Newswise — WASHINGTON - W. Douglas Tynan, PhD, a psychologist with extensive experience in primary and integrated care settings, has been named director of integrated health care with the American Psychological Association's Center for Psychology and Health. Tynan will also serve as the associate director of the center.

"Dr. Tynan brings an impressive background that is ideally suited to the work of the center," said APA CEO Norman B. Anderson, PhD, who directs the center. "Dr. Tynan stands ready to develop and implement an overall framework and strategy to promote the engagement of psychologists in providing integrated mental and behavioral health services in primary care and other health care settings."

"Integrating care has been the major focus of my career dating back to my doctoral research on the follow-up of infants admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit," Tynan said. "I welcome the challenge of ensuring that the evolving integrated health care system fully includes psychological services to enhance patient care. And I look forward to helping to advance our profession so that all of our skills are recognized, working closely with other professional organizations to find common ground."

Before joining APA, Tynan spent 13 years with the Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Delaware, most recently as chief psychologist with Nemours Health and Prevention Services. In that post, he directed implementation of statewide initiatives to promote parenting skills, and social, emotional and physical health for children in family, primary care, child care, school and after-school settings. He developed a federally funded program that trains both pediatric and psychology residents in the assessment and treatment of child behavior problems in primary care settings, and coordinated a clinical intervention program for children with disruptive behavior and their parents. Earlier in his career, he spent two years as director of the ADHD (attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder) Evaluation & Treatment Program with Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Pa. From 1987-1998, he held a variety of positions with the Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

A graduate of Boston University, Tynan earned a master's degree in psychology at the University of Connecticut and a PhD in clinical psychology at Binghamton University. He is a licensed psychologist in Delaware and Pennsylvania, an APA fellow and a member of the Delaware Psychological Association. Tynan is also a professor of pediatrics at Jefferson Medical College and an associate professor of health sciences at the University of Delaware. He currently serves on Delaware's State Healthcare Innovation plan workforce and financing work groups. He previously served on Delaware's Early Childhood Council, the Head Start Partners in Excellence Program, the Coordinating Council of the Delaware Health Science Alliance and the Professional Advisory Board of the Delaware Epilepsy Foundation. He is co-editor of the APA journal Clinical Practice in Pediatric Psychology.

The Center for Psychology and Health, based in APA's national headquarters, was established in January 2013 to focus on creating opportunities for greater numbers of psychologists to share their expertise in health care settings and to further prepare them for such roles. Ellen Garrison, PhD, APA's senior policy advisor, assists Anderson in the coordination of the center's activities. Another unit of the center, the Office for Health Care Financing, advocates at the national policy level in support of payment models that are fair and sustainable for both health systems and practitioners. That office is directed by Randy Phelps, PhD, the former deputy executive director of the APA Practice Directorate/APA Practice Organization.

________________________________________The American Psychological Association, in Washington, D.C., is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States. APA's membership includes nearly 130,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. Through its divisions in 54 subfields of psychology and affiliations with 60 state, territorial and Canadian provincial associations, APA works to advance the creation, communication and application of psychological knowledge to benefit society and improve people's lives. ________________________________________

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