Annual Report of AMHF November 1, 2022, to October 31, 2023. As of November 1, 2023, The American Mental Health Foundation has done outstanding work for 100 years. This is the Eleventh Annual Report of The American Mental Health Foundation, an association formed in 1924, incorporated in New York State in 1954. AMHF celebrates eleven decades […]
By:
Evander Lomke
February 9, 2023, is the eighteenth anniversary of the death of Dr. Stefan de Schill. In 2005, that day was on Ash Wednesday, the earliest date Ash Wednesday could fall. The directors of The American Mental Health Foundation take some moments to honor Dr. de Schill’s memory. As long-time director of research, he devoted his […]
By:
Evander Lomke
Annual Report of AMHF November 1, 2021, to October 31, 2022; on November 1, 2022, The American Mental Health Foundation will be 99 years in existence thus rapidly moving into 100. Few not-for-profit organizations can make this claim. This is the Tenth Annual Report of The American Mental Health Foundation (AMHF), an organization formed in […]
By:
Evander Lomke
Today, February 9, 2018, is the thirteenth anniversary of the death of Dr. Stefan de Schill. In 2005, this day was on Ash Wednesday, the earliest date Ash Wednesday could fall. The directors of The American Mental Health Foundation take some moments to honor Dr. de Schill’s memory. He devoted his life, particularly his later […]
By:
Evander Lomke
Immediately following the 2017 US-presidential inauguration, members of The American Mental Health Foundation professional-advisory board, Drs. Henry Kellerman and William Van Ornum, were filmed on Public Voice Salon. John Bredin is the gracious host. The freewheeling conversation, centering on the state of psychotherapy and psychoanalysis today, also included Mr. Evander Lomke, executive director, discussing the history […]
By:
Evander Lomke
April 4 is the 100th birthday of Dr. Stefan de Schill. Dr. de Schill was director of research of The American Mental Health Foundation from 1948 till his death on February 9, 2005, Ash Wednesday. He devoted his life to individuals with emotional problems, as a leading proponent internationally of group psychotherapy. De Schill’s two […]
By:
Evander Lomke
This is the sixth Annual Report of The American Mental Health Foundation (AMHF), a research organization formed in 1924, incorporated in New York State December 31, 1954. In 2017, AMHF celebrates 93 years of philanthropic service and activities—“Advancing Mental Health: A Century of Excellence in Mental Health Research.” Vision: Building a More Compassionate Society—Get Involved! Mission: AMHF endeavors […]
By:
Evander Lomke
Yesterday, February 9, 2016, was the eleventh anniversary of the death of Dr. Stefan de Schill: Ash Wednesday, 2005, and the earliest Western date this holiday could fall. Today, February 10 of 2016, is Ash Wednesday. We honor the vision and work of Dr. de Schill always. De Schill’s long and fruitful career, his passion […]
By:
Evander Lomke
The Winter 2016 issue of the University of Toronto—where I did graduate work forty years ago—alumni magazine features an article on the college response to a rise in mental-health needs among its students. In an evermore diverse society, in a faster-changing culture amid the brave new world of social media, college-aged students in North America […]
By:
Evander Lomke
Executive Director Evander Lomke was delighted to be interviewed by Kelly Ford on her public-affairs program NASH Matters, which is devoted to philanthropic endeavors in the New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut area. More than 800,000 listeners tuned in. As of October 22, 2021, Ms. Ford’s program is off the air. Unfortunately, the 15-minute broadcast is […]
By:
Evander Lomke
Following is the fourth Annual Report (November 1, 2013, to October 31, 2014) of The American Mental Health Foundation (AMHF), a research organization formed in 1924, incorporated in New York State December 31, 1954. In 2014, AMHF celebrates ninety years of philanthropic service and activities—“Advancing Mental Health.” Vision: Building a More Compassionate Society—Get Involved! This […]
By:
Evander Lomke
The May 27, 2013, issue of The New Yorker included a cartoon that we think former AMHF director Stefan de Schill especially would have appreciated. A female therapist sits on an easy chair to the left, several framed academic degrees above her shoulder. On a loveseat next to her, and in front of a large […]
By:
Evander Lomke
For three days last week American Mental Health Foundation Books shared a booth with its distributor, Lantern, at the annual BookExpo America—which is held at the Jacob Javits Center on New York City’s West Side. (New York remains the publishing capital of North America, even with the multitude of changes the industry has seen.) The […]
By:
William Van Ornum, Ph.D.
Newly minted pastor Ed Stetzer, writing in CNN.beliefnet, writes of his dealings with a man in his congregation. This person would often disappear for days at a time, and later Stetzer would hear that the fellow had spent hours praying the psalms. Later the man killed himself, leading Stetzer to reflect of aproaches churches could […]
By:
William Van Ornum, Ph.D.
Consumers of mental-health services may not realize the extensive system of codes that go into insurance billing and medical records, both for mental-health services and other medical services. For mental health, every person who receives insurance reimbursement receives a diagnostic code from the most current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association, as […]
By:
William Van Ornum, Ph.D.
Of the twenty-one films for discussion on this Web site, here is number six, which stars Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher in signature roles. Thus is the plot, in slightly condensed form, from Wikipedia: In 1963, Randle Patrick “Mac” McMurphy (Jack Nicholson)—a recidivist anti-authoritarian criminal serving a sentence on an Oregon-prison farm for statutory rape […]
By:
Evander Lomke
Word from ABILITIES FIRST in Poughkeepsie, NY October 5, 2012, Poughkeepsie, NY—As Dr. Lori Crispi’s term on the board of Abilities First, Inc., a Dutchess County based nonprofit that serves children and adults with disabilities, was coming to an end, she felt that she couldn’t just walk away. “I enjoyed being part of the organization […]
By:
William Van Ornum, Ph.D.
Previously I’ve written about Recovery International, founded by psychiatrist Abraham Low in the 1940s in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Low initiated a revolutionary brand of treatment that we now call cognitive therapy: by changing one’s thoughts, one could change troublesome feelings and through practice attain better mental health. Dr. Low used the word apprenticeship to denote […]
By:
William Van Ornum, Ph.D.
American Mental Health Foundation Annual Report November 1, 2011, to October 31, 2012 This is the second Annual Report on The American Mental Health Foundation (AMHF), a research organization founded in 1924, incorporated in New York State December 31, 1954. (Click here for the first annual report, November 2011.) Vision Statement: on the homepage of […]
By:
Evander Lomke
Dr. Stefan de Schill, for sixty years a key figure of the American Mental Health Foundation, saw group therapy as an important part of his practice. He supported all efforts to strengthen the training of group therapists because he thought that these efforts at the time were “dreadful.” Since then, the use of group therapy […]
By:
William Van Ornum, Ph.D.
A miserable marriage is certainly a mental health issue. Hollywood has profiled many of these “stuck” relationships—from those who have made lifetime vows to those with other but important commitments. Witness the continuum from Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf? to “The Brady Bunch.” Now, we have Tommy Lee Jones and Meryl Streep—at a time when […]
By:
William Van Ornum, Ph.D.
The AMHF grant to Astor Services for Children—to identify and evaluate interventions that help adolescents at risk for suicide and psychosis, and to create scientifically supported guidelines—supports the exact kind of empirical investigation recommended by American Psychological Association President Suzanne Bennett Johnson. In the President’s Column of the July August 2012 APA Monitor (American Psychological […]
By:
William Van Ornum, Ph.D.
On June 22 it was announced that Judith Wallerstein, 90, had died. Wallerstein is known for a 25-year longitudinal study about the effects of divorce on children. Her study examined the psychological impact of divorce on children, and her scientific findings cautioned against the too-ready “advice” of many mental-health professionals that divorce could be a […]
By:
William Van Ornum, Ph.D.
Suicide rates are unacceptably high. A U.S. soldier, present or recent past, is said to kill himself or herself every eighty minutes. In countries suffering economic crises, the situation is in some ways even more tragic. Reuters reports that “behind every suicide in crisis-stricken countries such as Greece there are up to 20 more people […]
By:
Evander Lomke
Irvin D. Yalom, one of the most accomplished group therapists of his generation, recently offered the opening keynote at the recent 2012 American Counseling Association Convention, held March 21-25 in San Francisco, California. Yalom is well-known for his many books, including The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy, cited by the Journal of the American […]
By:
William Van Ornum, Ph.D.
It is difficult for the board members of AMHF to believe that today is seven years since the passing of long-time director of research Dr. Stefan de Schill. De Schill was one of the foremost proponents of group therapy in North America. He recognized that psychotherapy—particularly of the modality he spent a lifetime studying and […]
By:
Evander Lomke
For the past several months, the New York Times has been running a series of articles on people who experience severe psychiatric illness; and who, by dint of their own motivation, creativity, and resilience, are able to lead productive lives despite the ongoing burden. On November 27, 2011, the front-cover story features Mr. Milt Greek, […]
By:
William Van Ornum, Ph.D.
AMHF attended the 51st Annual Meeting of the New England Psychological Association (NEPA), held October 28-29 at Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut. After a wonderful dinner, hosted by Drs. Robin Crabtree and Susan Franzosa, deans at Fairfield, participants heard child-development expert Dr. James Garbarino speak of “Children and the Dark Side of Human Experience: Confronting […]
By:
William Van Ornum, Ph.D.
On Friday, October 28, 2011, AMHF attended the 17th Annual Meeting of the Northeast Conference for Teachers of Psychology. This is a group of psychologists, who teach in colleges and universities, dedicated to improving their teaching of undergraduates and graduates. Participants of the group come from a wide range of specialties and interests including developmental, […]
By:
William Van Ornum, Ph.D.
One theme of Dr. Stefan de Schill’s lifework was his passion for group therapy. His own personality lent itself to work simultaneously with the fascinating dynamics that occur in a group, and he was able to communicate understanding and direction almost intuitively. In many ways Dr. de Schill was also prescient in his concerns over […]
By:
William Van Ornum, Ph.D.