Eric G. Devine, PhD

Teaching Professional Devine_Eric-010-2a3-197x300

Office:
Doctor’s Office Building, Suite 1150
720 Harrison Avenue
Boston, MA 02118-2391
Email: Eric.Devine@bmc.org
Phone: 617- 414 – 2320
Fax: 617- 414 – 2323

Education

I received my B.A. in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, WI and my M.A. and Ph.D degrees from Bowling Green State University, OH.

Biography

I am a licensed clinical psychologist working in the Psychiatry Department at Boston University School of Medicine.  I completed my graduate education at Bowling Green State University in Ohio and came to Boston for a clinical internship at the Boston VA Medical Center in Jamaica Plain.  Following this internship I completed a two-year post-doctoral fellowship at the Boston VA in medical informatics.  I began work at Boston University in 1999 in an alcohol and drug clinical research lab whose mission to develop and test new forms of treatment for alcohol and drug use problems.  In this role, I have gained extensive experience in the design and conduct of medication trials for addiction. I have also had a role in the development of psychosocial treatments for addiction and have co-authored several treatment manuals developed for use in clinical trials for a range of funding agencies (e.g., NIHM, NIDA, SAMHSA).   I am a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers and I provide ongoing training and consultation in the use of motivational interviewing in research.  I am also is a Vice-Chair of the BUMC IRB’s Panel Blue.

Areas of Specialization

  • My primary interests are substance abuse treatment, motivational interviewing, ethics of human subjects research, manualized treatment approaches for addiction, and dissemination of evidence-based treatments.

Questions and Answers

Q: Please describe your theoretical orientation and  teaching philosophy?

My approach combines Cognitive-Behavioral Skills Building, Motivational Interviewing, and the Community Reinforcement Approach.  Just as is true in addiction treatment, everybody in the classroom is responsible for their own change.

Q: Why did you choose to enter the field of psychology?

I was physics major in undergrad when I enrolled for an independent study working in an alcohol research lab.  This lab was testing the effects of psychological constructs (e.g., social anxiety, modeling, alcohol expectancies) on drinking among college-aged adults. I came to understand addiction in a way that was completely different from my own beliefs and widely held societal misconceptions.  This experience transformed my career path and was the beginning of my focus on testing new therapies for addiction and dissemination of evidence-based treatments for addition.

Q: What do you enjoy most about teaching in the MHCBM Program?

I find the students to be bright and motivated to learn.  There are several very satisfying outcomes that I strive to achieve with each group of students who enroll in my classes.  First and foremost, I like to see student’s perception of addiction shift over the course of the term.  It is rewarding to see students discard societal pre-conceptions about addiction, who becomes addicted, or what people can do to recover from addiction. I am also very excited to see students who embrace motivational interviewing and strive to incorporate this style of therapy into immediate clinical practice.  Most rewarding of all is to see students who go on to cultivate addiction treatment as a specialty of their clinical practice.