Christopher (Chris) Land was born and raised in the Tidewater region of Virginia and joined the Active component of the United States Army at age 19. He served as a helicopter engine mechanic for approximately ten years, simultaneously attending online college to earn his associate’s Degree from Pierce College in Washington State and his Bachelor’s in Integrated Social Science from the University of Washington. Chris was selected for the US Army – University of Kentucky Master of Social Work program and was commissioned as an Officer in 2018. He attended the MSW program at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, from 2019 to graduation in April 2020. He attended the Army’s Social Work Internship Program (SWIP) at Madigan Army Medical Center in Joint Base Lewis-McChord Washington from 2020 – 2022. During his internship, Chris decided to pursue his Doctorate of Social Work (DSW) with the University of Kentucky and is currently a Doctoral Candidate pending graduation in May 2023. Chris earned his Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) license in 2022.
Chris spent most of his 15-year military career in Washington State and South Korea. He is currently stationed in South Korea with his spouse and three children. He serves as a Behavioral Health Officer (BHO) for the 2nd Infantry Division, Division Sustainment Brigade. BHOs are responsible for advising command teams on the state of behavioral health in their units and providing recommendations on how to meet the needs of the Brigade. Additionally, he provides direct clinical care to soldiers at the Warrior Embedded Behavioral Health clinic. His preferred treatment modality is Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy.
Chris’s capstone project is on integrated therapy in the military. During his internship, he noticed many barriers to evidence-based treatment implementation and wanted to understand clinical practice better. He noticed many providers, including himself, would use techniques flexibly to meet the needs of their patients rather than following manualized protocols. He wanted to understand this phenomenon better and discovered integrated therapy and the common factors theory. He is interested in the mechanisms through which people make progress during treatment.