Rikki Patton, PhD, is Program Director of the PhD in Couple and Family Therapy (CFT) program and a Research Professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Drexel University. She is a licensed marriage and family therapist in Ohio and an AAMFT-approved supervisor.

Patton’s scholarship focuses on substance use, stigma, and the relational and contextual factors that shape behavioral health. Grounded in relational-systemic perspectives, her work considers how stigma operates within clinical, educational, and healthcare settings and how it may affect help-seeking, treatment engagement, and the quality of care.

A complementary area of Patton’s research focuses on preparing the behavioral health workforce to respond effectively to complex behavioral health needs. Her work examines interprofessional, experiential, and technology-enhanced approaches to training, with an emphasis on reducing stigma, strengthening relationally responsive practice, and improving providers’ ability to address substance use within broader family and social contexts.

Her current research program centers on two interconnected areas: (1) examining substance use, stigma, and recovery through relational-systemic and contextual frameworks and (2) developing and evaluating innovative approaches to behavioral health workforce development that promote responsive, collaborative, and stigma-informed care.