The Behavioral Medicine Program (BMED) at Massachusetts General Hospital provides specialized care at the intersection of psychology and health for patients impacted by both medical and psychiatric conditions through clinical work, professional training and research.
Since the program's founding by Steven A. Safren, PhD in 2004, the treatment programs and research conducted by the Behavioral Medicine Program have emphasized the use of validated, state-of-the art treatment interventions based on the latest research to help patients reach their best levels of mental and physical health.
The BMED Program specializes in providing cognitive behavioral therapy-based interventions that are typically short-term, skills-based and tailored to the patient's individual needs.
The mission of the Behavioral Medicine Program is to enhance the lives of our patients, staff, fellows, faculty, and colleagues through the practice of the highest quality clinical research, informing the delivery of state-of-the-art clinical services, within a nurturing, collegial and mentored training and work environment.
Referrals to the BMED Program are typically received for the following types of patients:
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is one of the primary treatments applied within the BMED Program. CBT focuses on helping the individual develop personal coping strategies with the goal of solving current problems changing unhealthy patterns of thought, behavior and emotion. While it was originally developed for the treatment of depression, CBT has proven highly effective for treatment of mental health conditions across many medical diagnoses.
The BMED Program has extensive experience in applying CBT to medical conditions such as HIV, diabetes (Types 1 & 2), cancer, epilepsy, pain and sleep problems. Our faculty also conduct clinical research aimed at developing new treatments and expanding our understanding of how to improve the way current treatments are applied.
Treatment typically begins with an initial evaluation with your doctor over one or two visits. Once the evaluation is completed, the patient and provider will discuss treatment goals and a plan for achieving these goals.
The length of treatment varies but typically lasts 8 to 16 weekly sessions. Providers in Behavioral Medicine regularly coordinate care with other Mass General providers involved in the patient's care.
The BMED Program works closely with other medical departments within Mass General including:
The BMED Program is at the forefront of research focused on developing, validating and disseminating psychosocial interventions to help individuals with a variety of health and medical issues. We conduct research both domestically and internationally across three continents. To learn more about the specific projects we are currently conducting or to learn about enrolling, please visit our Behavioral Medicine Research page.
Our staff is dedicated to helping patients both through direct clinical service and through conducting research to find new ways to improve care, led by a team of leaders in the field.
The Behavioral Medicine Program (BMED) is very involved in training the next generation of behavioral medicine researchers through both predoctoral and postdoctoral training opportunities.
Predoctoral trainees can apply for the APA-approved clinical Internship in Clinical Psychology at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School. Within the internship, there are two intern spots for the Behavioral Medicine Elective available each year.
The Internship in Clinical Psychology includes the following rotations:
The Internship in Clinical Psychology also offers other potential rotations:
The BMED Program provides additional training in clinical and research methods by offering postdoctoral fellowships. Since 2004, BMED has trained numerous postdoctoral fellows, many of whom stay on to become full-time faculty at Mass General/Harvard Medical School. Other fellows have taken tenure-track positions in academic psychology departments.
These fellowships depend on the status of various internal and external funding mechanisms. Typically, we know about the availability of postdoctoral positions for July or September after the end of January of that year.
We also offer a postdoctoral training opportunity through the Global Psychiatric Clinical Research Training Program, a National Institute of Mental Health-funded T32 fellowship organized in collaboration with the Division of Global Psychiatry at Mass General. This fellowship is a protected time clinical research fellowship devoted to providing training to fellows interested in clinical research careers in global mental health. Fellows are mentored by Conall O’Cleirigh, PhD.
Training opportunities may be available at a few different sites:
More details about the fellowship can be found Mental Health Innovation Network's website. For more information about potential clinical research opportunities available in the upcoming year, please email Christina Psaros, PhD.
The integration of patient care and clinical research has been a hallmark of the Department of Psychiatry for more than 30 years. Today, the department has the largest clinical research program in the hospital, with studies at the forefront of neuroscience, molecular biology and genetics.
