PHOENIX – March 21, 2018 – PRLog — The Cummings PSYCHE Award, sponsored by the Nicholas & Dorothy Cummings, has been awarded to Dr. Cara English, DBH, CEO and Director of the Doctor of Behavioral Health program at Cummings Graduate Institute for Behavioral Health Studies. The honor was given to Dr. English at the Cummings Graduate Institute for Behavioral Health Studies’ Integrated Care Conference on March 9, 2018. She is the 15th recipient of the award in its 21-year history.
About the Award
This award was created by the foundation to recognize and celebrate a doctoral behavioral care practitioner who has performed spectacularly in the following:
- A profound and enduring advancement of psychotherapy as the first-line intervention in behavioral care (i.e., mental health as behavioral care), and/or
- A profound and enduring advancement in the return of psychopathology and psychophysiology to the practice of psychotherapy, replacing the present collection of arbitrary symptoms that comprise the DSM’s current so-called “disorders.”
The key word is “spectacular,”
The honor was bestowed upon Dr. Cara English, CEO and Director of the Cummings Graduate Institute for her contributions as an integrated health practitioner specializing in women’s and maternal healthcare and for her efforts to establish Cummings Graduate Institute for Behavioral Health Studies and its Doctor of Behavioral Health program. When asked about what this Award means to her, Dr. English replied, “Young scientists dream of being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. I was there when the 14th PSYCHE Award was presented to Dr. John Caccavale, and I dreamed that one day, I, too, would earn this high honor. Drs. Nick and Janet Cummings are my mentors and my teachers. I owe what I know and what I can do as a DBH to them. To be recognized as a healthcare leader whose work is making an impact is truly an honor. I hope my work inspires others to disrupt norms in the healthcare and higher educations systems.”
Previous PSYCHE Awards have been given to psychologists and psychiatrists. Dr. English is the first Doctor of Behavioral Health to receive the Award.
About Dr. English
Dr. English has been a counselor for over 16 years, with specialties in women’s health, perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, infant and child development, and family wellness. She earned a master’s degree in counseling in 2002 from Northern Arizona University, and worked as a community and school counselor and behavioral health consultant in a wide variety of settings during her graduate work at NAU and following graduation. She earned a DBH degree from Arizona State University in 2013.
Dr. English completed a doctoral practicum internship at the Chandler CARE Center, a school-based health center which primarily serves the uninsured population of Chandler, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. During the internship and subsequent paid position, Dr. English worked with pediatricians, nurse practitioners, lactation consultants, WIC educators, food banks, public health officials, hospitals, grant writers, and community centers to integrate or coordinate care for patients across settings. Dr. English’s doctoral Culminating Project focused on documenting the rate of depression and diabetes-related distress in adolescents from this population who were diagnosed with Type I diabetes mellitus.
Dr. English currently serves as a DBH in the birthing community of Phoenix. Services are provided at Willow Midwife Center for Birth and Wellness for women’s primary care, pregnant, and postpartum mothers experiencing Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders (PMADs), including Depression, Bipolar Disorder, Anxiety, Panic, OCD, PTSD, and Psychosis. Dr. English collaborates care for mothers and families with physicians, nurse midwives, pediatricians, psychiatrists, IBCLC’s, and a variety of community organizations to improve health outcomes
