CareSouth Carolina Behavioral Health Director Amy Cook Earns Doctor of Social Work Degree

CareSouth Carolina is proud to announce that Amy Cook, DSW, LISW-CP/S, Director of Behavioral Health Services, has earned her Doctor of Social Work (DSW), marking a major professional and personal milestone. 

Cook has spent 20 years with CareSouth Carolina, growing alongside the organization while helping expand behavioral health services throughout the communities it serves. She has served as Director of Behavioral Health Services since 2021 and is also a member of CareSouth Carolina’s Executive Management Team.

Her Doctor of Social Work degree includes a specialization in leadership and administration. For Cook, earning the degree represents far more than adding another credential to her name.

“Earning my Doctorate in Social Work is both a personal milestone and a reflection of my commitment to serving others through leadership, advocacy, and meaningful change,” Cook said. “This journey required perseverance, sacrifice, faith, and the support of so many people who believed in me along the way. I am incredibly grateful for my family, colleagues, mentors, and the CareSouth Carolina family who have supported and encouraged me throughout this process.”

A Personal Connection to Alzheimer’s Research

Cook’s doctoral work also carries a deeply personal connection to her family. Her dissertation, which has been published, focused on Alzheimer’s disease, an area inspired by her mother’s experience with the disease. Her mother later passed away from Alzheimer’s, and that experience helped shape the direction and purpose of Cook’s doctoral research.

“This achievement also holds a deeply personal meaning for me,” Cook said. “I dedicate this accomplishment in honor and loving memory of my mother, whose journey with Alzheimer’s disease profoundly shaped my own. Losing her to this disease became part of the purpose behind my doctoral journey and inspired me to focus my research on Alzheimer’s disease and the needs of those impacted by it.”

That research also connects with Cook’s work at CareSouth Carolina, where her responsibilities extend across a broad range of behavioral health and community programs.

As Director of Behavioral Health Services, Cook oversees CareSouth Carolina’s outpatient behavioral health services as well as school-based behavioral health services currently provided in 18 schools. She also oversees the organization’s telepsychiatry program and manages programs focused on Alzheimer’s disease and the 0-3 Healthy Start program. Her work also includes helping to direct the new IRIS program.

Beyond her leadership responsibilities at CareSouth Carolina, Cook currently serves as the South Carolina Primary Health Care Association’s behavioral health lead. She is also Co-Chair of the Behavioral Health Subcommittee for the National Association of Community Health Centers.

Cook has served on CareSouth Carolina’s Executive Management Team for the past two years.

20 Years of Growing With CareSouth Carolina

Cook credits CareSouth Carolina with providing opportunities to grow throughout her two decades with the organization while continuing to work in a field she is passionate about.

“CareSouth Carolina provided me with the opportunity to grow in a field that I’m passionate about,” Cook said. “CareSouth Carolina is my home. I love the fact that we treat the whole person and that we provide care for everyone. I’ve been given the opportunity to learn and grow while continuing to serve our patients and communities, and this degree gives me another opportunity to continue doing that.”

Cook said she hopes to use what she gained through the doctoral program to strengthen behavioral health services, develop other professionals and continue finding new ways to serve patients and families.

“My work at CareSouth Carolina has given me the opportunity to see firsthand the difference we can make when we lead with compassion, innovation, and a genuine commitment to the communities we serve,” Cook said. “I look forward to using this achievement not simply as a title, but as an opportunity to continue advancing behavioral health, developing others, strengthening the work we do at CareSouth Carolina, and creating meaningful and lasting change for the individuals, families, and communities we are privileged to serve.”

Outside of her work, Cook enjoys spending time with her family, going to the beach, and watching docuseries.

CareSouth Carolina is a private, non-profit community health center delivering patient-centered health and life services in the Pee Dee region of South Carolina. CareSouth Carolina operates centers in Bennettsville, Bishopville, Cheraw, Chesterfield, Dillon, Hartsville, Lake View, Latta, McColl and Society Hill.

Services provided by CareSouth Carolina include family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, women's services, OB/GYN, HIV/AIDS primary care, infectious disease primary care, IV therapy, substance abuse prevention, dental, chiropractic services, pharmacy, senior support services, family support services, clinical counseling, laboratory, ultrasound, X-Ray, agricultural worker health services, podiatry, and veterans choice provider.