine Program

Mental Health Counseling and Behavioral Medicine Program

Mental Health Counseling and Behavioral Medicine Program “There is no health without mental health.” Dr. David Satcher: 16th Surgeon General of the United States (1998-2002)