Suzanne Stutman
President
Institute for Mental Health Initiatives
Suzanne Stutman, President of Institute for Mental Health Initiatives
(IMHI) in Washington, D.C., designs innovative programs for the
prevention of emotional disorders. For 16 years, IMHI has made
mental health research accessible to the public and the media.
She has been a guest on numerous radio and television talk shows
and has written articles for newspapers, magazines, and professional
journals about child development, anger management, portrayals
of anger on television, ways to foster resilience, and media
literacy. She has trained administrators and professional staff
abroad in the emotional development of infants and toddlers and
in channeling parents' and children's anger. In 1994 and 1995,
in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, respectively, Ms. Stutman represented
the United States at the United Nations Conference on the Prevention
of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, presenting on the media's
role in violence prevention. In 1995, she represented IMHI at
an international conference in Israel on the media's emerging
influence in Israeli culture. For the past 10 years, IMHI has
been meeting with leading social scientists pulling together
what is known about Resilience and developing materials on Fostering
Resilience. For example, in response to the Oklahoma bombing
IMHI produced a booklet on fostering resilience entitled: "What
do you tell the Children? How to Help Children Deal with Disaster." This
booklet was distributed to 40,000 parents in Oklahoma by the
Oklahoma Department of Mental Health, as well as used by National
Media and in international disaster areas. IMHI also produced
a parent's guide to viewing television with their children to
accompany the Turner Broadcasting System's special, "TV Violence:
Parents Under the Gun." For 20 years, she has had a private psychotherapy
practice for individual, couples, families, and groups. She is
co-author of Torah With Love: A Guide for Strengthening Jewish
Values Within the Family (1986). Ms. Stutman earned an MSW from
University of Pennsylvania, advanced cerification as a school
psychologist from Lehigh University, and a master's in education
from American University.
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