About NCDMHR
Policy Advisory Board
April Naturale
April Naturale is a licensed, clinical social worker and a Ph.D. candidate at New York University where she is studying Secondary Traumatic Stress. Ms. Naturale provides disaster training and consultation throughout the U.S. and internationally.
She was the Statewide Director of the New York mental health response to 9/11/01 and continues to participate in the Hurricane Katrina responses in each of the Gulf States. Ms. Naturale is currently the Interim Managing Director for Psychology Beyond Borders, an international not-for-profit that is dedicated to addressing the psychology of fear and terror through response, research and policy.
Theresa (Tessie) Smith
Theresa (Tessie) Smith is currently the Director of the Division of Policy and Planning in the Mississippi Department of Mental Health, where she has worked since 1982. She received Master's degrees in Speech Pathology and in Educational Administration and Supervision from the University of Mississippi and is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in Clinical Health Sciences at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Ms. Smith works with programmatic divisions in the Mississippi Department of Mental Health and other agencies to develop and revise the State Plan for Community Mental Health Services.
Her work includes providing technical assistance for mental health planning activities, preparation of technical reports and development of policy recommendations. She serves as liaison and provides administrative support to the Mississippi State Mental Health Planning and Advisory Council and its committees, and to the federal Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) Block Grant Program office. She is Co-Principal Investigator for the agency's CMHS Data Infrastructure Grant project for mental health.
Prior to 2006, she was responsible for public information functions at the agency's state office and served in the role of Public Information Officer from the Mississippi Department of Mental Health to assist in disaster response activities coordinated by the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, including the response to Hurricane Katrina. Ms. Smith has completed the State Executive Development Institute at the John C. Stennis Institute of Government and the Certified Public Manager Program through the Mississippi State Personnel Board and holds the Mississippi Department of Mental Health credential as a Licensed Mental Health/Mental Retardation Administrator.
Susan E. Hamilton
Susan E. Hamilton received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the Institute of Psychiatry, London, England, and has been involved in disaster mental health since 1992. Her work has included research, independent practice, administration, and teaching.
In 2000 she moved to Washington, DC to work with the American Red Cross supervising the expansion and development of their Disaster Mental Health program, which involved close collaboration with government and non government agencies as well as the mental health associations and faith based organizations.
She resigned from the Red Cross in 2007 to return to independent practice and consultation and practices in Ashburn, VA. She is an advisory board member of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network.