Mission, Leadership and Advisory Board

Mission

Working in collaboration with academic departments, the division of student affairs (College Counseling Center), and community leaders, the SUNY New Paltz Institute for Disaster Mental Health (IDMH) offers education and training in disaster mental health for students, professionals, and paraprofessionals, including conferences and workshops that reflect recent research and best practices. The Institute comprises scholars and practitioners dedicated to teaching, research, and service to the community in the area of disaster mental health.

Leadership and Advisory Board

The Director of the Institute is Dr. James Halpern, Professor of Psychology at SUNY New Paltz. Dr. Halpern is Chair of Disaster Mental Health Services of the Ulster County Chapter of the American Red Cross and has responded to both local and large-scale national disasters. He is the co author of Disaster Mental Health: Theory and Practice (2007, Thomson Brooks/Cole). 

The IDMH is guided by an advisory board of experienced and committed professionals and community leaders active in fields directly related to the work of the Institute. The board assists in identifying community and professional needs for disaster mental health training; identifying funding sources; and disseminating the work of the IDMH to the public.

Former Dean of the Graduate School at SUNY New Paltz, Phyllis R. Freeman, Ph.D. and currently Associate Professor of Psychology, is chair of the Advisory Board. Board Members include:

SUNY New Paltz

Pamlyn Atkins, Ph.D.— Director, Psychological Counseling Center

Gerald Benjamin, Ph.D.— Dean, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

Maryalice Citera, Ph.D.— Associate Professor of Psychology

Phyllis Freeman, Ph.D.—Institute Chair, Professor of Psychology

James Halpern, Ph.D.— Institute Director, Professor of Psychology

Douglas Maynard, Ph.D.—Chair, Department of Psychology

Community

Marshall Beckman, MPA— Director, Ulster County Mental Health Department, Kingston, NY

Karen Jacobs - Management Consultant (retired), New Paltz, NY

Arthur J. Lange— Board Secretary – Health and Safety Coordinator, Orange/Ulster BOCES, Middletown, NY

Charlene Mayville— Deputy Director for the Hudson River Field Office
of the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH), Poughkeepsie, NY

Susan Rounds— Chapter Solutions Manager, American Red Cross, Serving chapters in eastern NY & Greenwich, CT

Barbara Scherr—Vice-President of Volunteers, NYS Cerebral Palsy, Newburgh, NY

Art Snyder—Director of Emergency Communication and Emergency Management, Kingston NY

Eleanor Troy— Public Health Preparedness Coordinator, Ulster County Health Dept, Kingston, NY