Dr. Duncan is psychologist, trainer, and researcher with over 17,000 hours of clinical experience. He is the developer of the evidence based practice, the Partners for Change Outcome Management System (PCOMS), and leader of the team responsible for PCOMS scientific credibility and evidence based status. Because of the research conducted by Duncan and colleagues, PCOMS was included in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP). Better Outcomes Now, the web application of PCOMS, brings his clinical experience and investigative spirit to life. Barry has over 150 publications, including 18 books addressing client feedback, consumer rights, and the power of relationship in any change endeavor. Because of his self-help books (the latest is What’s Right With You), he has appeared on Oprah, The View, and several other national TV programs. Barry travels nationally and internationally lecturing and implementing PCOMS in small and large systems of behavioral health care. PCOMS is used in all fifty states and in at least 20 countries. The largest public behavioral health agencies in 6 states have implemented or are implementing PCOMS, as well as hundreds of other public and private mental health and substance abuse organizations. Separate from the agencies, there are over 40,000 individually registered users of PCOMS. Internationally, the Norway Health Directorate has implemented PCOMS across its couple and family centers and PCOMS is an integral component of Nasjonal competansetjeneste TSB (National Competence Center for Substance Abuse Treatment). In Canada, among many implementations, the largest is provincial implementation by the Saskatchewan Heath Authority. Finally, New Zealand has incorporated PCOMS into its national policy on outcome management, a consequence of his consultations there.
Drawing upon his extensive clinical experience and passion for the work as well as his now 20 years of PCOMS implementations, Barry's trainings speak directly to both front line clinicians and administrators. He talks about what it means to do this work and how each of us can re-remember and achieve our original aspirations to make a difference in the lives of those we serve.
Mr. Wiggin is a clinical social worker and a programmer, a rare combination to be sure. He worked with a public behavioral health organization for 20 years overseeing program development and management of residential treatment programs. Bill also maintained a private practice that specialized in the assessment and treatment of youth with sexual behavior problems. Although he enjoyed the opportunities and challenges in social work, he didn’t stop pursuing his interest in computers and software development. Bill built his first computer in 1980 and quickly realized it couldn’t do much without software.
The idea of the computer doing whatever it was instructed to do fascinated Bill and he spent many years learning software design and development. Over the past 30 years, he developed encryption/decryption algorithms, computer-generated graphics, private practice management software, and websites for individuals and small companies. Bill began working with Barry Duncan in 2010 and was contracted to design and develop the content management system for the Heart and Soul of Change Project’s website. In 2014, Bill produced the architecture and later oversaw the development of the Application Program Interface (API) for Better Outcomes Now. He also developed the first two versions of the Better Outcomes Now client-side application. Bill is currently designing the third version of Better Outcomes Now and integrating the Heart and Soul of Change, PCOMS, and Better Outcomes Now websites.
Ms. Hernandez is the former Chief Operating Officer of the Center for Family Services, a public behavioral health organization in West Palm Beach, Florida. Ms. Hernandez oversaw the operations of the clinical programs and professional services provided to clients, their families, and the community. She is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, a Certified Trainer of the Partners for Change Outcome Management System (PCOMS), and a Qualified Supervisor in the State of Florida with over 20 years of experience working with individuals, children and families in community mental health settings, substance abuse organizations, and in private practice. She has extensive experience in supervision, directing programs, training, consultation, administration, and providing direct care. Ms. Hernandez is a steadfast voice for client privilege, an advocate of client directed and outcome driven work and a leader of accountability via PCOMS. She provides PCOMS training in Spanish and is responsible for the translation of Better Outcomes Now to Spanish and expanding BON to Spanish speaking countries.
Dr. Jacqueline A. Sparks died on November 3, 2022. Read about this extraordinary person and champion of PCOMS and social justice here: https://blog.betteroutcomesnow.com/in-memory-of-dr.-jacqueline-a.-sparks
Dr. Chapman is an Associate Professor and Associate Chair/Director of the Psychology Training Clinic in the School of Professional Psychology at Spalding University in Louisville, KY. Her primary research interests are in evaluating psychotherapy process and outcome, both in person and via telepsychology, to develop evidence-based practices that increase the access to and quality of mental health care among underserved populations. Dr. Chapman was especially proud to be part of 3 of the RCT’s supporting use of PCOMS in couples and group therapy. More recently, she has been training graduate students in her program on the science and practice of PCOMS. Dr. Chapman is passionate about teaching graduate students to improve their effectiveness as clinicians from the beginning of their training. In fact, their program has made using PCOMS a requirement as part of their training program, as they have found it to be a pivotal tool for graduate students. She is currently in the role of implementing Better Outcomes Now program wide and looks forward to supporting other graduate programs navigating implementation.
Dr. Reese, professor and chair of the Department of Special Education, Rehabilitation, and Counseling, Auburn University, has emerged as one of the premiere researchers in country. He has been a driving force in the scientific credibility of PCOMS, playing a major role in 6 randomized clinical trials and 3 benchmarking studies. Other than PCOMS and client feedback, Dr. Reese’s primary research interests are psychotherapy process/outcome, training and supervision, and the use of telehealth technologies to increase the availability of services for underserved populations. Dr. Reese, in collaboration with Dr. Duncan, continues to expand the influence of PCOMS cross culturally as well as other populations and settings.
Project Leaders have made an extraordinary PCOMS impact in terms of dissemination, influence, and/or application. The Certified Trainer designation represents a commitment to the ideas, practices, research, and values of PCOMS. A PCOMS Certified Trainer has demonstrated not only a deep knowledge of PCOMS but also an ability to train others and guide the implementation process. There are two levels of PCOMS Certified Trainers. Level I applies to those who primarily train and implement PCOMS within their own agencies or institutions. Level II is for those who are either doing outside training and/or are ambassadors for PCOMS with funders or other broader contexts. Learn more about the measures of PCOMS.
Robert T. Bohankse, Ph.D., friend, colleague, and influencer without equal, died on January 4, 2021. Read more about this amazing person at https://blog.betteroutcomesnow.com/in-memory-of-dr.-bob-bohanske
Dr. DeSantis is now retired but still active in PCOMS research. He was the Vice President of Behavioral Health Services at Peak Vista Community Health Centers in Colorado Springs, Colorado and oversaw behavioral health consultants embedded within ten of Peak Vista's primary care health centers. He served in the U.S. Air Force as a clinical psychologist and was in various leadership positions during his twenty-year career in the Air Force medical corp, which included a fellowship at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. It was during this fellowship and his training in a children's hospital that he first became interested in integrated health care settings. In fact, the Air Force was a pioneer in integrating mental health services into its primary care clinics and began doing so in the early 1990s. Dr. DeSantis is a key collaborator with Drs. Duncan and Reese with the current integrated care randomized clinical trial conducted at his site as well as other investigations including the primary care measures.
Dr. Murphy is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Central Arkansas (USA), practitioner, author of several books on client-directed/strengths-based therapy, and consultant/trainer to national and international groups that include the North American Chinese Psychological Association (NACPA), the American Counseling Association (ACA), and the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP). His goal is to help people change with dignity by honoring their unique wisdom, strengths, and other resources. As much as he has learned from his teachers and mentors, the greatest lessons about helping people change have come from the clients themselves. For Dr. Murphy, there is no greater privilege than being invited into people’s lives to help them grow and change in valued directions. Learn more at www.drjohnmurphy.com.
Ms. Mireau, now retired but still active as a PCOMS trainer in the province, is a Registered Social Worker in Saskatchewan, Canada, has been a practicing social worker for over 30 years in a variety of practice settings. She taught for the Faculty of Social Work at the Regina for 11 years. Ms. Mireau was an early adopter of PCOMS and has participated in the Health Regions’ implementation since 2008. Until her retirement in April 2019, she was the Provincial PCOMS Coordinator of Mental Health and Addiction Services in Saskatchewan. She was instrumental in the provincial implementation of PCOMS and BON, the largest implementation in Canada.
Ms. Pope is the Manager of Practice and Development at Wesley Community Action in Wellington, New Zealand and the person largely responsible for spreading PCOMS in New Zealand via the Partnering for Outcomes Foundation Aotearoa: Leading PCOMS for Effective Change (www.pcoms.nz). She is also an accredited trainer in the Strengths Based Framework. For the past year, Ms. Pope has been seconded part time into New Zealand’s new Ministry for Children, Oranga Tamariki, developing National Care Standards with children in care and designing services to ensure the voices of children and their families are central. To help accomplish this goal, she is the co-architect of a pilot project to implement PCOMS in child protective services.
Zhuang She is a researcher and practitioner who has been a trainer of PCOMS for six years. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the school of psychology and cognitive science, East China Normal University (Shanghai). Mr. She first met Dr. Barry Duncan in 2015 through e-mail exchanges when he was preparing his graduate research programs. They met in person at Sias University (Zhengzhou, China) in 2017. Zhuang and Barry have established an extremely productive relationship around PCOMS and importantly, a great friendship. They have collaborated on several projects over the years, including introducing PCOMS into China and conducting the first clinical trial of PCOMS with a Chinese clinical population. These studies have laid a foundation for the use of PCOMS in Chinese clinical settings. Zhuang also worked with Barry to translate the Better Outcomes Now web application to Chinese, which is now available for mental health professionals in China. Zhuang has nearly single-handedly brought scientific credibility to PCOMS in China through his research which first validated the Chinese ORS and SRS and then demonstrated that PCOMS is not just a Western phenomenon but also improves outcomes and reduces dropouts in China.
New Zealand: Exess Connectivity Ltd (www.exess.co.nz); Partnering for Outcomes Foundation Aotearo (www.pcoms.nz) Norway Consultants: Tor Fjeldstad, Geir Skauli, and Morten Anker
Dr. Anker is a psychologist and specialist in clinical and family psychology. He works at the family counseling office of Tønsberg, Vestfold, Norway. Morten is the principal investigator of the first clinical trial of PCOMS, the study that led to PCOMS evidence based practice status.
Mr. Braucht is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Certified Professional Counselor Supervisor with over 14,000 hours of supervised psychotherapy and applied community psychology experience in alcohol and other drug, crisis intervention, and mental health services. He specializes in workforce development and continuous quality and outcome improvement consulting. Besides teaching psychology, George also enjoys facilitating behavioral health and social justice trainings with professional and peer service providers. More recently he assisted in developing Recovery Residence Manager and Recovery Capital Scale trainings. George serves on the Board of the Georgia Association of Recovery Residences and he is a Charter Board Member and Affiliates Committee Co-chair of the National Alliance for Recovery Residences. Learn more at www.brauchtworks.com.
Mr. DeBord a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and graduate of LA State University. He worked with the LA Office of Behavioral Health (OBH) 31 years while maintaining a part-time private practice. He retired January 2014 as a Regional Administrator responsible for traditional community behavioral health services in Northeast Louisiana. Mark currently maintains a solo private practice offering behavioral health services to adults. Mark is a lifetime member of the Albert Ellis Institute and an Associate Fellow and Supervisor of the Albert Ellis Institute. He teaches and uses REBT as the primary modality in his clinical work. He has found incorporating PCOMS into his clinical use of REBT quite compatible and beneficial. Mark desires to influence other solo practitioners and small practices to incorporate PCOMS.
Dr. Parkinson is a clinical psychologist and a clinical social worker specializing in family therapy with youth who are receiving the highest level of service delivery. She works closely with community-based private non-profit organizations that serve the most challenging youth behaviors in day treatment, residential, wrap around, schools, and other settings. Dr. Parkinson also works closely with county systems that refer these youth, training and consulting in youth and family therapy. Pamela runs the Bay Area Family Institute of Training in the San Francisco Bay Area and is known for her trainings utilizing the one-way mirror.
Dr. Poplawski has a 44 year distinguished career of service within public mental health and substance abuse programs. He is a seasoned leader and advocate who has engaged in a variety of governmental executive roles in the strategic planning, financing and startup of clinical and recovery programs. In the last 10 years, he has been sought to facilitate organizational and programmatic transformation in moving "traditional" approaches to mental health and substance abuse treatment, toward the full inclusion of recovery/resilience-oriented philosophies, principles and practices. His work in Delaware, Montgomery County, Philadelphia, Texas, Minnesota and other jurisdictions has been instrumental in redefining the nature and structures of programs and practices. He is one of the original authors and architects of the nationally acclaimed system transformation in Philadelphia working with Dr. Arthur Evans, assisting him in crafting the Practice Guidelines for Recovery and Resilience Oriented Treatment, considered a groundbreaking treatise in the field.
Don Rogers spent 26 years working in community mental health as a front line clinician, local supervisor, manager, and executive level leader.
From 2015 until his retirement in the fall of 2020 he served as Chief Clinical Officer of New Vista, a community mental health center in central Kentucky that served about 20,000 individuals per year in a 17 county region.
Don has also been very involved in music. He plays in several bands, writes songs, plays multiple instruments and teaches traditional music. He intends to continue to grow his involvement in music while also offering consultation based in his experience and expertise as a clinical leader.
Don offers the following consultation and training services:
- Training in PCOMS, including integration of feedback in clinical practice, clinical supervision and data use
- Implementation and maintenance of clinical feedback processes that employ routine
outcome monitoring in all services across provider systems
- Enhancement of data use in decision making processes that impact both clinical and operational effectiveness
- Management of systemic changes that create challenges to operations and clinical services
- Establishment of incentive programs designed to stabilize productivity
- Establishment and implementation of a philosophy of clinical care incorporating clinical best practices with organizational mission and operational effectiveness
Mr. Skauli is a clinical psychologist in Norway specializing in family psychology. He has been working with children and families in different settings for three decades. Mr. Skauli has held many roles including clinician, manager, and project leader on the national level in Norway. He has been using, teaching and promoting PCOMS in different ways for more than 15 years. More recently, Geir is working in low threshold services and child protection services.
Annette Wolf El-Agroudi is a clinical psychologist specializing in drug and alcohol addiction. Annette has a multicultural background with experience in Germany, France, Peru, and Bolivia that informs her work. Since 2012, she has worked at BlåKors Borgestadklinikken in Skien, Norway, an addiction center for clients and their families. Currently, she is the supervisor of outpatient services.
Annette was an early adopter of PCOMS and has used it for over 10 years with her clients. She attended the first Training of Trainers Conference that Barry conducted in Norway and has been a staunch advocate ever since. Since 2012, she has implemented PCOMS in all the programs of Borgestadklinikken.
Given her clinical experience with PCOMS coupled with her implementation success, Ms. Wolf El-Agroudi has become a strong voice in Norway for PCOMS. Her efforts have resulted in several other addiction clinics implementing PCOMS . Her work is highlighted by the Nasjonal kompetenase senter (TSB), the accrediting body for substance abuse treatment in Norway.
Tom Murray: drtom@apathtowellness.com; Tatiana Casado de Staritzky: tatiana.casado@uib.es; Sterling Chick: sterlingc@ccsww.org; Thu Nguyen: thu.nguyen@saskhealthauthority.ca; Crystal Petryk: crystal.petryk@saskhealthauthority.ca; Annette El-agroudi: annette.wolf.el-agroudi@borgestadklinikken.no; Shawna Materi: shawna.materi@saskhealthauthority.ca;
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