BINGHAMTON, NY - Barbara McCrady, distinguished professor of psychology and director of the Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse, and Addictions (CASAA) at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, will be the guest speaker for the Stephen A. Lisman Lecture in Clinical Psychology series from 3:30-5 Monday, Sept. 12, in Old Union Hall, in the University Union, on the Binghamton University campus. This event is free and open to the public.

McCrady’s presentation, "Alcohol and Drug Problems: How Lessons from Clinicians and Researchers are Shaping Treatment," will discuss the evolution of alcohol and drug treatment in the last 40 years, and how the dynamic interplay between research and clinical practice has shaped that evolution.

McCrady will talk about research on the structure of the treatment delivery system, mutual help groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous, specific behavioral treatments and underserved populations. She will also discuss the implications of the changing demography of the United States, and how changing models for delivery of health care services may impact alcohol and drug treatment and research.

Her career has been dedicated to improving treatments for persons affected by alcohol and other drug problems. Within this broad area, she has focused in particular on couples therapy, other approaches that involve the social network, cognitive behavioral therapy, mutual help groups (including Alcoholics Anonymous) and therapies for women. In each of those areas, her research has illuminated both the outcomes of treatment, as well as the mechanisms or processes of change.

McCrady’s work has been funded by the US National Institutes of Health since 1979. She has published about 250 scientific articles, chapters and books, and provided numerous workshops on treatment delivery. She is a recent past president of the Research Society on Alcoholism and, for more than two decades, was the clinical director of the Center for Alcohol Studies at Rutgers University.