VISN 1 MIRECC Staff: Brian J. Stevenson, Ph.D.
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Brian J. Stevenson, Ph.D.
Dr. Brian J. Stevenson is a licensed clinical psychologist and researcher for the VISN1 Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC) and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at UMass Chan Medical School. He is also Co-Director of Training for the VISN 1 Advanced Fellowship Program in Mental Illness Research & Treatment at the VA Bedford Healthcare System, a faculty member for the Psychosocial Rehabilitation Fellowship, Co-Director of the Program for Outpatient, Wellness, Engagement, & Recovery (POWER), as well as Director of EmpowerWork program. Dr. Stevenson’s work focuses on understanding the relationships between employment and substance use, as well as designing interventions to improve meaningful vocational outcomes among individuals in early recovery from substance use conditions. He received a VA Rehabilitation Research & Development (RR&D) Career Development Award-2 (CDA-2) to develop and test a novel vocational counseling intervention to augment transitional work services, and is additionally MPI of a VA Health Systems Research (HSR) Consortium of Research (CORE) on Veteran Employment and Economic Security.
Education
- B.A., Film & Media Studies, University of California, Irvine, 2007
- M.A., Education; Counseling & Student Personnel Services, 2011
- Ph.D., Counseling, Clinical, & School Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2016
Areas of Research Interest
- Vocational Interventions for Meaningful Work
- Unemployment and Job Loss Prevention
- Co-occuring Mental Health, Substance Use Disorders, and Serious Mental Illness (SMI)
- Process Dimensions of Recovery-Oriented Psychotherapy
- Development and Evaluation of Recovery Support Interventions
Projects & Grants
- Veteran Employment and Economic Security Research Consortium (MPI)
A Health Systems Research (HSR) funded Consortium of Research (CORE) to develop data infrastructure and a learning health system community of researchers dedicated to studying employment and economic security for Veterans. 2024 – 2029 - Improving Vocational Outcomes of Veterans with Psychiatric Disorders: Career Counseling & Development (PI)
A Rehabilitation Research and Development (RR&D) CDA-2 to develop and evaluate a vocational counseling protocol for veterans engaged in transitional work rehabilitation services. 2021 – 2026. - Community-Based Early Intervention for Veterans at Risk of Unemployment and Suicide: A Demonstration Project for Supported Employment-Engage and Keep (SEEK) (Project Lead)
Clinical demonstration project funded by the VHA Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention to expand and evaluate a job retention program for suicide prevention. 2021-2023. - Examining Factors Related to Career Indecision and Vocational Functioning among Veterans with Co-Occurring Substance Abuse and Mental Health Disorders (PI)
Funded by the VISN1 Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC) to explore antecedents and outcomes related to vocational identity development of veterans living with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders. 2018 – 2021.
