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Meet July 2023 College of Sciences Ace Award Winner: Tara Gamble
The College of Sciences recognizes our outstanding staff with the Staff Ace Award. Winners of the Ace Award exhibit initiative to support COS while working well with those around them. They are “movers and shakers” in their departments and inspire others with their leadership skills. Congratulations to our July 2023 recipient, Tara Gamble! About Tara […]
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UCF Researchers Pave the Way to Better Understand and Treat PTSD
June is Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Awareness Month, which aims to raise the public’s understanding of the oftentimes debilitating condition. It’s estimated that about one in three people who experience severe trauma develop PTSD. Veterans, first responders, and survivors of abuse or serious accidents are more prone to PTSD than others, according to the National […]
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Meet April and May 2023 UCF College of Sciences Ace Award Winners: Maria Williams and Christina Alecse
The College of Sciences recognizes outstanding staff with the Staff Ace Award. Winners of the Ace Award exhibit initiative to support COS while working well with those around them. They are “movers and shakers” in their departments and inspire others with their leadership skills. Congratulations to our April and May 2023 Ace Award recipients! Maria Williams […]
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Innovative VR Therapy Helps Patients Overcome PTSD Caused by Hospital Stays
Exceptional medical care from first responders, nurses and doctors routinely saves the lives of patients with critical illnesses. But many of those patients will suffer from anxiety, depression and PTSD after they return home. A team of UCF researchers is confident that exposure therapy featuring virtual reality with real sounds and smells, all mimicking the […]
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Pabst Steinmetz Foundation Arts and Wellness Innovation Award Winners Enhance Mental Health Resiliency
The arts and humanities have a unique power to resonate with the human soul across time, place and socioeconomic status. When this power is harnessed by the community through sustainable, evidence-based and cross-disciplinary initiatives, the potential for positive human impact is limitless. Based on this idea, the Pabst Steinmetz Foundation Arts and Innovation Award gives […]
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UCF RESTORES Receives $1.4 Million to Expand Support, Suicide Prevention Training for First Responders
UCF RESTORES has received a $1.4 million First Responder Regional Support Grant from the Florida Department of Children and Families to expand its nationally recognized peer support and suicide prevention training for first responders in a 12-county region in Central Florida. The award establishes UCF RESTORES — a leading nonprofit clinical research center and trauma treatment clinic […]
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James “Jim” Rosengren ’81, one of UCF’s most dedicated partners and philanthropists, has passed away
James “Jim” Rosengren ’81 passed away Monday, March 28, 2022. Rosengren, with his wife, Julia, supported a wide range of programs across the university including making multi-million-dollar gifts to the College of Sciences, the College of Arts and Humanities and UCF Athletics. From the start of their philanthropic relationship with UCF, the Rosengrens wanted […]
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2 UCF Professors Inducted into Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine of Florida
A psychology professor and an engineering professor from the University of Central Florida are among 15 honorees to be inducted Nov. 6 to the Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine of Florida (ASEMFL), a group that brings together the nation’s most distinguished scholars who live and work in Florida. The induction of Pegasus Professors Deborah […]
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Knights Do That: PTSD Treatment That Works for Veterans, First Responders
In episode 12 of Knights Do That, we speak with Deborah Beidel, executive director of UCF RESTORES. The Pegasus Professor and Trustee Chair of Clinical Psychology and Medical Education shares her experience and expertise in PTSD treatment, innovative treatments happening at UCF RESTORES, and how we can better acknowledge and support veterans. Produced by UCF, […]
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UCF RESTORES Provides Mental Health Aid at Surfside Condo Collapse
While in Surfside, Florida, a first responder working the tragic collapse of the Champlain Towers South condo building approached Deborah Beidel with fine jewelry he found among the rubble. He was worried about who it belonged to and the significance it held. “With discoveries like this, you’re helping people get a part of their relative […]
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New Virtual Reality Technology to Treat PTSD Enters Clinical Trials
The American Psychiatric Association estimates that one in 11 people will be diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in their lifetime, but new virtual reality (VR) technology is providing hope for the recovery of those living with it. UCF RESTORES, a nonprofit trauma research center and treatment clinic at UCF, has developed a state-of-the-art VR […]
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UCF RESTORES Honored By Florida Blue Foundation For Partnership With First Responders
Ongoing work to offer free, research-backed education and treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other trauma-related concerns – especially among the first responder community – recently earned UCF RESTORES recognition from the Florida Blue Foundation. The award, announced May 4 at the Virtual Community Health Symposium and Sapphire Awards, includes $60,000 in direct […]
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Deborah Beidel Receives Advocacy Award
UCF RESTORES, which began as a government-funded research initiative in 2011, has grown to serve as an invaluable resource to the Orlando community, the state of Florida and beyond. The nonprofit’s unique approach to treatment — including the first-of-its-kind (in the U.S.) three-week intensive outpatient program — combines exposure therapy, emerging technology, and one-on-one and […]
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New Scholarship Program Opens Statewide Access to RESTORES Training Course
Mental health clinicians across Florida will benefit from free PTSD training thanks to a new educational scholarship program offered by UCF RESTORES. The scholarships open access to UCF RESTORES’ six-hour, fully online Trauma Management Therapy training course, designed to give Florida-based mental health counselors the opportunity to apply the successful methods used within […]
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UCF RESTORES Starts New Mental Health Services in Orange County for COVID-19
In response to the psychological toll of the COVID-19 pandemic, the University of Central Florida’s psychological trauma clinic, UCF RESTORES, is working with Orange County on two new projects to provide treatment services in the area. The work will focus on residents of Azalea Park on the east side of Orlando and essential workers who […]
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UCF Experts Weigh in as Coronavirus Captures Headlines
As the coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to dominate daily news cycles, UCF experts in areas ranging from hospitality, tourism, economics and student health services are helping shape the conversation surrounding the effects of the virus on various industries and the community as a whole. Kenneth Adams, professor — Ph.D. in criminal justice from State University of […]
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Mental Health Series from UCF RESTORES Coming to Social Media
Expert advice to deal with the stressful disruptions caused by COVID-19 is coming soon to Facebook Live. The Q&A-style, roughly 10-minute videos will be co-hosted by faculty and staff of UCF RESTORES, a research center and treatment clinic based on campus that provides treatment for active duty military, first responders, survivors of sexual assault and […]
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U.S. Army Awards $1 Million to UCF RESTORES Clinic for Virtual Reality Project
BY GENE KRUCKEMYER’73 | SEPTEMBER 26, 2019 The UCF RESTORES Clinic was recently awarded $1 million from the U.S. Army to continue development of its own virtual-reality software to treat active-duty service members, military veterans and first responders who experience post-traumatic stress disorder. “This funding will allow us to develop new tools to further […]