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In the News
WAMC: Healing the Scars of War (4/4/08)
News Pulse: 9/11 call of duty (10/8/07)
Ulster County Press: Preparing for the worst*
Poughkeepsie Journal: SUNY course gets aid (4/9/07)
Poughkeepsie Jornal: SUNY program studies effect of disasters (9/10/06)
Times Herald Record:
New Paltz student learns first hand about social service (1/6/06)
No words to describe New Orleans (1/10/06)
SUNY students learn lessons from survivors (1/13/06)
Mercy mission completed (1/20/06)
Red Cross:SUNY Students Learn Real Life Lessons as Katrina Volunteers (2/28/06)
USA Today: It was bad news (12/28/05)
Faces of New Paltz: James Halpern & Phyllis Freeman (10/05)
Daily Freeman: SUNY students learn disaster relief * (9/18/05)
Prof. James Halpern on CNN (Windows Media Player files)
» 9/3/05
» 11/29/05
Disaster training-UUPer brings program to fruition
As part of his training with the American Red Cross Disaster
Mental Health Services, New Paltz psychology professor James
Halpern was asked to consider the possibility of a major airplane
disaster in New York City. At the time, in the spring of 2001,
the possibility seemed remote.
"None of us who was preparing for the worst could have
even conceived of such a catastrophe," said Halpern,
a UUP member.
After training, Halpern was sent to help victims of tropical
storm Allison in Louisiana. From there, he planned to take
a year off from his Red Cross work. That plan changed on Sept.
11. Soon after the two planes struck the Twin Towers in Manhattan,
Halpern led a team to Ground Zero. There, his team assisted
women looking for their children and helped to evacuate a
nursing home. The next day, Halpern began supervising the
missing-persons hotline operated by the city of New York.
Recently, Halpern was on hand to support families of victims
at the memorial service in New York. "There's still a
lot that we're doing in connection to Sept. 11," Halpern
said.
This fall, Halpern traveled to western Pennsylvania, which
has been suffering from the effects of the recent hurricanes.
His work as a disaster mental health counselor ranges from
practical assistance, like finding blankets and medicines
for victims, to resolving family conflicts.
Halpern has also brought his experiences as a disaster mental
health counselor back onto campus. In the spring of 2003,
with a grant from UUP, Halpern organized a conference at New
Paltz entitled "Lessons from 9/11." He has offered
courses in disaster mental health, which will soon become
an interdisciplinary minor.
This fall, Halpern launched a new project as director of
the Disaster Mental Health Institute. Halpern said that Gerald
Benjamin, the dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences,
"really encouraged me to take the work that I was doing
and integrate it into the programs we offer." The institute
will offer academic programs to support the new minor and
will sponsor workshops and conferences for members of the
community.
"We want the institute to serve the region and the community.
My view is that, somehow, the relationship between the community
and the university should be a much closer and much more supportive
one," Halpern said.
UUPer Phyllis Freeman, the chair of the advisory board for
the Disaster Mental Health Institute and a longtime colleague
in the psychology department, called Halpern a "major
force" in the Red Cross, as well as an "outstanding
teacher and researcher."
"In the last few years," she said, "frankly,
he's been my hero."
—Alyssa Colton
Credit: United
University Profession's The Voice
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