EMAGS Receives second STUEY!

The Ethnic Minority Association of Graduate Students (EMAGS) received its second Student Life Achievement Award (STUEY) at the 2010 STUEY celebration. EMAGS, a past STUEY recipient, was formed in 1994 by a group of students interested in multicultural issues in the mental health field expand their knowledge in providing services for minority groups.

CPS Director Honored at "I Believe in NSU" Assembly

Ana Martinez, Psy.D., director of the Psychology Services Center, is in the top five most improved at NSU (staff direct report groups) as measured by the Gallup grand mean score. Her group will be honored at the Feb. 9th "I Believe in NSU" Assembly!

SAMSHA Grant Awarded

The NSU Office of Suicide and Violence Prevention (SVP) has been awarded a 3 year/$300,000 grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA). The annual award will be matched by the university each year. CPS Associate Professor Scott Poland, Ed.D., Coordinator of the Suicide and Violence Prevention Office and Associate SHSS Professor Douglas Flemons, Ph.D., Director of NSU Student Counseling Center, are the co-directors and principle investigators for the grant. The project includes a diverse and accomplished group of individuals including Erin Procacci, Ph.D., who will serve as the grant coordinator and Christian DeLucia, Ph.D. (CPS) will serve as the grant quantitative evaluator.

CPS Doctoral Students Receive Army Commission

CPS doctoral students in clinical psychology - Matthew Mascitelli and Christopher Carbo - were recently commissioned as 2nd Lieutenants in the United States Army Reserve. Mr. Mascitelli and Mr. Carbo recently applied for and received the Army Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP) which is a unique opportunity for clinical psychology students, as well as other healthcare professions. Matthew and Chris will be doing an Army internship at one of their five sites approved by the American Psychological Association and will serve for three years active duty upon the completion of internship. The HPSP is a very competitive national scholarship. Mr.. Carbo was commissioned by Capt. Jones, who will become the Physician’s Assistant to President Obama and Vice-President Biden on April 18th.

Matthew and Chris are the president and vice president, respectively, of the new Student Organization, Students United for Returning Veterans (SURV). SURV has been working with faculty, alumni and the community, such as the Vet Center of Fort Lauderdale, to foster research, community service and education related to the needs of returning veterans.

Any student interested should contact Julie Hamrick, the Secretary of SURV, at hamrick@nova.edu.

SURV meets every Tuesday @ Noon in Room 2045 and interested students should feel free to attend.

CPS Professors Lead Freedom Project

CPS Professors Lenore Walker and Vincent Van Hasselt, with Dr. James Pann from Fischler School of Education and Human Services will lead the program evaluation team for the Freedom Project. This project stems from their Applied Community Research Grant (Quality of Life Council) funded by the Broward Sheriff’s Office on “Best Practices Model for Intervention with the Mentally Ill in the Broward County Criminal Justice System.” The annual budget for NSU will be $30,219.00. CPS Alumnus Kimberly Durham, Psy.D., Chair of the Quality of Life Council and NSU/BSO Advisory Council has been instrumental in fostering collaborative projects with law enforcement.

Continuing Education Program Receives NASP Approval

The Center for Psychological Studies (CPS) received National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) approval for its Continuing Education Program. Associate Professor and Director of Continuing Education, Sarah Valley-Gray, Psy.D., School Psychology Program Coordinator, Suzanne O’Sullivan, M.A., and fourth year clinical psychology student, Julie Snyder, M.S., took a leadership role in working to obtain this approval. Beginning in 2010, school psychologists who hold the NCSP credentials will be required to earn their continuing education units from either an APA- or NASP-approved program. The center has been approved for more than 20 years by the American Psychological Association and the Florida state board to sponsor continuing education for psychologists.

Generous contribution to the CPS scholarship fund

Dr. Gilbert H. Berken, the scholarship fund is named on his memory

Magdalen R. Berken had generously donated $25,000 to start the Dr. Gilbert H. Berken Endowed Scholarship Fund at NSU’s Center for Psychological Studies. The purpose of the scholarship is to provide financial support to graduate students who demonstrate significant financial need.

“It is my pleasure to honor my husband’s memory with the Gilbert H. Berken endowed scholarship fund. He was the dearest husband and father to our family. He would have been very proud to know we are helping students pursue higher education in his name”.

Gilbert H. Berken M.D.(1937 – 2006) was born into a family who fled their native Transylvania during the persecution of the Jews. After completing his psychiatric residency at Duke University he spent two years in the Air Force as a captain at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi. This was during the Vietnam War. Many of his patients came directly from the battlefields and suffered from disabling psychiatric problems such as post-traumatic stress syndrome and severe anxiety. In addition to his private practice, he also served as Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at Hollywood Memorial Hospital for a number of years. He supervised many NSU doctoral students while he was in practice. When he retired from Memorial Hospital he was appointed Emeritus Physician in 1998 after 30 years of service to the Hospital.

The first recipient of the scholarship is Angela Kuemmel, M.S. Angela is pursuing a career in Rehabilitation Psychology and hopes to work with patients who have suffered spinal cord injuries, brain injuries and strokes. Angela’s passion is to use her clinical skills to work with people with disabilities suffering from mental disorders. According to Angela, “Mrs. Berken scholarship will make a difference not only in my life, but also in the lives of the patients we help.”

Magdalen R. Berken and her daughter Christina at the CPS Humanitarian of the Year Award event last February.