Associates

Jeanie Snodgrass Almo, BSN, MSN

Jeanie Snodgrass Almo, MSN, has worked in the mental health and social welfare fields for over 30 years, starting as a school nurse in the Chicago Public Schools to her current private practice in Philadelphia, as a marriage and family therapist, as well as working with individuals going through separation and divorce; dealing with chronic or terminal illness, grief or loss; physical disfigurement, abuse or domestic violence; or family members dealing with substance abuse. She is working with St. Gabriel's System "DelSTAR" Program as an outpatient therapist for adjudicated adolescent sexual offenders. She has worked as a Behavioral Specialist Consultant in Wrap Around Services in the Philadelphia metropolitan area, working with children with serious emotional/behavioral problems, such as ADHD, PDD, ODD, Autism and ASD Disorders; and in developing and presenting training programs and curricula in numerous mental health related topics, including: working with children of substance abusing parents; topics for those working with substance abusers and the dually diagnosed (MISA); psychopharmacology for mental health professionals; teaching life skills to children, and adults; social psychology, psychopathology and the neurobiology of mental illness; teaching social skills to children with autism; behavior modification for children in a group setting; multicultural awareness and orientation in working with staff and clients; developing outcome measurements for mental health programs. She has held supervisory/administrative positions as Directors of several programs for persons with mental illness, as well as those dually diagnosed with mental health issues and serious substance abuse issues. She was the Director of a Psychosocial Rehabilitation "Supported Independent Living" Program at Step by Step, Inc., as well as coordinator of an Intensive Outpatient Program for persons with serious substance abuse problems, working with clients of the program in group therapy, individual therapy, as well as running a support group for the participants and their family members.

She also has worked in developing education and training programs and workshops for parents in understanding and working with their children with special needs (ADHD/PPD/ODD, Autism and ASD, Adjustment Reactions, Bi Polar and Depression) and related parent management training.

Ms. Almo served in a triple appointment at Yale University School of Nursing, developing a 2-year Masters Level program in Child and Family Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing; working as a Nurse Clinical Specialist in child and family therapies at the West Haven Community Mental Health Center; and as a dually appointed Instructor in the Psychiatric Nursing and the Pediatric Nursing Practitioner masters programs.

As the Intergovernmental Liaison between St. Elizabeth's Hospital/NIMH and the District of Columbia Mental Health Services Administration, Ms. Almo was co-chairperson of the Joint Task Force on Community Education, developed and chaired Workshops and Conferences related to deinstitutionalization and the development of community services for chronically mentally ill being ouplaced from long-term inpatient programs into community psycho-social rehabilitation programs in the district of Columbia. At St. Elizabeth's Hospital /NIMH she also served as Head Nurse of the Child and Adolescent Forensic Unit; developed and implemented a 60-bed Child and Adolescent Inpatient Unit, serving as Deputy Director and Acting Chief Nurse, and also worked in the Quality Assurance Office developing outcome measurements for the 10 Division Hospital Units.

Ms. Almo has a long history of experience writing educational and training programs to meet specified professional and community needs: for the Washington School of Psychiatry Community Education Program Publications, she developed four of their eight community education modules regarding Parenting, Deinstitutionalization, Homelessness, and Careers in Mental Health; for the National American Red Cross she developed and authored the original nine-module Pilot of the National Training Program for Child Care Workers, which became a joint effort between the National American Red Cross, the U.S. Army-Department of Education, and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Ms. Almo also has developed and coordinated professional Conferences and Panels: at Yale she served as a Presenter and Panel Moderator for two panels at their School of Nursing Alumni Day Program: Women and Children in Transition "Child Abuse and Children's Rights", and "The Social and Moral Development of Children." Most recently (September 2005) she was Coordinator of the Arthur P. Noyes Research Foundation 19th Annual Schizophrenia conference, "Toward Wholeness", which featured participants such as John Nash, PhD (of "The Beautiful Mind"); Aaron T. Beck, M.D. (founder of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy); and other Nationally and Internationally known researchers and professionals in the neurobiology and mental health fields.

She has worked in the mental health and substance abuse fields both in private practices in New Haven, CT, Washington D.C., and Philadelphia, PA, and as program director in a number of mental health programs. She also worked as the Associate Director of Research and Strategic Initiatives in schizophrenia research at the Arthur P. Noyes Research Foundation.

Ms. Almo received her BSN degree from the University of Illinois College of Nursing at the Chicago Medical Center, where she also completed her MSN degree in Psychiatric -Community Mental Health Nursing, specializing in child and family mental health issues and treatment modalities, and minoring in curriculum development. She completed a two years graduate program in Inner Cities Studies Education at Northeastern Illinois State College, Chicago, Illinois; received her certificate in Drug and Alcohol counseling from Villanova University, in Villanova, PA, and became certified as a Certified Psychiatric Rehabilitation Practitioner in 2003.