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 certification as a school psychologist from Lehigh University, and a master's in education from American University.