Peter L. Phalen, PsyD
- Academic Title: Assistant Professor
- Primary Appointment: Psychiatry
- Email: pphalen@som.umaryland.edu
Biosketch
Dr. Phalen is a clinical psychologist and faculty member in the Division of Psychiatric Services Research of the University of Maryland School of Medicine. As a clinician-scientist, he is committed to conducting research with direct clinical impact, often utilizing pragmatic, real-world data sources and close collaborations with stakeholders.
Dr. Phalen engages in research in a number of areas, including the development and evaluation of early psychosis specialty care, therapies for people with psychosis-like experiences, programs to provide trauma care to victims of gun violence, and interventions to prevent suicide, homicide, and opioid-related harm. He leads an NIMH-funded Randomized Controlled Trial of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) for people experiencing psychosis and at high risk for suicide.
In addition to his research, Dr. Phalen is a practicing Licensed Psychologist, and frequently delivers clinical trainings in DBT and other therapeutic approaches.
Research/Clinical Keywords
Community mental health, psychosis, suicidality
Highlighted Publications
Phalen, P., Hall, W., & Jones, N. (2025). Antipsychotics “As Needed”: An Understudied But Widespread Self-Managed Medication Use Pattern. Psychiatric Services.
Phalen, P., Lucksted, A., Fox, K., Yusuf, A., Hochheiser, J., Jones, N., Fetisova, A., Hackman, A., and Bennett, M. (in press). Pilot of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Skills Training for People with Psychosis Spectrum Conditions and High Risk of Suicide. Psychosis.
Phalen, P., Kimhy, D., Jobes, D., & Bennett., M. (2024). Emotional distress and dysregulation as treatment targets to reduce suicide in psychosis: a scoping review. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience.
Phalen, P. & Kivisto, A. (2023). Research on Youth Suicide and Sexual Orientation is Impacted by High Rates of Missingness in National Surveillance Systems. Archives of Suicide Research. doi:10.1080/13811118.2023.2227233
Jones, N., Atterbury, K., Byrne, L., Carras, M., Hansen, M., & Phalen, P. (2021). Lived Experience, Research Leadership, and the Transformation of Mental Health Services: Building a Researcher Pipeline. Psychiatric Services, 72(5), 591-593.
Phalen, P., Bridgeford, E., Gant, L., Kivisto, A., Ray, B., & Fitzgerald, S. (2020). Baltimore Ceasefire 365: Estimated impact of a recurring community-led ceasefire on gun violence. American Journal of Public Health, 110(4), 554-559.
Phalen, P. L., Warman, D., Martin, J., & Lysaker, P. (2018). The stigma of voice-hearing experiences: Religiousness and voice-hearing contents matter. Stigma and Health, 3(1), 77-84.
Phalen, P. L. (September, 2013), Psychiatrists and African Traditional Healers Ally on Mental Health. Humanosphere.
Grants and Contracts
Selected funding:
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Targeting Emotion Dysregulation to Reduce Suicide in People with Psychosis. PI: Peter L. Phalen, PsyD. $721,011.14 (total direct costs). 09/01/22-08/31/26.
University of Maryland Accelerated Translational Incubator Pilot (ATIP) Grant. Using Records Linkage to Understand Post-treatment Needs of Patients in Early Psychosis Intervention. MPI: Phalen and Unick. $40,000 (total direct costs). 05/01/2025-05/01/2026
VISN 5 VA Capitol Healthcare Network MIRECC. Suicidality among patients with psychosis. PI: Peter L. Phalen, PsyD. $24,089 (total direct costs). 09/01/19-11/30/20
National Institute of Justice. NIJ Recidivism Forecasting Challenge Winner: Team DEAP (award number: 2021-nij-rec-ch-0015). Monetary awards for 1st through 4th place finishes in the NIJ forecasting recidivism challenge, using machine learning techniques to predict blinded outcomes on a real-world dataset. See description of the contest and our final report.