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COMMUNITY REPORT 2009
Click here to download our latest Community Report.

Melissa May Conference 2008
Bolstering Resilience: Benefiting from Lessons Learned, by Donald Meichenbaum, Ph.D. [PDF]

SILENCE THE VIOLENCE-2: YOUTH VIOLENCE IN URBAN AMERICA
On November 2, 2007, The Melissa Institute for Violence Prevention and Treatment, in partnership with The Children’s Trust and Baptist Health South Florida hosted “Silence the Violence-2:Youth Violence in Urban America. This was our second invitation only symposium which brought together community leaders, elected officials, representatives from law enforcement, the health professions, education and human service agencies to address the problem of youth violence. National experts presented research on the causes of youth violence and explored research-based strategies that have been demonstrated effective in the prevention of and response to youth violence.

Youth Violence in Urban America (November 2007) Materials:
Dr. Scott Decker’s paper Responding to Gangs, Guns and Youth Crime: Principles from Strategic Problem Solving Approaches. [PDF]
Dr. Scott Decker’s presentation Understand and Responding to Gangs in the New Millennium

Ongoing violence in Miami-Dade County is the focus of "From Principles to Practicality: Organizing the Faith-Based Community to Prevent Violence," an invitation-only conference for local religious/spiritual leaders. The conference is a follow-up to the “Silence the Violence” symposium for community leaders that was held at the hospital in September.

For more information and to see video of presentations click here.

Silence The Violence
Video from Silence the Violence Symposium, September 22, 2006 is now available online. [Click for video]

SYMPOSIUM AT BAPTIST CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL ADDRESSED RECENT OUTBREAK OF VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN

On September 22, 2006, The Melissa Institute for Violence Prevention and Treatment, in partnership with Baptist Children's Hospital, hosted "Silence the Violence," an invitation-only symposium for community leaders to address the recent outbreak of violence in Miami-Dade County against children under the age of 17. Dr. Meichenbaum's presentation How to make an Aggressive and Violent Youth: Implications for Prevention and Treatment is available for [Download].
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Leonard Pitts Speaks at Tenth Conference
See a video of noted Miami Herald Columnist, Pulitzer Prize Winner and Melissa Institute Honorary Board member, speaking at the Melissa Institute Tenth Annual Conference, "Aggression and Suicide Among Children and Youth" - May 2006 [video] [Articles]

Dr. Don Meichenbaum, Research Director

Paper: 35 Years with Suicidal Patients — Lessons Learned (2008)

Dr. Donald Meichenbaum, Research Director of The Melissa Institute, has reviewed a position statement on school shootings posted on the website of the National Consortium of School Violence Prevention Researchers and Practitioners. The Institute supports this statement and commends it to your attention.

Read an interview with Don Meichenbaum, our Research Director.

11th Annual Conference (May 2007) Materials

SELF-CARE FOR TRAUMA PSYCHOTHERAPISTS AND CAREGIVERS: INDIVIDUAL, SOCIAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL INTERVENTIONS by Donald Meichenbaum, Ph.D. One question that was raised by attendees at the Trauma and Children conference was the impact on helpers of working with victimized clients. What can be done at the individual, social and organizational levels to reduce Vicarious Traumatization? The following Handout offered by Donald Meichenbaum provides a number of practical suggestions to reduce Vicarious Traumatization. [PDF]

Dr. Wong's Presentations:

Implementing a School-based Intervention...

Family Violence Prevention (December 2006) Materials

Dr. Meichenbaum's presentation Treatment of Perpetrators and Victims [PDF]

Drs Etiony Aldarondo and Fernando Mederos's presentation:

Common Practitioners' Concerns about Abusive Men [PDF]

Mederos Powerpoint Presentation 2 [PDF] [Powerpoint]

Silence The Violence Symposium (September 2006) Materials

Dr. Meichenbaum's presentation How to make an Aggressive and Violent Youth: Implications for Prevention and Treatment [PDF]

Speech by Modesto E. Abety; President & C.E.O. The Children’s Trust. [PDF]

Tenth Annual Conference Materials

AGGRESSION AND SUICIDE AMONG CHILDREN AND YOUTH

Development of Aggression in Boys: Implications for Interventions by Jim Larson, Ph.D. Presentation [PDF]

Critical Elements in the Treatment of Aggressive School-Age Boys by Jim Larson, Ph.D Presentation [PDF]  Additional handouts [PDF]

Comparison of Aggression in Boys and Girls: A Case for Gender-Specific Interventions By Donald Meichenbaum, Ph.D.
Presentation [PDF]   References [PDF]

The Development and Treatment of Girlhood Aggression by Debra Pepler   Presentation [PDF]

Ninth Annual Conference

WAYS TO BOLSTER RESILIENCE IN VICTIMIZED CHILDREN, ADULTS AND IN THOSE WHO PROVIDE HELP
In May 2005, the Melissa Institute held its Ninth Annual conference on Resilience and invited two leading researchers in the area (Drs. Ann Masten and Donald Meichenbaum ­ see link to attached Conference Program and Bio Sketches) to present. The material they prepared for the conference is available as PDF files in the links below. Their information and insights are especially timely in view of the immense destruction, loss, trauma, and displacement following Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. Hopefully, this conference information will be of assistance to the victims and those who seek to help nurture their resilience.

Ninth Annual Conference Materials

Resilience in Development:  The Power of Ordinary Magic (part 1), by Ann Masten, Ph.D. [PDF]
Changing the Odds:  A Resilience Framework for Prevention and Intervention (part 2), by Ann Masten, Ph.D. [PDF]
Effects of War on Children and Child Development, by Ann Masten, Ph.D. [PDF]

Understanding Resilience In Children And Adults: Implications For Prevention And Interventions - Donald Meichenbaum, Ph.D. [PDF]

PRESENTATIONS BY ANN MASTEN PH.D.
Distinguished McKnight University Professor Institute of Child Development University of Minnesota (amasten@umw.edu )

Dr. Masten's presentations were entitled:
(1) Resilience in Development: The power of ordinary magic
(2) Changing the odds: A resilience framework for prevention and intervention
(3) Effects of War on Children

PRESENTATIONS BY DONALD MEICHENBAUM PH.D.
Distinguished Professor Emeritus University of Waterloo Department of psychology Waterloo, Ontario Canada And Research Director of the Melissa Institute for Violence Prevention and Treatment of Victims of Violent Miami, Florida (dmeich@watarts.uwaterloo.ca)

Dr. Meichenbaum's presentations were entitled:
(1) Understanding resilience in children and adults: Implications for prevention and interventions

Bolstering resilience in helpers: Using individual, social and organizational interventions to address vicarious traumatization and job stress

Stress Inoculation Training: A Preventative and Treatment Approach [PDF]

Eighth Annual Conference Materials

Community Connections: Men, Gender And Violence, by Fernando Mederos And Julia Perilla [PDF]

Beyond Cultural Competence:  What Child Protection Managers Need To Know And Do, by Fernando Mederos, Ed.D. And Isa Woldeguiorguis, M.S.W. [PDF]

Domestic Violence And Culture: Moving Toward More Sophisticated Encounters by Fernando Mederos, Ed.D. [PDF]

Common Practitioners’ Concerns about Abusive Men by Etiony Aldarondo, Ph.D. and Fernando Mederos, Ed.D. [PDF]

Family Violence: Incidence, Assessment And Interventions by Donald Meichenbaum, Ph.D. [PDF]

Seventh Annual Conference Materials

Dr. Annette LaGreca's Powerpoint Presentations from May 2003 Conference, "Trauma, Children and Families, Practical ways to Help" [Mac] [Windows]

Dr. Wendy Silverman's presentation "When Problems Persist: Treating Anxiety and Traumatic Reactions in Children and Families" [PDF] and "Treating Anxiety Disorders in Children: The Child Anxiety and Phobia Program (CAPP)" [PDF] Also available as Powerpoint presentations [Mac] [Windows]

Dr. Don Meichenbaum - "PTSD, children, adolescents and their families" [PDF]

Community Leader Speaks on Violence Prevention
The Melissa Institute honored community leaders at an awards luncheon on October 21, 2004. The Keynote speaker was David Lawrence, Jr., former Publisher of the Miami Herald, CEO of the Early Childhood Initiative Foundation and member of the Melissa Institute Honorary Board. The subject of his inspirational speech was “The Littlest Criminals To Be.” [Download] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Domestic Violence and Doctor's Response
Board members Don Meichenbaum and Suzanne Keeley were recently interviewed in an article entitled "Domestic Violence and Doctor's Response", published in the March 2004 issue of Miami Medicine magazine. [Download PDF]

Bullying Information

What is Bullying? [Download]

Student Leaders Handout [Download]

Bullying Myths Quiz [Download]

Making A Difference in Bullying [Download]

Bullying: An Imbalance of Power [Download]

Parent and Professional Handouts

Parental Handout [Download]

Video Observation #1 [Download]

Video Observation #2 [Download]

Anger Control and Aggressive Behavior Handouts

The following materials were distributed by Dr. James Larson at the 2002 Anger Control and Aggressive Behavior Conference.

Coercive Family Overheads [Download]

On The Road To Prison: The role of family and schools in the lives of angry, aggressive children. [Download]

Articles by Leonard Pitts, Author, Pulitzer Prize winning Miami Herald columnist and Melissa Institute Board Member

Leonard Pitts Jr. Columns [home page]

Sherdavia Jenkins age 9, was shot playing in her front yard on July 1st. Markese Wiggan, 14, was shot July 3rd, and 18-month-old Zykarious Cadillon was gunned down in his front yard in May.... the following were columns written by Pitts following these tragedies.

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