Sebastian Perumbilly, associate professor of marriage and family therapy, is taking his background in the treatment of drug and alcohol addiction to India next fall in connection with his selection as a Fulbright Scholar.
Perumbilly, who has been teaching at Southern since 2012, was recently informed that he has been chosen as one of 470 recipients worldwide. He will be hosted by the Department of Psychology at Christ University in Bangalore, India, where he will conduct a qualitative, method-based research project on India’s substance addiction treatment programs.
He will focus on two aspects of those programs – how families can be involved in addiction treatment, and how yoga can be integrated into addiction treatment.
“I was thrilled to receive this most exciting news,” Perumbilly said. “I am excited to immerse myself in Indian academia and research institutions with an intent to collaborate with the best of contemporary India’s addiction researchers from the fields of psychology, social work and medicine. I believe that such an immersion experience will generate more exciting opportunities for educational and research collaboration between our two countries.
“Since the beginning of the new millennium, India’s universities and research-focused institutions have been making significant contributions globally in the fields of engineering, physics, mathematics and medicine,” he added. “Faculty exchanges and research collaborations between India and the U.S.-based academic and research institutions are also increasing. It is becoming clear that India’s clinical researchers and scholars are developing innovative clinical practices — with a multidisciplinary focus — in the fields of psychology, social work, psychiatry and medicine.”
Perumbilly said the Fulbright experience will help him to contribute further in the field of couple/marriage and family therapy, as well as benefit Southern with future study abroad programs for students and exchanges between faculty and administrators from both countries.
“I am grateful to all my SCSU faculty colleagues, students and the administration, especially the provost and president, for their support and encouragement,” he said.
In addition to his work on substance addiction treatment, Perumbilly has conducted extensive research on “moral injury,” guilt feelings encountered by those in the military who were engaged in combat.
He is a licensed marriage and family therapist, as well as a clinical fellow and approved clinical supervisor of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. He has presented 34 peer-reviewed/refereed research projects at national and international conferences, including in India, Spain, Portugal, Scotland and Thailand.
