Introducing integrated behavioral healthcare
Is healthcare letting you down? Do you get frustrated because your doctor and counselor don’t seem able to get on the same page or offer you completely different perspectives on what you’re going through? We can fix that for you with integrated behavioral healthcare.
Integrated behavioral healthcare puts you at the center of your wellness journey and wraps providers around you. This approach to your health is much more common in other countries. However, healthcare is often segmented and frequently fractured in the United States. We tend to look at the mind and the body as two distinct and separate entities. But, we are whole beings, and we deserve for our healthcare providers to see us that way, which is why I entered the Doctor of Behavioral Health (DBH) degree program at the Cummings Graduate Institute for Behavioral Health Studies. I believe we can make changes to healthcare that can improve lives for generations to come.
We simply must integrate behavioral health with medicine. Over my years as a counselor, I noticed many clients describing thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations that may be due to a medical condition that leaves them feeling mentally unwell. For example, the Mayo Clinic links sleep apnea to daytime sleepiness, difficulty paying attention, irritability, relationship issues, and more. Those experiences sound like mental health problems, but it might just be that one is not sleeping well. Via the DBH program, I‘ll be trained to better collaborate with your doctor to help you get high-quality sleep, which would likely help anyone experiencing sleep apnea to feel better. By the way, a doctor orders a sleep study, often done at home.
But the journey to disrupt healthcare only starts there! In addition to acquiring the skills mentioned above, the big idea is to consider how to use technology to support my clients in establishing healthier, more fulfilling lives. I’ll have more news on that in the coming weeks and months. Just note the healthcare market in the United States is ripe for healthcare technology innovation. The program at CGI will enable creative and innovative thinking on how we solve the issue of healthcare technology, and I know we are all looking forward to that.
Finally, the DBH degree journey also helps students consider healthcare market gaps. I think you would agree that there are significant gaps. Am I right? The glaring issues I see are poor healthcare outcomes for women, people of color, and the LGBTGEQIAP+ community, to name a few. And others just need help but often go unrecognized by healthcare providers, such as parents who experience abuse at their children's hands. The DBH program develops the necessary skills to develop programs and systems that improve lives for generations to come.
So take a seat. Let’s talk about your health holistically. Sign up today for a free, 15-minute consultation to see if integrated behavioral health is right for you.
