JB Ward, PhD

Bio:
J.B. Ward is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Physical & Rehabilitation Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Dr. Ward is a licensed clinical psychologist serving on the health psychology team at the Osher Center for Integrative Health. Dr. Ward received her clinical PhD from the University of Louisville, with specialized training in clinical mindfulness and health and behavior research. Dr. Ward completed her predoctoral internship at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, VA Maryland Healthcare System Internship Consortium in Baltimore, Maryland with a broad clinical focus on medical and health psychology, with specialized training in chronic pain and sleep disorders. 

Personal Statement & Approach:
From early in graduate training I have been fascinated by the interplay between the mind and body, in both wellness and illness. I am always seeking to understand how they function and interact as systems as well as how and why they break down and what can be done to restore them. One area of particular interest is the role of consciousness in mental health.

Today, medical practitioners are making decisions in a time where information is vast and yet incomplete. Practitioners with different specialties and perspectives need one another's expertise and insight to support all clinical work - especially in complex cases. While integrative treatment approaches are not always necessary or feasible, it is often the best approach when a patient's mental and physical health have disordered or harmful interplay. I believe that practitioners can improve patients' long-term well-being by addressing the interplay as well as modeling healthy mind and body integration via their collaborative work with one another.

As a clinician, I tend to prefer treatment approaches that do not rely on thought content and behavioral targets alone, but that also emphasize flexibility of attention and cognitive detachment. When possible, I incorporate body-based practices to enhance therapy. My outcomes focus is generally to achieve or restore feelings of well-being, life satisfaction, and improvements in quality of life.