

EMOTIONAL WELLNESS
How to Overcome & Become
THE NATIONAL CENTER PRESENTS
Board of Scientific & Professional Advisors
Mark D. Lerner, Ph.D.
Chairman & CEO, The National Center for Emotional Wellness
Clinical & Forensic Psychologist, Author, Speaker, Consultant
Erin B. Doyle
Vice President, Talent Development at First Midwest Bank
Bobby Senn, FDNY, Ret.
9/11 Collapse Survivor
Jeffrey T. Mitchell, Ph.D.
Clinical Professor of Emergency Health Services
University of Maryland Baltimore County
Co-Founder and President Emeritus
International Critical Incident Stress Foundation
Paul J. Rosch, M.D., FACP
Chairman of the Board, The American Institute of Stress
Clinical Professor of Medicine & Psychiatry
New York Medical College
In Memoriam
Jim Dolan
Executive Director, Laurus Foundation
Vincent J. McNally, MPS, CEAP
Ret. Unit Chief for FBI Employee Assistance Program
President, Trauma Reduction, Inc.
Mary Vietzke, BSN, RN
Nurse Educator
GAGO Center for Fertility, PLLC.
Robert B. Kronenberg, Esq.
Attorney at Law
Former New York City Police Captain
Catherine G. Caronia, M.D., FAAP, FCCP
Chairman, Department of Pediatric Medical Education
Chairman, Department of Pediatrics
Good Samaritan University Hospital
Lawrence Sherman, FACEHP, CCMEP
President, Meducate Global, LLC
Prova Education
Rick Rader, M.D., FAAIDD
Director Habilitation Center
Orange Grove Center
Editor-in-Chief, Exceptional Parent Magazine
David M. Colen
Director, Ethics & Compliance Investigations
Darryl Whitaker, D.B.S.
Certified Biblical Counselor
Founder, God’s Repair Shop
James T. Reese, Ph.D.
CEO, James T. Reese and Associates
Former Assistant Unite Chief, FBI Behavioral Science Unit
Founder, FBI Stress Management Program
Robert "Trebor" A. McDowell
CISM Team Base Leader, Southwest Airlines
In Memoriam
Felix P. Nater, CSC
Nater Associates, LTD.,
Security Management Consultant
U.S. Postal Inspector, Ret.
Raymond F. Hanbury, Ph.D., ABPP
Clinical & Police Psychologist
NJ State Clinical Director, Trauma Response Team
Rabbi Simcha Lefkowitz
Congregation Anshei Chessed
President of Labor and Industry for Education (LIFE)
Departmental Chaplain, Nassau County Police Department
Sam D. Bernard, Ph.D.
President and Lead Clinician
Bernard & Associates, PC and PAR Foundation
Chaplain David J. Fair, D.Min., Ph.D., CMC
Chairman, American Board of Certified Master Chaplains
Steven Eric Handwerker, Ph.D., D.Div.
Founder and CEO, The International Association for the
Advancement of Human Welfare, Inc.
Raymond D. Shelton Ph.D.
Executive Consultant, Insurance Industry
Clinical Director, Nassau County Fire/EMS Service
Traumatic Stress Program
Tori Bourguignon, M.Ed., NCC
Crisis Response Coordinator
Amberly’s Place
Daniel L. Kirsch, Ph.D., DAAPM, FAIS
President, American Institute of Stress
Allen R. Kates, MFAW
Author of books on Stress, Trauma and PTSD
CopShock.com
Laurence Miller, Ph.D.
Consulting Psychologist
West Palm Beach Police Department
Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office
Troop L, Florida Highway Patrol
Judith Greve, LPN
Senior Clinical Education Specialist
Walgreens Specialty
George Rogu, M.D., FAAP
Pediatric Medicine
Founder, AdoptionDoctors.com
Robert S. Cook
Sr. Consultant, Emergency Management
LSC Consulting, LLC
Daniel J. McGuire
President, CISM Perspectives, Inc.
Paige Valdiserri, LPC, NCC, RMT
Director of Behavioral Health,
Comprehensive Health Services, Inc.
President, Paige Valdiserri, LLC
Traumatic Stress & Intuitive Healing Consultant
David M. Diamond, Ph.D.
Professor, Departments of Psychology and
Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology
University of South Florida
Center for Preclinical and Clinical Research on PTSD
Director, USF Neuroscience Collaborative
Lorie T. DeCarvalho, Ph.D.
Clinical Psychologist, Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry
Loma Linda University Medical Center, Author, Speaker,
International Trauma and Military Consultant
Kathy Platoni, Psy.D.
Clinical Psychologist
Colonel, Medical Service Corp, USAR
Army Reserve Psychology Consultant
Assistant Clinical Professor, Wright State University
School of Professional Psychology

What is Emotional Wellness?
Today, we are focused on wellness: preventing illness, keeping people healthy, and improving the quality of life. However, our emotional well-being is often overlooked.
Emotional wellness refers to an awareness, understanding and acceptance of our feelings and our ability to manage effectively through challenges and change.
Consider the following:
• The United States spends more money to treat mental disorders
than any other disease or medical condition.
• Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health
• Depression is now the leading cause of
illness and disability worldwide.
The National Center is committed to fostering emotional wellness by providing timely information, guidance, practical strategies and support for organizations, corporations, and health care professionals.
Timely Articles
10 THINGS YOU CAN DO
To Foster Your Own Emotional Wellness
by Dr. Mark Lerner
Chairman, The National Center for Emotional Wellness
1. Become aware of your feelings and try to label them (e.g., “I’m feeling nervous.”
“I’m feeling sad.” “I’m feeling frustrated.” etc.).
2. Try to identify your thoughts and how they are precipitating, or being influenced by,
a feeling (e.g., “I’ve been thinking about how I responded to her and I’m feeling angry.”).
3. Learn to accept that feelings are not right or wrong … they just are.
4. Slow down and think before you act; make goal-directed choices.
5. Realize that you have the ability to choose your focus—what you think about.
6. If you find yourself thinking repetitively about something that is causing you emotional discomfort, identify the thought and try to dismiss it (e.g., “Stop it. This is not productive.”).
7. Know that it’s OK not to be OK during challenges and change. Allow yourself to experience normal reactions in the face of an abnormal event.
8. If you are grappling with uncomfortable thoughts and feelings, distract yourself and change what you are doing (e.g., Take a walk. Exercise. Listen to music. Speak with a friend or loved one. etc.).
9. Speak with people with whom you can share your thoughts and feelings—people who listen more than they speak. Rely on interpersonal face-to-face communication.
10. Strive to become the person that you would ideally like to be. While this may be a hypothetical construct, something that can’t be directly observed and subject to influence by the world around you, choose your “bullseye.”
CONTACT:
Dr. Mark Lerner
Chairman, The National Center for Emotional Wellness
© 2023 by Dr. Mark Lerner
10 Ways to Reduce the Frequency of Violence in America
by Dr. Mark Lerner
Chairman, The National Center for Emotional Wellness
There is no single solution to decrease the prevalence of violence in our nation's schools, universities, houses of worship, movie theaters, shopping malls, workplaces, and in our communities.
However, a multimodal approach, incorporating the following ten strategies, would reduce the frequency of violent acts:
1. Prevention must be a priority. People should learn about the indicators of potential violence and instructed with whom to share information. In nearly every violent attack, there was some form of “leakage”—someone knew something to suggest the realization of violence.
2. Law enforcement agencies should encourage people to report concerns about potential violent acts and take every report seriously. Investigators should do their due diligence and always err on the side of caution to avert a tragedy. The single greatest predictor of violent behavior, is past violent behavior.
3. Mental health facilities and programs must be expanded to help people who present a danger to themselves and others. While a relatively small percentage of individuals with mental health problems are violent, these individuals could benefit from evidence-based, anger mangement strategies, and potentially protect others from violent acts.
4. Depression is now the leading cause of disability worldwide, and suicide is the leading cause of injury death of Americans—surpassing automobile accidents. There is a strong correlation between suicide and homicide, as evidenced by the fact that most perpetrators of violent acts take their own lives or are killed while engaging in acts of violence. As noted previously (3), mental health programs must be developed and implemented to address anger and aggressivity.
5. As our world becomes increasingly technological, we must be aware of the fundamental breakdown in interpersonal, face-to-face communication. Efforts should be made to bring people together, absent technology, and engage interpersonally. For example, children could be taught social skills, such as empathy and assertiveness.
6. The media must stop showing the faces and reporting the names of alleged perpetrators. Our increasingly technological world, including internet news sites, social media, streaming video, and television, is providing an indelible "stage" upon which disturbed individuals perform. Focusing inordinate attention on perpetrators and their actions increases the frequency of violent threats and acts. We must turn off the spotlight and stop glorifying and reinforcing maleficent conduct.
7. We must utilize our greatest resources to protect “soft targets,” such as our nation’s schools and universities. Consideration must be given to employing retired law enforcement personnel and our veterans who have demonstrated exemplary performance and are well-trained and experienced in the use of firearms. A calculation could be developed for various venues, such as one armed “protector” per every specific number of people in a school.
8. We must not rely on arming our teachers and school personnel. Their knowledge, education, skill, experience and training is in teaching, mentoring and providing support for our children. Educators have overwhelming responsibilities, and should not be placed in situations where they are called upon to draw a weapon and make a choice to use deadly force.
9. While it is virtually impossible to eliminate every assault rifle, there are certainly reasonable and responsible mechanisms that could be put into place to prevent these weapons from getting into the hands of the wrong people. This could be implemented by considering variables such as age to purchase and own, and enhanced background checks, including a waiting/processing period.
10. There is considerable focus today on wellness: preventing illness, keeping people healthy and improving the quality of life. Greater attention must be given to a key component of wellness that is often overlooked, Emotional Wellness: an awareness, understanding and acceptance of our feelings, and our ability to manage effectively through challenges and change. It’s time to foster Emotional Wellness in America!
CONTACT:
Dr. Mark Lerner
Chairman, The National Center for Emotional Wellness
© 2023 by Dr. Mark Lerner
Identifying People At-Risk for Violent Behavior
by Dr. Mark Lerner
Chairman, & CEO, The National Center for Emotional Wellness
The best way to prevent a violent act is to identify individuals who are at risk of danger to themselves or others. Immediate action should be taken to investigate whether a potential perpetrator has a plan or the means of harming oneself or others.
Following is a checklist of warning signs. The great the number of endorsed items, the greater the risk for violent behavior.
❐ has engaged in violent behavior in the past
❐ expresses self-destructive or homicidal ideation
❐ has described feelings of hopelessness
❐ has a history of self-destructive behavior
❐ gives away possessions
❐ articulates specific plans to harm oneself or others
❐ appears withdrawn
❐ appears/acknowledges feeling depressed
❐ exhibits signs of antisocial behavior
❐ engages in bullying others
❐ evidences a significant change in mood
❐ has difficulty with impulse control
❐ experiences sleep and eating disturbances
❐ evidences significant changes in behavior
❐ has experienced a traumatic event
❐ engages in substance abuse
❐ has been a victim of child abuse
❐ has become involved with gang activity
❐ has experienced a significant loss
❐ evidences a preoccupation with fighting
❐ has a history of antisocial behavior
❐ frequently watches programs/movies with violent themes
❐ evidences a low tolerance for frustration
❐ evidences a preoccupation with games with violent themes
❐ externalizes blame for their difficulties
❐ evidences a preoccupation with guns and other weapons
❐ has harmed animals
❐ has access to a firearm or other weapons
❐ has engaged in fire-setting
❐ has brought a weapon to school
❐ evidenced frequent disciplinary problems
❐ exhibited poor academic performance
❐ talks about not being around
❐ has been truant from school or work
CONTACT:
Dr. Mark Lerner
Chairman, The National Center for Emotional Wellness
© 2023 by Dr. Mark Lerner
DISCLAIMER:
The suggestions on this website are intended solely for informational and educational purposes and not as medical or psychological advice. If you have questions or concerns regarding your health, please consult with your healthcare provider.
© 2023 by The National Center for Emotional Wellness, Inc.