Rick Weinberg, PhD, an associate professor in the Department of Child and Family Studies (CFS) Clinical Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling program, was awarded the Outstanding Contributions to Psychology in the Public Interest award from the Florida Psychological Association. Weinberg was recognized for his lifetime of service to the community and field of psychology.
Weinberg is an active volunteer in the local community and has volunteered with Hillsborough County Schools for nearly three decades. He helped the school district develop its crisis intervention team in the 1980s and has provided annual in-service training workshops to school psychologists and social workers regarding counseling when encountering students who may be suicidal or who have experienced trauma. Weinberg has also volunteered as a trauma counselor for organizations in Tampa Bay following a shooting or other tragic event.
At USF, Weinberg directed a doctoral psychology internship program at the Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute between 1984 and 2010. As part of the internship, he organized a network of agencies through which each intern provided 500 hours of psychological services to people in the community free of charge annually.
The Florida Psychological Association is a voluntary, member-based professional organization comprised of psychologists. It is the largest professional organization for psychologists in the state of Florida.