Executive Director, Behavioral Health Center
Aaron Harris, PhD, serves as the Executive Director of Behavioral Health Center (BHC), Beechwood Memorial's 74-bed inpatient mental health treatment facility. He is also engaged in extensive community outreach efforts and activities, promoting behavioral health services throughout the region.
Prior to moving to Idaho in 2015, Dr. Harris worked in several leadership positions within the military and VA healthcare systems. After completing his BA in Psychology at Brigham Young University, he attended the University of Maryland, where he obtained a doctoral (PhD) degree in Clinical Psychology. During his graduate training, he joined the active duty military and served for over 5+ years as a US Air Force psychologist, stationed at Andrews AFB (Washington DC) and McConnell AFB (Wichita, Kansas). His military training presented him diverse experiences in leadership, program development, multidisciplinary consultation, and integrated healthcare. He then moved on to working with veterans at the Robert J. Dole VA Medical Center in Wichita. Over his 5 years with the VA, he supervised a Substance Use Disorder Clinic, was team leader of a Behavioral Health-Primary Care Integration program, and eventually became Chief of Behavioral Health Services. He loves and respects our country's veterans and is proud of his work to help them lead healthier lives. He has also volunteered to serve the profession of psychology at both the state or federal levels, including several years on the Board of Governors of the Kansas Psychological Association (KPA) and the American Psychological Association's (APA) Committee on Early Career Psychologists. He plans to continue this professional advocacy work with Idaho and the region's behavioral health services.
Dr. Harris is a native of the Northwest (born and raised in Oregon), loves the outdoors, and is happy to be back in the "neighborhood". He and his wife, Erin, are the parents of 6 children, ranging in age from 2 to 18 years old. Life is full of non-stop activities and fun, including church service, Scouts, sports, music, dance, travel, house projects, BBQs and family board games.