Dwain Fehon, PsyD
Professor of PsychiatryCards
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Chief Psychologist, Psychiatric Services, Yale New Haven Hospital
Director, Behavioral Medicine Service
Contact Info
Psychiatry
Yale-New Haven Hospital, 20 York Street, Fitkin 610
New Haven, CT 06510
United States
Are You a Patient?
View this doctor's clinical profile on the Yale Medicine website for information about the services we offer and making an appointment.
View Doctor ProfileAdditional Titles
Chief Psychologist, Psychiatric Services, Yale New Haven Hospital
Director, Behavioral Medicine Service
Contact Info
Psychiatry
Yale-New Haven Hospital, 20 York Street, Fitkin 610
New Haven, CT 06510
United States
Are You a Patient?
View this doctor's clinical profile on the Yale Medicine website for information about the services we offer and making an appointment.
View Doctor ProfileAdditional Titles
Chief Psychologist, Psychiatric Services, Yale New Haven Hospital
Director, Behavioral Medicine Service
Contact Info
Psychiatry
Yale-New Haven Hospital, 20 York Street, Fitkin 610
New Haven, CT 06510
United States
About
Titles
Professor of Psychiatry
Chief Psychologist, Psychiatric Services, Yale New Haven Hospital; Director, Behavioral Medicine Service
Biography
Dr. Fehon is a Professor within the Department of Psychiatry and a member of the Medical Staff at Yale New Haven Hospital. As Chief Psychologist for Psychiatric Services, Dr. Fehon oversees and coordinates the predoctoral psychology training program within Yale New Haven Hospital and Yale New Haven Psychiatric Hospital. Since completing his internship and postdoctoral training at Yale in 1993, Dr. Fehon has devoted his career to psychology training and the development of hospital-based programs for adolescents, families, and adults. He is the founding director of the Behavioral Medicine Service, a clinical service that provides integrated psychological services to chronically ill adults within the Yale Cancer Center/Smilow Cancer Hospital, Tobacco Treatment Service, Yale New Haven Hospital Transplantation Center, Yale Sleep Center and Yale Spine Center. As a member of the Yale Cancer Center's palliative care services, Dr. Fehon provides integrated psychological care to aid coping, resilience and quality of life with patients living with advanced cancer.
Dr. Fehon’s current academic interests relate to understanding psychological, behavioral, and neuropsychiatric comorbidities among patients facing serious, chronic, and life threatening illnesses. He is interested in the utilization of qualitative and qualitative research methods to understand the phenomenological aspects of living with serious illness, and he is interested the development of novel psychotherapies to reduce the risk of adverse stress-related symptoms such as drug and alcohol abuse, depression, anxiety and PTSD in vulnerable medically ill patient populations.
Appointments
Psychiatry
ProfessorPrimary
Other Departments & Organizations
- Psychiatry
- Psychological Medicine Section
- Psychology Section
- Yale Cancer Center
- Yale Medicine
- Yale Ventures
Education & Training
- Postdoctoral Fellowship
- Yale University School of Medicine (1993)
- PsyD
- University of Hartford (1992)
- Predoctoral Fellowship
- Yale University School of Medicine (1992)
Research
Overview
Demoralization in cancer patients receiving palliative care. The specific aim of this research is to study the relationship between demoralization and certain other variables, such as spiritual well-being, sense of meaning, purpose in life, and overall quality of life in patients receiving palliative care. The long-term objective of this research is to contribute to the personalization of palliative care by designing an algorithm for evidence-based selection of psychotherapeutic interventions tailored to meet the needs of individual patients and aimed at countering demoralization, suicidal ideation or requests for hastened death. This study is ongoing and currently recruiting subjects (Primary Investigator: Dr. Dwain Fehon).
Psychiatric, psychological, and behavioral correlates in patients with end-stage liver disease awaiting organ transplantation. This exploratory study recruited and assessed 125 waitlisted liver transplant candidates using self-report measures of emotional adjustment and quality of life (Dr. Dwain Fehon, Primary Investigator).
Liver SMART: A Stress Management and Relaxation Training Intervention for Liver Transplant Candidates. This is a Stage 1A treatment development study examined the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of an 8-session group cognitive-behavioral stress management intervention for liver transplant candidates (Dr. Dwain Fehon, Primary Investigator).
Text Messaging to Reduce Alcohol Relapse in Liver Transplant Patients. This study was an 8-week, randomized controlled pilot trial to investigate the feasibility and acceptability of a text-messaging intervention for alcohol relapse prevention and stress reduction in 20 liver transplant patients with alcohol-related liver disease (Dr. Benjamin Toll, Primary Investigator; Dr. Dwain Fehon, Co-investigator).
Development of the Yale Liver Transplant Psychosocial Risk Scale (YLTRS). This study developed and performed an initial validation of a brief, evidence-based, clinician administered scale to assess level of psychosocial risk among liver transplant candidates (Dr. Dwain Fehon, Primary Investigator).
Medical Research Interests
Research at a Glance
Yale Co-Authors
Publications Timeline
Research Interests
Carlos Grilo, PhD
Steve Martino, PhD
Kelly S. DeMartini, PhD
Mary Driscoll, PhD
Paula Zimbrean, MD, FAPA, FACLP
Tami Sullivan, PhD
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
Resilience, Psychological
Quality of Life
Depression
Alcoholism
Publications
2024
Trauma-informed palliative care for humanitarian crises
de Groot J, Miller D, Willis K, Green T, Calman L, Feldstain A, Rao S, Bahcivan O, Fehon D. Trauma-informed palliative care for humanitarian crises. Journal Of Psychosocial Oncology Research And Practice 2024, 6: 132. DOI: 10.1097/or9.0000000000000132.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsHealth care providersCare providersHumanitarian crisisPalliative care approachPalliative care expertsEnd of lifePrevention of sufferingPromoting cultural sensitivityTrauma-informed principlesPalliative carePsychosocial needsCare approachCare expertsLife-threatening experiencesCaregiversResearch partnershipsCultural sensitivityProvidersSupport healingResearch designPractice literatureGroup initiativesCrisisSaving livesPatients
2023
Trauma-informed palliative care is needed: A call for implementation and research
de Groot J, Fehon D, Calman L, Miller D, Feldstain A. Trauma-informed palliative care is needed: A call for implementation and research. Palliative Medicine 2023, 37: 1470-1473. PMID: 37904308, PMCID: PMC10657501, DOI: 10.1177/02692163231206998.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricPrinciples of Socially Responsive Shared Governance: Applying an Ethics Lens to Systems of Governance in Professional Psychology Training
Maranzan K, Maynard-Pemba N, Çiftçi A, Fehon D, Nikalje A, Berry A. Principles of Socially Responsive Shared Governance: Applying an Ethics Lens to Systems of Governance in Professional Psychology Training. Training And Education In Professional Psychology 2023, 17: 53-62. DOI: 10.1037/tep0000430.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricConceptsEthical valuesSystem of governanceCore of educationEthics lensEthical responsibilityProgram governanceHealth service psychologyGovernance modelGovernanceMeaningful opportunitiesTraditional hierarchiesConcerned partiesProfessional psychology trainingAccountabilityPsychology trainingPartnershipEquityOwnershipEducationRacismInjusticeIndigenousPartiesInequitiesPsychology
2022
Same storm, different boat: The global impact of COVID‐19 on palliative care
Willis KD, Rao SR, Normen M, de Groot J, Calman L, Bahcivan O, Centeno I, Fehon D. Same storm, different boat: The global impact of COVID‐19 on palliative care. Psycho-Oncology 2022, 32: 148-154. PMID: 35793431, PMCID: PMC9350379, DOI: 10.1002/pon.5995.Commentaries, Editorials and LettersCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsPalliative carePalliative care providersPalliative care leadersCOVID-19COVID-19 pandemicHumanity of patientsCare providersHealth providersSocio-economic statusClinical interventionsComplicated griefCareCare leadersEducation SubcommitteeGreater awarenessPresentationSocial distancing requirementsPandemicDistancing requirementsPatientsProviders
2018
Perioperative Psychological Interventions
Fehon D, Swanson A. Perioperative Psychological Interventions. 2018, 87-106. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-99774-2_7.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsConceptsPsychological interventionsLong-term psychosocial adjustmentPost-traumatic stress disorderEvidence-based psychotherapiesPerioperative psychological interventionsPsychological adjustmentPsychosocial adjustmentTraumatic eventsStress disorderEmotional distressPerisurgical settingSignificant predictorsInterventionDistressPsychotherapyAdjustmentPhysical complicationsDepressionDisordersPredictorsSettingSymptomsThe feasibility of a group stress management Liver SMART intervention for patients with end-stage liver disease: A pilot study
Jutagir DR, Saracino RM, Cunningham A, Foran-Tuller KA, Driscoll MA, Sledge WH, Emre SH, Fehon DC. The feasibility of a group stress management Liver SMART intervention for patients with end-stage liver disease: A pilot study. Palliative & Supportive Care 2018, 17: 35-41. PMID: 29860964, PMCID: PMC6279612, DOI: 10.1017/s147895151800024x.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsRelaxation training interventionCognitive-behavioral stress management interventionTraining interventionStress managementEnd-stage liver diseaseStress management interventionsPreliminary efficacyDepressive symptomsBeck Anxiety InventoryBeck Depression Inventory-IIPsychological interventionsLiver diseaseAnxiety InventoryNew skillsInventory-IIIntervention effectivenessSmart interventionsEnd-stage liver disease patientsPostintervention surveysSingle transplantation centerLiver disease patientsCourse of treatmentManagement interventionsParticipantsInterventionActive Coping and Perceived Social Support Mediate the Relationship Between Physical Health and Resilience in Liver Transplant Candidates
Swanson A, Geller J, DeMartini K, Fernandez A, Fehon D. Active Coping and Perceived Social Support Mediate the Relationship Between Physical Health and Resilience in Liver Transplant Candidates. Journal Of Clinical Psychology In Medical Settings 2018, 25: 485-496. PMID: 29546621, DOI: 10.1007/s10880-018-9559-6.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsLiver transplant candidatesTransplant candidatesPhysical functioningPsychological resiliencePhysical healthActive copingEnd-stage liver diseaseSocial supportWait-listed candidatesWait-list periodSocial support mediatesActive coping skillsLiver diseaseSignificant morbidityTransplant centersCare providersMaladaptive copingPsychological stressSocial support networksCoping skillsCopingHealthFunctioningSupport networksResiliencePsychiatric Comorbidity, Health-Related Quality of Life, and Mental Health Service Utilization Among Patients Awaiting Liver Transplant
Saracino RM, Jutagir DR, Cunningham A, Foran-Tuller KA, Driscoll MA, Sledge WH, Emre SH, Fehon DC. Psychiatric Comorbidity, Health-Related Quality of Life, and Mental Health Service Utilization Among Patients Awaiting Liver Transplant. Journal Of Pain And Symptom Management 2018, 56: 44-52. PMID: 29526612, PMCID: PMC6360091, DOI: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2018.03.001.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsMental health service utilizationHealth service utilizationService utilizationMental health treatmentPost-traumatic stress disorderPsychiatric disordersHealth treatmentEnd-stage liver disease patientsEnd-stage liver diseaseLiver transplant candidatesLiver disease patientsHealth-related qualityRoutine clinic appointmentsPast psychiatric disordersMental health servicesQuality of lifeStructured diagnostic interviewLiver transplantTransplant candidatesTraumatic Stress DisorderClinic appointmentsLiver diseasePsychiatric comorbidityDisease patientsOptimal treatmentText Messaging to Reduce Alcohol Relapse in Prelisting Liver Transplant Candidates: A Pilot Feasibility Study
DeMartini KS, Schilsky ML, Palmer A, Fehon DC, Zimbrean P, O'Malley SS, Lee HB, Toll BA. Text Messaging to Reduce Alcohol Relapse in Prelisting Liver Transplant Candidates: A Pilot Feasibility Study. Alcohol Clinical And Experimental Research 2018, 42: 761-769. PMID: 29498753, PMCID: PMC6438371, DOI: 10.1111/acer.13603.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsAlcoholic liver diseaseLiver transplant candidatesLiver transplant patientsStandard careEfficacy outcomesTransplant patientsTransplant candidatesFeasibility outcomesTM participantsAlcohol interventionsClinical efficacy outcomesLiver transplantation programPreliminary efficacy outcomesPrimary feasibility outcomePilot feasibility trialPilot feasibility studyRelapse prevention interventionsBetter treatment outcomesLiver diseaseFeasibility trialUnited NetworkTransplantation programIntervention satisfactionTreatment outcomesAlcohol relapse
2016
Measuring Coping Behavior in Liver Transplant Candidates
Amoyal N, Fernandez AC, Ng R, Fehon DC. Measuring Coping Behavior in Liver Transplant Candidates. Progress In Transplantation 2016, 26: 277-285. PMID: 27358343, DOI: 10.1177/1526924816655253.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsLiver transplant candidatesLiver transplant patientsTransplant candidatesTransplant patientsBrief COPEAdaptive coping mechanismsBrief COPE scaleFactor structurePatientsPsychological challengesPredictive validityCOPE scaleExploratory factor analysisCoping behaviorsWidespread useCoping mechanismsScale's factor structure
Clinical Trials
Current Trials
Brain Emotion Circuitry-Targeted Self-Monitoring and Regulation Therapy (BE-SMART)
HIC ID0407026910RoleSub InvestigatorPrimary Completion Date06/30/2022Recruiting ParticipantsGenderBothAge16 years - 24 years
Academic Achievements & Community Involvement
activity American Psychosocial Oncology Society (APOS)
Professional OrganizationsCommittee MemberDetails12/01/2017 - Presentactivity International Psychosocial Oncology Society (IPOS), Palliative Care SIG Education Committee
Professional OrganizationsChairDetails2021 - Presentactivity Council of Clinical Health Psychology Training Programs (CCHPTP)
Professional OrganizationsChairDetails04/06/2022 - Presentactivity Council of Clinical Health Psychology Training Programs (CCHPTP)
Professional OrganizationsSecretaryDetails12/01/2018 - 12/31/2021honor Excellence in Behavioral Medicine Training Program Award
National AwardSociety of Behavioral MedicineDetails03/30/2017United States
Clinical Care
Overview
Clinical Specialties
Yale Medicine News
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View Doctor ProfileNews & Links
News
- April 08, 2024
Doctoral Internship in Clinical and Community Psychology Matches New Fellows
- March 22, 2023
Fourteen Fellows Match to Yale Doctoral Internship in Clinical and Community Psychology
- June 21, 2022
Doctoral Internship in Clinical & Community Psychology Graduates 14; Honors Faculty
- March 28, 2022
Fourteen Fellows Match to Yale Doctoral Internship in Clinical and Community Psychology
Get In Touch
Contacts
Psychiatry
Yale-New Haven Hospital, 20 York Street, Fitkin 610
New Haven, CT 06510
United States
Locations
Patient Care Locations
Are You a Patient? View this doctor's clinical profile on the Yale Medicine website for information about the services we offer and making an appointment.