DMU and McLean Hospital Launch Three-Year Strategic Collaboration Agreement
Divine Mercy University (DMU) has entered into a strategic collaboration agreement with McLean Hospital. Founded in 1811, McLean Hospital is a leader in psychiatric care, research, training, and advocacy, and is the largest psychiatric affiliate of Harvard Medical School.
This new strategic collaboration is the fruit of a generous grant from the Orange Crimson Foundation and the result of a series of meetings held over the last fifteen months. Both institutions have experienced these collegial interactions in an overwhelmingly positive manner, learning from each other and developing a strong and friendly rapport.
The collaboration will consist of three principal areas:
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Training and education in Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD);
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Joint research efforts to better understand the relationship between spirituality and mental health disorders; and
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Worldwide dissemination of the knowledge and evidence acquired during the collaboration.
The initial period of the collaboration will be for a period of three years and work will begin during the 2020-21 school year. Dr. Scott L. Rauch, McLean Hospital’s President and Psychiatrist in Chief commented on the project, “It has been our great pleasure to discover, along with the DMU team, the significant synergies between our approaches toward improving the lives of people and families affected by psychiatric illness. We see this as an opportunity to grow our services and help many more mental health providers deliver evidence-based care to their communities.”
The joint research efforts will involve DMU students and faculty and McLean Hospital’s Spirituality and Mental Health Program, which is led by Dr. David H. Rosmarin. Studies have shown that more than 50% of patients receiving medical or psychological care express a desire to discuss spiritual matters with their health care providers. However, traditional psychiatric and psychological training does not include instruction around spiritual matters, and absent a strong evidence base, it is unlikely that many providers will adopt a provision for spiritually-inflected care. “I am truly excited to partner with DMU, a global educational leader in integrating a theological framework into mental healthcare, with a steady cadre of students eager to make research contributions toward this effort,” said Dr. Rosmarin.
I could not be more excited about the opportunities this presents for our students and faculty in regard to clinical training and research, and for the broader fulfillment of our mission in all of our programs. McLean Hospital’s scientific expertise is second to none and their ground-breaking work on studies relating spirituality to mental health blends perfectly with our unique mission.
Fr. Charles Sikorsky, LC, JD, JCL
President, Divine Mercy University
