John Feal and the Fealgood Foundation provide financial assistance, medical and legal contacts, and other advocacy needs.

 

She subsequently became Deputy Director of the then recently formed Disaster and Terrorism Branch and was eventually appointed as Director in charge of overseeing and coordinating disaster behavioral health preparedness, response and recovery efforts statewide. She has managed several disasters, including Tropical Storm Irene and Superstorm Sandy, and oversees a program that certifies human services professionals in preparation for disaster response.

Her background includes 30 years of providing health and trauma related mental health services. Prior to joining the Division, Dr. Fessler Belli held the position as the first Traumatic Loss Coalition Coordinator at the Mercer County Office of Mental Health Services. She holds a license in clinical social work and Masters of Social Work from Rutgers University and Ph.D. in Psychology from Walden University.

 

Using social work practices, she guided the development of programs that provide continuity of care and promote resiliency in the lives of victims' families and survivors. As a family member, she was instrumental in campaigning for the creation of the 9/11 Commission and the implementation of reforms based on their recommendations. Under her leadership, VOICES also created the Living Memorial project, an online digital archive of 70,000 photos and personal keepsakes, which is also a core component of the In Memoriam exhibit at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum in New York City.

Today, Ms. Fetchet is dedicated to establishing VOICES Center of Excellence for Community Resilience to help communities heal after other acts of mass violence or natural disasters. An expert on the long-term needs of victims and survivors, mental health care, preparedness, and national security reforms, she has made hundreds of appearances on national television and at conferences in the U.S. and abroad, and contributes regularly to print and radio.

 

She earned her doctorate in clinical psychology from the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology at Rutgers University and holds a Masters of Public Policy from Georgetown. Prior to joining Rutgers WTC CCE, Dr. Gordic worked and trained in inpatient, partial hospital, outpatient and community based settings in New York and New Jersey.

 

Ms. Harris holds a Master's degree in Clinical Social Work from Fordham University. Her clinical experience includes victim advocacy and outreach, substance abuse recovery, and community mental health. She has received advanced training and certifications in the areas of trauma/PTSD, disaster response crisis counseling, grief, sexual assault victim advocacy, and family systems theory. She has an extensive background in social services and not-for-profit management, most notably working in the very early days of the 9/11 response as the first staff member of The September 11th Fund (The Fund).

The Fund was created by the New York Community Trust and the United Way of New York City and operated until 2004. The Fund collected $534 million from more than two million donors and distributed a total of 559 grants totaling $528 million. Grants from The Fund provided cash assistance, counseling and other services to the families of those killed in the 9/11 attacks and included the injured and those displaced from their homes or jobs.

A lifelong New Jersey resident, Lori also volunteers as a group facilitator at Imagine NJ, A Center for Coping with Loss.

 

Dr. Indart has provided consultation, program development, and evaluation, and professional training to the United Nations Secretariat, UNDP, and UNICEF in areas of crisis and trauma response, peer support, staff care and emergency preparedness.. Dr. Indart worked for the New Jersey Disaster and Terrorism Branch from 2001 to 2010; her work included the 9/11 FEMA-funded crisis counseling program, where she specialized in organizing and providing services to immigrant and hard to reach communities.

Dr. Indart has volunteered with HealthRight International's Human Rights Clinic since 2002, providing psychological evaluations for asylum seekers, as well as program development, consultation and training services. She has developed and delivered a training for mental health providers in the Ukraine on best practices in survivors of torture treatment services, and has provided consultation to a Syrian medical team developing mental health and psychosocial support services for refugees in southern Turkey.

She maintains a private practice, specializing in the treatment of severe trauma, grief and loss, including survivors of torture, suicide and homicide. She has been an assistant professor at the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology at Rutgers University for the past fifteen years, and is a graduate of that program, earning her Psy.D. in clinical psychology in 1994.

 

For almost a decade, Stephanie has worked on a variety of projects with the 9/11 community of families, responders and survivors, providing case management services, conducting 9/11 Living Memorial workshops and planning the September 10 Annual Information Forum and other special events.

 

He was a member and Chair of the NJ counselor licensing board for 10 years and a former President of the American Association of State Counseling Boards (AASCB), NJ Counseling Association, and NJ Mental Health Counselors Association.

He was among the founders of the New Jersey Council on Divorce and Family Mediation, co-authoring one of the seminal works in family mediation. He has appeared on radio and television, including the Sally Show and Soap Talk, as well as 48 Hours on Crack Street and Straight Talk, and a WNET special Teens in Turmoil and numerous other publications and presentations too many to name. He received his Ed.D. from Argosy University-Sarasota, Florida in Counseling Education and Supervision, and an M.S. in Counseling from the University of Bridgeport.

 

She is currently the Clinical/Training Director for Imagine, A Center for Coping with Loss in Westfield, NJ. She presents seminars on various topics such as: grief and loss, resilience, shame, parenting, anti-bullying, depression and anxiety.

 

Ms. Sullivan was also one of the pioneers of the WorkFirst NJ Substance Abuse Initiative with the National Council of Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, the statewide response to welfare reform that began in 1997. In this capacity she assessed and managed treatment for hundreds of clients moving from welfare to work by helping them through substance abuse issues and their transition into the workforce.

Ms. Sullivan is a certified Disaster Response Crisis Counselor, trained in the FEMA and Red Cross models and is currently a part of the Division of Mental Health and Addictions' Disaster and Terrorism Branch that develops contingency planning for the public's mental health needs surrounding various types of emergencies. She serves on the Operations Board of the Disaster Response Crisis Counselor Certification and is one of the trainers for the DRCC curriculum. Ms. Sullivan is a graduate of Villanova University and holds a Masters of Education in Counseling Psychology from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. She has also trained in marital and family counseling at The Center for Family, Community and Social Justice in Princeton, NJ.

 

Dr. Upadhyaya provides individual, group psychotherapy, mentors and supervises social workers and doctoral psychology students. She presents on various aspects of trauma informed care at case conferences and seminars, conducts community outreach workshops and in house staff training and education workshops. Dr. Upadhyaya is also part of initiatives to transmit health messages across the survivor and responder population through social media and online newsletters and participates in department wide research initiatives. Her interests and areas of expertise include evidenced based treatment of trauma, mindfulness and meditation, reducing barriers to mental healthcare, post traumatic growth and resilience.

 

A long time student and practitioner of mindfulness meditation, Dr. Verni originally trained with Jon Kabat-Zinn from the Center for Mindfulness at Umass in 2006 and he continues to participate in the advanced trainings and supervision offered at Umass for experienced MBSR teachers.

He facilitates time-limited courses in MBSR in private, corporate and clinical settings. He has taught MBSR programs for the United Nations Headquarters in NYC, Google employees at their NYC office and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Dr. Verni received his doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the Rutgers Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology.

He is also affiliated with Rutgers University as a training and consultation specialist providing trainings throughout the state of NJ on Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction(MBSR). He currently maintains a private practice in Highland Park providing psychotherapy services to adolescents and adults, as well as mindfulness-based stress reduction programs.

 

She has written numerous articles and chapters, and co-authored the chapter Healing Trauma Through Humanistic Connection, in the award-winning book Humanistic Perspectives on Contemporary Counseling Issues. She co-edited the ACA Foundation publication, Terrorism, Trauma, and Tragedies: A Counselor's Guide to Preparing and Responding from its beginning after 9/11, and a soon to be published Journal of Counseling & Development (JCD) article analyzing the publication (or lack) of articles on trauma and disaster in counseling journals.

She is Guest Editor of the JCD Special Section on Traumatology. Dr. Webber has served as Chair of the ACA Foundation, North Atlantic Region, International Committee, Human Rights Committee, Public Awareness and Support Committee, and President of the NJ Counseling Association. Jane is frequently interviewed on disaster and trauma issues, including National Public Radio and Counseling Today Online. She received the Ph.D. from Seton Hall University, the M.Ed. from The Pennsylvania State University, and the BA from Manhattanville College.

 

She is responsible, but not limited to, providing benefits counseling to patients; attending outreach opportunities to raise awareness about the WTC Health Program; restructuring the outreach and patient care procedures; and connecting patients to community and state benefits/services.

Prior to joining the WTC Health Program Team, Chauntel was the program coordinator for a non-profit organization that focused on substance abuse prevention for Veterans and Military Families in Putnam County, New York. During this time, Ms. Wright earned a Master Degree in Public Health with a concentration in Behavioral Sciences and Health Promotion from New York Medical College as well as her Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) and Health Education certificates. In 2011, she earned her undergraduate dual degree in Public Health and Women and Gender Studies from Rutgers University.

Simultaneously, in her spare time, Chauntel is a community outreach and program development consultant; helping organizations reach target populations and develop various programs. She is also a volunteer for the New Jersey Medical Reserve Corps, which is an organization that responds to public health emergencies throughout the state of New Jersey.