FREDERICK J. FRESE, Ph.D., is a psychologist with over 40 years of experience working with persons with serious mental illness. He received his Bachelor’s degree in psychology from Tulane University and served as an officer in the U.S. Marines. After a series of psychotic breaks and 10 years of intermittent, mostly involuntary psychiatric hospitalizations, he received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in psychology from Ohio University.

Since retiring from the Ohio mental health system, where he served as director of psychology at Western Reserve Psychiatric Hospital for 15 years, Dr. Frese has functioned as a faculty member at the Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED) where he is currently an associate professor, and as a clinical assistant professor at in the psychiatry department of Case Western Reserve University.

He has also been coordinating the Summit County Recovery Project serving consumers in the Akron area. Dr. Frese has also served on boards or committees of numerous national mental health related organizations including NAMI, NISH, AOTA, NMHCA, etc., and has testified several times before committees of both the U. S. Senate and the U. S. House of Representatives.

Dr. Suzanne Vogel-Scibilia is a psychiatrist in private practice with Beaver County Psychiatric Services in Beaver, Pennsylvania. In addition, she serves as a Professor of Psychiatry at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

She has been in practice for more than 30 years. Self-diagnosed with bipolar disorder, she often shares her story and personal experiences in order to eliminate the stigma of mental illness. She and her pediatrician-husband, Jim, are the parents of 5 children.

Senior Pastor – Denton Bible Church

Tom Nelson has served at Denton Bible Church for nearly 40 years, much of it as Senior Pastor.

One of four boys, he is from Waco, Texas, and grew up playing football and baseball. He holds degrees from the University of North Texas (where he quarterbacked) and Dallas Theological Seminary.

Tommy is the author/teacher of several books and DVDs, and is the Song of Solomon Conference Speaker Emeritus. He is a featured speaker for several national ministries and often shares his personal experience suffering with depression.

Tom married his best friend, Teresa, in 1972. Their two sons, Benjamin and John Clark, are both married and, together, have given them six grandchildren.