Who We Are

We are a group of researchers, practitioners, policy analysts, and parents. We represent several disciplines including psychology, occupational therapy, psychiatric rehabilitation, counseling, and social work. We have a combined total of over fifty years of experience working with adults, children, and families living with mental illness.

We are parents who have coped with mental illness and substance abuse in our own families. Our children range in age from ten months to thirty something. We have grandchildren. We personally have dealt with divorce and stepfamily issues, chronic and terminal illnesses, hospitalizations, children with special needs, and elderly parents. We bring a wide range of skills and life experiences to our work with parents and their families.

	Joanne Nicholson, Ph.D. has been a clinical and research psychologist for over twenty years. She is Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Family Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS), and Deputy Director of the Center for Mental Health Services Research. Joanne writes extensively on parents with mental illness, and provides training and consultation to professional and consumer groups.
	Alexis Henry, ScD., OTR/L, is Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy at Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at Boston University, and Adjunct Research Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at UMMS. Her research focuses on valued life roles for people with psychiatric disabilities.
	Betsy Hinden, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and Research Assistant Professor at UMMS. Betsy focuses on families in which a parent has a mental illness, and families in which a child has a serious emotional disorder.
	Kathleen Biebel, Ph.D. is a Research Instructor at the UMMS Center for Mental Health Services Research. She has coordinated several studies of parents with mental illness and their children, and is particularly interested in policy issues as they affect families.
	Jonathan Clayfield, MA, LMHC, CPRP is a Research Associate and Licensed Mental Health Clinician at UMMS. Jonathan provides technical assistance and consultation to agencies interested in establishing support programs for parents with psychiatric disabilities.
	Susan Phillips, B.S. is a Research Coordinator at UMMS. She has extensive experience training and supporting individuals with psychiatric disabilities. She also coordinates the quarterly publication of the Parent Link newsletter, which provides updates on current research, programs, resources, and information to parents with mental illness and their families and service providers.
	Lawrence Stier is the Resource Coordinator for the Parents' Projects Research Team at UMMS. Larry maintains a vast reference database containing the latest research on parental mental illness.