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College of Management and Human Potential - Doctoral Programs:
PsyD in Behavioral Health Leadership

Today’s healthcare system demands behavioral health leaders who can manage the delivery of quality behavioral health and mental health services in an increasingly integrated care setting. Students in this professional doctoral program in leadership are prepared to meet this need. Students in this nonlicensure program can gain cross-disciplinary knowledge, business and management skills, and practical experience that can be used to help shape the rapidly changing integrated healthcare landscape.

Note on Licensure

The PsyD in Behavioral Health Leadership is not a licensure-leading program and does not prepare an individual to become a licensed psychology professional.

Learning Outcomes

All graduates will be prepared to:

  1. Assess behavioral healthcare and leadership in a variety of societal contexts and organizational settings.
  2. Analyze effective management and leadership to improve behavioral health programs for diverse populations
  3. Employ critical thinking to solve problems in a real-world context for behavioral health settings
  4. Apply leadership and consulting principles to the management of mental and integrated health delivery systems.
  5. Evaluate key factors of social determinants of health in behavioral healthcare settings.
  6. Describe how legal and regulatory policies in behavioral healthcare impact a variety of stakeholders.
  7. Synthesize theories and research to support objective-based decision-making for the management of mental health delivery systems.
  8. Evaluate key concepts of health economics in assessing the long-term economic viability of healthcare organizations.

Minimum Degree Requirements

  • Doctoral Writing Assessment
  • Professional Development Plan and Program of Study
  • Foundation course (3 credits)
  • Core courses (40 credits)
  • Research courses (15 credits)
  • Specialization courses (15 credits)
    • Note: The General program does not require specialization courses.
  • Completion of Doctoral Capstone
    • Dissertation support course (5 credits)
    • Doctoral capstone writing courses (5 credits per term for a minimum of four terms; taken continuously until completion)
    • Completion of a beginning-of-quarter, mid-quarter, and end-of-quarter plan for each term
  • Residencies
    • Consulting Skills Intensive (Residency 1)
    • Doctoral Project Development (Residency 2)

Curriculum

Foundation Course (3 credits)

Core Courses (40 credits)

OR

Research Courses (15 credits)

  • Students may take this as a non-degree course.
  • Students may take this as a non-degree course.
  • Students may take this as a non-degree course.

Specialization Courses (15 credits)

These courses are dependent upon the particular specialization. Please see the course list on each specialization page.

Residency Requirements

  • Complete Residency 1 (DRWI-8504 Consulting Skills Intensive) in Term 2 or 3 in order to advance in the program. See Capstone Intensive Retreats for the CSI schedule of events.
  • Complete Residency 2 (DRWI-8507 PsyD BHL Doc Project Virtual) in Term 4 or 5 in order to advance in the program. See the Residencies calendar.

Doctoral Capstone Courses

Course Sequence

Quarter Course Credits
Quarter 1

PBHL 8002 - Foundations of Graduate Study

 3 credits

PBHL 8012 - Behavioral Health Management

 5 credits
Complete Residency 1, DRWI 8504 - Consulting Skills Intensive in Term 2 or 3 in order to advance in the program. See Capstone Intensive Retreats for the CSI schedule of events.
Quarter 2

PBHL 8214 - Consulting for Organizational Change

 5 credits
Quarter 2*

RSCH 8110 - Research Theory, Design, and Methods

 5 credits
Must have completed Residency 1, DRWI 8504 - Consulting Skills Intensive by the end of Term 3 to enroll in Term 4 courses.
Quarter 3*

PBHL 8200 - Behavioral Health Social Entrepreneurship and Advocacy

 5 credits

PBHL 8600 - Governance, Law, and Policy for Healthcare Leaders or Behavioral Healthcare

 5 credits
Quarter 4**

PBHL 8755 - Leadership and Leader Development

 5 credits

RSCH 8210 - Quantitative Reasoning and Analysis

 5 credits
Complete Residency 2, DRWI 8507 - PsyD BHL Doc Project Virtual, in Term 4 or 5 in order to advance in the program. See the Residencies calendar.
Quarter 5**

PBHL 8300 - Healthcare Financial Management and Economics

 5 credits

RSCH 8310 - Qualitative Reasoning and Analysis

 5 credits
Must have completed Residency 2, DRWI 8507 - PsyD BHL Doc Project Virtual, by the end of Term 6 to enroll in Term 7 courses.
Quarter 6

PBHL 8465 - Strategic Planning: Collaboration, Cooperation, and Coordination

 5 credits

PBHL 8315 - Program Evaluation

 OR 

PBHL 8207 - Grant Writing

 5 credits
Quarter 7 Specialization Course 5 credits
Specialization Course 5 credits
Quarter 8 Specialization Course 5 credits

PBHL 8900 - Doctoral Research Project Lab

 5 credits
Quarter 9+

PBHL 9001 - BHL Doctoral Study 1

*** AND 

PBHL 9002 - BHL Doctoral Study 2

 AND 

PBHL 9003 - BHL Doctoral Study 3

 AND 

PBHL 9004 - BHL Doctoral Study 4

 5 credits per term for a minimum of 4 terms; taken continuously until completion

* Complete Residency 1, DRWI 8504 - Consulting Skills Intensive in Term 2 or 3 in order to advance in the program. See Capstone Intensive Retreats for the CSI schedule of events.

** Complete Residency 2, DRWI 8507 - PsyD BHL Doc Project Virtual in Term 4 or 5 in order to advance in the program. See the Residencies calendar.

*** Students take this course for a minimum of four quarters and are continuously enrolled until completion of their doctoral research project with final chief academic officer (CAO) approval. In general, students are continuously registered in the doctoral capstone course until they complete their capstone project and it is approved. This usually takes longer than the minimum required terms in the doctoral capstone course shell.

To complete a doctoral capstone, students must obtain the academic approval of several independent evaluators including their committee, the University Research Reviewer, and the Institutional Review Board; pass the Form and Style Review; gain approval at the oral defense stage; and gain final approval by the chief academic officer. Students must also publish their capstone on ProQuest before their degree is conferred.

Doctoral Writing Assessment

Students who start or readmit to doctoral programs at Walden University in the university catalog for academic year 2017 or later will complete the university’s required doctoral writing assessment. Designed to evaluate incoming doctoral students’ writing skills, this assessment aims to help prepare incoming doctoral students to meet the university’s expectations for writing at the doctoral level.

8-Year Maximum Time Frame

In general, students are continuously registered in the dissertation/doctoral study course until they complete their capstone project and it is approved. This usually takes longer than the minimum required terms in the dissertation/doctoral study course shell.

Students have up to 8 years to complete their doctoral degree requirements (see Enrollment Requirements in the student handbook). Students may petition to extend the 8-year maximum time frame, but an extension is not guaranteed.

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