Disaster Mental Health Institute
Apart from directing the R-Simons lab, Dr. Raluca Simons also directs the Disaster Mental Health Institute at USD. The DMHI assists in providing skills and training to both undergraduate and graduate students in the areas of traumatic stress, disaster mental health, crisis intervention, and diversity in disasters, to name a few.
The DMHI offers a Doctoral Specialty in Disaster Mental Health to clinical students enrolled in the USD Clinical Psychology Ph.D. Program. To undergraduate students at USD, we offer a Disaster Response Minor. For psychology majors at USD, we offer a Specialization in Disaster Response. For further information, please visit the DMHI website here.
Disaster Mental Health Institute also offers an online Graduate Certificate in Disaster Mental Health. The graduate certificate consists of completing 12 credit hours online. The Certificate is not a substitute for a graduate degree, nor is it a substitute for the requirements for licensure to practice mental health counseling and psychotherapy. More information about the Certificate can be found here.
DMHI faculty
Raluca Simons, Ph.D.,
Professor and DMHI Director
Professor and DMHI Director
Email: Raluca.Simons@usd.edu
Director, Disaster Mental Health Institute
https://www.usd.edu/arts-and-sciences/psychology/dmhi
Research Faculty, Center for Brain and Behavior Research
https://www.usd.edu/cbbre
Research Interests:
Dr. Raluca Simons's research interests include (1) risk and resiliency factors among veterans (particularly the mediating and moderating mechanisms explaining the co-occurrence of PTSD and substance use) (2) the effects of childhood maltreatment on emotional dysregulation, substance use, and adult interpersonal functioning (3) military sexual trauma (MST), (4) personality disorders and substance use, (5) disasters and human resilience (6) the role of sleep disturbances in PTSD and substance use, (7) neuro-imagining aspects of PTSD, (8) pathological gambling.
Elizabeth Boyd, Ph.D.,
Professor, DMHI Faculty, & Director of Clinical Training Program
Professor, DMHI Faculty, & Director of Clinical Training Program
Email: Beth.Boyd@usd.edu
Professor, University of South Dakota, Vermillion
https://www.usd.edu/faculty-and-staff/Beth-Boyd
Research Interests:
Dr. Boyd's research activities tend to be tribal community-initiated projects-- often including community needs assessments and evaluation of tribal programs.
As a faculty member in the USD Disaster Mental Health Institute since 1993, I have responded to numerous national and international disasters and crisis situations, particularly in Native American communities. My work with tribes has focused on crisis response team development, youth suicide prevention, community healing and empowerment, and human resource development. I am skilled in both qualitative and quantitative culturally competent methodology and have served as a research consultant to a number of tribes or tribal groups. As I am a strong proponent of community-based participatory research, my research activities tend to be tribal community-initiated projects--this often includes community needs assessments and evaluation of tribal programs.
BreAnne Danzi, Ph.D.,
Assistant Professor & DMHI Faculty
Assistant Professor & DMHI Faculty
Email: BreAnne.Danzi@usd.edu
Assistant Professor, University of South Dakota, Vermillion
https://www.usd.edu/faculty-and-staff/BreAnne-Danzi
Research Interests:
Dr. BreAnne Danzi is interested in how children and families respond to disasters. She has conducted research on three natural disasters (Hurricanes Irma and Charley in Florida and Hurricane Ike in Texas). She has investigated risk and resilience factors predicting children's symptoms of post-traumatic stress, anxiety, and depression after disasters, as well as diagnostic models conceptualizing children's trauma reactions. She has also examined genetic vulnerability for PTSD in disaster-exposed children. Additionally, Dr. Danzi has studied evacuation decision-making and factors that influence families' ability and willingness to evacuate to safety when faced with a disaster
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Breanne_Danzi