WASHINGTON — Ray Michael Droby, PhD, a captain in the U.S. Public Health Service, has been awarded the 2017 Excellence in Rural Psychology Award from the American Psychological Association in recognition of his commitment to provide behavioral health care in underserved areas of Nome, Alaska, and its 15 surrounding native villages.
“Dr. Droby’s dedication to the rural communities he serves has been long-term, far-reaching, professional and personal,” said Emily Selby-Nelson, PhD, chair of APA’s Committee on Rural Health. “He has invested his career in building resources, connections and future promise for improved access to behavioral health services in rural northern Alaska.”
The APA Excellence in Rural Psychology Award is presented annually to an individual who demonstrates outstanding service to rural and remote populations and who exemplifies the importance psychological advocacy, research, education and practice in these regions.
Droby has provided mental health services in the Bering Strait Region, a designated mental health professional shortage area, for more than 20 years. Beginning as a staff clinical psychologist in 1995, Droby now serves as the director of psychological services at the Unalakleet Sub-Regional Clinic, Norton Sound Health Corp., where he supervises and provides direct treatment to the native communities of Stebbins and St. Michael.
The first mental health provider to live and work in a Central Yupik village, Droby helped develop the Alaska Psychology Internship Consortium, which places psychology interns at member Norton Sound Health Corp. sites. Under Droby’s leadership, the number of doctoral-level health providers increased by 300 percent within the department.
Droby emphasizes person-centered care in his work and designs his therapies in a way that is mindful of the unique circumstances facing remote Alaskans, said Sarah Beckmann, PsyD, a member of APA’s Committee on Rural Health. “While working with Dr. Droby in Nome, it was evident that he has remarkable compassion for the Inupiaq, Siberian Yupik and Yup’ik people of the Norton Sound Region,” said Beckmann. “His career has focused on providing the best mental health services despite significant challenges not often faced by psychologists in the Lower 48.”
The barriers to quality mental health care in the Norton Sound are different from those faced by psychologists elsewhere in the country, said Lance Johnson, administrative director of the Norton Sound Health Corp. “In this region where high rates of suicide, alcoholism, historical trauma and domestic violence are the norm, having a person return for sessions and remain in therapy is a strong mark of success,” he said. “People return to Dr. Droby — seek him out, even — because of his great clinical approach and care.”
The award will be presented to Droby on Aug. 4 at the APA Annual Convention in Washington, D.C.