CONSUMER VOICE AND CHOICE
Barry L. Duncan, PsyD, is director of the Heart and Soul of Change Project and a therapist, trainer, and researcher with over 17,000 hours of clinical experience. Dr. Duncan has over one hundred publications, including fifteen books addressing systematic client feedback, consumer rights and involvement, the power of relationship, and a risk/benefit analysis of psychotropic medications. His work regarding consumer rights and client privilege, called the Partners for Change Outcome Management System (PCOMS) is a SAMHSA designated evidence-based practice and has been implemented across the US and in 20 countries. PCOMS truly gives clients the voice they deserve and assigns consumers key roles in determining how services are delivered. His latest books: the 2nd edition of the Heart and Soul of Change (APA, 2010), and On Becoming a Better Therapist (APA, 2010). Because of his self-help books, including What’s Right With You, he has appeared on “Oprah,” “The View,” and several other national TV programs. What’s Right With You shows how to harvest innate resources, resiliencies, and strengths—what’s right rather than what’s wrong—to overcome life’s challenges. His latest article, “Outside the Black Box,” with Dr. Jacqueline Sparks, will appear in the Canadian Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. It reviews the evidence supporting the black box warning for SSRIs used with youth, and confirms that psychosocial options should be the first line of intervention for youth in distress.
