SPTS | Meet the Team

Susan Tellone (she/hers) is a Certified School Nurse and health educator with a Masters degree in nursing and a Bachelor’s degree in mental health and rehabilitation. She has been working as a psychiatric nurse for the past 38 years with an emphasis on suicide prevention. She worked in the Emergency rooms of Monmouth Medical as one of the first PESS (psychiatric emergency suicide screeners), and went on from there to teach for many years at the University of Medicine and Dentistry on various topics on mental health, but specifically the psychiatric screening law of New Jersey. In 2008 Susan took a position at Manasquan High School as a school nurse and educator and soon after that, her school experienced one of the larger teenage suicide contagions on record. During her tenure at Manasquan, as a response to the suicide contagion, Susan took on the roles of Crisis Coordinator, Anti-bullying specialist and Master Lifelines Suicide Prevention Trainer. She co-authored a Project Serv Grant (Schools against violence) and was able to get funding into her school to develop a Crisis plan based on the Lifelines Curriculum that became a national model. She presented this plan at the National Conference on Suicidality in Florida in 2009. She was also the keynote speaker at the Annual Conference for Safe and Drug Free Schools in Boston in 2010, and presenter at the REMS conference in Washington DC 2011, International Conference of Suicide Prevention in New York City 2012, NJEA teachers conference 2014, and most recently at the Mental Health America Conference in 2019. Susan continues to present both locally and Nationally on this topic. Susan and her crisis team focused on the rebuilding of Manasquan School District with a renewed emphasis on strength and resiliency of the students, faculty and community. Since retiring from education, Susan worked for three years as the Vice President of the Mental Health Association of Monmouth County. During her Vice Presidency at MHA Susan through County and grant funding was able to bring the Lifelines Suicide Prevention program to over 160 schools in Monmouth County. Presently she holds the position of the Clinical Director at Society for the Prevention of Teen Suicide where she continues her passion for preventing suicide among our youth through education in schools and communities.

Stacey Donovan (she/hers) joined the SPTS team in December 2020 in the newly created role of Director of Business Development – Mental Health Solutions. Within the organization, she is charged with building and leading the expansion effort for the Mental Health Crisis Toolkit, the Behavioral Health Toolkit, and related products. She works closely with the Executive Director and Clinical Director to advance the mission of SPTS.

Stacey is a result-driven business development professional with a demonstrated history of working in the health care industry. She has a sincere interest in health and wellness and values the importance of the patient experience. In 2016, she merged her dedication to mental health and wellness with her professional healthcare experience, making the decision to transition from a hospital management role into a human services focused role in the non-profit sector. Stacey joined a NJ based mental health nonprofit as the Chief Development Officer. Prior, she held business development and corporate communications positions in area hospitals as well as healthcare marketing agencies.

Stacey is committed to improving mental health and wellness through education, advocacy, and resiliency building programs.

Maureen Underwood is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), Certifed Group Psychotherapist and a nationally recognized expert on youth suicide prevention, which focuses on schools and best practice programs that enhance overall student outcomes. Maureen served as Clinical Director of the Society for the Prevention of Teen Suicide from 2007 – 2016 and continues to provide clinical consultation and program development for the organization.

Maureen is co-developer of Lifelines: A Suicide Prevention Program, Lifelines: Intervention and Lifelines: Postvention, all published by Hazelden publications. Since 1987 Maureen has been engaged in addressing cluster suicides among youth populations. In this work she applies the latest research on youth suicide contagion, along with containment recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to develop practical protocols, policies and programs that are grounded in best practice, yet fully relevant to implementing in school settings. Maureen has decades of experience in mental health and crisis intervention. She has developed numerous programs and published extensively on these and other related topics.

Dorian A. Lamis, PhD, ABPP, is a board certified licensed clinical psychologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Emory University School of Medicine. His research focuses on mood disorders, substance use, and suicidal behaviors in a variety of populations including adolescents, African Americans, and patients with serious mental illnesses (SMI). Dr. Lamis has published over 150 peer reviewed articles and book chapters on these topics. In addition, he is the senior editor of two books on suicide entitled Understanding and Preventing College Student Suicide (2011) and Advancing the Science of Suicidal Behavior: Understanding and Intervention (2015). Dr. Lamis serves as the evaluator on a SAMHSA funded GLS grant addressing suicide among youth in Georgia. He also routinely works clinically with patients with SMI and are at-risk for suicide and/or other self-harm behaviors.

Jackie Johns is a Nationally Certified School Psychologist. She serves as the Mental Health Coordinator, Special Education Coordinator, and School Psychologist for the Collinsville Public School District in Collinsville, Oklahoma. Jackie graduated from the University of Iowa with a Specialist in Education Degree (Ed.S.), in School Psychology. She has worked for the past 19 years as a School Psychologist in a variety of school districts in Iowa and Oklahoma. Jackie graduated from The University of Oklahoma with a Masters in Educational Administration, Curriculum, and Supervision (M.Ed.) in 2019. She was the Eastern Region Representative for the Oklahoma School Psychological Association (OSPA) for the 2019-2020 academic year and is currently the President Elect for the 2020-2021 academic year. Jackie is also currently an invited team member of the TeleSPED ECHO (a partnership of Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences Project ECHO, Cooperative Council for Oklahoma School Administration (CCOSSA), and Oklahoma State University – Tulsa); this initiative provides opportunities for educational leaders to share best practices, receive ongoing and timely professional development, and collaborate to help resolve complex issues/questions regarding Oklahoma schools and students. She was named School Psychologist of the Year by OSPA for the 2018–2019 academic year. Jackie has been active in implementing the Lifelines Suicide Prevention, Intervention, and Postvention Program in Collinsville Public Schools, and is assisting other districts with this as well. She has presented on Suicide Prevention, Intervention, and Postvention at both the regional and national level.

Janet York, PhD, PMHCS-BC, FAAN is a child psychiatric nurse, family psychotherapist, and fellow in the American Academy of Nursing. She has had a 45 year career as nursing and interdisciplinary faculty, mental health provider, program director, and community-and clinical-based researcher. She is a retired Research Professor of Nursing (currently Affiliate Faculty) and Charleston VA Residency Director for psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners. She has served on numerous professional, academic and governmental committees, tasks forces and review panels related to youth mood disorders, suicide prevention and community programs.

As a suicidologist for over 30 years, her activities have included prevention research, clinical practice, policy activities, advocacy, and scholarship. She received (with her colleagues) the Norbert and Charlotte Rieger Service Award from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry for their University of Illinois at Chicago youth suicide prevention program, sponsored by Ronald McDonald’s Children Charities. She is a productive writer and has published manuscripts, chapters, and media productions. She is the coauthor of the Emergency Department Means Restriction Intervention {designated as an effective program in National Registry of Effective Prevention Programs (NREPP)}, the national competencies for Assessing an Managing Suicide Risk for inpatient nurses, and the VA e-learning Collaborative Assessing and Managing Suicide (CAMS).