Dr. Leo F. Flanagan, Jr.
Leo is a licensed psychologist in the State of New York. He specializes in helping individuals and families recover from stressful and traumatic experiences and circumstances.
Early in his career, Leo was Director of a crisis hotline and co-edited one of the first manuals for telephone based crisis-intervention. Later, he studied under Professor Morton Bard. Professor Bard was a pioneer in working with cancer survivors and their families to enable them to cope with their treatment and re-establish productive, rewarding lives. Professor Bard was also a pioneer in studying crisis intervention and stress management with police officers. Leo was privileged to work with Professor Bard on the "Adaptation To Homicide Study" which investigated how law enforcement, medical and government professionals can enable family members of murder victims to cope in the aftermath of their loss.
After beginning his clinical career working with families and adolescents, Leo led the establishment of emergency psychiatric services for a county of 44 municipalities. The service he established provide crisis-intervention services responding to local hospitals, police departments, courts, businesses and private homes in order to ensure that individuals and families undergoing a traumatic experience could be linked to the most appropriate services and be guided in rebuilding their lives.
Leo was appointed to the American Psychological Association's Subcommittee On Training Psychologists To Work With Crime Victims which established the competencies for psychologists working with survivors of violent crime.
In the aftermath of a cluster suicide by teenagers, Leo co-led the response team that provided crisis-intervention and support services to surviving family members, friends, and members of the community impacted by this tragic event.
Leo completed research on the relationship between hardiness (a component of resilience) and recovery by joint replacement surgery working under Professor Suzanne Ouellette-Kobasa. Professor Quellette-Kobasa was the researcher who initially identified hardiness and its link to successful adaptation to life events.
While on the faculty of Cornell University, Leo continued his research into hardiness and resilience and how individuals can develop them to buffer the impact of stress and traumatic events.
On September 11th, 2001, Leo was present at the World Trade Center in New York City when Flight 11 crashed into the Tower. Following the attack he called upon his experience in crisis intervention and prevention of psychological distress to work as a member of various Mental Health and Chaplaincy teams.
He later became Clinical Director of a non-profit organization devoted to helping survivors and first responders deal with their experiences related to the attacks. He led support groups for first responders as well as providing individual counseling. He also led the development of a nationally recognized training program to enable first responders to provide emotional support to survivors and to reduce the emotional, mental and physical stress of being a first responder to terrorist attacks and natural disasters.
Leo founded the Center For Resilience in 2008 where he continues to specialize in helping those impacted by stressful life experiences and traumatic events.
He is currently a volunteer with Give An Hour which provides free counseling services to members of the military, veterans and family members. He is also a volunteer with Heart 911. Heart 911 is a group of first responders who worked at Ground Zero in New York City which is committed to helping other communities impacted by disasters.
Leo currently teaches for the University of Notre Dame and has previously taught at Cornell University, Fordham University, Marymount Manhattan, The Pennsylvania State University, Queens University and University of Richmond.
Leo received his B.A. from Fordham University with a double major in psychology and sociology, his M.A. in Psychology from Hunter College, and his Ph.D. in Psychology from the City University of New York.
