Primary care is fast emerging as an area of tremendous opportunity for behavioral health professionals. Patients regularly present to primary care providers for treatment of the entire spectrum of psychiatric and substance abuse disorders, while at the same time these problems are often undetected in many primary care patients. A tremendous variety of other behaviorally-based problems are also common in primary care, such as chronic diseases (e.g., diabetes), stress- and lifestyle-related health problems (e.g., chronic pain, insomnia), sub-threshold problems (e.g., parenting questions, bereavement), and preventive care needs (e.g., smoking cessation). Unfortunately, treatment outcomes for behaviorally-based problems in primary care are often unimpressive, owing to the generally insufficient training and time given to primary care providers for such problems. In response to the clear need for more behavioral health help in primary care, many clinics are bringing behavioral health professionals on to the primary care team. Yet, primary care is a very different world from specialty mental health, and there is often not a clear understanding by either the primary care clinic or the behavioral health professional of how to make this new partnership successful. This course helps behavioral health professionals understand how to succeed in the world of primary care. Beginners will find clear, practical advice on the topics they most need to know about to get started, such as how to structure a service and get off to a robust start. Those with experience in primary care will gain ideas for growing their service and evaluating their progress to ensure they are meeting the clinic’s needs. And those merely interested in the topic will likely find much that surprises them about this exciting new growth area for behavioral health professionals.

• Identify the various behaviorally-based health problems that commonly present in primary care.
• List the challenges the primary care system has in identifying and treating behaviorally-based problems.
• Articulate the contributions a behavioral health provider can make to primary care.
• Detail the basic clinical, administrative, and theoretical adaptations a behavioral health provider must make in order to work effectively in primary care.