MSPP Gathers for Gala to Benefit Mental Health Care

Posted by Becca Manning
May 21, 2012

Enjoying a moment at the Gala for Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology (MSPP), held earlier this month, are (left to right) Quincy resident Shani Dowd and Needham resident Garrett Parker, both trustees of MSPP. The event benefited training programs for MSPP students interested in working with children. The Gala drew more than 330 people and more than $100,000. Courtesy photo

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Enjoying a moment at the Gala for Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology (MSPP), held earlier this month, are (left to right) Quincy resident Shani Dowd and Needham resident Garrett Parker, both trustees of MSPP. The event benefited training programs for MSPP students interested in working with children. The Gala drew more than 330 people and more than $100,000.

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More than 330 friends of Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology (MSPP) and members of the child psychology community gathered for a Gala at the Newton Marriott on Friday, May 4, and raised more than $100,000 for training mental health providers for children, who are an underserved part of American society when it comes to mental health services.

One in five Massachusetts children are impacted by mental health problems. More than 60 percent of parents who seek mental health services for their children are unable to find care. The number of counselors and therapists adequately trained to care for them is surprisingly small. MSPP is committed to reversing these numbers by educating skilled professionals specifically to treat children and families and by providing direct services to those in need.

Proceeds will help MSPP provide scholarships to promising students for MSPP’s new concentration, Children and Families of Adversity and Resilience, create a comprehensive Social-Emotional Learning Initiative, to support teachers who educate "the whole child" for academic and life success, and expand MSPP’s community mental health initiatives and trainings via MSPP's Freedman and Brenner Centers, which provide low and no-cost services to area schools and nonprofits, as well as thousands of families

Honored at the Gala were Dr. Arnold Kerzner, an innovative child psychiatrist, educator, administrator and family advocate, who received the MSPP Mental Health Humanitarian Award, and Dr. Ed Zadravec, who received the Dr. Florence H. Lerman Mintz Alumni Award. Zadravec is an MSPP alumnus, class of 1995 and the Associate Director of School Based Services at Wediko Children’s Services.

For more information about all of MSPP's graduate programs, go to www.mspp.edu.

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