Director: Keith Bredemeier, Ph.D.
Keith Bredemeier is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. He received his bachelor of arts degree in psychology at the University of Delaware and his doctoral degree in clinical/community psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He completed his predoctoral internship at Brown University, followed by postdoctoral fellowships focused on suicide risk and prevention in the Department of Psychosocial Research at Brown and the Aaron T. Beck Psychopathology Research Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Bredemeier’s research focuses on cognitive traits and difficulties involved in the etiology and treatment of transdiagnostic dimensions of anxiety (e.g., excessive worrying), repetitive negative thinking (e.g., rumination), and related problems (e.g., depression, suicidal behavior). He previously worked and received training at the Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania, where he remains an adjunct faculty member to support ongoing collaborations. Dr. Bredemeier specializes in diagnostic assessment and cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) for depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive, and trauma and stress-related disorders. He also has expertise in suicide risk assessment and prevention, as well as cognitive assessment.
Founding Executive Director: Ryan Beveridge, Ph.D.
Ryan Beveridge received his bachelor of science, master of science, and doctoral degrees from the University of Utah in clinical/child psychology. He has been a faculty member in Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of Delaware since 2008 and serves as the founding executive director of the Institute for Community Mental Health. Dr. Beveridge is interested in developing, implementing, and evaluating academic and community mental health partnerships that facilitate the effective delivery of science-based mental health care. He is also the co-founder and director of the University of Delaware’s Center for Training, Evaluation, and Community Collaboration. The C-TECC program allows graduate and undergraduate students to collaborate with community partners on several large efforts within the State of Delaware to deliver evidence-based mental health care to underserved communities. Dr. Beveridge has clinical expertise in psychotherapy for depression, anxiety and behavioral disorders in children and adolescents, as well as psychodiagnostic and psychoeducational assessments.
Associate Director: Franssy M. Zablah, Ph.D.
Franssy Zablah is a native Spanish-speaker who was born and raised in Honduras. She is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. Dr. Zablah received her B.A. in psychology from the University of New Orleans and completed a predoctoral internship in integrated behavioral health at Nemours Children’s Hospital, in Wilmington, Delaware. She received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology, with a concentration in children, families, and cultures, from the Catholic University of America. She completed specialized training in dissemination and implementation science as a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Delaware’s Center for Training, Evaluation, and Community Collaboration (C-TECC). She continues to be actively involved in various research and community engagement projects and student supervision at C-TECC.
Dr. Zablah’s clinical expertise includes the assessment and treatment of externalizing and internalizing disorders in children and adolescents, suicide risk assessment and prevention in children and adolescents, as well as psychoeducational and comprehensive psychodiagnostic assessment of children and adults. Dr. Zablah has been trained in various evidence-based interventions including cognitive behavioral therapy, parent-child interaction therapy, trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy, and acceptance and commitment therapy.
Dr. Zablah’s research aims to understand and address the systemic factors that contribute to the complex needs of socioeconomically disadvantaged communities and seeks to examine disparities in access to high-quality, evidence-based services for these communities. She is especially passionate about the promotion of culturally and linguistically relevant care for the Latino/a community, and about training the next generation of scientifically minded and culturally humble clinicians who are well-versed in evidence-based care.