President's Page

It is my pleasure to welcome you to the website for the Blanton-Peale Institute and Counseling Center. These are exciting days at Blanton-Peale. We are moving forward in a positive new direction with great energy and vision, guided by a talented new team. Let me introduce Blanton-Peale's administration. The administration of our Counseling Center includes Clinic Director James Labi, LCSW-R, who previously worked at St. Vincent's Medical Center and also in private practice. Medical Director Vaibhav ("Vabs") Bhatia, M.D., previously served as one of our Psychiatry residents. He received his medical degree from SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, and did his psychiatry residencies at St. Vincent's Medical Center in Manhattan and Beth Israel Medical Center. Ann Springer, LCSW, began as a social work intern at Blanton-Peale and is now Client Coordinator and a Staff Therapist. Jane Roberts, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, also serves as Clinic Administrator and Director of Human Resources.

Our academic programs are led by Nunzio Gubitosa, M.A, M.Phil, L.P., a graduate of the Blanton-Peale Graduate Institute and long-time faculty member, is Director of Training Programs in the Graduate Institute. Nunzio also serves as a staff therapist at Grace Counseling Center in Madison, New Jersey. The Rev. Dr. Angella Son, Ph.D. joined us in January 2012 as Director of the Korean-language Pastoral Care and Counseling Program. In addition to my roles as President and Chief Executive Officer, I now serve as Director of the English-language Pastoral Care and Counseling Program. Nancy Simpson, Registrar, also serves in the multiple roles as Development Coordinator, Secretary to the Board, and Executive Assistant to the President. I am also pleased to announce that soon we will formalize our relationship with the Rev. Rebeca Radillo, D.Min., L.M.H.C., and the Latino Institute for Pastoral Care, of which Dr. Radillo is Founder and Executive Director. Blanton-Peale and the Latino Institute have launched a collaboration on a joint Spanish-language Pastoral Care and Counseling Program.

The administration is rounded out with the Finance Office, led by Ramesh Persaud, Controller, and Timothy Roberts, Director of Strategic Initiatives.

The year 2012 marks Blanton-Peale's seventy-fifth anniversary! In the nearly three-quarters of a century since its founding by the Rev. Dr. Norman Vincent Peale and Dr. Smiley Blanton, Blanton-Peale has put into practice the ideal of positive thinking at the intersection of psychology and spirituality. Our non-sectarian community offers a variety of programs which celebrate that union. Our state-licensed Counseling Center provides affordable therapy to clients for whom it might otherwise not be available; our approach to psychotherapy affirms the value of a spiritual dimension in people's lives. The work of our Graduate Institute in Psychoanalysis, whose graduates are eligible for licensure as psychoanalysts in New York State, has its foundation in Peale and Blanton's positive thinking value system. Our programs in Pastoral Care and Counseling offer practical training in counseling techniques for clergy and lay religious leaders of all faiths.

Blanton-Peale continues to expand its programs and services to an ever-widening audience of clients, students, and lifelong learners. As we grow, we are eager to learn of other services or educational offerings that we should consider providing, and we would be grateful for your ideas and suggestions. Let us hear from you!

On this website you will find information about our upcoming Seventy-Fifth Anniversary Programs, which will include our seventy-fifth anniversary Gala, where we will present the annual Norman Vincent Peale Awards for Positive Thinking to another distinguished group of recipients, as well as a 75th anniversary conference in October 2012 on Spirituality and Psychotherapy in the 21st Century.

All of Blanton-Peale's work is made possible by the support of loyal and generous friends. Thank you for your partnership in our crucial work helping some of the neediest among us, and for your assistance in training a new generation of clinicians and clergy to provide our invaluable and urgently needed services.

Yours sincerely,

The Rev. Dr. Paul W. Bradley
President and Chief Executive Officer