On Friday, June 22, 2018, Stephanie Gangemi, Behavioral Health Programs Manager of the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office was awarded the Seidenberg Prize.   The Seidenberg Paper Prize recognizes individuals for their written psychoanalytic perspective on problems within prisons that affect the mental health of prisoners, guards and staff. Twenty-six papers were submitted by authors from Argentina, Denmark, Ecuador, England, Israel, Italy, and Peru as well as around the U.S.  Mrs. Gangemi was awarded the first prize.

In her paper, Mrs. Gangemi argues that corrections officers are increasingly relied upon to manage the mental health needs of the sickest inmates but often are provided with inadequate training on etiology, effective interventions and how to manage their own severe reactions to this population. She recommends that training for corrections officers can and should integrate psychoanalytic theories.  

Mrs. Gangemi is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with 10 years of experience in forensic mental health. In May, she joined the El Paso County (Colorado) Sheriff’s Office as Behavioral Health Programs Manager for the Co-Responder Program. The program provides deputies the ability to respond to mental health-related calls with a special team that includes a mental health professional.