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Bemak, Frederic

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Dr. Frederic P. Bemak
EdD, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Professor Emeritus of Education
Center Director, Diversity Research and Action Consortium
Counseling

Contact Information

Send email to Dr. Bemak

Phone: 860 434 1800
Fax: This information is not available
Email: fbemak (@gmu.edu)

George Mason University
Fairfax Campus
Krug Hall
4400 University Dr.
MS 1H1
Fairfax, VA 22030

Profile

Dr. Fred Bemak is a Professor Emeritus at George Mason University. He is the Executive Director and founder of Counselors Without Borders and has taken teams to provide national and global training, consultation, and counseling. Prior coming to George Mason University, Dr. Bemak was a Professor and Section Head for Counselor Education, School Psychology, and Rehabilitation Services at Ohio State University and former Associate Professor and Chair of the Counseling and Human Services Program at Johns Hopkins University. He is also the former Director of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Upward Bound Program, Clinical Director of a NIMH funded consortium based in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School to provide national consultation and training in mental health, and Director of the Massachusetts Region I Adolescent Treatment Program funded by the Massachusetts Departments of Mental Health, Education, Youth Services, Social Services, and Office for Children. Dr. Bemak has published extensively in the fields of cross-cultural and multicultural psychology and counseling, working with at-risk youth, group counseling, transforming school counseling, and immigrant and refugee mental health and adjustment. He has co-authored eight books, including: Social Justice Counseling: The Next Steps Beyond Multiculturalism; Journeys to Professional Excellence: Lessons from Leading Psychologists and Counselors: Journeys to Professional Excellence: Stories of Courage, Innovation, and Risk-Taking in the Lives of Noted Psychologists and Counselors; Counseling Refugees: A Psychosocial Approach to Innovative Multicultural Interventions; Violent and Aggressive Youth: Intervention and Preventions Strategies for Changing Times; Dimensions of Empathetic Therapy. In addition Dr. Bemak has written over 100 professional journal articles and book chapters in major psychology and counseling publications. He regularly provides consultation and training for schools, community organizations, and governmental agencies throughout the United States and internationally in 65 countries. He has worked as a consultant for Invisible Children in Uganda providing training and consulting for staff working with former child soldiers and children abducted for commercial sex; Save the Children, UK, assisting with issues of child protection and trafficking in (Myanmar and was the program evaluator for the Save the Children Alliance for a 6 country cross-border trafficking program in Asia. He has held four Fulbright Scholarships, one as a former Fulbright Scholar at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, Fulbright Specialist at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Fulbright Specialist at Anadolu University in Eskisehir, Turkey, and Fulbright Specialist at the University of Malta as well as appointments as a Visiting Professor at the University of Queensland in Australia, Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City, and Taiwanese Research Scholar funded by the Ministry of Education in Taiwan, a Visiting Scholar at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada, and an Affiliate Professor at the University of Malta. In addition Dr. Bemak received a World Rehabilitation Fund International Exchange of Experts Fellowship to fo research at the Naitonal Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences in India and a Kellogg Fellowship in International Leadership and Development working throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. Dr. Bemak continues to present and offer training nationally and internationally and is active in the American Psychological Association and the American Counseling Association and is a regularly invited speaker throughout the world. Dr. Bemak has won numerous awards for his work including the American Psychological Association Division of International Psychology (Division 52) 2022 Outstanding International Psychologist Award, the Commonwealth of Virginia State Council of Higher Education Outstanding Faculty Award, American Counseling Association Gilbert and Kathleen Wrenn Humanitarian and Caring Person Award, the American Counseling Association Kitty Cole Human Rights Award, Southern Region Association for Counselor Educators and Supervisors Courtland Lee Social Justice Award, George Mason University Presidential Award for Diversity,  Association for Specialists in Group Work Professional Advancement Award, and Counselors for Social Justice OHana Award for Social Justice. He is a Fellow of both the American Psychological Association and American Counseling Association, and was President of Counselors for Social Justice, a national organization which is a Division of the American Counseling Association. In 2015 Dr. Bemak received an Honorary Distinguished Professorship from Amity University in India.

Research Interests
  • Social Justice Counseling and Psychology
  • Cross-Cultural Issues in Psychology and Counseling
  • Youth and Families at-risk
  • Immigrants and Refugees Psychosocial Adjustment and Mental Health
  • Academic equity and achievement across cultures and socioeconomic class
  • International Psychology
  • Group Counseling
Recent Publications

Please see Curriculum Viitae for a list of publications

Social Justice Counseling: The Next Steps Beyond Multiculturalism
Campus Affiliations
Other Courses Taught