Dr. Bruce Zahn joined the core faculty in the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in July 1999, and serves as Professor and Director of Clinical Training in the PsyD in clinical psychology program. Dr. Zahn is a licensed and board certified psychologist who has a broad variety of clinical experiences with patient populations ranging from children to older adults. In his capacity as Director of Clinical Training, Dr. Zahn is leader of the Clinical Training Committee, where he is responsible for the direction and coordination of all doctoral practicum and internship activities. He also serves as the Clinical Training Committee consultant to the Student Progress and Evaluation Committee (SPEC).
At PCOM, Dr. Zahn is responsible for advising students throughout the PsyD in clinical psychology program in all aspects of clinical training, specifically mentoring students through the APPIC internship match process. Dr. Zahn's teaching responsibilities have included: Administration, Consultation and Supervision in Behavioral Health Care Services; Practicum Seminar; Assessment III: Projective Assessment; and Geriatric Psychology.
Dr. Zahn's mentoring and research interests are in the supervision competency, diversity issues in clinical training and practice, homelessness, cognitive therapy with older adults, and psychological testing (including projective personality assessment). He has recently chaired dissertations that have focused on multicultural competence of providers and clinical supervisors (focusing specifically on Latino behavioral health issues), as well as issues related to homelessness and recovery.
As a leader and advocate, Dr. Zahn has mentored many regional agencies and behavioral health provider institutions to become members of APPIC in response to the local and national shortage of approved internship programs. He is the PCOM campus FEDAC (Federal Education Advocacy Coordinator Grassroots Network) representative - a campus-based nationwide, education advocacy grassroots network established to assist the APA Education Directorate and Public Policy-Education staff with its efforts to gain federal support (funding) for psychology education and training. Dr. Zahn is also the program's lead delegate to the NCSPP (National Council of Schools of Professional Psychology).
In 2010, Dr. Zahn was selected to serve on the American Psychological Association's Recovery Advisory Committee, designed to provide recommendations, information, and strategic oversight with regard to data collection and analysis, training material development, marketing, dissemination, and education in the APA's Recovery to Practice program for individuals with serious mental illness (http://www.apa.org/pi/mfp/psychology/recovery-to-practice/index.aspx).
Dr. Zahn has been active at the national and regional levels of leadership. He was the Chair of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Master Clinician Series for the 2010 Annual Convention, and he is a member of the PPA Continuing Education Committee. He has recently served on the Board of the Philadelphia Society for Clinical Psychologists as well. Dr. Zahn also volunteers his time as a Board Member of the Inter-faith Housing Alliance of Ambler, serving families in Montgomery County to overcome homelessness (http://www.i-fha.org). Within the PCOM community, Dr. Zahn has served as a member of the Appointments, Promotions and Tenure Committee and the Academic Appeals Committee.
Dr. Zahn completed his undergraduate degree in psychology at Rutgers University and received his master's degree in clinical psychology at Fairleigh Dickinson University, Teaneck, NJ. He completed his doctoral studies in school psychology at Temple University. Dr. Zahn is board certified in clinical psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology, is a fellow of the Academy of Clinical Psychology, and he is listed in the National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology. In addition to his responsibilities at PCOM, Dr. Zahn maintains a part-time private practice in Spring House, PA, serving adolescents and adults.
Dr. Zahn has nearly 35 years of clinical experience with a diverse range of patient populations. Before coming to PCOM, he served as Director of Psychological Services and Cognitive Therapy Program at the Presbyterian Medical Center of the University of Pennsylvania Health System. In this capacity, Dr. Zahn collaborated with David D. Burns, MD, the author of Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy, The Feeling Good Handbook, and Ten Days to Self Esteem on adaptations of the cognitive therapy model for inpatient and outpatient populations that have traditionally been thought of as too difficult to treat with traditional CBT.
From 1978 to 1991, Dr. Zahn served as a senior psychologist at the Devereux Foundation's Institute for Clinical Training and Research, specializing in issues related to the intensive treatment of adolescents and adults with exceptional emotional, behavioral and learning difficulties. He has been devoted to supervision and training of beginning and advanced graduate psychology students for many years.
Dr. Zahn has given workshops and presentations at national conferences including the American Psychological Association, the Pennsylvania Psychological Association, the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, the World Congress of Biological Psychiatry, the American Association for Partial Hospitals, the Association of Mental Health Administrators, the National Head Injury Association, and the American Association of Children's Residential Centers.
Dr. Zahn's leisure interests are in the performing arts. He is a former trumpeter, and he studied with Seymour Rosenfeld, second trumpeter with the Philadelphia Orchestra. He also was a supernumerary with the Philadelphia Lyric Opera and the Grand Opera Companies, performing non-singing "bit" acting roles with such greats as Luciano Pavarotti, Beverly Sills, and Richard Tucker.
Click here to view a video of Dr. Zahn explaining how his passion for psychology and playing the trumpet are linked.
Recent Publications:
Zahn, B.S., Zehrung, D., and Russo-Innamorato, L. (2010). Cognitive Strategies. In DiTomasso, R.A., Golden, B.A., and Morris, H., Eds. Handbook of cognitive behavioral approaches in primary care. New York: Springer.
DiTomasso,R.A., Freeman, A., Carvajal, R., Zahn, B.S. (2009). Cognitive concepts of anxiety. In D. J. Stein and E. Hollander, Eds. Textbook of anxiety disorders. Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Press.
Zahn, M. R. & Zahn, B.S. (2006). Mature Adults: Working with the Depressed Aging Patient. In T. Ronen and A. Freeman Eds. Cognitive behavioral approaches in social work practice. New York: Springer.
Zahn, B.S. & Diefenbeck, C. (2004). Mature adults: Working with the aging patient. In S. M. Freeman and A. Freeman Eds. Cognitive behavioral approaches in nursing practice. New York: Springer.
Zahn, B.S. (2003). Rorschach and Cognitive Behavior Therapy: Strange bedfellows, or a perfect match? Society for Personality Assessment Exchange, Fall, 2003.
Zahn, B.S. & Davis, B. (2002). When the golden years turn blue. Unpublished manuscript.
Recent Lectures and Presentations:
March 16, 2011. Zahn, B.S. Cognitive Behavioral Treatment for Depression in the Elderly with Renal Failure. Workshop for the Council of Nephrology Social Workers of Eastern PA and Delaware, King of Prussia, PA.
November 20, 2010. Golden, B. A., and Zahn, B. S. Cognitive Behavioral Treatment for Depression in Primary Care Medicine. Workshop presented at the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Annual Convention, San Francisco, CA.
September 24, 2010. Zahn, B.S. Successfully Navigating the APPIC Internship Process: A Workshop for Graduate Students in Psychology. Sponsored by the Philadelphia Society of Clinical Psychologists, Philadelphia, PA.
April 9, 2010. Zahn, B.S., and Weil, M. C. The Ethics and Practice of Multicultural Supervision. Spring Ethics Conference of the Pennsylvania Psychological Association, Lancaster, PA.
April 13, 2009. Zahn, B. S. Cognitive behavioral therapy with the elderly client. Delaware Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health, Dover, DE.
June 20, 2008. Zahn, B. S. The Internship Application Process from Start to Finish. Annual Convention of the Pennsylvania Psychological Association, Harrisburg, PA
June 16, 2008. Zahn, B. S. Competency-based Supervision. Philadelphia Connections, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.
January 17, 2008. Zahn. B.S. PCOM Multicultural and Diversity Initiatives: From Classroom to Practice. National Council for Schools of Professional Psychology, Austin, TX.
November 17, 2007. Ferguson-Thomas, C. and Zahn, B.S. Older Adults and Depression: The Relationships between Distorted Thinking, Quality Of Life, and Depressive Themes. Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Annual Convention, Philadelphia, PA.
November 17, 2007. Serrano., M. and Zahn, B.S. Grounded Theory: Latino Mental Health Providers Perceptions of the Mental Health Beliefs of Latino Clients. Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Annual Convention, Philadelphia, PA.
November 12, 2007. Zahn, B. S. Inpatient Cognitive Behavioral Therapy with Older Adults. Workshop presented at Friends Hospital, Philadelphia, PA.
Zahn, B.S. Successfully Navigating the APPIC Internship Application Process. Workshop sponsored by the Philadelphia Society of Clinical Psychologists, presented at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, September 15, 2006.
Zahn, B. S. Basics of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy with older adults. Workshop presented at the Fall meeting of the Pennsylvania Psychological Association, Exton, PA, October 28, 2005.
