Deborah Serani

Deborah Serani
Dr. Deborah Serani, 2011
Born	January 31, 1961 (1961-01-31) (age 50) New York
Occupation	Author / Psychologist
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Hofstra University
deborahserani.com

Deborah Serani (January 31, 1961) is an American psychologist and author whose clinical specialty is in working with depression, a condition she has experienced since early childhood. She is an adjunct professor at Adelphi University and the author of the award-winning, syndicated blog Dr. Deb: Psychological Perspectives. Serani has published academic articles on the subject of depression and trauma, as well as the memoir/self-help book "Living with Depression: Why Biology and Biography Matter Along the Path to Hope and Healing."

Early Life, Education and Career

Deborah Serani was born in Bethpage, a suburb of Long Island in New York. The oldest of three children, Serani descended into a debilitating depression as a teenager, attempting suicide at age nineteen. The fallout from this major depressive episode required her to take a medical leave of absence from college in order to recover. Upon her return, Serani directed her focus to the field of psychology and graduated with a B.A. in Psychology from Hofstra University in 1982. Crediting psychotherapy as a life-saving experience for her, Serani ventured onward and obtained a Doctorate in Psychology from the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1989, and a Post-Doctoral certificate in Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy from the Derner Institute at Adelphi University in 2002. Serani has spent the majority of her twenty plus years as a practicing psychologist using her personal experiences with depression to inform her clinical work and research. Serani has been a sought after speaker, most notably bringing her personal and professional experiences with depression to the national conventions of the American Psychological Association Division 39.

Psychological Contributions

In Living with Depression, Serani talks about her lifetime struggles with unipolar depression and suicidal thinking, and how finding the right combination of treatments can lead to health and healing. Serani comments on the roadblocks of stigma and reminds us that the pain of depression and most mental illness arise not solely from the illness, but from the harsh response society has to people with these disorders. Clinical definitions, updated research, and the promise of science serve not only as a resource guide for anyone who has depression or loves someone with this disorder, but also as a testament to those who live productively with mental illness.

“One of the greatest things I’ve been able to do,” Serani says, “Is to let others know that there’s no shame in living with a mental illness. Help is out there – and you don’t have to suffer quietly or alone.” Beyond the academic and literary praise for her work, high profile individuals who’ve openly talked about their own experiences with depression such as actress, Delta Burke, activist, Jessie Close, talk show host, Dick Cavett, and US tennis champion, Cliff Richey, are just a few who count Serani as a bold and gifted author.

Serani has published articles on the subject of depression and trauma and worked as a technical advisor for the NBC television show Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

• Serani, D. (2008). If it bleeds, it leads: The clinical implications of fear-based programming in news media. Psychoanalysis & Psychotherapy, 24(4): 240-250.
• Serani, D. (2004). Expanding the frame: Psychoanalysis after September 11. Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic, 68(1): 1-8.
• Serani, D. (2002). The analyst in the pharmacy. Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy, 32(2/3): 229-241.
• Serani, D. (2001). Yours, mine and ours: Analysis with a deaf patient and a hearing analyst. Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 37: 655-671.
• Serani, D. (2000). Silence in the analytic space, resistance or reverie: A perspective from Loewald's theory of primordial unity. Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 36: 505-519.

Serani has also devoted a portion of her professional life doing volunteer work and offering pro bono services as a psychologist.

• Psychologist for Project Liberty Counseling Unit of Fire Department of New York.
• Trauma Psychologist for the New York Disaster Counseling Coalition.
• Psychologist for military personnel and their families at Give an Hour.
• Media Psychologist for the American Psychological Association Public Education Campaign.
• Community Supervisor to the Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program of Long Island University.

References

http://drdeborahserani.blogspot.com/

http://www.rowmanlittlefield.com/

http://www.newsday.com/news/health/book-nook-living-with-depression-1.2999009

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/two-takes-depression

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2114607/maindetails

http://heldref-publications.metapress.com/app/home/contribution.asp?referrer=parent&backto=issue,2,3;journal,1,4;linkingpublicationresults,1:120718,1

http://www.atypon-link.com/GPI/doi/abs/10.1521/bumc.68.1.1.27728

http://www.springerlink.com/content/m44u3531537h67n8/

http://www.pep-web.org/document.php?id=cps.037.0655a

http://stage.pep.gvpi.net/document.php?id=cps.036.0505a

http://www.giveanhour.org/skins/gah/home.aspx

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Date of birth	January 31, 1961
Place of birth	New York
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