KNOXVILLE — Dr. Frederick Frese, an accomplished psychologist who battled his own mental illness, visits the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, on Tuesday, Sept. 22, as part of the campus’ VolAware initiative to address mental health awareness, suicide prevention and wellness.

Frese was diagnosed with schizophrenia at age 25 while serving in the Marine Corps, and went on to earn a degree from the American Graduate School of International Management in Phoenix and a doctorate in psychology from Ohio University. He will lecture on his experiences from 9:30 to 11 a.m. in University Center Auditorium. This free lecture is open to the public. Parking will be available in the University Center Garage for $1 per half hour.

VolAware began in 2006 as a two-day event targeting mental health awareness, suicide prevention and wellness, sponsored by UT’s Counseling Center and Safety, Environment and Education (SEE) Center. Now a yearlong initiative, VolAware aims to provide the campus community with skills to intervene when someone they know is in distress, decrease the stigma of mental health issues, promote emotional well-being, provide prevention and early intervention of mental health problems and enhance education, awareness and community collaboration. VolAware is highlighted each October in a two-day celebration featuring a concert and street fair. This year’s event takes place Oct. 6-7.

Frese has more than 40 years of experience in public mental health care. He is currently coordinator of the Summit County Recovery Project, serving those recovering from mental illness in the Akron, Ohio, area. He served as the director of psychology at Western Reserve Psychiatric Hospital in Northfield, Ohio, for 15 years.

He founded the Community and State Hospital Section of the American Psychological Association and is past president of the National Mental Health Consumers’ Association. He currently holds a clinical faculty appointment in psychiatry at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and is an associate professor of psychology at the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine. He is second vice president of the board of directors of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, and is also on the Board of Scientific Advisers for Schizophrenia Bulletin.

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C O N T A C T :

Rebekah Winkler, (865-974-8304, rwinkler@utk.edu)

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