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Ahead of PTSD Awareness Day 2023, UCF RESTORES Executive Director Deborah Beidel, Ph.D., ABPP was invited to join an on-air, expert panel discussion on mental health and the stigma surrounding PTSD. “What we know is that it takes a lot for people to go and ask for therapy… we need to think more about making […]

Today marks the two-year commemoration of the Champlain Towers South building collapse in Surfside, FL. In June 2021, as first responders from across the state convened on the site to navigate the mountain of rubble, retrieve survivors and recover victims, UCF RESTORES’ Critical Incident Response Team was deployed to provide psychological first aid to the […]

Welcome back to the UCF RESTORES Director’s Cut series, where we sit down with our center’s executive director Deborah Beidel, Ph.D., ABPP, to get her take on popular topics, current events and other developments shaping the national discourse around mental health and wellness. Recently, The Wall Street Journal published an online feature – “Confronting Your […]

Welcome to our new “Director’s Cut” blog series. Each month, we’ll be sitting down with UCF RESTORES Executive Director Deborah Beidel, Ph.D., ABPP, to get her take on popular topics, current events and other developments shaping the national discourse around mental health and wellness. A recent study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention […]

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that occurs after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic, life-altering or life-threatening event. One in 11 people will be diagnosed with PTSD in their lifetime, but there is much to learn about a diagnosis that impacts approximately 3.5% of U.S. adults every year. UCF RESTORES Executive Director […]

Award from the Florida Department of Children and Families establishes UCF RESTORES® as the go-to resource for first responders, peer advocates, and clinicians in a 12-county region. ORLANDO, Fla. – UCF RESTORES® – a leading nonprofit clinical research center and trauma treatment clinic that houses the National Center of Excellence for First Responder Behavioral Health […]

By: UCF RESTORES Suicide Prevention Expert David Rozek, Ph.D., ABPP Suicide prevention is a topic that should be discussed more often and not just within September (i.e., Suicide Prevention Month). World Friendship Day, recognized this year on July 30, 2021, is another perfect opportunity to discuss how you can have an impact on the mental […]

Occupational stress may be core to the function of a first responder, but there is arguably no year on record that has pushed the boundaries of such stress like 2020. Even in such a trying year, our first responders continued to mask up, glove up and rise to the call of duty. In this year’s […]

ORLANDO, Fla. (May 5, 2021) – UCF RESTORES – a leading nonprofit clinical research center and trauma treatment clinic that houses the National Center of Excellence for First Responder Behavioral Health at the University of Central Florida (UCF) main campus – with the support of the UCF Foundation, has been named a recipient of the […]

ORLANDO, Fla. (April 16, 2021) – UCF RESTORES – a leading nonprofit clinical research center and trauma treatment clinic that houses the National Center of Excellence for First Responder Behavioral Health – and its partners at the Florida Firefighters Safety & Health Collaborative (FFSHC) have launched a first-of-its kind, no-cost, web-hosted, anonymous peer support and […]