Family Services Director
Community Mental Health for Central Michigan
Midland, Michigan
Dr. Debra Miller is a licensed master’s level social worker with over 20 years of clinical, supervisory, and administrative experience implementing evidence-based practices for diverse families in community health settings. Her career has centered on improving childhood outcomes through prevention and intervention practices that support family systems. Debra received her doctorate in 2021 with a specialization in couple and family therapy. Her dissertation was completed through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Minority Fellowship Program and examined the core therapist skills needed for successful implementation of family-focused evidence-based practices. Her research was completed working with a community mental health partner and received a commendation award from the Michigan State University Office of Outreach and Engagement for its emphasis on community engaged research strategies and partnership.
Debra has extensive post-graduate training in Brief Strategic Family Therapy (BSFT)®, a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Model Program. Since 2009, Debra has supported Michigan’s largest and longest BSFT implementation site. She holds faculty appointments with the Family Therapy Training Institute of Miami for national BSFT training and implementation support and Michigan State University for teaching and clinical supervision. She currently serves as the Family Services Director for Community Mental Health for Central Michigan, guiding the implementation of family-focused evidence-based practices and supporting efforts to recruit, train, and retain a skilled behavioral health workforce committed to systemic treatment for families. Her program of research continues to support practitioner training and evidence-based practice implementation in community health settings.
Debra is a co-author of Deliberate Practice for Systemic Family Therapy, an American Psychological Association publication that guides the practice of systemic therapy skills interventionists can use to improve their work with family systems. She has contributed to more than 30 peer reviewed and continuing education workshop presentations on family-focused evidence-based practice implementation efforts in community health settings, in addition to several peer-reviewed journal articles on systemic family therapy interventions. She currently serves as a board member for the Sentio University Counseling Center, a systemically focused University training clinic that incorporates deliberate practice into their student training curriculum. She is active with the MSU Trauma Services and Training Network Learning Collaborative as a steering team member.
Monday, May 1, 2023
12:00 PM – 12:30 PM
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