Category: News

Enduring Values in an Age of Change?

Ours is a turbulent and challenging age with many major cultural shifts seemingly happening all at once. A few examples: world powers jockey for dominance, civil rights and other rights advocates compete to be heard, major social shifts occurred in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic with its many impacts isolating persons from each other, […]

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The American Mental Health Foundation at 100 in 2024

On this first day of 2024, the centennial year of The American Mental Health Foundation, we thank all the generous supporters of our mission: 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. Each donor makes […]

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Psychological Trauma/Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and News Reporters

“If it bleeds, it leads” is a common expression among news reporters preparing evening-news programs across the country. These news stories usually emerge in response to critical incidents, such as natural disasters and various acts of human violence. These are the incidents to which first responders are called. These are also the critical events that […]

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The Psychology of Magic

Today’s magic is tomorrow’s science. So goes a saw. Dating a hundred years or more, there is some connection between psychology and magic. In fact one of The American Mental Health Foundation Benefactor-level donors, who died tragically, gifted a portion of his estate. In life, pursuant to colleagues’ encomiums, this admirer of the mission of […]

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PTSD and Public-works Employees

I remember Uncle Harry in my younger days as a happy, hard-working husband and father of two. Outgoing and gregarious, he was always upbeat and helpful. He enjoyed his public-works job as a way to help his community, he idolized his family, and he would do anything to help others. But it changed. It changed […]

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Caring Attachments: A 9/11 Encounter among Strangers

Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my soul and my God and turned my dreams to dust.—Elie Wiesel This is a true story of caring attachments among complete strangers as recounted by the principals involved and the first responders onsite. On 9/11/2001, New York Fire Department Ladder 6 was dispatched to the World […]

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In Memory of Dr. Stefan de Schill

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 […]

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The Power of Two

Given the pressures in today’s world, would you welcome the opportunity to lessen your life stress and anxiety? Reduce your dysphoria and depression? Improve your physical health and sense of well-being? Even lengthen your life? What if I told you that you could attain all of these health benefits at no cost to your health-insurance […]

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COVID-19 Lockdowns and Violence: Attachment Theory Revisited

As COVID-19 restrictions were lifted in 2022, people put aside masks, social distancing, and lockdown social isolation to venture out to restore a more normal life. Most found that the “old” normal had been altered during the lockdown and had been replaced by “new” normal, e.g., some employees now worked from home, some local small […]

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The Tenth Annual Report of The American Mental Health Foundation

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 […]

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Violence as COVID-19 Lockdowns Are Eased

It is happening everywhere. Adults are assaulted or shot in bars and entertainment venues. Teenagers and gang members kill each other in broad daylight. Children are murdered in their classrooms. Dinner guests who do not know each other break out in brawls in restaurants. Why is there this increase in crime and violence as COVID-19 […]

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Dr. Raymond B. Flannery Jr. Joins The American Mental Health Foundation Board of Directors

Raymond B. Flannery Jr., Ph.D., FACLP, a licensed clinical psychologist, is Adjunct Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, the 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 […]

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The Origin of Language by Dr. Henry Kellerman

Now published and available by clicking here, The Origin of Language is an important new title from American Mental Health Foundation Books. Order your copy today, and in doing so you are also supporting the mission of this foundation.

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Maureen McKew Joins The American Mental Health Foundation Board of Directors

For 27 years, Maureen McKew has been associated with the Catechetical Office of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, first as a volunteer, then as a consultant and, for almost 15 years, as a full-time staff member. She is the director of catechist formation, the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (a Montessori-based method of […]

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Child Abuse, Natural Disasters, and Health Care Providers

A busy pediatrician looked troubled and tense. He had seen this five-year old, Angela, once before two years ago. Then, it was a fall from some playground equipment her mother had said. Today, mom reported that it was a fractured wrist due to a fall from Angela’s bicycle. However this didn’t explain the child’s two […]

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Domestic Violence, Natural Disasters, and Health Care Providers

“Home is where the heart is” is a common expression that connotes caring and support. However in some homes it means heartache, medical injury, psychological terror, and even death. Not all family values are good, prosocial values; some are violent and destructive. Domestic violence (DV) refers to the physical, sexual, verbal/oral, and nonverbal acts of […]

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The Assaulted Staff Action Program: 30 Years of Service to Employee Victims

It happens. Violence suddenly erupts. It may be in homes, in schools, in factories, in houses of worship, or in the community’s streets. We know what happens. The first responders arrive. The assailant is subdued. The media encamps and reports the incident(s). Counselors arrive to assist the victims and witnesses. What would happen if violence […]

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Trauma Surgeons and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Mental toughness…..Mental toughness. A characteristic highly prized by trauma surgeons. Today, however, one trauma surgeon didn’t have it. She had difficulty concentrating, and the patient before her had serious life-threatening injuries that required her full attention. She had been a trauma surgeon now for twelve years. She was always excited about surgery and the chance […]

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In Memory of Eugene P. Gollogly

In memory of our caring, always-optimistic, multi-talented colleague Gene Gollogly, October 4, 1950 – January 7, 2021: Vice President and member of the Board of Directors of The American Mental Health Foundation; a board member and officer of Brighter Green; co-founder with Martin Rowe of what is today the not-for-profit Lantern Publishing & Media; former […]

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The Ninth Annual Report of The American Mental Health Foundation

Annual Report of AMHF November 1, 2018, to October 31, 2019 This is the Ninth Annual Report of The American Mental Health Foundation (AMHF), a research organization formed in 1924, incorporated in New York State in 1954. AMHF celebrates ten decades of philanthropic service and activities—“Advancing Mental Health:A Century of Excellence in Mental Health Research.”—likely […]

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Preventing Youth Violence: Twenty Years Later (Enhanced Findings and Treatment Interventions, Part 2)

Twenty years ago I published a book (that link goes to the new edition, with additional information by scrolling down here) on a topic of national concern: preventing youth violence. The American Mental Health Foundation (AMHF) requested I write two blogs that highlighted the contents in the book. The first blog reviewed the early/serious/urgent warning […]

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Preventing Youth Violence: A Guide for Parents, Teachers, and Counselors

Preventing Youth Violence: Twenty Years Later (New Findings, Part 1)

Twenty years ago I published a book on a topic of national concern: preventing youth violence (Flannery, 2012a). The American Mental Health Foundation (AMHF), with its emphasis on improving mental-health awareness, requested I write two blogs (herewith, in 2019, are these two new essays) on some of the topics in the book. The first blog, from […]

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SUDEP: Sudden Unexpected Death in a Person with Epilepsy

This essay has been prepared in consultation with Evander Lomke, president and executive director of The American Mental Health Foundation. It is posted in memory of Elizabeth Leah Lomke, September 19, 1986 – June 4, 2018. The medical community and the general public are fully cognizant of the unexpected death of otherwise apparently healthy infants, […]

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Michelle Harrison, MD, Joins The American Mental Health Foundation Board of Directors

Michelle Harrison, MD, has joined The American Mental Health Foundation (AMHF) directors’ board as of July 1, 2018. She is the only director also serving on the AMHF professional-advisory board. Dr. Harrison is a U.S. physician of family medicine, psychiatry, and obstetrics with international stature. From 2006 to the present, Dr. Harrison directs Childlife Preserve Shishur Sevay, which […]

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Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Coroner First Responders

Dateline: Miami, Florida, March 15, 2018 The day dawned bright and sunny with typical early spring Florida warmth. People began to wake up, and each person began to plan the day. Everyone left home for work, for school, for local errands. Some did not realize that they would never be returning home. Ever. Each sat […]

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Michelle Harrison, MD, Joins the AMHF Advisory Board

Michelle Harrison, MD, joins The American Mental Health Foundation professional-advisory board as of June 1, 2018. She is also nominated for its board of directors. Dr. Harrison is a U.S. physician of family medicine, psychiatry, and obstetrics with international stature. From 2006 to the present, Dr. Harrison directs Childlife Preserve Shishur Sevay, which she founded. […]

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Psychotherapeutic Traction: Uncovering the Patient's Power-theme and Basic-wish

For Mental Health Awareness Month (May 2018) AMHF Books Publishes Psychotherapeutic Traction by Dr. Henry Kellerman

Today, May 11, 2018, is the official publication date of Psychotherapeutic Traction: Uncovering the Patient’s Power-theme and Basic-Wish by Dr. Henry Kellerman, a member of the advisory board. It is The American Mental Health Foundation Books celebration of its 25th publication since 2009 as well as an homage to 2018 (“Risky Business”) Mental Health Month. The first advance notice […]

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Fred McFeely Rogers on Youth Violence: May 1, 1969

Thanks to the research of television critic David Bianculli and his TV Worth Watching site, do “tune in” below (7 minutes) as tough-as-nails Rhode Island Senator John O. Pastore is won over by the compelling words of Fred Rogers (just days ago at this writing, the 50th anniversary of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, on what was […]

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The New Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre

Dateline: February 14, 2018, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Parkland, Florida. Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday had not coincided since the 1940s. The day began as an amalgam of frivolity and solemnity. It wound up a tragedy in Broward County. Violence in America. There’s an ongoing epidemic of Youth Violence. The American Mental Health Foundation […]

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In Memory of Dr. Stefan de Schill

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 […]

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