Nebraska Disaster Behavioral Health Conference

Dr. Cahill works with the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety. He has extensive experience in research evaluating the efficacy of psychological and psychiatric treatments of anxiety disorders, particularly emphasizing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). He has authored over 40 published scholarly papers and book chapters on topics related to the nature and treatment of pathological anxiety.

Dr. Gurwitch is a co-investigator with the Terrorism and Disaster Center of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network and a member of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) cadre of experts on disaster mental health. She is the program coordinator for the newly established National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement.

Ms. Samuels serves as a staff/consultant for Physicians for Human Rights in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Iraq. She is responsible for staff training, staff support and dealing with vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue, and managing secondary stress in-field staff. She recently participated in a conference in Guatemala to draft the minimum mental health standards for victim and families of forced disappearances, mass graves, identifications, and exhumations.

Mr. Hansen coordinated the creation and implementation of Nebraska’s Strategic National Stockpile Plan. He has expertise in exercise development and implementation, and the coordination of both public health and medical disaster responses in conjunction with the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency. He currently provides training and education in the areas of pandemic influenza and business continuity.

Ms. Sheehan is both a spiritual and retreat director and has developed and implemented programs to help adults deepen their understanding of the connections between spirituality and sexuality. She also serves as adjunct faculty in the Graduate School at Creighton University as a lecturer in the Christian Spirituality Program.

Mr. Sheehan has been a hospital administrator for 34 years. He served as a consultant to the Department of Defense and Department of State regarding resource requirements to support the treatment of victims of nuclear testing in Kazakhstan.

Dr. Gibson is a consultant for the National Center for PTSD. She was the invited co-chair of a working group convened by the National Institutes of Health in 2003 to create best practice guidelines for mental health interventions subsequent to mass violence and disasters. She is the co-author of a manualized treatment for prolonged post-disaster distress that is grounded in evidenced-based principles. She has trained and consulted with therapists on the implementation of the manual subsequent to both hurricanes and the 9/11/01 attacks.