University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Promotes Barbara Baumann, PhD, to Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
We are pleased to announce that Barbara Baumann, PhD, has been promoted to Assistant Professor of Psychiatry by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Dr. Baumann earned her PhD in clinical and developmental psychology from the University of Pittsburgh, having completed a clinical internship at the University of Chicago Institute for Juvenile Research. She then joined the Pitt Department of Psychiatry as a postdoctoral research fellow in the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)-funded T32 training program in child and adolescent psychiatry. Dr. Baumann served as a senior research psychologist in the Department, then joined our faculty as Research Instructor in Psychiatry. Dr. Baumann currently serves as an expert therapist, trainer, and consultant for Alternatives for Families: A Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (AF-CBT), an evidence-based technique specifically designed to address the risk factors for child physical abuse and the clinical consequences of exposure to physical force in the family by teaching skills to minimize distress and enhance adaptive behavior.
Dr. Baumann is an exceptionally skilled trainer for evidence-based therapeutic practices for children and families. Early in her career, she apprehended a need for providing synchronous online access to clinical professionals nationwide to implement AF-CBT. She collaborated with Dr. David Kolko (Professor of Psychiatry, Pediatrics, Psychology, and Clinical and Translational Science), co-developer of AF-CBT, to create regular remote consultation calls. Since then, Dr. Baumann has continued to innovate implementation trainings as diverse learner needs arise. She helped develop a completely synchronous remote training program, which in 2020 became the program’s primary training platform.
Dr. Baumann helps clinicians meet the needs of a challenging and vulnerable patient population. She served as co-investigator on an NIMH-funded R01 grant evaluating the effectiveness of AF-CBT compared to routine treatment as usual. Dr. Baumann trained and consulted with community clinicians in the implementation of AF-CBT, and learned that this practice was challenging for clinicians working with families in community settings with 30–60-day limits on services. To meet that specific need, Dr. Baumann collaborated with these agencies to develop Alternatives for Professionals (AFP), based on AF-CBT. She then disseminated AFP nationwide by developing interactive trainings and a meaningful consultation process tailored to the needs of the agencies.
“An excellent clinician-educator and expert in AF-CBT, Dr. Baumann develops and conducts program trainings to help clinicians provide evidence-based therapeutic practices for children and families, work that has earned her well-deserved recognition nationally and internationally,” said David Lewis, MD (Chair, Department of Psychiatry). “Dr. Baumann’s broad experience as an exceptionally effective teacher is central to her important contributions to the academic missions of the Department and the University.”
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Baumann!