Understanding the DSM-5

Author Bio

Subject Matter Experts:

Greg Neimeyer, PhD, is professor of psychology at the University of Florida, where he has taught the doctoral course on the DSM for over a decade. A former Graduate Coordinator in the Department of Psychology, Dr. Neimeyer also served as the Director of Training in its APA-approved doctoral program and as Chair of the Executive Board of the Council of Counseling Psychology Training Programs in the United States. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and a recipient of its award for Outstanding Contributions to Career and Personality Research. Dr. Neimeyer has also been elected as a Fellow to the Academy of Distinguished Teaching Scholars.

Dr. Neimeyer has experience in a range of different mental health contexts, having worked in a Veteran's Administration Medical Center, university counseling centers, private practice, and a family practice medical residency training program.

The author of nine books and over 200 professional publications, his work focuses primarily on aspects of professional training and development. At the invitation of the American Psychiatric Association, Dr. Neimeyer recently completed its DSM-5 Train-the-Trainers Institute and attended its DSM-5 Workgroup Symposia at its most recent annual convention. He currently divides his time between his duties as professor of psychology at the University of Florida and as Director of the Office of Continuing Education in Psychology at the American Psychological Association in Washington, DC.

Melissa Perrin, PsyD, is a licensed clinical psychologist in the State of Illinois with a private practice established in Evanston. She received her doctorate in clinical psychology from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology and has three decades of clinical experience. Dr. Perrin has consulted for Hazelden and Rush Behavioral Health and has served as Adjunct Faculty for Argosy University.

Toni Vaughn Heineman, DMH, is the founder and executive director of A Home Within, the only national organization focused exclusively on the emotional well being of foster youth. She is clinical professor at the University of California, San Francisco in psychiatry and has been in private practice in San Francisco, working with adults, children, and families for over 30 years. Dr. Heineman consults with individuals and organizations. She is the author of several articles on psychotherapy with children and has made numerous presentations to lay and professional audiences about the mental health issues facing children and parents. She authored An Abused Child: Psychodynamic Understanding and Treatment and co-edited Building a Home Within: Meeting the Emotional Needs of Children and Youth in Foster Care. Her latest co-authored book is entitled, Treating Trauma: Relationship based Psychotherapy. She has been awarded a Leadership Fellowship with Zero to Three, a Draper Richards Social Entrepreneur Fellowship, and a Social Entrepreneur Award from the Manhattan Institute, and the 2008 Civic Ventures Purpose Prize, given to social entrepreneurs over the age of 60.

Interviewer:

Barbara Alexander, LCSW, BCD, is a graduate of the Smith College School for Social Work and the Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy Program of the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis. After working for 13 years in child psychiatric settings and 30 years in private practice, she is now founder and president of On Good Authority, and an expert interviewer.