Michael Bressler

Background

About Michael Bressler

I am a United States Combat Veteran with a Master of Public Health and a Master of Social Work from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. My concentration while attending graduate school was leadership in practice and I've had extensive training in program development, project management, continuous quality improvement, systems thinking, epidemiology, data analysis, individual counseling, and human development. I've previously worked in individual counseling at the Washington DC VA Medical Center helping veterans with PTSD overcome their struggles with mental Illness and at the Durham VA Medical Center Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Recovery Center helping veterans with Serious Mental Illness by conducting groups, classes, individual sessions, and case management. I helped pilot the college outreach program in Washington DC collaborating with community partners to enroll veterans in VA healthcare, acted as co-director of the Hawkeye Program in Patient Advocacy in Washington DC reporting directly to the Medical Center Director, and helped create the Supported Volunteering Project at the Durham VA PRRC aiding veterans with community integration. I am currently working in collaboration with UNC and the Durham VA VISN-6 MIRECC in conducting a needs assessment and gap analysis regarding family related services in the Durham catchment area. Successful completion of this project will lead to potential larger projects across the State of North Carolina and Nationally. In addition to conducting this research, I am working with the Suicide Prevention team as a case manager and managing a VISN-6 Project, Building Healthy Veteran Communities, in developing a new public health model to reduce veteran suicide in the Durham catchment area of the VAMC.