Dr. Tedla W. Giorgis

The CAC National Advisory Committee Chair, Dr. Tedla Giorgis, (pictured left) spoke for many immigrants when he said, "We come from a 3000-year-old culture, we have something to share."

Dr. Tedla GiorgisProgram ManagerMulticultural Services DivisionDC Department of Mental Health

Tedla W. Giorgis, Ph.D., Director, Multicultural Services Division, District of Columbia Community Mental Health Services, 1536 U Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20009; Lidia R. Carnota-Cohen, M.D., Acute Care, District of Columbia Community Mental Health Services, St. Elizabeth's Hospital, 2700 Martin L. King Jr., Avenue S.E., Washington, DC 20032; David M. Band, M.D.; Estela Gonzalez, M.D.

Tedla Wolde Giorgis, Ph.D.Program Manager, Multicultural Community ProgramWashington D.C. Department of Mental Health

Primary Care: Tedla Giorgis, Ph.D.

Dr. Giorgis, a clinical psychologist and manager of the Cultural Competency Program with the Washington, D.C. Department of Mental Health, receives his award for exceptional achievements in educating ethnic and linguistic minority communities about depression for more than two decades.

Dr. Giorgis' achievements include: studying the prevalence of depression in the U.S. Ethiopian community; training hundreds of case managers to counsel members of the immigrant and refugee communities as they become acclimated to life in the U.S.; and establishing a pharmacy to make mental health medications accessible and affordable in Ethiopia.

Our guests include Tedla Wolde Giorgis, Ph.D., Clinical psychologist and Director of the Multicultural Services Division of Washington D.C. Department of Mental Health and author of the book, "Understanding and Surviving Depression, Alcohol & Drugs: A Personal Guide for Ethiopians ", Atalay Alem, M.D., Ph.D., Consultant Psychiatrist, Amanuel Hospital and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and Dejene Abebe, M.D., Psychiatrist and Founder of the Psychiatric Group of North Florida, Tallahassee, Florida.

Dr. Tedla W. Giorgis, has been responsible for overseeing the development and provision of mental health services to the ethnic and linguistic minority communities of the District of Columbia.As head of the Multicultural Services Division (MSD), Department of Mental Health (DMH), Dr. Giorgis successfully enhanced the capacity of the DMH to deliver culturally competent services by equipping the clinical staff to provide services specifically tailored for these communities.

Twenty years ago, when the stigma and lack of awareness regarding mental health was greater than today, Dr. Giorgis gave an important address to DC government policy officials and mental health professionals on the topic of depression in the immigrant and refugee community.In his speech, he stated that occurrence of depression was "like a common cold in the refugee and immigrant communities."This speech helped mobilize a new level of support for his efforts to provide mental health services for refugee and immigrant communities.

In 1987, Dr. Giorgis was instrumental in establishing the Multicultural Services Division (MSD), DC Department of Mental Health.In the cultures of his targeted client group, there is often a negative stigma attached to anyone experiencing mental illness.
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A recognized national expert, Dr. Giorgis has trained over 350 case managers in 10 US Cities for the US Department of Health and Human Services' Office ofRefugee Resettlement.His has also secured grant funding from various Federal agencies and foundations on a wide-range of projects including, producing training materials and videotapes in six different languages, training Ethiopian community mental health workers, and conducting research on the prevalence of depression in Ethiopian communities.His research resulted in an instrument, the Tedla-Hopkins Symptoms Checklist-25, used to screen for anxiety and depression in Ethiopians around the world.

When asked about his accomplishments, Dr. Giorgis has been humble and quick to share the praise."No work that is honorable can be accomplished alone.Therefore, I owe a great debt to many others.There are many individuals and organizations that have given me support, encouragement, and professional advice.My clients and those I trained have also been among my best teachers" said Dr. Giorgis.

TEDLA GIORGIS, PHDProgram ManagerDepartment of Mental Health
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Dr. Giorgis' success in

Tedla W. Giorgis, Ph.D., D.C. Community Services Agency Multicultural Community Support Program Evidence-based Treatment Services in Schools: What's Possible?

Dr. Tedla Giorgis, Program Manager, Department of Mental Health, established the Multicultural Services Division within the Department of Mental Health to provide mental health services to ethnic and linguistic minority communities of the District of Columbia.