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Dan Tomasulo

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Daniel Tomasulo
File:Daniel Tomasulo1.jpg
Born
Daniel Joseph Tomasulo

(1951-07-20) July 20, 1951 (age 73)
Waldwick, New Jersey
NationalityAmerican
Alma materSpringfield College (B.S.), Fairleigh Dickinson University (M.A.), Yeshiva University (Ph.D.), The New School (M.F.A.), University of Pennsylvania (M.A.P.P.)
Scientific career
FieldsPositive Psychology, Psychodrama, Intellectual Disability, Psychotherapy
InstitutionsColumbia University Teachers College, University of Pennsylvania
Websitewww.dare2behappy.com

Daniel Joseph Tomasulo (born July 20, 1951) is an American counseling psychologist, writer, and professor who teaches positive psychology at Teachers College, Columbia University in the Spirituality Mind Body Institute (SMBI),[1] and in the Master of Applied Positive Psychology program at the University of Pennsylvania,[2] and is the Director of the New York City Certification in Positive Psychology for the New York Open Center.[3] His clinical specialization is in psychodrama and sociometry, with an academic specialization in intellectual disabilities. Tomasulo developed Interactive Behavioral Therapy (IBT)[4] the most widely used form of group psychotherapy for people with intellectual disabilities, and coauthored the American Psychological Association’s first book on the subject: Healing Trauma: The Power of Group Treatment for People with Intellectual Disabilities (2005) with Dr. Nancy Razza.[5] Tomasulo is also the author of two books: Action Methods in Group Psychotherapy: Practical Aspects (1998)[6] and Confessions of a Former Child: A Therapist’s Memoir (2008).[7] He was named one of the top ten online influencers on depression by Sharecare.[8]

Education and career

Tomasulo was born in New York City and raised in Waldwick, New Jersey, with an Irish mother and Italian father.[9] He earned a B.S. in psychology from Springfield College in 1973, an M.A. in child development from Fairleigh Dickinson University in 1976, and a Ph.D. in developmental psychology from Yeshiva University in 1981. Tomasulo began his study of psychodrama and group therapy in 1980 with Jacqui Siroka and Bob Siroka. He was hired at Brookdale Community College in 1980 where he won the Master Teacher award and became professor of psychology. He worked there until 2001 and then moved to New Jersey City University where he developed the first online psychology courses and later the first permanent positive psychology course in the New Jersey state system. In 1998-99 he was a teaching fellow at Princeton University under the mentorship of John M. Darley in the psychology department and studied with Tony Award-winning playwright Christopher Durang. He won two international reTHINK Theatre playwriting competitions for his plays on mental health: Negatively Oriented Therapy N.O.T. (2012) and Sticks, Stones and the R Word (2010).[10][11] Both plays premiered in Auckland, New Zealand.

Mentored by the author Dani Shapiro, Tomasulo studied creative nonfiction and earned an M.F.A. from The New School in 2001. He won the New School MFA Chapbook Competition for his essay "Kettle of Fish," and later studied in the Master of Applied Positive Psychology (M.A.P.P.) at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2012, he became an assistant instructor for Martin Seligman, the Father of Positive Psychology, and James Pawelski, Director of Education and Senior Scholar at the Positive Psychology Center. He was the first psychologist and psychodramatist to graduate from the program and join the teaching staff.

In 1986, Tomasulo became licensed as a counselling psychologist in New Jersey. In 2005, he and Nancy Razza became the first psychologists to be given the New Jersey Healthcare Providers of the Year award for their work with people with intellectual disabilities. The American Society of Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama awarded him the David A. Kipper Scholar's Award for research[12] and their Innovators Award for his clinical work in psychodrama with the developmentally disabled.[13] During 1992-2010, he served as contributing editor of their journal and in 2015 was guest editor for the New Jersey Psychologist Special Edition on Positive Psychology. His most recent book American Snake Pit will be published in 2018. In this memoir, Tomasulo chronicles the first experimental group home for the treatment of mentally ill patients coming from the infamous Willowbrook State School, a hell on earth Senator Robert Kennedy called a “snake pit.” The Willowbrook Consent Decree was designed to protect the constitutional rights of these patients and move them out into the community. Because of the success and the progress made by the in-group homes, mental health became a civil right in the United States and the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act was enacted. The screenplay for American Snake Pit has been selected as one of three finalist for the 2017 The Art of Brooklyn Film Festival screenplay category.

Interactive Behavioral Therapy

Interactive Behavioral Therapy (IBT) is a widely used form of evidence-based psychotherapy that was specifically developed for people with dual diagnoses,[14] meaning people who are diagnosed with both an intellectual disability (ID) and a psychological disorder. It uses a modification of theory and technique borrowed from other models in group psychotherapy, and its theoretical foundations and many of its techniques are drawn directly from a form of psychotherapy called psychodrama that was created by Jacob L. Moreno.[15] As people with intellectual disabilities tend to have a difficult time verbalizing their feelings, IBT allows patients to act out particular issues they have while role-playing with others.

In psychodrama, there are three stages during sessions (warm-up, enactment, and sharing), but those with ID have cognitive limitations, making it difficult to talk about abstract thoughts and feelings that are necessary for therapeutic change.[16] In IBT, four stages were developed: orientation, warm-up and sharing, encounter, and affirmation. Each of these stages works toward encouraging patients to communicate effectively while in group settings, particularly those with visual and auditory difficulties, bolsters them with affirmations,[17] and improves social skills.[18]

People with ID have a higher rate of psychological disorders and, as a result, were often subject to diagnostic overshadowing. Their mental illness were often overlooked because of their ID or thought that the symptoms were part of the ID itself. But when mental illness was diagnosed, the route of traditional psychotherapy presented a number of obstacles. IBT addresses the unique circumstances of people with ID and mental illness in addition to giving them a sense of belonging and of self-understanding while learning to help others. By working in IBT, the patients with ID can experience an emotional release and learn there is hope as they each work through their issues.[19]

Books

  • Tomasulo, Daniel (2008). Confessions of a Former Child: A Therapist's Memoir. Graywolf Press. ISBN 978-1555974992. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  • Razza, Nancy; Tomasulo, Daniel (2005). Healing Trauma: The Power of Group Treatment for People with Intellectual Disabilities. American Psychological Association. ISBN 978-1591471608. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  • Tomasulo, Daniel (1998). Action Methods in Group Psychotherapy: Practical Aspects. Meridian. ISBN 978-1560326595. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)

Selected publications

  • Tomasulo, D. & Szucs, A. (2016). The ACTing Cure: Evidence-based group treatment for people with intellectual disabilities. Dramatherapy. DOI:10.1080/02630672.2016.1162824 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02630672.2016.1162824
  • Razza, N. & Tomasulo, D. (2016). Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Diagnostic Manual - Intellectual Disability (DM-ID): A Textbook of Diagnosis of Mental Disorders in Persons with Intellectual Disability, Kingston, NY, NADD Press.
  • Tomasulo, D. (2015). Perspective: Giving Up When You Can’t Cut the Mustard. In Polly, S. & Britton, K. H. (Eds.), Character Strengths Matter: How to Live a Full Life (Positive Psychology News).
  • Tomasulo, D. (2015). In Lee Gutkind (Ed.), Same Time Next Week: True Stories of Working Through Mental Illness (53-67). Pittsburgh, PA, In Fact Books.
  • Razza, N., Schwartz Dayan, L., Tomasulo, D., & S. Ballan, M. (2014). Intellectual disability and mental health: Is psychology prepared? Advances in Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities, 8(6), 381-389.
  • Tomasulo, D. (2014). Positive group psychotherapy modified for adults with intellectual disabilities. Journal of Intellectual Disabilities, 18(4).
  • Tomasulo, D. & Pawelski, J. (2012). Happily ever after: The use of stories to promote positive interventions. Psychology, 3, 1189-1195. doi: 10.4236/psych.2012.312A176
  • Razza, N., Tomasulo, D. J., & Sobsey, R. (2011). Group psychotherapy for trauma-related disorders in people with intellectual disabilities. Advances in Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities, 5(5), 40-45. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/20441281111180655
  • Razza, N. & Tomasulo, D. J. (2011). Group Psychotherapy with Trauma Survivors Who Have Intellectual Disabilities. In R. Fletcher (Ed.), Psychotherapy for Individuals with Intellectual Disability, Kingston, NY, NADD Press.
  • Tomasulo, D. & Razza, N. (2011). Empirically validated treatment: Evidenced-based application of psychodrama in interactive-behavioral therapy. The Journal of Psychodrama, Sociometry, and Group Psychotherapy, 60(1).
  • Tomasulo, D. J. & Razza, N. J. (2007). Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. In Fletcher, R., Loschen, E., Stavrakaki, C., & First, M. (Eds.), Diagnostic Manual - Intellectual Disability (DM-ID): A Textbook of Diagnosis of Mental Disorders in Persons with Intellectual Disability. (Chapter 21) Kingston, NY, NADD Press.
  • Tomasulo, D. (2006). Group psychotherapy for people with intellectual disabilities: The interactive-behavioral model. Journal of Psychodrama, Sociometry, and Group Psychotherapy, 59(2).
  • Razza, N. & Tomasulo, D. (2005). Group Dynamics in the Treatment of People with Intellectual Disabilities: Optimizing Therapeutic Gain, Mental Health and Intellectual Developmental Disabilities, 8(1):22-28

References

  1. ^ Columbia.edu/faculty
  2. ^ UPenn.edu/directory
  3. ^ The New York Open Center
  4. ^ Healing Trauma: The Power of Group Treatment for People With Intellectual Disabilities
  5. ^ American Psychological Association publications
  6. ^ Google books Action Methods in Group Psychotherapy: Practical Aspects
  7. ^ Graywolf Press Confessions of a Former Child: A Therapist's Memoir
  8. ^ Sharecare Top Ten Online Influencers
  9. ^ Confessions of a Former Child: A Therapist's Memoir, Graywolf Press
  10. ^ International Arts Festival
  11. ^ Theatreview.org/reviews
  12. ^ American Society of Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama award recipients
  13. ^ American Society of Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama award recipients
  14. ^ Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities 47(4) Diagnostic Manual–Intellectual Disability: A Textbook of Diagnosis of Mental Disorders in Persons With Intellectual Disability book review
  15. ^ Psychology Today "Positive Interactive Behavioral Therapy"
  16. ^ NADD Bulletin 3(6) "The Interactive-Behavioral Model of Group Counseling For People with Mental Retardation and Chronic Psychiatric Illness"
  17. ^ Journal of Intellectual Disabilities "Positive group psychotherapy modified for adults with intellectual disabilities"
  18. ^ The Journal of Psychotherapy Practice and Research 7(2) "A Group Cognitive-Behavioral and Process-Oriented Approach to Treating the Social Impairment and Negative Symptoms Associated With Chronic Mental Illness."
  19. ^ [1] Tricia Burke (2013) "Dual Diagnosis: Overview of Therapeutic Approaches for Individuals with Co-Occurring Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities and Mental Illness for Direct Support Staff & Professionals working in the Developmental Disability System" Ohio Mental Illness/Developmental Disability Coordinating Center of Excellence. Retrieved 24 May 2017.

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