PhD Mind-Body Medicine

“They don’t cover things like this in medical school, but I know a lot of patients and physicians are really looking for this knowledge and approach. It’s amazing what studying Mind-Body Medicine at Saybrook has done for me in just two years.” – Shawn Tassone,M.D., Saybrook PhD student in Mind-Body Medicine

Over the last several decades western medicine has come to learn what traditional medicine always knew:  our body, minds, and spirit are connected.  Physical ailments can cause emotional and mental breakdowns; emotional trauma can cause physical and mental trauma; and spiritual isolation and despair can cause the body and mind to suffer. 

Just treating the body doesn’t treat the whole person.

That’s why the very best healthcare is integrative care – care that looks at the body, mind, and spirit, and how they interact together.

As part of the PhD Mind-Body Medicine program at Saybrook, you’ll be on the cutting edge of your field, offering skills and experience to your patients and clients that others can’t match. You’ll be part of the vanguard changing healthcare for the better.  

In addition to earning your PhD, you’ll be able to choose one of three specializations, tailoring your course of study to your personal career goals and passions.

Research: Studies show that a whole person approach to health may yield far better results for many of the most intractable health problems of the 21st century. These integrative care approaches have to be rigorously researched, effectively developed, and carefully tested. The Research Specialization will put you in the forefront of this effort.

Practice: Integrative medicine is the cutting edge of healthcare. It represents a new level of intellectual breadth and personal depth, and requires a process of training that emphasizes treating the patient as a whole person, rather than a set of symptoms, and working with the mind and spirit as well as the body. The Practice Specialization will give current and aspiring healthcare professionals expert knowledge of cutting-edge research and validated treatments, and how to apply them, as well as an intensive and transformative educational experience of mind-body and nutritional approaches.

Healthcare Systems: The healthcare system – as well as its therapeutic interventions – is in need of transformation. New structures must be created in hospitals, clinics, and community-based programs which integrate mind-body practices, nutrition, and complementary and conventional therapies in a supportive environment. The great majority of Americans want to make use of these empowering and holistic approaches to health and wellness. The Healthcare System Specialization will connect you to leaders in the field who will help you to learn to develop these innovative and necessary programs.

Whatever your specialization, you’ll be working directly with leaders in the field, and become a member of a community dedicated to improving healthcare in America and developing better models of care.

Meet our faculty

Meet some of our students

Talk to an admissions specialist by calling 800.825.4480 -- or Apply now!