With more than 30 years of experience in management and consulting for public healthcare and human service agencies, SAMHSA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde, J.D., has the keys to affecting long-lasting change and improving the quality of behavioral health care. She has served across the country at every level of government — local (Seattle’s housing and human services director), state (Ohio’s mental health director and New Mexico’s human services director), and of course, her current appointment at the national level. She even served as a CEO of a behavioral healthcare nonprofit.

Since her tenure began in 2009, Hyde has worked tirelessly to shift the national conversation about behavioral health and help Americans recognize that behavioral health is a leading public health challenge facing this country. One half of U.S. adults will develop at least one mental illness in their lifetime.

Hyde can trace her passion for mental health all the way back to her teens. According to a Behavioral Healthcare magazine interview, as a volunteer “candy striper” in the psychiatric unit at a local hospital, Hyde gained her “first exposure to the heart-wrenching problems associated with mental illness and substance abuse.” Her experience there led her to question what really helps these people, which has guided her work since.

Now as a powerful change agent in the behavioral health community, Pamela Hyde is bringing long-existing silos together and spreading the message that recovery from mental illness and addiction is possible. With Hyde at the helm, SAMHSA has made giant strides raising awareness about the prevalence of mental illness, revealing the dramatic rise in underage drinking, promoting respectful and accurate portrayals of behavioral health in Hollywood storylines, celebrating wellness, and redefining recovery, despite budget challenges.

 

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