<p>David F. Allen, M.D., M.P.H. was born in Nassau, the Bahamas, and trained in Medicine at Saint Andrew’s University, Scotland, and Psychiatry and Public Health at Harvard University. He is US Board certified in Psychiatry and the Addictions. &nbsp;In 1973 he was awarded the Joseph P. Kennedy fellowship at the Harvard School of Public Health. He has taught at Harvard Medical School, Yale Divinity School, Yale Medical School and Georgetown Medical School. His psychiatric practice combines spiritual and psychological principles for personal development, mental health and addiction treatment.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Dr. Allen’s community work began in the 1980’s, when he headed the National Taskforce on Drugs leading to the development of drug treatment programs in the Bahamas and the US. He led a team of local and international researchers in publishing the first international paper on free-base (Crack) cocaine in the <em>Lancet </em>medical journal (1986). This paper brought international awareness to the global pandemic of crack cocaine. In 1987 he was awarded the RB Bennett Commonwealth prize by the Royal Society of Arts in London for his international contribution in the field of cocaine addiction research and treatment.</p>
<p>A popular speaker and author, in 2008 Dr. Allen was made a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association for his innovative scientific research. In 2009, Dr. Allen started an experimental research project dealing with the massive fragmentation of family and community, stemming from the drug and violent crime epidemic in the Bahamas in the 1980s. &nbsp;“The Family: People Helping People Project” (<a href="http://www.familyhelpingpeople">www.familyhelpingpeople</a>) brought group therapy into the inner city and the male and female prisons and was supported by a research&nbsp; grant from the Templeton World Charity Foundation. The Family Project has shown decrease in depression, anger, violence, revenge, abusive relationships and an increase in self-esteem, forgiveness and gratitude in members who attended the free program for six months or more.&nbsp; The seminal article on Dr. Allen’s community work entitled “Adapting Group Therapy to Address Real World Problems: Insights from Groups Offered in the Bahamas”&nbsp; (<em>International Journal of Group Psychotherapy </em>2017) &nbsp;led to his being chosen to give the keynote address at the 2018 International Group Therapy conference in Houston Texas, Hong Kong University, and a series of lectures in 2019 at Baylor University Medical School in Texas. This year, The Family’s work rehabilitating adolescents referred by the Nassau courts was published in the book <em>Examining Social Identities and Diversity Issues in Group Therapy </em>(Routledge 2020). Dr. Allen’s current research shows the association between early childhood abuse and murder in late teens and early 20s.</p>
<p>He has published numerous scientific papers in academic peer-reviewed international journals dealing with psychopharmacology, psychotherapy, spirituality and addiction.</p>
<p>Dr Allen is Chairman of the National Security Advisory Council on Crime, a member of the Prerogative of Mercy Committee, and serves on The Public Defenders Board of the Bahamas.</p>
<p>Dr. Allen hosts a weekly TV program People Helping People, which airs on JCN channel 214 on Wednesdays and Fridays at 9 pm.</p>
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<p>Dr. Allen has authored numerous books dealing with issues of psychotherapy, addiction and Christian spirituality including:&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>Ethical Issues in Mental Retardation </em></p>
<p><em>Mental Health Evaluation</em></p>
<p><em>The Cocaine Crisis</em></p>
<p><em>Crack: The Broken Promise</em></p>
<p><em>In Search of the Heart</em></p>
<p><em>Shattering the Gods Within</em></p>
<p><em>Contemplation: Intimacy in a Distant World</em></p>
<p><em>Shame: The Human Nemesis</em></p>
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