Dr. Amy Grinberg , a 2018 graduate of the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, recently received the Excellence in Clinical Health Psychology by an Early Career Professional Award from the Society for Health Psychology, Division 38 of the American Psychological Association. Dr. Grinberg works for the Headache Center of Excellence (HCoE) at the Veterans Administration Connecticut Healthcare System (VACHS). YU News had the chance to speak with her about the work she has done that led to the award.

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Dr. Amy Grinberg

I have the privilege of being the leading headache health psychologist in the VACHS Headache Center of Excellence (HCoE), which is a congressionally mandated national program. In my role, I provide individual, group, and interdisciplinary behavioral interventions to veterans with various types of headache disorders. I recently developed the first Veterans Health Administration (VHA) manual for cognitive behavioral therapies for headache. This treatment will be instrumental in ensuring that veterans with headache have access to evidence-based targeted treatments. I am currently also working on an educational workshop that will allow providers across the VHA to become training in cognitive behavioral therapy for headache to ensure that we can increase access to care. I am working to address an unmet need of veterans with headache via my work on two clinical trials that are examining innovative approaches to treatment delivery in order to improve access to evidence-based behavioral interventions for headache. As a member of the national the VHA HCoE educational workgroup, I help create and develop educational content for veterans and health care providers. I am the chair of the HCoE Non-pharmacological and Behavioral Intervention workgroup, which seeks to establish best practices in the management of headache across the VHA. I have lectured locally and nationally on the role of health psychology in headache management to health psychologists, neurologists, and mental health and primary care workers.