global mental health phd programs

Mental Health, PhD

Bloomberg school of public health, phd program description.

The PhD program is designed to provide key knowledge and skill-based competencies in the field of public mental health. To gain the knowledge and skills, all PhD students will be expected to complete required coursework, including courses that meet the CEPH competency requirements and research ethics; successfully pass the departmental comprehensive exam; select and meet regularly with a Thesis Advisory Committee (TAC) as part of advancing to doctoral candidacy; present a public seminar on their dissertation proposal; successfully pass the departmental and school-wide Preliminary Oral Exams; complete a doctoral thesis followed by a formal school-wide Final Oral Defense; participate as a Teaching Assistant (TA); attend Grand Rounds in the Department of Psychiatry; and provide a formal public seminar on their own research.  Each of these components is described in more detail below. The Introduction to Online Learning course is taken before the start of the first term.

Department Organization

The PhD Program Director, Dr. Rashelle Musci ( [email protected] ), works with the Vice-Chair for Education, Dr. Judy Bass ( [email protected] ), to support new doctoral students, together with their advisers, to formulate their academic plans; oversee their completion of ethics training; assist with connections to faculty who may serve as advisers or sources for data or special guidance; provide guidance to students in their roles as teaching assistants; and act as a general resource for all departmental doctoral students. The Vice-Chair also leads the Department Committee on Academic Standards and sits on the School Wide Academic Standards Committee. Students can contact Drs. Musci or Bass directly if they have questions or concerns.

Within the department structure, there are several standing and ad-hoc committees that oversee faculty and student research, practice and education. For specific questions on committee mandate and make-up, please contact Dr. Bass or the Academic Program Administrator, Patty Scott, [email protected] .

Academic Training Programs

The Department of Mental Health houses multiple NIH-funded doctoral and postdoctoral institutional training programs:

Psychiatric Epidemiology Training (PET) Program

This interdisciplinary doctoral and postdoctoral program is affiliated with the Department of Epidemiology and with the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the School of Medicine. The Program is co-directed by Dr. Peter Zandi ( [email protected] ) and Dr. Heather Volk ( [email protected] ). The goal of the program is to increase the epidemiologic expertise of psychiatrists and other mental health professionals and to increase the number of epidemiologists with the interest and capacity to study psychiatric disorders. Graduates are expected to undertake careers in research on the etiology, classification, distribution, course, and outcome of mental disorders and maladaptive behaviors. The Program is funded with a training grant from the National Institute of Mental Health.

Pre-doctoral trainees are required to take the four-term series in Epidemiologic Methods (340.751-340.754), as well as the four-term series in Biostatistics (140.621-624). In addition to the other departmental requirements for the doctoral degree, pre-doctoral trainees must also take four advanced courses in one of the domains of expertise they have selected to pursue: Genetic and Environmental Etiology of Mental Disorders, Mental Health Services and Outcomes, Mental Health and Aging, and Global Mental Health. Pre-doctoral trainees should consult with their adviser and the program director to select courses consistent with their training goals.

Postdoctoral fellows take some courses, depending on background and experience, and engage in original research under the supervision of a faculty member. They are expected to have mastery of the basic principles and methods of epidemiology and biostatistics. Thus, fellows are required to take 340.721 Epidemiologic Inference in Public Health, 330.603 Psychiatric Epidemiology, and some equivalent of 140.621 Statistical Methods in Public Health I and 140.622 Statistical Methods in Public Health II. They may be waived from these requirements by the program director if they can demonstrate equivalent prior coursework.

Drug Dependence Epidemiology Training (DDET) Program

This training program is co-led by Dr. Renee M. Johnson ( [email protected] ) and Dr. Brion Maher ( [email protected] ). The DDET program is designed to train scientists in the area of substance use and substance use disorders. Research training within the DDET Program focuses on: (1) genetic, biological, social, and environmental factors associated with substance use, (2) medical and social consequences of drug use, including HIV/AIDS and violence, (3) co-morbid mental health problems, and (4) substance use disorder treatment and services. The DDET program is funded by the NIH National Institute on Drug Abuse.

The program supports both pre-doctoral and postdoctoral trainees. Pre-doctoral trainees have a maximum of four years of support on the training grant. After completing required coursework, pre-doctoral trainees are expected to complete original research under the supervision of a faculty member affiliated with the DDET program. Postdoctoral trainees typically have two years of support on the training grant. They are required to engage in original research on a full-time basis, under the supervision of a DDET faculty member. Trainees’ research projects must be relevant to the field of substance use.

All trainees are required to attend a weekly seminar series focused on career development and substance use research. The DDET program supports trainees’ attendance at relevant academic meetings, including the Annual Meeting of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD) each June. Training grant appointments are awarded annually and are renewable given adequate progress in the academic program, successful completion of program and departmental requirements, and approval of the training director.

Pre-doctoral trainees are required to take the required series in epidemiology and biostatistics, as well as The Epidemiology of Substance Use and Related Problems (330.602). In addition, they must take three advanced courses that enhance skills or content expertise in substance use and related problems: one in epidemiology (e.g., HIV/AIDS epidemiology), one in biostatistics, and one in social and behavioral science or health policy. The most appropriate biostatistics course will provide instruction on a method the trainee will use during the thesis research (e.g., survival analysis, longitudinal analysis methods). (Course requirements for trainees from other departments will be decided on a case-by-case basis.)

Postdoctoral trainees are expected to enter the program with mastery of the basic principles and methods of epidemiology and biostatistics. They are required to take The Epidemiology of Substance Use and Related Problems in their first year (330.602), as well as required ethics courses. Postdoctoral trainees are encouraged to take courses in scientific writing and grant writing.

Global Mental Health Training (GMH) Program

The Global Mental Health Training (GMH) Program is a training program to provide public health research training in the field of Global Mental Health. It is housed in the Department of Mental Health , in collaboration with the Departments of International Health and Epidemiology. The GMH Program is supported by a T32 research training grant award from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Dr. Judy Bass ( [email protected] ) is the training program director. 

As part of this training program, trainees will undertake a rigorous program of coursework in epidemiology, biostatistics, public mental health and global mental health, field-based research experiences, and integrative activities that will provide trainees with a solid foundation in the core proficiencies of global mental health while giving trainees the opportunity to pursue specialized training in one of three concentration areas that are recognized as high priority: (1) Prevention Research; (2) Intervention Research; or (3) Integration of Mental Health Services Research.

Pre-doctoral trainees are required to take the required series in epidemiology and biostatistics and department of mental health required courses. In addition, they must take three courses that will enhance skills and content expertise in global mental health: 330.620 Qualitative and Quantitative Methods for Mental Health and Psychosocial Research in Low Resource Settings, 224.694 Mental Health Intervention Programming in Low and Middle Income Countries, and 330.680 Promoting Mental Health and Preventing Mental Disorder in Low and Middle Income Countries.

The Mental Health Services and Systems (MHSS) Program

The Mental Health Services and Systems (MHSS) program is an NIMH-funded T32 training program run jointly by the Department of Mental Health and the Department of Health Policy and Management and also has a close affiliation with the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Drs. Elizabeth Stuart ( [email protected] ) and Ramin Mojtabai ( [email protected] ) are the training program co-directors.

The goal of the MHSS Program is to train scholars who will become leaders in mental health services and systems research. This program focuses on producing researchers who can address critical gaps in knowledge with a focus on: (1) how healthcare services, delivery settings, and financing systems affect the well-being of persons with mental illness; (2) how cutting-edge statistical and econometric methods can be used in intervention design, policies, and programs to improve care; and (3) how implementation science can be used to most effectively disseminate evidence-based advances into routine practice. The program strongly emphasizes the fundamental principles of research translation and dissemination throughout its curriculum.

Pre-doctoral trainees in the MHSS program are expected to take a set of core coursework in epidemiology and biostatistics, 5 core courses related to the core elements of mental health services and systems (330.662:  Public Mental Health, 330.664: Introduction to Mental Health Services, 140.664:  Causal Inference in Medicine and Public Health, 550.601: Implementation Research and Practice, and 306.665:  Research Ethics and Integrity), and to specialize in one of 3 tracks: (1) health services and economics; (2) statistics and methodology; or (3) implementation science applied to mental health. Trainees are also expected to participate in a biweekly training grant seminar every year of the program and take a year-long practicum course exposing them to real-world mental health service systems and settings. 

For more details see this webpage:   http://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/center-for-mental-health-and-addiction-policy-research/training-opportunities/

Epidemiology and Biostatistics of Aging

This program offers training in the methodology and conduct of significant clinical- and population-based research in older adults. This training grant, funded by the National Institute on Aging, has the specific mission to prepare epidemiologists and biostatisticians who will be both leaders and essential members of the multidisciplinary research needed to define models of healthy, productive aging and the prevention and interventions that will accomplish this goal. The Associate Director of this program is Dr. Michelle Carlson ( [email protected]) .

The EBA training grant has as its aims:

• Train pre- and post-doctoral fellows by providing a structured program consisting of: a) course work, b) seminars and working groups, c) practica, d) directed multidisciplinary collaborative experience through a training program research project, and e) directed research.
• Ensure hands-on participation in multidisciplinary research bringing trainees together with infrastructure, mentors, and resources, thus developing essential skills and experience for launching their research careers.
• Provide in-depth knowledge in established areas of concentration, including a) the epidemiology and course of late-life disability, b) the epidemiology of chronic diseases common to older persons, c) cognition, d) social epidemiology, e) the molecular, epidemiological and statistical genetics of aging, f) measurement and analysis of complex gerontological outcomes (e.g, frailty), and g) analysis of longitudinal and survival data.
• Expand the areas of emphasis to which trainees are exposed by developing new training opportunities in: a) clinical trials; b) causal inference; c) screening and prevention; and d) frailty and the integration of longitudinal physiologic investigation into epidemiology.
• Integrate epidemiology and biostatistics training to form a seamless, synthesized approach whose result is greater than the sum of its parts, to best prepare trainees to tackle aging-related research questions.

These aims are designed to provide the fields of geriatrics and gerontology with epidemiologists and biostatisticians who have an appreciation for and understanding of the public health and scientific issues in human aging, and who have the experience collaborating across disciplines that is essential to high-quality research on aging. More information can be found at: https://coah.jhu.edu/graduate-programs-and-postdoctoral-training/epidemiology-and-biostatistics-of-aging/ .

Aging and Dementia Training Program

This interdisciplinary pre- and post-doctoral training program is an interdisciplinary program, funded by the National Institute on Aging, affiliated with the Department of Neurology and the Department of Psychiatry at the School of Medicine, the Department of Mental Health at the School of Public Health and the Department of Psychology and Brain Sciences at the School of Arts and Sciences. The Department of Mental Health contact is Dr. Michelle Carlson ( [email protected] ). The goal of this training program is to train young investigators in age-related cognitive and neuropsychiatric disorders.

Program Requirements 

Course location and modality is found on the BSPH website .

Residence Requirements

All doctoral students must complete and register for four full-time terms of a regular academic year, in succession, starting with Term 1 registration in August-September of the academic year and continuing through Term 4 ending in May of that same academic year. Full-time registration entails a minimum of 16 credits of registration each term and a maximum of 22 credits per term.

Full-time residence means more than registration. It means active participation in department seminars and lectures, research work group meetings, and other socializing experiences within our academic community. As such, doctoral trainees are expected to be in attendance on campus for the full academic year except on official University holidays and vacation leave.

Course Requirements

Not all courses are required to be taken in the first year alone; students typically take 2 years to complete all course requirements. 

Students must obtain an A or B in all required courses. If a grade of C or below is received, the student will be required to repeat the course. An exception is given if a student receives a C (but not a D) in either of the first two terms of the required biostatistics series, but then receives a B or better in both of the final two terms of the series; then a student will not be required to retake the earlier biostatistics course. However, the student cannot have a cumulative GPA lower than 3.0 to remain in good academic standing. Any other exceptions to this grade requirement must be reviewed and approved by the departmental CAS and academic adviser.

Below are the required courses for the PhD; further Information can be found on the PhD in Mental Health webpage. 

BIOSTATISTICS

Must be completed to be eligible to sit for the departmental written comprehensive exams.

EPIDEMIOLOGY

Department of mental health courses.

For Department of Mental Health doctoral students, a research paper is required entailing one additional course credit.  PH.330.840 Special Studies and Research Mental Health  listing Dr. Eaton as the mentor.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS OUTSIDE THE DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH

The School requires that at least 18 credit units must be satisfactorily completed in formal courses outside the student's primary department. Among these 18 credit units, no fewer than three courses (totaling at least 9 credits) must be satisfactorily completed in two or more departments of the Bloomberg School of Public Health. The remaining outside credit units may be earned in any department or division of the University. This requirement is usually satisfied with the biostatistics and epidemiology courses required by the department.

Candidates who have completed a master’s program at the Bloomberg School of Public Health may apply 12 credits from that program toward this School requirement. Contact the Academic Office for further information.

SCHOOL-WIDE COURSES

Introduction to Online Learning  taken before the first year.

ETHICS TRAINING

PH.550.860 Academic & Research Ethics at BSPH  (0 credit - pass/fail)  required of all students in the first term of registration.

Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) connotes a broad range of career development topics that goes beyond the more narrowly focused “research ethics” and includes issues such as conflict of interest, authorship responsibilities, research misconduct, animal use and care, and human subjects research. RCR training requirements for JHPSH students are based on two circumstances: their degree program and their source of funding, which may overlap. 

• All PhD students are required to take one of two courses in Responsible Conduct of Research, detailed below one time, in any year, during their doctoral studies.
• All students, regardless of degree program, who receive funding from one of the federal grant mechanisms outlined in the NIH notice below, must take one of the two courses listed below to satisfy the 8 in-person hours of training in specific topic areas specified by NIH (e.g., conflict of interest, authorship, research misconduct, human and animal subject ethics, etc.).

The two courses that satisfy either requirement are:

• PH.550.600 Living Science Ethics - Responsible Conduct of Research  [1 credit, Evans]. Once per week, 1st term.
• PH.306.665 Research Ethics and integrity  [3 credits, Kass]. Twice per week, 3rd term.

Registration in either course is recorded on the student’s transcript and serves as documentation of completion of the requirement.

• If a non-PhD or postdoctoral student is unsure whether or not their source of funding requires in-person RCR training, they or the PI should contact the project officer for the award.
• Students who have conflicts that make it impossible for them to take either course can attend a similar course offered by Sharon Krag at Homewood during several intensive sessions (sequential full days or half days) that meet either on weekends in October or April, a week in June, or intersessions in January. Permission is required. Elizabeth Peterson ( [email protected] ) can provide details on dates and times.
• Students who may have taken the REWards course (Research Ethics Workshops About Responsibilities and Duties of Scientists) in the SOM can request that this serve as a replacement, as long as they can provide documentation of at least 8 in-person contact hours.
• Postdoctoral students are permitted to enroll in either course but BSPH does not require them to take RCR training. However, terms of their funding might require RCR training and it is their obligation to fulfill the requirement.
• The required Academic Ethics module is independent of the RCR training requirement. It is a standalone module that must be completed by all students at the Bloomberg School of Public Health. This module covers topics associated with maintaining academic integrity, including plagiarism, proper citations, and cheating.

PhD in Mental Health  

Department of Mental Health candidates for the degree Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) must fulfill all University and School requirements. These include, but are not limited to, a minimum of four consecutive academic terms at the School in full-time residency (some programs require 6 terms), continuous registration throughout their tenure as a PhD student, satisfactory completion of a Departmental Written Comprehensive Examination, satisfactory performance on a University Preliminary Oral Examination, readiness to undertake research, and preparation and successful defense of a thesis based upon independent research.

PhD Students are required to be registered full-time for a minimum of 16 credits per term and courses must be taken for letter grade or pass/fail. Courses taken for audit do not count toward the 16-credit registration minimum.

Students having already earned credit at BSPH from a master's program or as a Special Student Limited within the past three years for any of the required courses may be able to use them toward satisfaction of doctoral course requirements.

For a full list of program policies, please visit the PhD in Mental Health  page where students can find more information and links to our handbook.

Completion of Requirements

The University places a seven-year maximum limit upon the period of doctoral study. The Department of Mental Health students are expected to complete all requirements in an average of 4-5 years. 

Learning Outcomes

The PhD program is designed to provide key knowledge and skill-based competencies in the field of public mental health. Upon successful completion of the PhD in Mental Health, students will have mastered the following competencies:

• Evaluate the clinical presentations, incidence, prevalence, course and risk/protective factors for major mental and behavioral health disorders.
• Differentiate important known biological, psychological and social risk and protective factors for major mental and behavioral disorders and assess how to advance understanding of the causes of these disorders in populations.
• Evaluate and explain factors associated with resiliency and recovery from major mental and behavioral disorders.
• Evaluate, select, and implement effective methods and measurement strategies for assessment of major mental and behavioral disorders across a range of epidemiologic settings.
• Critically evaluate strategies for the prevention and treatment of major mental and behavioral disorders as well as utilization and delivery of mental health services over the life course, across a range of settings, and in a range of national contexts.
• Assess preventive and treatment interventions likely to prove effective in optimizing mental health of the population, reducing the incidence of mental and behavioral disorders, raising rates of recovery from disorders, and reducing risk of later disorder recurrence. 

According  to the requirements of the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH), all BSPH degree students must be grounded in foundational public health knowledge. Please view the  list of specific CEPH requirements by degree type .

Centre for Global Mental Health

Research degrees (phd).

The Centre for Global Mental Health specialises in providing high quality PhD training opportunities in topics related to Global Mental Health, and offers students a broad range of possible PhD supervisors to gain the skills they will need for a career in mental health research. The research projects are mainly based in low and middle income countries, with supervision provided locally as well as by academics based in the UK.

Students register at either the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN), King’s College London, or the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), depending on which institution their lead supervisor is based.  Joint supervision across institutions is possible, although students will be registered at only 1 institution (the institution of their lead supervisor), and will receive their degree from this institution.

Research Areas

Staff in the CGMH work on the following themes

• Dementia and disorders of old age
• Depression and Anxiety 
• HIV and Depression
• Adolescent mental health

Application steps

1. Clarify your research topic

2. Identify a prospective supervisor

3. Identify how your research degree will be funded

4. Draft your research proposal outline

5. Check that you meet, or are expecting to meet the institutions general entry requirements

6. Check the application deadlines associated with your chosen programme

7. Apply online using the instituitons application portal 

CGMH Current PhD students

Dr Tessa Roberts

Pedro Zitko

Dr Elaine C. Flores

Christina Daskalopoulou

Natasha Croome

Ms Georgina Miguel Esponda

Norha Vera San Juan

Asmae Doukani

Daiane machado, temitope ademosu.

Sachin Shinde

Caroline Smartt

Shivani Mathur Gaiha

Divya Kumar

• Global Mental Health Seminar Series
• Discussion Session
• Current Residents
• Reflections
• Where in the World
• Resources and Funding
• Faculty International Activity Map

INFORMATION FOR

• Residents & Fellows
• Researchers

Yale Global Mental Health Program

Yale Global Mental Health Leadership 2021-2023. From left to right: Hamada Altalib, Sirikanya Chiraroekmongkon, Paul Eigenberger, Michelle Silva, Theddeus Iheanacho

Yale Psychiatry’s Global Mental Health Program aims to increase awareness of global mental health issues and social disparities while developing tools to address associated challenges both at home and abroad.

This is an exciting concentration that capitalizes on the broad and diverse experiences of our faculty and residents. Originated by residents, the program supplements current courses and electives with additional mentoring, community service, scholarly projects, and clinical experiences.

The principles of the Yale Global Mental Health Program are:

• Practical Implementation in Clinical Settings: To develop practice tools to address these issues both at home and abroad.
• Underserved Access to Care: To promote interest in working with underserved populations within and outside the United States that are in need of mental health services.
• Cross Cultural Psychiatry in Practice: To expand the knowledge of cross cultural psychiatry and provide ways for residents to incorporate that knowledge into their clinical practice of psychiatry.
• Ethical and Decolonialization: To learn and support restorative justice considering historical context and global power dynamic that exists
• Collaborative: To develop within and external to the department of psychiatry a network of individuals with common interests in global mental health from which collaborative ideas and projects can spring.

International Activity Maps

View the national and international activity of faculty from the Yale Department of Psychiatry:

Watch Video of Our Yale Global Mental Health Resident Grand Rounds

Yale psychiatry grand rounds: september 8, 2023.

Global Mental Health and Health Equity

Speakers: Sirikanya Chiraroekmongkon, MD; Yang Jae Lee, MD; Marcos Moreno, MD; and Matthew Basilico, MD, PhD

Yale Psychiatry Grand Rounds: May 13, 2022

Yale Global Mental Health Residents Grand Rounds

Sirikanya Chiraroekmongkon, MD , Resident Physician, Yale School of Medicine

Paul Eigenberger, MD , Resident Physician, Yale School of Medicine

Yvonne Uyanwune, MD, MPH , Psychiatry Resident, Yale School of Medicine

Enock Teefe, MD , Psychiatry Resident, Yale School of Medicine

Latest News

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College of Medicine Chicago

Global mental health program, intro heading link copy link.

The Global Mental Health (GMH) Program is a program of research, training, capacity building and advocacy of the Center for Global Health at the University of Illinois College of Medicine. It is comprised of faculty, staff, and students from diverse disciplinary backgrounds, from UIC and partner organizations.

Our Mission

The program’s mission is to reduce mental health disparities in low-and middle-income countries with a particular focus on issues of forced displacement, conflict and humanitarian emergencies.

Our research initiatives focus on the development of innovative and evidence-based interventions that promote mental health and treat mental health and psychosocial problems in low-resources settings. We partner with local, national and global organizations to increase their capacity to deliver effective, scalable interventions. In addition, we provide global mental health training for researchers, clinicians, other practitioners, and policymakers.

Research Focus Areas

• Mental health and co-morbid NCDs
• Multi-component and integrated care models
• Family and group interventions
• Well-child and school-based interventions
• Implementation science
• Neuroscience informed approaches to global mental health
• Digital technology for mental health
• Public health approach to violence prevention  
• GMH Publications

Leadership Team Heading link Copy link

• Mary Bunn, PhD, LCSW, Co-Director
• Stevan Weine, MD, Co-Director
• Chloe Polutnik, MPH, Program Coordinator

Faculty Heading link Copy link

Uic faculty and staff.

• Olusola Ajilore, MD, PhD
• Marc Atkins, PhD
• Judith Cook, PhD
• Jennifer Duffcey, PhD
• Nicole Gonzalez, MPH
• Cynthia Handrup, DNP
• Lisa Razzano, PhD
• Dana Rusch, PhD
• Rebecca Singer, DNP, RN
• Reshma Shah, MD
• Robert Zolna, MDes

Partner Faculty

• Mary Acri, New York University
• Aliriza Arenliu, University of Prishtina
• Mahbat Bahromov, Prisma Research Center
• Esra Bakir, Turkish Red Crescent
• Emma Cardeli, Boston Children’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School
• Nayanjeet Chaudhury, Ramaiah Medical College
• David Eisenman, UCLA
• Heidi Ellis, Boston Children’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School
• Vahdet Gomez, Medeniyet University
• Virupakshi Jalihal, Ramaiah Medical College
• Jonbek Jonbekov, Prisma Research Center
• Brandon Kohrt, George Washington University
• Scott Langenecker, University of Utah
• Mary McKay, Washington University
• Barakat Niyozov, Prisma Research Center
• Gulya Pirova, Prisma Research Center
• Shukrije Statovci, University of Pristina
• Karin Wachter, Arizona State University

Partner Organizations

• Boston Children’s Hospital Trauma and Community Resilience Center (TCRC)
• Center for Victims of Torture
• Heartland Alliance International
• Heartland Alliance Marjorie Kovler Center
• Prisma Research Center
• MS Ramaiah Medical
• Sana Sezim Legal Center for Women’s Initiative
• Turkish Red Crescent

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• Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

UW Consortium for Global Mental Health

UW Global Mental Health is a program of the Departments of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and Global Health. Learn more about our program and global mental health in the Pacific Northwest.

Global mental health is a rapidly evolving field of study and service that addresses the mental health of individuals, communities, and societies through multidisciplinary perspectives. Global mental health researchers, practitioners and advocates seek to develop, identify and implement social, medical, legal, and public health interventions that promote equity, honor human rights, and disseminate high quality prevention and care in diverse settings around the world.

Event Calendar

Current Doctoral Students

Caroline is a first-year doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology PhD program at Teachers College, Columbia University, and a member of the Global Mental Health Lab. She graduated from Georgetown University in 2020 with a BA in Psychology and a minor in Business Administration and Spanish. In 2023, she completed an MA in Clinical Psychology at Teachers College. Her prior clinical experiences include co-leading DBT skills groups for young adults, leading support groups through the National Alliance on Mental Illness, and working with patients to ensure continuation of care post-hospitalization. Her early research experiences include working with teenage parents to develop and hone their coparenting skills.

In the Global Mental Health Lab, Caroline has worked in varying capacities on projects relating to distress in post-partum women during the COVID-19 pandemic, understanding childbirth experiences and their impact on women in New York City, and evaluating the effectiveness of IPT in treating women with post-partum depression in Ontario. She has also helped work on a meta-analysis that sought to understand how nutrition and mental health impact the birthweight of children in low- and middle-income countries. In the future, Caroline hopes to continue studying maternal mental health and become more involved in suicide prevention and management research.

Corey Morrison is a first-year doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology program at Teachers College, Columbia University. He graduated from Brown University in 2019 with a BA in Public Health. Prior to joining the Global Mental Health Lab at Teachers College, Corey worked as a research assistant at the New York State Psychiatric Institute working on a longitudinal study of psychosocial outcomes in a sample of youth perinatally affected by HIV in New York. While at the Psychiatric Institute, Corey also worked to pilot an mHealth neurocognitive assessment tool for use in Uganda, South Africa, and Thailand.

In the Global Mental Health Lab, Corey is currently working on a project aimed at providing Interpersonal Counseling (IPC-3) to survivors of torture in Kentucky. Corey's research interests lie in addressing the psychological needs of populations with a high burden of traumatic exposures, particularly refugee populations. Relatedly, Corey is interested in the evidenced-based approaches to promote resilience and post-traumatic growth in resource-limited settings. 

Second Year

Alexandra is a second-year doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology program at Teachers College, Columbia University.  She holds an MA in Psychology from The New School for Social Research (2022) and a BA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) from the University of Pennsylvania (2008).  Prior to enrolling at The New School for Social Research, Alexandra had a decade-long career working in Finance. 

In the Global Mental Health Lab, Alexandra works with colleagues to explore ways in which to disseminate and implement services that are appropriate for resource-constrained regions globally, with an emphasis on serving the Veteran community.  As an MA student, Alexandra focused on Project VITAL, a pilot study in partnership with the VA designed to provide three sessions of Interpersonal Counseling (IPC-3) for student veterans struggling with anxiety, depression, and PTSD by utilizing trained peer counselors.  Her research interests center on the intersection of trauma, PTSD, depression, and sleep.  Additionally, Alexandra is interested in exploring the long-term effects of COVID-19, specifically the relationship between food security and nutrition on global mental health.  As a doctoral student, Alexandra intends to explore interventions for active military members to mitigate PTSD.

Chelsea is a second-year doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program at Teachers College, Columbia University. She holds an MA in Psychology in Education with a concentration in Global Mental Health and Trauma from Columbia University (2022) and a BA in Psychology with a minor in Education & Child Study from Smith College (2017). Prior to beginning the MA program at TC, Chelsea spent two years working as a full-time research assistant at Brown University’s Alpert Medical School/The Miriam Hospital’s Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center (WCDRC) in Providence, Rhode Island. At the WCDRC, she offered assistance on four longitudinal studies focused on lifestyle interventions. During her time in the MA program, she worked as a volunteer research assistant on various projects at the GMH Lab. Those projects centered on assessing the feasibility and effectiveness of Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) and Interpersonal Counseling (IPC-3) in under-resourced settings with refugees around the globe. As a doctoral student and Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) scholarship recipient, Chelsea will receive training to offer psychological services (under the supervision of a licensed psychologist) within a clinic setting to Spanish-speaking clients living in New York City. Chelsea is interested in the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based treatments for depressed adolescents, the intersection of global mental-health research and policy, and improving mental health services and accessibility for those living in low-income and under-resourced communities.

Erin is a third-year doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology program at Teachers College, Columbia University. In 2018 Erin graduated with a BA in Psychology and a minor in anthropology from the University of North Carolina, Wilmington. In 2020, she received her MA in Clinical Psychology from Teachers College. During the MA program, Erin worked on treatment research at Teachers College and implementation research in the form of program evaluations at Mount Sinai. At Mount Sinai, Erin had the privilege of working on program evaluations for innovative trauma-informed programs for transgender survivors of violence and programs for men in Harlem who were the survivors of crime or trauma.

In the Global Mental Health Lab, Erin works on the evaluation and implementation of mental health services in historically underserved and marginalized populations. Specifically, she is interested in using community-based participatory action research to evaluate the effectiveness, acceptability, and feasibility of culturally informed therapeutic interventions delivered by community members in Harlem. Erin also works with transitioning service members, student Veterans, and Veterans broadly both in the lab and at the Bronx VA.

Hania Mourtada, M.A., M.Sc., is a third-year doctoral student in clinical psychology at Columbia University. She is currently a psychology extern at the New York State Psychiatric Institute’s Depression Evaluation Service and at the

Hania Mourtada, M.A., M.S., is a third-year doctoral student in clinical psychology at Columbia University. She is currently a psychology extern at the New York State Psychiatric Institute’s Depression Evaluation Service and at the Dean Hope Center for Educational and Psychological Services. Previously, she worked as a psychiatry assistant at Montefiore Medical Center’s Pediatric Behavioral Health Integration Program (BHIP). 

Hania's research interests include the impact of war and migration experiences on the mental health of conflict-affected populations, the impact of political violence on youth development, the socio-political and cultural determinants of mental health, and the contextual evaluation and implementation of culturally sensitive mental health interventions for refugees and immigrants in under-resourced settings. She is particularly interested in scalable, evidence-based interventions that use task-shifting and sustainable approaches to address the disparities in mental health treatment availability and accessibility. In the Global Mental Health lab, Hania has played a key role in multiple capacity-building projects, including the evaluation of Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) scalability using a training-of-trainers model in Lebanon, IPT for perinatal depression in primary care settings in New York City, Group IPT (IPT-G) for perinatal depression in Lebanon and Kenya, and Interpersonal Counseling (IPC-3) for college students in Iraq. She also contributed to a meta-analysis and systematic review assessing the effectiveness of IPT for depression across low- and middle-income countries.

Before pivoting to clinical psychology, Hania worked as a news reporter in the Middle East, covering the Syrian conflict and refugee crisis. Her previous career in journalism and advocacy profoundly influenced her interest in the psychological impacts of oppression, deprivation, and marginalization. She is interested in studying the myriad ways in which sociopolitical context and cultural factors shape individuals’ perceptions of adversity and their psychological response to traumatic events. As a researcher, Hania is deeply committed to a community-based participatory approach to research that centers the voices of traditionally marginalized populations. As a clinician, she is eager to work with youths and adults whose lives have been upended by conflict, displacement, and sociopolitical turmoil. 

Hania earned her M.A. in Clinical Psychology in 2020, with a concentration in Global Mental Health, from Teachers College, Columbia University. She also holds a joint M.A. in Journalism and Middle Eastern Studies from New York University and an M.Sc. in Developmental Psychology from University College London. 

Fourth Year

DJ is a fourth-year doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology program at Teachers College, Columbia University. He holds an MA in Clinical Psychology from Teachers College (2020) and a BS in Psychology from Grand Canyon University (2018). In the Global Mental Health Lab, he works on the implementation and dissemination of mental health services to under-served and under-resourced populations, with an emphasis on serving the Veteran community. DJ is particularly interested in system-wide interventions to reduce Veteran suicide, exploring how culturally informed community engagement can enhance the success of the military-to-civilian life transition, and how social factors influence the trajectory of treatment-seeking behavior. Before enrolling at Teachers College, DJ served as an Air Traffic Controller in the US Air Force for six years and was involved in over 200,000 flying operations. As a MA student, he was the assistant evaluator on a program evaluation of the Veterans Treatment Track in New York's 9th Judicial District. He also had a leading role in the implementation and dissemination of the ETS Sponsorship program for transitioning servicemembers, which is now a nationwide VA and DoD program.

Jada Rene Flint is a fourth-year doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology PhD program at Teachers College, Columbia University, where she is also a member of the Global Mental Health Lab. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Africana Studies and Psychology from Smith College in 2018. In 2020, she completed her MA in Clinical Psychology and received a certification in Sexuality, Women, and Gender from Teachers College. 

In the Global Mental Lab, Jada focus her research on the intricate aspects of suicidality within the African American community. Her dedicates lies in the exploration and identification of distinct traits linked to suicidal ideation and behavior among Black youth, with the ultimate goal in enhancing targeted and effective prevention strategies and interventions. Currently, she is collaboring with NYU McSilver Institution for Poverty Policy and Research on their WeCare Study, which seeks to implement and investigate a system of care for Black youth that combines suicide risk screening with an intervention to faciliates the connection of at-risk youth to high-quality mental health services. 

Anika F. Alix, M.A., M.S. is a doctoral candidate in clinical psychology at Columbia University. She is currently a psychology intern at Lenox Hill Hospital where she works as an outpatient therapist at the Manhattan Eye Ear Nose and Throat Hospital (MEETH) and on the medical and psychiatric inpatient floors. Previously, Anika worked providing as a psychology extern at the Presbyterian Hospital, Westchester Behavioral Health Women's/Adolescent Inpatient Unit, the New York State Psychiatric Institute’s Depression Evaluation Service, and at the Dean Hope Center for Educational and Psychological services.

Anika’s research focuses primarily on the treatment of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADS) and childbirth experience, with a specialty in qualitative methodologies. Her dissertation research uses mixed-methods approaches to examine the phenomenon and mental health sequelae of mistreatment in maternity care in New York City hospitals. She has worked as a researcher on projects examining: IPT-G for maternal depression in Uganda, postpartum depression in Kuwait, IPT treatment for perinatal depression in primary care settings in New York City, and IPT for parental depression in rural Ethiopia. Anika’s expertise and clinical interests include: cultural-conceptualizations of PMADS; childbirth education, sexual health education, and reproductive justice across the lifespan; qualitative research approaches w/ critical feminist lens; Relational Psychodynamic therapy, Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) and CBT for Psychosis (CBTp).

Anika graduated from Teachers College, Columbia University with an MA and MS in Clinical Psychology, and a certificate in Sexuality Women and Gender. She earned her BA at University of Miami (FL) where she majored in French and Psychology.

Kati N. Lake, MA, MS, is a doctoral candidate in clinical psychology at Columbia University. Currently, she is an incoming psychology intern at the VA Hudson Valley Health Care, Montrose Campus. Previously, Lake was a psychology extern at New York Presbyterian Hospital, Westchester Behavioral Health (Women's Inpatient Unit); Weill/Cornell, the Program for Anxiety and Traumatic Stress Studies; New York State Psychiatric Institute, Depression Evaluation Service; and the Dean Hope Center for Psychological Services. Lake’s research evaluates and adapts brief, evidence-based treatments for Veterans.

Prior to returning to academia, Lake served as the Vice President of Consulting Services at RAINN, where she led the organization’s consulting services and business development. Here, she partnered with public and private entities to provide sexual assault prevention and response program evaluation, training and education, as well as crisis hotline services. Before joining RAINN, Lake was a Lead Associate at Booz Allen Hamilton, where she led teams in the design, development, execution, and evaluation of personnel policy, education and training, and data privacy projects across the Department of Defense, including the Defense Suicide Prevention Office and Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office. Before that time, Lake served as a Schedule C political appointee at the White House, providing support to the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness/Deputy Under Secretary for Military Community and Family Policy.

Lake has a demonstrated history of providing strategic, operational, and tactical leadership for the development and management of complex, high-visibility projects. Leveraging 15 years of experience in program management, policy development and analysis, privacy and information assurance, and congressional affairs, she continues to advise organizations interested in affecting culture change surrounding trauma-informed sexual violence prevention and response.

Lake graduated from Teachers College, Columbia University with a masters of arts and a masters in science in clinical psychology with a concentration in global mental health and trauma. She also obtained a degree in political science and British literature with a focus on political communications from Miami University (Oxford, Ohio).

Seventh Year

Alaa is a seventh-year doctoral student and is the principal investigator of a qualitative study investigating the adjustment and acculturation of Arab women in the U.S., and in a qualitative study investigating postpartum depression and its care pathways with women and key stakeholders in Kuwait; She has been a research assistant (TC Global Mental Health Lab) during which she assisted in various projects to obtain psychological services and health services for Syrian refugees in Jordan. Previously, at the NYU Bellevue Stress and Resiliency Study she assisted in study of factors predicting PTSD in individuals admitted to the emergency room with life threatening injuries; Massachusetts General Hospital, Division of Global Psychiatry: assessed the impact of trauma on Liberian children’s self-esteem, self-concept, and resilience. She is also the co-founder for Standing for Psychological Education and Awareness in Kuwait.

Eighth Year

Dalal Alhomaizi is an eighth-year doctoral student at the Global Mental Health Lab at Teachers College (TC), Columbia University. She completed her undergraduate education at Northeastern University in Boston, MA where she attained a Bachelor’s of Science in Psychology. Dalal has worked as a research assistant at the Chester M. Pierce, MD Division of Global Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital where she worked on global research, policy, and development projects in low-income and resource-poor countries. She has also co-founded the first mental health anti-stigma campaign SPEAK alongside her twin sister in her home country Kuwait. Prior to starting her PhD, Dalal completed a Masters of Arts in Clinical Psychology at TC. Dalal’s research interests include help-seeking behavior, program development and evaluation, psychotherapy research, and psychometric research with a specific interest in resource-poor countries. Dalal's dissertation will explore the development and validation of cross cultural psychometric measures for Kuwait.

Recent Graduates

Jillian is currently a doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology program at Teachers College, Columbia University and has been working with the Global Mental Health Lab since 2014. She earned an M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Teachers College in 2016 and a B.A. in Psychology, with minors in Anthropology and Religious Studies, from Kenyon College in 2011. Jillian contributes to projects assessing the implementation and dissemination of mental health services to under-served and under-resourced populations. She is particularly interested in trauma and chronic stressors, women's and maternal mental health, implementation science, mechanisms of change in therapy, and the intersection of physical health and mental health. Her clinical and research work has focused on sexual and domestic violence, LGBTQIA populations, military service members and veterans, sex workers, refugees and immigrants, perinatal women, and mental health in hospitals. During her time in the MA program, she also worked with the TC Resilience Center for Veterans and Families and the Loss, Trauma, Emotion Lab. Prior to that Jillian volunteered as a Medical Advocate with the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center and a sexual violence peer counselor with Kenyon College. She has also worked for Brigham and Women’s Hospital in healthcare administration.

Anne is a sixth-year doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology program. She received her B.A. in Human Development and Social Relations at Kalamazoo College and her M.A. in Psychology in Education at Teachers College. As a master's student at Teachers College, Anne began work in the Global Mental Health lab assisting with qualitative research studies assessing the mental health needs of home-based sex workers in India and of unaccompanied immigrant children in the US. Previously, she worked with adults with severe mental illnesses at a community mental health organization and volunteered in the Clinical Alternatives to Punitive Segregation unit at Rikers Island leading a weekly yoga group. Anne is interested in adapting effective mental health interventions for low-resource populations to meet their unique contextual needs. She is currently working on a project to build capacity of interpersonal psychotherapy and integrate mental health treatment into primary care settings in Lebanon and another project aimed at IPT dissemination for treatment of maternal depression in New York City.

Srishti Sardana, MSc., MA, is a doctoral candidate in the Clinical Psychology program and Lab Coordinator of the Global Mental Health Lab at Teachers College, Columbia University. She has assisted on various projects with aims to study efficacy and effectiveness of IPT and other related intervention variables in low- and middle-income countries. She assists on studies including the Grand Challenges Canada funded IPT scalability for Syrian refugees in Lebanon, UNHCR funded IPT implementation for treatment of depression among Rohingya refugees in Cox’z Bazar, Bangladesh & Congolose and Burundian Refugees in Tanzania, another project focused on developing a practical toolkit for climate justice and mental health for community-based organizations, and has implemented a pilot study to assess the mental health needs of home-based female sex workers in rural India. Before enrolling at Teachers College, Srishti served as an officer in the juvenile offender unit at the Institute of Juvenile Justice, Delhi Police, India and initiated a narrative therapy-based intervention project in collaboration with a team of Australian psychotherapists for youth offenders committed for felonies and sex offence. Srishti is currently working on developing her research program that studies social capital and social support networks, and is adopting innovative methods of studying these constructs from a dual economic-mental health lens to examine the potential mediating role of conflict and support in recovery from depression among Stateless Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

Cheryl Y. S. Foo, Ph.D.  is currently a postdoctoral Clinical and Research Fellow at Harvard Medical School (HMS), Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Psychosocial and Systemic Research. She received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Columbia University, and completed her predoctoral clinical fellowship at the HMS-affiliated Massachusetts Mental Health Center, Early Psychosis Track. She was a Research Assistant and Grant Coordinator at the Global Mental Health Lab from 2015 to 2022. 

Cheryl is a clinician-scientist committed to advancing dissemination, implementation, and capacity-building of culturally and contextually appropriate, evidenced-based mental health and psychosocial interventions in under-resourced settings. At the GMHLab, she managed the Global Challenges Research Fund, Research for Health in Conflict (R4HC-MENA, United Kingdom) grant to adopt and scale-up Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) in Lebanon, in partnership with Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health, National Mental Health program. She also assisted on the UNHCR-funded adoption study to build capacity and deliver IPT for Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. To inform sustainable implementation efforts by addressing provider-level psychosocial wellbeing, her dissertation was a mixed-methods study building a psychosocial model for burnout and resilience among humanitarian aid workers, to inform sustainable global mental health implementation. Complementing her skills in global mental health and implementation science research with her clinical expertise in treating chronic and serious mental illness, her current research program focuses on articulating and implementing systemic approaches for early risk identification and intervention of mental illnesses for clinical high-risk youth in community-based and integrated care settings. 

Global Mental Health

Course number: 41412, course description.

Global mental health has emerged as a priority for multilateral institutions like the World Health Organization and World Bank, for international non-governmental organizations, and for academic researchers alike. This course examines the foundations, practices, and critiques of this field. We will explore how socio-cultural processes shape the experience of distress and mental illness; various cultures of healing, including Western psychiatry, and their power dynamics; gaps and inequalities in service provision; as well as approaches to and challenges of cross-cultural diagnosis/treatment/epidemiology. Building on these explorations, we will then turn to the tools, programs, and practices that constitute the somewhat amorphous movement called “Global Mental Health.” Ongoing debates of this movement will also be examined. This course will take an interdisciplinary approach, with readings drawn from psychiatry, public policy, anthropology, history, sociology, and so on. Through discussions and assignments, students will develop skills to design, evaluate, and critically reflect upon global mental health interventions.

Requirements Filled

Clinical Concentration: All Clinical Classes

Social Administration: All Courses

Global Social Development Practice Program

Professors and Lecturers Who Teach This Course

Note: Courses are subject to change at any time. Please check MyCrownSchool for the quarters, days, and times that courses will be held, as well as room numbers.

UCL Institute of Mental Health

UCL Wellcome 4-year PhD in Mental Health Science

About the programme, frequently asked questions, how to apply, supervisors and steering committee, supporting students.

This programme, funded in 2019, is the first of its kind in the UK, representing an investment of over £5m by the Wellcome Trust. It is based in the UCL Institute of Mental Health, and will recruit six students per year from 2020-2024.

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Contact details

Director Jonathan Roiser: [email protected]

Co-directors Alexandra Pitman:  [email protected] Sunjeev Kamboj:  [email protected]

For general information: [email protected]

Applications

No longer accepting applications.

Student Website

Visit our student-led website to found out more about the students on the programme:

Visit our website

Read the latest blogs written by our PhD students whilst studying on the programme:

Visit our blog site

Global Mental Health Fellowship Opportunities

The Global Mental Health Fellowship is available for one or more opportunities every year with a partner organization. These opportunities are developed and posted on a rolling basis.

* CLOSED * 2023 Global Mental Health Fellowship Opportunities

Jck clinic uganda project information *closed as of summer 2023*, fellowship award: $8,000.00 number of openings: 2 timeframe: summer 2023 eligibility: graduate date of march 2024 or later.

For the past 6 years, the JCK Foundation has supported a psychiatric outreach program in the rural area of Kabale. In the course of one month, about 280 patients are treated. The staff includes 1 psychiatrist, 1 psychiatric nurse, and 4 village health workers. Medication is purchased from local pharmacies. The staff provides diagnostic exams, medical treatments, and counseling. The patients arrive primarily on foot, often walking 5-10 miles. The JCK foundation funds the plan which includes medication at cost of $8000 per annum.

In June-July 2022, a team of two students from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health worked in collaboration with staff from the JCK Clinic to conduct a preliminary evaluation of its mental health outreach services. Specifically, the evaluation’s objectives were to:

• Evaluate the JCK mental health outreach at three district health clinic locations, Muko, Hamurwa, and Bufundi.
• Assess the knowledge, perception, and other treatment options among caregivers of people with various mental disorders in southwestern Uganda – specifically Rubanda District.

The evaluation focused on conducting interviews with community health workers, patients and caregivers to identify how services were accessed, the perceptions of the impact of services on mental health symptoms and knowledge, community knowledge and stigma, and recommendations for service expansion. A comprehensive overview of JCK Clinic program, and the evaluation’s design, methodology and findings are documented in the Mental Health Outreach Final Report.

Recommendations from evaluation included:

• Increasing the number and capacity of health workers to provide individual counseling and education
• Programming to enable and support patient stability, including financial opportunities
• Infrastructure and maintenance of patient data system
• Diversify workforce, including social worker to support non-medical needs
• Increased clinic sites to address access and transportation challenges

In January-February 2023, one of the students returned to Kabale to initiate the development of a patient electronic medical record (EMR) system for the clinics. The database was designed collaboratively with JCK clinic staff using the open source OpenEMR platform. Over 300 individual patient data was entered into the database and a unique visit template was created for outreach visits.

Summer 2023

There are a number of interrelated projects that GMH Fellows can engage in with JCK Clinic:

• Evaluation of the EMR database, including adoption, implementation and analysis of data. This can also include mapping of the workflow and interviews with patients
• Assist with collection and documentation of materials, literature review for funding proposals
• Support implementation of EEG neurodiagonstic program within the JCK Clinic.
• Potential programs for specialized populations served by the clinic, including maternal mental health, children and adolescents, caregiver mental health, or others.

Project scopes and deliverables will be finalized through discussion with site supervisor, Mr. Centinary Gervase and the Fellowship’s staff team. Students should expect to be involved in engagement with clinic staff, health workers, and patients and present their learnings/findings to different community stakeholders and academic partners.

The Fellow will be expected to spend a minimum of 6 weeks in Uganda, in addition to preparation meetings and post-travel work to complete any deliverables. The Fellow will also participate in the Community Engaged Learning cohort, based at Harvard Chan.

Our Mission

Pioneering research initiatives. Promoting mental health.

Reducing the burden of mental illness worldwide., the columbia university global mental health programs, represent a network of faculty committed to advocacy, research, and training initiatives to advance mental health treatment and reduce mental health stigma around the world., follow cugmhp.

Contact CUGMHP

New York State Psychiatric Institute 1051 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10032 (646) 774-5308 / [email protected]

© 2024 Columbia University Global Mental Health Programs | Admin Login

eDGH Professional Development online course fee changes effective March 2024.  Learn more here.

University of Washington Global Health E-Learning

Global mental health, faculty: .

• Deepa Rao, PhD, MA

Mental health is the most neglected disease in global health, which is concerning because mental and behavioral disorders are among the leading causes of disability worldwide. This course describes the key issues in global mental health, such as stigma and social determinants. You will learn about stigma associated with mental health conditions, and assessment, treatment, task sharing, and integrated care. The course includes many case studies of adapting tools and interventions for different settings. While this course does not qualify you to diagnose and treat mental illness, you will learn about available resources for care, treatment and advocacy.

This online course has video lectures, readings, discussion forums, quizzes, case studies and assignments.

You can participate in this course as an independent participant or as part of a site with 5 or more people. Participating as a site group provides a forum for discussing course concepts and applying them to local context and customs. If you are participating independently, the online discussion boards provide a forum for these types of discussion. 

The course is taught in English. Participants should be comfortable with written and spoken English.

Eligibility

To be admitted to the course you must have experience in a health-related field. 

Enrollment Fees:

You can enroll in this course as part of a registered  site group  or you can apply as an  independent participant . 

If part of a site group, your site coordinator will manage your group's enrollment fee. You may be asked to contribute towards this site fee. 

If an independent participant, you will be invoiced based on details and preferences you note in your application.  OECD / LMIC  rates are based on your current location.  Invoices are sent soon after the application period is over.

For site groups made up of participants from a high-income country ( OECD ), the fee is determined by how many people are in your group.  For groups of 12-50 people, the fee is $3500 USD.  However, for smaller groups ( OECD ), we offer a discounted rate of $300 USD per person.

For site groups made up of participants from a low-middle income country ( LMIC ) we further discount the site rate down to $1750 USD for groups of at least 5 people (with a cap of 50 people for this course).

For site groups that may have a mix of both LMIC and OECD participants, the fee is based on the LMIC rate (of $1750 USD) plus $300 USD per OECD participant.  However, if it is more economical, a flat rate of $3500 USD is also an option.  Please inquire with us if you have questions about the fees at your site.

* More information about course certificates

Payment is accepted via Flywire, a program that allows you to pay in your own currency or via wire transfer, Visa, or Mastercard credit cards. You will receive instructions to submit payment once you have been accepted into the course. 

Sign up for Updates!

• Methodology
• Bosnia Reconstruction
• Torture Survivors
• Kobe Earthquake
• Cambodian Women’s Oral History Project
• Simple Depression Screen
• Harvard Trauma Questionnaire
• Hopkins Symptom Checklist
• Adapting Instruments
• A Call to Action
• The First Encounter
• Cultural Competence
• Medication and Counseling
• Treatment Plan
• Trauma-Informed Care (TIC): Optimizing the Role of TIC in Mainstream Clinical Practice
• Global Mental Health: Trauma and Recovery Certificate Program
• Global Mental Health Textbook
• Emotional Distress Categories
• Harvard Guide to Khmer Mental Health
• Publications
• Arab League Countries
• U.N. Declaration of Human Rights
• Tokyo Guidelines
• Utrecht Guidelines
• The WHO and HPRT’s Global Mental Health Action Plan
• The New H5 Model for Trauma and Recovery
• Why Stories?
• Photo Gallery
• Healing Invisible Wounds
• Cambodian translation of Healing Invisible Wounds

• Registration

The Global Mental Health: Trauma and Recovery Certificate Training Program , GMH, is in its 19th year. GMH was implemented in November 2006 by a call for training capacity in mental health by the World’s Ministers of Health (n=35) meeting in Rome in December 2004. The main objective of the GMH Program is to provide state-of-the-art cultural and evidence-based knowledge and skills to health and mental health professionals, humanitarian relief workers, and policy planners caring for traumatized patients, families, and communities worldwide. Advances in the neurosciences, psychosocial interventions, and community development will be offered. A major focus of the course is on the transfer of knowledge in trauma informed care of survivors, an in-depth study of the neuroscience of trauma, and leadership development of course participants. Course participants receive an online version of the textbook: Global Mental Health: Trauma and Recovery: A Companion Guide for Field and Clinical Care of Traumatized People Worldwide . Special highlighted topics include the long-term impact of COVID-19, self-care for health care workers, racial trauma, and climate change, and ecocide. The combination of lectures, Q&A with faculty allows for in-depth sharing of knowledge and expertise of faculty and participants. This program uses a lecture and discussion format for all the subjects included in the course. Additionally, there will be an opportunity for participants to network with one another and with the faculty.

The 2024 GMH online course

September 23 rd – 27 th , 2024

Early bird special, $1,800.00, until june 15 th , 2024, sponsored by harvard medical school, the harvard program in refugee trauma, the harvard medical school department of continuing education, global mental health:, trauma and recovery certificate program.

The Global Mental Health: Trauma and Recovery Certificate Training Program, GMH, is in its 19th year. GMH was implemented in November 2006 by a call for training capacity in mental health by the World’s Ministers of Health (n=35) meeting in Rome in December 2004. The main objective of the GMH Program is to provide state-of-the-art cultural and evidence-based knowledge and skills to health and mental health professionals, humanitarian relief workers, and policy planners caring for traumatized patients, families, and communities worldwide. Advances in the neurosciences, psychosocial interventions, and community development will be offered. A major focus of the course is on the transfer of knowledge in trauma informed care of survivors, an in-depth study of the neuroscience of trauma, and leadership development of course participants. Course participants receive an online version of the textbook: Global Mental Health: Trauma and Recovery: A Companion Guide for Field and Clinical Care of Traumatized People Worldwide and a Culture/Evidence Based 11 Point Clinical Toolkit . Special highlighted topics include human rights, trauma informed care, racial trauma, the long-term impact of COVID-19, self-care for health care workers, climate change and ecocide. The combination of lectures, questions and answers with faculty allows for in-depth sharing of knowledge and expertise of faculty and participants. This program uses a lecture and discussion format for all the subjects included in the course. Additionally, there will be an opportunity for participants to network with one another and with the faculty.

Program Overview

The Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma (HPRT) and the Harvard Medical School are offering an extraordinary one-week online certificate program, Global Mental Health: Trauma and Recovery ( GMH ). The program provides training for health care practitioners, humanitarian relief workers and policy planners addressing the health and mental health sequelae of traumatized patients and communities. The curriculum is adaptable for diverse populations and global environments affected by violence, natural disasters, and climate change.

The Global Mental Health: Trauma and Recovery Certificate Program is the first of its kind in global mental health, trauma, and post-conflict/disaster recovery. The major rationale for this Certificate Program emerged from 40+ years of clinical care, training, and research by the faculty with survivors of violence and natural disasters throughout the world.

In collaboration with Caritas Rome, Fulbright New Century Scholars Program and the World Bank, HPRT and the Italian Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS) developed the global Project 1 Billion: International Congress of Ministers of Health for Mental Health and Post-Conflict Recovery. In December 2004, this project brought together Ministers of Health from the world's post-conflict countries to endorse a science-based, culturally effective and sustainable Mental Health Action Plan and Book of Best Practices for post-conflict recovery. Project 1 Billion revealed the great need for the education and capacity building of health care professionals, international relief workers and policy makers in the area of mental health. This Global Mental Health: Trauma and Recovery Certificate Program is a major result of Project 1 Billion.

Upon successful completion of the GMH program, participants receive a certificate of completion from the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma and a certificate of participation with continuing medical education credits from Harvard Medical School.

Mission and Learning Objectives

More than one billion people have been affected by violence and disasters throughout the world. Our mission is to maximize a scientific and cultural approach and methodology to reduce suffering, minimize disabilities, and increase resiliency for survivors of violence worldwide. This Program offers a transformative training experience to create a network of global leaders in mental health recovery.

Upon completion of the certificate program, participants will be able to:

• Use science, culture, and evidence-based knowledge and practices in policy planning, clinical care, humanitarian, and human rights activities.
• Implement and apply advances in neurosciences and cultural knowledge in the clinical care of traumatized persons, their families, and communities.
• Offer effective scientific approaches for the care of survivors of the long-term impact of COVID-19 pandemic, racial trauma, climate change, ecocide, and long-term Covid.
• Demonstrate new leadership skills in clinical care, program development, and research.
• Learn the important historical scientific and evaluation approaches to the care of survivors of trauma.
• Apply professional development, self-care and ethics in working with vulnerable groups and communities.
• Learn how to create a healing environment.

Learning Approach

The program participants will receive an e-copy of the textbook  Global Mental Health: Trauma and Recovery: A Companion Guide for Field and Clinical Care of Traumatized People Worldwide . Lectures to be presented by globally recognized leaders in their respective fields and will follow the eight dimensions of the  Global Mental Health Action Plan . Participants will also receive the HPRT 11 Point Clinical Toolkit for Healing Wounds of Mass Violence and Disasters.

Course Format

Lectures will be videoed and archived for access at a later time. Instructions for access will be provided after registration.

The program’s emphasis is on learning an integrated holistic approach to policy planning and clinical care using the HPRT Global Mental Health Action Plan .

Topics include:

• Phenomenological theory of trauma and recovery developed by HPRT and international colleagues over 40 years.
• Epidemiology and the neuroscience of trauma.
• The HPRT Global Mental Health Action Plan.
• Trauma-informed Care. 
• Mental Health Diagnosis and Treatment of Mental Health and Medical Disorders.
• Scientific (Evidence-Based) and Culturally Valid Best Clinical Practices.
• The new H5 Model for field based psychosocial and clinical approach to recovery.
• Health and mental health impact of racial trauma, health disparities, and Covid-19. 
• Human Rights and Rebuilding Social Capital.
• Working in Interdisciplinary Medical Teams.
• Scientific and culture-based approach to leadership.
• Climate change and ecocide.

  Richard F. Mollica, MD, MAR , is a psychiatrist and world-renowned pioneer of refugee mental health and medicine. Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School (HMS), Director, Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma (HPRT), and Director of the Global Mental Health: Trauma and Recovery Course (HMS). He is the winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award at HMS 2022 on Equity, Social Justice, and Advocacy, and the winner of the Yale Divinity School (YDS) Lux et Veritas Award for excellence in caring for the world’s neediest communities with deep compassion and spirituality.

  Sanjiv Chopra, MD, MBBS, MACP , is a Professor of Medicine and former Faculty Dean for Continuing Medical Education at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Chopra is a leading motivational speaker and best-selling author giving lectures and trainings on leadership and healthy lifestyles. His book Leadership by Example: The Ten Key Principles of All Great Leaders is highly praised and has been a basis of his world-wide lectures on leadership. 

  Massimo Ammaniti, MD , is a Child Psychiatrist and Psychoanalyst; Honorary Professor of Developmental Psychopathology and Former Chairman of the Faculty of Infant and Adolescent Clinical Psychology at University of Rome La Sapienza. Dr. Ammaniti is an expert in the role of empathy in therapeutic relationships and the importance of mirror neurons. A leading figure in Italian social psychiatry associated with the Italian Psychiatric reform movement under Professor Franco Basaglia (Public Law No. 180).

  Eugene F. Augusterfer, LCSW , is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Deputy Director and Director of Telemedicine for the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma (HPRT) at Massachusetts General Hospital; Co- Founder, World Bank Mental Health, and Psychosocial Working Group; Former Lecturer, Georgetown University Graduate School of Public Health, and the World Economic Forum’s Wellness Initiative. He is an internationally recognized expert in telemedicine and in the treatment of trauma in Forcibly Displaced Populations. He has published numerous peer reviewed papers on the use of telemedicine to reach underserved and marginalized global populations and he co-authored the book Telemental Health in Resource-Limited Global Settings , Oxford University Press, 2017. He is a peer reviewer for numerous peer-reviewed journals, including Academic Psychiatry, Oxford University Press, and others. He has done on-site field work in numerous disaster settings, including Haiti, Lebanon, Japan, New Orleans, post Hurricane Katrina, and Washington, DC, post the 911 terrorists attacks. He currently supports a major program in Ukraine focused on internally displaced women and children. He also served as a U.S. Air Force Mental Health Officer where he helped in the development of an Air Force wide Integrated Care Program of primary medical care and mental health care.

  Omar Bah, PsyD MPH , is a psychologist and Founder and Executive Director: The Refugee Dream Center, Inc., Rhode Island, Author of the book “ Africa’s Hell on Earth: The Ordeal of an African Journalist. ” Dr. Bah is an expert in refugee leadership.

  Sondra Crosby, MD , is a Medical Doctor and Professor of Medicine and Public Health, Boston University Schools of Medicine specializing in the primary health care of refugees and survivors of torture. She is a pioneer in the medical field of human rights, most notably serving as the Director of the Boston Center for Refugee Health and Human Rights. She is a consultant on torture for Physicians for Human Rights . She was a contributor to the Istanbul Protocol, the International Standard for the Medical and Legal Documentation of Torture .

  Sadie Elisseou, MD , is a practicing physician in the Veterans Administration healthcare system, an instructor at Harvard Medical School and Boston University School of Medicine. Dr. Elisseou is an internationally recognized expert in Trauma Informed Care and the trauma-informed medical examination.

  Gregory L. Fricchione, MD , is a psychiatrist and Associate Chief, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School. Director of the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Fricchione is a renowned neuroscientist who is an expert on stress, resiliency, and trauma’s impact on the brain and behavior.

  Heidi Kerko, JD , is a valued lecturer and group leader at HPRT since 2007. Director of RJRI which funds research related to transitional justice mechanisms, localized indigenous justice practices, international courts, and commissions in order to understand how the pursuit of justice affects a survivor’s mental health and their community.

  Maria Leister, JD , is the Chief Operations Officer at Pocket Project, and specializes in law, forced displacement, and human rights. A Fellow at the Harvard University Office of the President, Maria previously served as the Administrative Director of the Harvard Law School's Harvard Defenders Program. She holds a Juris Doctorate from Indiana University and an MSc in Bioethics from Harvard Medical School. Maria's career reflects her dedication to advancing justice and advocating for vulnerable populations.

  Jutta Lindert, PhD, MPH, MA , is a Professor of Public Health, University of Applied Sciences Emden/Leer, Emden, Germany; WRSC Brandeis University, USA. Dr. Lindert is the President of the Working Group on Public Mental Health of the World Federation of Public Health, and Co-chair of the Section on Public Mental Health of the European Association of Public Health. Her special interests include genocide, war and its long-term effects on mental health, the intergenerational impact of traumatic life events, gender-based violence and its impact on mental health conditions, art and culture interventions for mental health conditions, and exposome and mental health conditions.

  Joe Mageary, PhD, LMHC, CCMHC , is an Associate Professor and Department Chair in Lesley University’s Department of Counseling and Psychology. His areas of scholarly interest include arts based, narrative therapy, and experiential approaches to processing trauma in individuals and communities. An HPRT GMH alum, his current projects include work with Voices: Arts and Healing to support aid workers who are caring for asylum seekers in Juarez, Mexico, as well as consultation with the Lesley Institute for Trauma Sensitivity on creative approaches for supporting Ukrainian educators and child psychologists, tending to the needs of children in a context of war.

  Laura McDonald, PhD, MALD , is a senior member of the Operations and Evaluations, Education Global Practice, World Bank. Co- Founder, World Bank Mental Health and Psychosocial Working Group. Laura is an expert on mental health in international development and education within developing countries and has extensive experience in Bosnia, Liberia, Congo, and Nigeria.

  Giovanni Muscettola, MD , is an Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry. University “Federico II” Napoli, Italia. Academic career since 1971 in the Universities of Bari, Napoli, Udine, Trieste and Napoli. Full Professor of Psychiatry from 1989, Chairman Department of Psychiatry, University of Napoli from 1996 to 2013. Research Assistant in Psychopharmacology, Mario Negri Institute of Pharmacological Research, Milano, Italy from 1968 to 1970. Visiting Scientist at Psychiatry Branch and Psychobiology Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA from 1974 to 1977 and from 1986 to1987. Scientific and training programs with Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MASS, USA since 1989, Siem Reap Cambodia, Opatija Croatia, Sarajevo Bosnia Erzegovina, Orvieto, Italia. Fields of Interest: Preclinical and Clinical Psychopharmacology, Psychopathology of Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia.

  Raewyn Mutch , MD, MBChB (Otago), DipRACOG, FRACP, PhD (UWA) , is a Special Consultant Pediatrician, Refugee Health and General Pediatrics, Perth Children's Hospital, Perth, Western Australia; Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics and Refugee Health Service, Perth, Children’s Hospital Western Australia. Dr. Mutch is an expert on the impact of structural racism and colonization on the health and mental health of indigenous children.

  Giampaolo Nicolais, PhD , is a Professor of Child Psychology, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. Director of the School of specialization in Clinical Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. Head of the Clinical Psychology Unit, Sant'Andrea University Hospital, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. President of AISMI - Italian Association for Infant Mental Health.

  Barbara Peyser, PsyD , is a Clinical Psychologist and Psychoanalyst who is a valued lecturer and group leader with HPRT. She was a Supervising Psychologist at the NYS psychiatric hospital for children and adolescents from 1999-2014. As an alumnus of the HPRT GMH Course (2013), she has co-led Balint Groups with Dr. Mollica. She is currently exploring Somatic Trauma Therapy and how to offer it as an adjunct to talk therapy. She also maintains a private practice in Tenafly, New Jersey. 

  Susan Rees, PhD, MSoc.Pol, BCW , is a Professor in Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, at the University of New South Wales, Australia. Her research focus is the mental health of conflict-affected populations, social justice, gender-based violence, and collaborating on mental health projects led by First Nations Aboriginal Communities. She is currently developing a You-Tube channel on bird migration, mental health, and ecocide with Dr. Richard Mollica. 

  Nisha Sajnani, PhD, RDT-BCT , is the Director of the Program in Drama Therapy, the Theater & Health Lab, and Chair of the Creative Arts Therapies Consortium at New York University. Dr. Sajnani’s body of work explores the unique ways in which aesthetic experience can inspire equity, care, and collective human flourishing across the lifespan. As Director of the Arts and Health Lab, Dr. Sajnani established a collaboration with the World Health Organization, and she leads a Lancet Global Series on the health benefits of the arts. 

  Taiwo Lateef Sheikh, MBBS, MSc, FWACP , is a Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, College of Medical Sciences, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria. Leading West-African Neuropsychiatrist engaged in suicide prevention and the integration of mental health into primary healthcare in Nigeria. He has served and lead many mental health policy working groups in Nigeria and West-Africa

  Theoni Stathopoulou, PhD , is a sociologist, Research Director at the National Centre for Social Research (EKKE), in Athens, Greece. She has long-standing expertise in large-scale survey research (European Social Survey, World Values Survey) and she was the National Coordinator for Round 10 of the European Social Survey in Greece. She has led and participated in various projects on migration funded by the European Commission and the European Economic Area. Theoni has held a position at the Hellenic Statistical Advisory Board of the Hellenic Statistical Authority representing the European Statistical Advisory Committee (ESAC-EUROSTAT). She has also served on the Sectorial Scientific Council for Social Sciences at the National Council for Research and Innovation, the supreme advisory body on the formulation and implementation of the national policy on research in Greece, and the Hellenic Foundation of Research and Innovation. She has co-edited two special issues on migration and health, as well as the refugee crisis in Europe, published by Oxford University Press. Additionally, she has recently been awarded a grant to study the risk and protective factors associated with the educational experiences of children with a refugee background in Greece.

  Jillian M. Stile, PhD , is a Clinical Psychologist and Psychoanalyst. She serves as Senior Advisor to the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma, Global Mental Health. She is Instructor of Clinical Psychology in the Psychiatry Department of Columbia University Medical Center. In addition to her clinical work, she has expertise in developing and implementing healing environments for highly traumatized populations. In 2024, she founded Sanite International, an NGO whose core purpose is to promote healing environments in Haiti and beyond through the work of community psychoanalysis. Dr. Stile is a member of the International Psychoanalytical Association. She has authored articles on the topics of psychoanalysis, culture and identity and presents internationally. She maintains a private practice in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and New York City.

  Frederick (Jerry) Streets, MDiv, MSW, DSW, LICSW , is Professor of Divinity and Social Work at Yale University Divinity School and a licensed clinical social worker. He has been a long-time member of the HPRT faculty. He is the former Chaplain of Yale University and the first African American to serve in this role. He is a recipient of numerous awards including the Lux Veritas Award, the highest alumni honor given by Yale Divinity School. He has a distinguished career in Pastoral Theology and clinical social work. His book, Are You Being? on clergy well-being will be published later this year by Cascade Publishers.

Accreditation

In support of improving patient care, Harvard Medical School is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team. 

The Harvard Medical School designates this Live for a maximum of 40.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™ . Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.  

Nurse Practitioners and Registered Nurses

For the purpose of recertification, the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Board and American Nurses Credentialing Center accept  AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ issued by organizations accredited by the ACCME (Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education). We would also suggest that learners check with their state licensing board to ensure they accept reciprocity with  AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ for re-licensure.

Physician Assistants

The National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) states that  AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ are acceptable for continuing medical education requirements for recertification. We would also suggest that learners check with their state licensing board to ensure they accept reciprocity with  AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ for re-licensure. 

Canadian Accreditation

The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada recognizes conferences and workshops held outside of Canada that are developed by a university, academy, hospital, specialty society or college as accredited group learning activities.

European Accreditation

The American Medical Association (AMA) has an agreement of mutual recognition of continuing medical education (CME) credit with the European Union of Medical Specialties (UEMS). Additional information regarding this agreement may be found here: https://www.uems.eu/areas-of-expertise/cme-cpd/eaccme

ABMS/ACGME Competencies

This course is designed to meet the following American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS)/Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) competencies: 

• Systems-Based Practice
• Interpersonal and Communication Skills
• Patient Care and Procedural Skills
• Medical Knowledge
• Practice-Based Learning and Improvement
• Professionalism

IOM Competencies

This course is designed to meet the following Institute of Medicine Competencies:  

• Work in Interdisciplinary Teams
• Employ Evidence-Based Practice
• Provide Patient-Centered Care

Disclosure Policy

In accordance with the disclosure policy of the Medical School as well as standards set forth by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), course planners, speakers, and content reviewers have been asked to disclose any relationships they have to companies whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients. In addition, faculty have been asked to list any off-label uses of pharmaceuticals and/or devices for investigational or non-FDA approved purposes that they plan to discuss.

CME activities accredited by Harvard Medical School are offered solely for educational purposes and do not constitute any form of certification of competency. Practitioners should always consult additional sources of information and exercise their best professional judgment before making clinical decisions of any kind.  

Note:   AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™  is calculated based on submission of a preliminary agenda and may be subject to change. 

Who should apply?

Health care workers including doctors, nurses, psychologists, social workers and other public health professionals; policy planners, lawyers, human rights workers, educators, and journalists working with populations that are survivors of violence and/or disasters.

Admissions criteria

Several criteria will be used to assess eligibility for the Certificate Program, including:

• A prior graduate level degree and experience in the health-related sector, including humanitarian workers.
• Field workers without a graduate degree with equivalent field experience can apply.
• Interest and career aspirations in caring for traumatized populations.
• Access to computer and internet.
• Written, spoken, and reading proficiency in English.

The tuition fee is $2,000.00 USD, which includes all course materials including the Textbook of Global Mental Health: Trauma and Recovery –A Companion Guide for Field and Clinical Care of Traumatized People Worldwide in e-book form and the HPRT Clinical Toolkit in e-form.

Refund Policy

Refunds, less an administrative fee of $75, will be issued for all cancellations received two weeks prior to the start of the course. Refund requests must be received by email. No refund will be issued should cancellation occur less than two weeks prior to the start of the course. “No shows” are subject to the full course fee and no refunds will be issued once the conference has started.

Program Director:  Professor Richard F. Mollica, MD MAR

 For more information please contact us by email at:   [email protected]

For 14 years, the GMH course was conducted on-site in the Villa Paolina in Porano, Italy, a beautiful Umbrian town near the Etruscan city of Orvieto.

The 2024 GMH course will be offered online on September 23 rd – 27 th , 2024.

We have reinstituted our GMH alumni courses on-site in Orvieto Italy for those who have successfully completed the requirements of the online GMH course.

The 2024 GMH Online Course

Registration – open now.

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Make a Difference with a Master’s in Clinical Professional Counseling

• Healthcare and Science |

Mental health service providers are needed now more than ever to tackle our nation’s growing mental health crisis. The shortage of qualified professional helpers is calculated to extend into 2036, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration . According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics , rates of substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselor jobs are projected to grow 18 percent from 2022 to 2032, with an average of 42,000 jobs opening each year.

University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC) has committed to filling this gap by introducing a new program: the Master of Science in Clinical Professional Counseling (MSCPC). This 60-credit program provides students with fundamental skills, knowledge, and competencies that support counseling licensure. UMGC’s first cohort will begin in fall 2024, and the program will be offered to Maryland residents for the 2024-2025 academic year with plans to expand in the future.

“The clinical professional counseling program at UMGC prioritizes practical and applied skills, equipping students with a diverse set of counseling techniques, emphasizing ethical and legal considerations, and providing training in psychological assessment and diagnosis,” says Phyllis Medina, PhD, program director for the MSCPC program. “The goal is to prepare graduates for licensure and successful practice as independent and effective counselors in various mental health settings.”

UMGC learners grow in their confidence and capabilities through 700 hours of supervised practicum and internship experiences. This gives students the opportunity to perform the work of a counselor under the guidance and supervision of an experienced practitioner.

What is the difference between a master’s degree in clinical professional counseling (MSCPC) and other psychology master’s degrees?

An MSCPC degree prepares students for careers as licensed professional counselors. MSCPC training extends beyond coursework to include supervised clinical fieldwork experiences. During practicum and internships, students apply their knowledge in real-world settings and practice their interviewing, case conceptualization, and therapy skills in an ethical, culturally informed, scientifically supported way under the direct supervision of a licensed professional.

While supervised, in-the-field practicum experiences set a master’s in clinical professional counseling program apart from non-clinical psychology master’s degrees, allowing MSCPC students to learn the fundamentals through focused coursework. Courses in the program emphasize current best practices in counseling theory, psychotherapy practice, assessment methods, cross-cultural and trauma-informed care, and ethical standards.

What careers could a master’s in clinical professional counseling help prepare you for?

With licensure, a master's in clinical professional counseling graduate is equipped for various careers. Licensed Clinical Professional Counselors (LCPCs) can establish private practices, provide therapy in mental health clinics, or take on leadership roles as clinic directors or clinical managers in healthcare settings.

Experienced LCPCs may become clinical supervisors, training the next generation of effective and ethical counselors. LCPCs can work as trauma therapists, forensic counselors, and military and veteran counselors. Additionally, LCPCs can work as Employee Assistance Program (EAP) counselors, offering short-term support to employees, or serve as community mental health counselors, addressing the mental health needs of diverse local populations.

The growing field of telehealth also opens opportunities for LCPCs to provide online counseling services, while those with specialized training in addiction can work as addiction counselors in rehabilitation centers or outpatient clinics dedicated to substance abuse treatment.

“Counseling provides a safe space for individuals to explore their emotions, behaviors, and thought patterns,” says Medina. “By offering fresh perspectives and understanding, counseling can lead to improved mood and better management of mental health conditions.”

Does a master’s in clinical professional counseling prepare you to become a therapist?

The master’s in clinical professional counseling program intentionally prepares students for careers as therapists.

“Overall, a master's in clinical professional counseling is a recognized and common pathway for individuals seeking to become licensed therapists,” says Medina. “At UMGC, this program equips students with the knowledge, skills, and practical training necessary to provide therapeutic interventions and support for individuals dealing with various mental health issues and life challenges."

Upon completing a master's in clinical professional counseling and fulfilling any additional state-specific licensing requirements, one can pursue licensure (e.g., Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor or similar titles, depending on the jurisdiction). With this licensure, graduates are qualified to work as therapists in various settings, including private practice, mental health clinics, hospitals, community agencies, school counseling, and other healthcare organizations.

Licensing requirements vary by state or country, so those interested in becoming therapists should familiarize themselves with the specific regulations and licensure processes in the location where they plan to practice.

What is the difference between clinical professional counseling and clinical psychology?

Both clinical professional counseling and clinical psychology center around supporting individuals with mental health concerns, but key differences exist in their focus, training, and scope.

“The distinction lies in the depth of training,” says Medina. “Clinical professional counselors specialize in applied counseling techniques, while clinical psychologists have a comprehensive understanding of psychological conditions and therapies.”

Clinical professional counselors focus their training on applied therapies that address a variety of psychological stressors and life events. Licensed counselors typically have master's degrees in counseling or related fields and provide therapy to individuals, couples, families, and groups. They focus on addressing mood and anxiety issues, personal growth, and relationship challenges using various therapeutic techniques.

In contrast, licensed clinical psychologists carry the protected title “psychologist,” have doctoral degrees in psychology, and are trained to diagnose and treat mental illness using a variety of personality and neuropsychological assessments and evidence-based interventions. Many psychologists have concentrated training in research and often specialize in subfields like forensic, health, or neuropsychology.

UMGC's new program is a master’s in clinical professional counseling, which emphasizes a practical, applied approach to mental healthcare. Graduates do not become psychologists upon licensure, rather licensed clinical professional counselors.

What current and future trends does the UMGC Master’s in Clinical Professional Counseling program prepare students for?

While pursuing a master's degree in clinical professional counseling, UMGC students are prepared for landscape-shifting industry trends, including:

• Telehealth and technology integration. The COVID-19 pandemic saw a huge shift in how professional counselors delivered their services – a trend that has only continued to grow. Technology innovations, like cognitive behavioral therapy “homework” apps, mindfulness reminders, and thought trackers are also on the rise. Those seeking licensure will need to be competent at providing counseling services remotely and incorporating technology into their practice.
• Assessment and treatment of trauma. The field of counseling is also expanding its definition and understanding of psychological trauma. In the MSCPC program, UMGC students will study trauma-informed care, recognize the impact of trauma on mental health, and learn evidence-based approaches to trauma treatment.
• Equity, diversity, and inclusion. Well-trained counselors understand that their clients exist in their own cultural context; and they recognize and make moves to correct mental health disparities that exist across the sociocultural spectrum. Our program acknowledges the importance of inclusive counseling practices, of addressing the unique needs of clients from diverse backgrounds, and of advocating for the needs of underrepresented groups.
• Mindfulness and holistic practices. While earning their counseling degree, students can also learn about evidence-based mindfulness practices and holistic techniques designed to help clients cultivate present-moment awareness, develop greater self-compassion, and enhance psychological resilience.
• Integrated healthcare delivery. As the field of mental health shifts towards an integrated and preventive approach, students can explore the collaborative nature of integrated behavioral health. Mental health professionals work alongside medical professionals, occupational and speech therapists, and psychologists to address both physical and mental health concerns.

Staying up to date with these industry trends enhances students' adaptability and positions them to provide effective, informed, and culturally sensitive counseling services.

“As the mental health field shifts towards an integrated and preventive approach, students can explore the collaborative nature of integrated behavioral health,” says Medina. “Mental health professionals work alongside medical professionals to address both physical and mental health concerns.”

With a master’s in clinical professional counseling , students can meet the growing need for trained mental health professionals ready to take on roles as licensed practitioners. Upon obtaining licensure, graduates are primed and ready to enter the world of professional helping, prepared to join the ranks of those willing to address our nation’s mental health crisis.

Reference on this webpage to any third-party entity or product does not constitute or imply endorsement by UMGC nor does it constitute or imply endorsement of UMGC by the third party. 

Learn More About the Master’s in Clinical Professional Counseling

A UMGC admissions advisor can help you get started.

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About the MHS in Mental Health Program

The Master of Health Science degree is organized around a core set of four terms of graduate courses and a final research paper that demonstrates mastery of what has been learned in the coursework experience. Research is particularly active in the areas of: psychiatric epidemiology; genetic epidemiology of mental and behavioral disorders, cognitive health and aging; psychoactive drug use; school, family, and community-based preventive interventions; research methodology; youth violence; women’s mental health and pregnancy; global mental health; child sexual abuse and pedophilia; autism spectrum disorder and research on mental health service systems.

MHS in Mental Health Program Highlights

Mental Health department in a school of public health

Full-time and part-time

course offerings across departments

research experience

What Can You Do With a Graduate Degree In Mental Health?

MHS students do a variety of things after graduation. Several pursue advanced graduate training in doctoral programs or medical school. Other MHS students gain employment in academic institutes, community organizations, foundations, healthcare organizations, research and consulting firms, government agencies---making huge impact in lives of individuals and their communities. Visit the  Graduate Employment Outcomes Dashboard to learn about Bloomberg School graduates' employment status, sector, and salaries.

Sample Careers

• Epidemiologist
• Clinical quality improvement associate
• Survey operations manager
• Senior research analyst
• Social science research analyst
• Research administrator
• Program manager
• Project director
• Research assistant
• Research associate
• Program/research coordinator
• Social science analyst
• Healthcare consultant

Curriculum for the MHS in Mental Health

Browse an overview of the requirements for this master's program in the JHU  Academic Catalogue  and explore all course offerings in the Bloomberg School  Course Directory .

Current students can view the Department of Mental Health's student handbook on the Info for Current Students page .

Admissions Requirements

For general admissions requirements, please visit the How to Apply page. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. The program begins in the fall.

Standardized Test Scores

Standardized test scores are  not required and not reviewed  for this program. If you have taken a standardized test such as the GRE or MCAT and want to submit your scores, please note that they will not be used as a metric during the application review.  Applications will be reviewed holistically based on all required application components.

Questions about the program? We're happy to help.

Academic Program Administrator Patricia Scott [email protected] 410-955-1906

Director, MHS Program Jeanine Marie Parisi [email protected] 410-955-0412