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On April 25, 2025, the Central California Behavioral Health Conference welcomed students, faculty, and mental health professionals for a vibrant day of connection, learning, and conversation. Hosted by the San Joaquin Valley Integrated Behavioral Health Project (SJVIBHP), the event focused on uplifting student voices, engaging community members interested in careers in psychology, and exploring the future of the field. This year’s conference featured a graduate psychology stu

On May 17, 2025, the second annual San Joaquin Valley Integrated Behavioral Health (SJVIBH) Convening was held at the Piccadilly Inn in Fresno, CA. Open to students and professionals across the community, the all-day event welcomed a wide range of attendees, including primary care providers, pediatricians, recreational therapists, licensed clinical social workers, and licensed psychologists.   The 2025 Convening began with a keynote address by Dr. David G. Stewart, Dean of Ca

Population health refers to improving the health of the entire population through the use of policy and system changes (American Psychological Association, 2022). The population health approach aims to address social, environmental, cultural, and economic factors that influence health outcomes. The American Psychological Association affirms that “an individual’s health cannot be considered in isolation from the relationships, communities, and societies to which the individual

Did you know that most school districts do not have clinical psychologists to work within their schools? While educational institutions employ school psychologists, whose focus is to address academic concerns, clinical psychologists can assess and diagnose mental health concerns. Clinical psychologists can perform psychodiagnostic assessments for various mental health disorders, provide therapy and resources for students in the school setting. I am a doctoral student under cl

In Central California, an underserved and high-need area, there is a shortage of mental health providers. In our rural communities, many residents are Medi-Cal patients and seek services in federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) and rural health clinics (RHCs). FQHCs and RHCs are known to experience “open vacancies that are unable to be filled for years, prolonged length of onboarding licensed providers, and being limited to a small list of billable licensed providers” (C

On October 28, 2024, Dr. Chris Bauer conducted a one-hour didactic training at Alliant International University’s Fresno campus, focused on clinical neuropsychology and neuropsychological evaluation. Dr. Bauer, a board-certified neuropsychologist with over 20 years of experience, has worked in a variety of settings, including the Fresno VA and UCSF-Fresno. He currently sees patients aged 18 and older. First- and second-year graduate students from the Clinical Psychology PsyD

Many evidence-based behavioral and cognitive interventions are used in primary care to treat mental health issues. Interventions include mindfulness exercises, cognitive disputation, relaxation techniques, and motivational interviewing (MI) strategies (Hunter et al., 2024). Given the brevity of appointments (one to four 30-minute sessions) with the behavioral health consultant (BHC), the patient’s time with the BHC should be viewed as a coaching appointment. Hunter et al. (20

Commonly used screeners in integrated care Integrated behavioral health care follows the population health model in that interventions and clinical applications focus on the entire patient population not individual patients (Hunter et al., 2024). Hunter et al. (2024) reports that less intensive intervention provided to larger amounts of people may have a greater impact on the overall population. For this reason, behavioral screening tools are integrated into clinical pathways