Part 1 covers the philosophy, skills, and team-based practices every behavioral health clinician should learn in their first week in primary care. This includes understanding how primary care differs from specialty care, how to communicate across disciplines, and how to conduct a productive clinical encounter in 30 minutes.

12 modules · 12 CE credits · $800

Module 1 — Introduction to Primary Care Behavioral Health

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• • Describe the Primary Care Behavioral Health model and how it differs from the Collaborative Care Model and specialty mental health care.
  • Explain the evidence base for integrating behavioral health into primary care, including outcomes for patients, providers, and practices.
  • Identify the core values and clinical philosophy that guide PCBH practice.

 Module 2 — Principles of Primary Care Practice

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• • Describe the five core tenets of primary care: first contact, continuity, comprehensiveness, coordination of care, and attention to the context of family and community.
  • Explain how the history of primary care and the rise of integrated care shapes the current practice environment.
  • Articulate why greater investment in primary care is associated with better health outcomes, lower costs, and greater equity.

Module 3 — Cultural Humility for Primary Care Practice

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• • Apply the ADDRESSING framework to examine your own identities and assumptions across ten dimensions of diversity.
  •  Describe how the similarities and differences between clinician and patient shape the therapeutic relationship in a primary care context.
  • Practice ongoing self-reflection as a strategy for reducing bias and overconfidence in clinical encounters.

Module 4 — Sharing Responsibility for the Care of Patients

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• • Describe how behavioral health clinicians share responsibility for the biopsychosocial needs of patients with PCPs, nurses, and care managers.
  • Apply a broad scope of practice to address patient barriers to medical care and social determinants of health.
  • Identify situations in which a behavioral health clinician can effectively back up a care manager or other team member.

Module 5 — Effective Communication with Team Members

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• • Communicate efficiently and effectively with PCPs before, during, and after patient encounters.
  • Describe how high-quality provider-to-provider communication improves patient outcomes, reduces waste, and supports team satisfaction.

Module 6 — Privacy and Documentation of Care in Primary Care

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• • Distinguish between behavioral health notes and psychotherapy notes and apply appropriate documentation practices for each.
  • Apply HIPAA requirements, 42 CFR Part 2 protections, and the Open Notes mandate to documentation decisions in primary care.
  • Write brief, clinically useful notes that support team communication and fit the workflow of a primary care EHR.

Module 7 — Engagement Skills for Primary Care Practice

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• • Build rapport rapidly and communicate empathy in a time-limited primary care encounter.
  • Apply engagement skills adapted for patients who have had no prior relationship with a behavioral health provider.
  • Create the conditions in which patients feel safe, heard, and motivated to participate in their care.

Module 8 — Warm Handoffs and Joint Appointments with PCPs

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• • Conduct an effective warm handoff and explain why warm handoffs achieve treatment engagement rates far above standard referrals.
  • Conduct a joint appointment when patients and PCPs need to address complex problems together.
  • Support the organizational systems and team culture that make warm handoffs a reliable, everyday practice.

Module 9 — Patient Evaluation in Primary Care

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• • Conduct a meaningful, patient-centered initial encounter in 30 minutes using the Engage–Assess–Assist framework.
  • Use a self-assessment tool to reflect on and strengthen the quality of initial primary care encounters over time.

Module 10 — Agreeing on Treatment Goals

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• • Connect patient values to concrete, documented treatment goals from the first encounter.
  • Align treatment goals with those of the referring PCP.
  • Use goals as the organizing thread of every follow-up visit, and recognize when treatment has stalled.

Module 11 — Emergencies and Urgent Behavioral Health Needs

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• • Recognize and respond to urgent and emergency behavioral health needs in real time in a primary care setting.
  • Communicate effectively with patients in acute distress using direct, brief approaches adapted for impaired listening.
  • Rapidly consult with team members, triage the response, and support a practice culture of consistent emergency preparedness.

Module 12 — Communications: Health Literacy, Interpreters, and Telehealth

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• • Identify and address low health literacy without stigmatizing patients.
  • Work effectively with professional interpreters in person and by phone, and navigate privacy challenges in small language communities.
  • Apply federal requirements for language access and raise health literacy concerns sensitively with patients and team members.

Part 2 builds on the foundation of Part 1 to develop the advanced clinical skills that primary care demands. Topics range from population-level screening and high-stakes clinical situations to evidence-based approaches for patients with chronic medical conditions, substance use disorders, and severe mental illness.

12 modules · 12 CE credits · $800