Dr. Blount is Professor of Clinical Psychology and Co-Director of the Center for Behavioral Health Innovation at Antioch. He is leading the development of a Major Area of Study in Clinical Health Psychology within the Department. Behavioral Health Integration is the process in making behavioral health services a part of the basic care provided in primary care around the country. It combines mental health, substance abuse, and health behavior change skills to allow primary care settings to offer whole person care. The Affordable Care Act has promoted the centrality of primary care and behavioral health integration as the most important changes in the structure of healthcare of the current time. The demand for psychologists competent to be part of a care team in primary care is growing exponentially and Antioch is at the forefront of training to meet this demand.
Dr. Blount comes from a position as Professor of Family Medicine and Psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School where he founded and directed the Center for Integrated Primary Care. Dr. Blount has been practicing, as a clinician, trainer, administrator, author, teacher and consultant for 40 years. He has been a behavioral health clinician in primary care for almost 20 of those years. He is a member of the National Integration Academy Council guiding the Integration Academy of the Agency for Health Research and Quality (http://integrationacademy.ahrq.gov). His books include Integrated Primary Care: The Future of Medical and Mental Health Collaboration, published by W. W. Norton. He is Past President of the Collaborative Family Healthcare Association, a national multidisciplinary organization promoting the inclusion of mental health services in medical settings and he is past Editor of Families, Systems and Health, the Journal of Collaborative Family Healthcare.