Jeana Bracey, M.A., is a predoctoral fellow in the Department of Psychiatry at The Consultation Center, Yale University School of Medicine. She is pursuing a doctoral degree in Clinical/Community Psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research and clinicial interests broadly involve positive social-emotional development of ethnic minority youth with a focus on racial/ethnic socialization and identity development. Ms. Bracey also has extensive qualitative research experience focusing on self-esteem and parenting of young children.
Donna B. Fedus, M.A., is a Gerontologist and Coordinator of Elder Programs at The Consultation Center, Yale University School of Medicine. Ms. Fedus develops health promotion programs to meet the needs of elders and families in the community, and provides training and consultation to private non-profit agencies and businesses. Previously, Ms. Fedus directed one of the largest hospital-based health promotion programs for seniors in the country, and has worked with private clients regarding gerontological training, event and program development, customer service initiatives, marketing, public relations and media strategies. Since earning her Master’s degree in Social Gerontology from the University of Pennsylvania, Ms. Fedus has nearly two decades of experience as a Gerontologist. Her interests in the field of aging are varied, including business and aging, aging workforce issues, health promotion and wellness, customer service excellence, customer-focused research, communicating with older adults, intergenerational programs, caregiving, advance directives, medical insurance, and promoting the field of gerontology.
Terry Freeman, M.A.T., LCSW, CPP-R, is currently the Director of Adolescent Programs at The Consultation Center. She has over 30 years of experience in education and social service, with special interests in urban education, youth development, group work, management and supervision. Ms. Freeman, a certified secondary school teacher in Connecticut, is a trainer/facilitator for the Youth Development Training and Resource Center, and also serves as a consultant and trainer for schools and community based agencies in the region.
Amy Griffin, M.A., is an Evaluation Consultant at The Consultation Center. She has more than 10 years of experience evaluating prevention programs at the local, state, and national levels. Ms. Griffin also has extensive experience in providing technical assistance and training to state departments and community-based organizations. Her evaluation-related interests include participatory and democratic evaluation methods as well as ecological measurement strategies.
Kathleen A. Lutz has worked in both the educational and child welfare systems. She was Director of Early Childhood Programs at St Andrews School for five years. She and her husband became foster parents which led to a career change that focused on the needs of homeless children. Ultimately they organized a program in their house, a Permanent Family Residence, creating a family model group home for eight to ten adolescent and teen boys. During her thirty-five years of caregiving for hundreds of children, she acquired many skills that today help grandfamilies struggling with issues of loss and abandonment. She has consulted to several agencies in New Haven and throughout the state and has offered training to local and national organizations. Having seen the trauma foster care can impact on children, Kathleen is committed to the concept of relative care. She currently serves as the Coordinator of Grandparent Programs at The Consultation Center in New Haven.
Susan Ottenheimer, L.C.S.W., is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine. She is the Director of Adult and Elder Programs at The Consultation Center, Program Director for the workplace dissemination project, and a member of the Division of Prevention and Community Research. Ms. Ottenheimer has extensive experience providing organization development and technical assistance consultation, serving as a senior consultant and lead trainer in the development and implementation of prevention and health promotion interventions, particularly in the workplace, and in the behavioral health field. She has designed and implemented a wide array of preventive and community-based programs for adults at-risk for psychiatric disorders, substance abuse, chronic diseases, and/or homelessness.
Erica Peters, B.A., is a predoctoral psychology fellow at the Yale University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry. Ms. Peters provides group- and individual-based treatment to adults trying to change their use of cigarettes, opioids, or alcohol. She is working on several research projects related to smoking cessation, marijuana cessation, as well as the relation between substance use expectancies and use of substances among women who are victims of intimate partner violence. Prior to coming to Yale, Ms. Peters was a doctoral candidate at the University of Vermont, where she facilitated group-based therapy for people with alcohol dependence and provided individual-based therapy to women with comorbid substance dependence and posttraumatic stress disorder. She also spent two years as a member of the Vermont Tobacco Evaluation and Review Board, an independent state board that informs the Vermont Tobacco Control Program. She will receive her Ph.D. in clinical psychology in June of 2010.
David L. Snow, Ph.D., is a Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry, Child Study Center, and Epidemiology & Public Health, Yale University School of Medicine and serves as Director of The Consultation Center and Division of Prevention and Community Research in the Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Snow has extensive experience in the design and evaluation of preventive interventions in community settings, primarily the workplace and schools, and in research aimed at identifying key risk and protective factors predictive of psychological and substance use outcomes. Dr. Snow has special interests in the protective and stress-mediating effects of coping and social support, methodological and ethical issues in prevention research, service system development, and technical assistance and organizational consultation. His workplace research has been conducted in various types of work settings ranging from manufacturing to utility to telecommunications companies. Coping with Work and Family Stress: A Workplace Preventive Intervention was developed as part of this research and has been designated as an Evidence-Based Intervention through the National Registry of Effective Programs and as a SAMHSA Model Program.
Deborah S. Stewart, B.A., CPP, of The Consultation Center, is Project Manager of Connecticut for Community Youth Development (CCYD), Director of the Youth Development Training and Resource Center (YDTRC), and a Staff Consultant for Child and Adolescent programs. Ms. Stewart has worked at both local and state levels advocating for children and their families in four states. In her various capacities at The Consultation Center, responsibilities have included training and consultation to school districts and community agencies; project planning and program development, and successful grant applications to local foundations, state agencies, and national organizations. Ms. Stewart also serves on the board of Public Allies CT and the CT School Age Care Alliance.
Tami P. Sullivan, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor and Director of Family Violence Research and Programs at The Consultation Center and Division of Prevention and Community Research, Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine. Dr. Sullivan directs programs for domestic violence offenders, including a pretrial educational program for men and women arrested for a domestic violence offense and an intensive intervention program for men with more serious domestic violence histories. Dr. Sullivan’s research interests focus on understanding the relationships between intimate partner violence, posttraumatic stress, and co-occurring substance use. She actively is involved in research examining precursors, correlates and outcomes of intimate partner violence for women in the community, and is particularly interested in risk and protective factor research.
Jennifer Sylvia, B.A., serves as Coordinator for the Connecticut Self-Help Network and Program Assistant for the Adult and Elder Program and HIV Prevention and Mental Health Research areas at The Consultation Center. Ms. Sylvia received her Bachelor’s degree from Central Connecticut State University in 2006.