Since October 1924 (the October 27, 1924, issue of Time magazine acclaimed Sigmund Freud on its cover that very month: Time itself was started in 1923 by philanthropist Henry Luce and Briton Hadden [at first, not long before, named “Fact” magazine]), The American Mental Health Foundation (AMHF) has endeavored to advocate for, and to advance, mental health and well-being through all of society.
Its work is dedicated to the welfare of people suffering from emotional problems and mental illness, with a particular concern for individuals of all ages with special needs, particularly elders.
The AMHF historically advocates improving the quality of treatment, developing more effective methods of research, and making professional treatment available to lower-wage individuals. To this end, AMHF organizes educational seminars and webinars (these webinars for CEU with APT, NASW, and NBCC) and publishes books, some available free on the website. Purchase of any AMHF title supports the mission of The American Mental Health Foundation.
The Mission Statement:
For a century and in times of social change, a not-for-profit organization advancing the public understanding of mental health by educating through books, articles, website blogs, and workshops.
The mission includes publication of a significant 2-year research project with Astor Services
Dr. Stefan de Schill, long-time AMHF Director of Research, photographed in Vienna circa 1938
“There are three basic factors in daily existence that are utterly incomprehensible to us: time, because it is eternal; space, because it is infinite; and our consciousness, because it defies all explanation.”—Dr. Stefan de Schill, whose life and work are marked in 2023, a year of healing around the world: the 106th anniversary year of his birth
- At least fifty percent of all people seeking medical treatment are suffering from emotional disturbances, but only three cents of every medical dollar is spent on emotional illness.
- “The anxiety and problems other people suffer when caught up in a major crisis, we have to face day by day.”—a patient
- Millions of Americans will be victims of emotional breakdown and spend at least a part of their lives in an institution.
- Less than two percent of those suffering from deep-rooted emotional problems such as anxiety, depression, and phobias will ever obtain competent professional help bringing about lasting results.
2023 AMHF Board of Directors and Executives
- Sister Joan M. Curtin, CND (vice president), is former long-time director of the Catechetical Office of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York. A graduate of Saint Jean Baptiste High School, she received her BA in English from Notre Dame College, an MA in Religion from Manhattanville College, and holds certificates both in Spirituality and Spiritual Direction. She has served on the boards of the National Catholic Education Association, the American Bible Society, the Catholic Education Institute, and the Museum of Biblical Art (MOBiA). Sister Joan was named Vicar for Religious, by Timothy Cardinal Dolan, on September 1, 2021. This appointment runs through August 31, 2024.
- Raymond B. Flannery Jr., Ph.D., FACLP (member) is a licensed clinical psychologist and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School. He has also served on the faculties of Harvard Medical School and Boston College. For 10 years, he was Director of Training for the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health. He is the author of 10 books and over 180 peer-reviewed papers in the medical and scientific journals on the topics of stress, psychological trauma, and violence. Dr. Flannery designed and directs the Assaulted Staff Action Program (ASAP), a crisis-intervention program that has treated 10,650 employee victims of assault.
- John P. Fowler (former chairman and former treasurer; special consultant at-large) was long-time publisher and vice president National Review, an influential magazine of political opinion, as well as trustee of NRI. An alumnus of Regis High School and the College of the Holy Cross, he also has served on the Milford, Connecticut, Board of Aldermen and is former Republican Town Committee Chairman. On May 1, 2016, Mr. Fowler relinquished his position on the AMHF Board, continuing as nonvoting-member treasurer and financial consultant in 2017-18; and as of July 1, 2019, Mr. Fowler is senior director, stratetic partnerships, Center for Civil Society, and is no longer AMHF treasurer. (The role of acting treasurer, in 2023, is filled, on a temporary basis, by Evander Lomke [see below].)
- Michelle Harrison, MD (secretary), began her career in rural South Carolina as part of the LBJ War on Poverty. She is the author of the first book on PMS (Self-help for Premenstrual Syndrome). Dr. Harrison is a Fellow in Psychopharmacology at the New England Medical Center Hospital, Tufts University. In 2006 she founded in Calcutta (Kolkata), and since directs, Childlife Preserve Shishur Sevay, for orphan girls, many with profound disabilities. For a more complete bio-sketch of Dr. Harrison, please click here. For more on her life-work click here.
- Evander Lomke (president & executive director; acting treasurer) is a former publishing executive, acquiring or editing more than 1,500 books by authors as diverse as Carol J. Adams, David Bianculli, Donald Bogle, William F. Buckley Jr., President George W. Bush, Reuben Fine, Raymond B. Flannery Jr., Lucy Freeman, Paulo Freire, Erich Fromm, Martin Burgess Green, Hans Kueng, Edward Wagenknecht, Dick Weissman, and Mason Williams. Mr. Lomke is on the board of directors of AHRC of New York City (Arc of New York), an alumnus of the Bronx High School of Science, CCNY, and the University of Toronto, and has directed The American Mental Health Foundation since 2005.
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2023 AMHF Professional Advisory Board
- Dr. Pamela C. Alexander
- Dr. Joanne H. Gavin
- Dr. Eric J. Green
- Michelle Harrison, MD
- Dr. Henry Kellerman
- Gail Kinn, LCSW
- Dr. Gregory K. Popcak
- Dr. James Campbell Quick
- Dr. Paul Quinnett
- Dr. Jeanine Lee Skorinko
- Alexis Tomarken, MSW, PhD
- William Van Ornum, PhD, FAPA
2023 Committee on Public Education
To learn more about the history of AMHF, click here.
From June 1, 2018, to December 31, 2019, The American Mental Health Foundation was recognized as an accredited charity by the Better Business Bureau (BBB). Fiscal-and-governance transparency in support of the Mission Statement (see above) continue as this organization had under the BBB. The Donate page of this site lists (scroll down) the latest federal and New York State Charities Bureau filings.
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