About Us
HelpGuide is your trusted guide to mental health and wellness. Our goal is to empower you with the knowledge and support you need to take charge of your life and start feeling better.
We don’t accept advertising, thus allowing us complete editorial independence. Donations allow us to keep HelpGuide entirely free for our readers.
Our Team
Robert Segal, M.A., CEO / Executive Director, has enjoyed a wide range of careers. He earned an Electrical Engineering degree in 1955 and a Master’s degree in Educational Psychology in 1976. He has been an active board member and officer in numerous non-profit organizations. He and his late wife, Jeanne Segal, worked together with numerous organizations over their 57-year marriage. When HelpGuide was launched in 1999, Jeanne was the content manager and Robert the technical and operations manager. Robert’s challenge is to have HelpGuide continue and expand its unique role in helping people improve their mental health and wellness.
In Memoriam Jeanne Segal, Ph.D.
Jeanne Segal, Ph.D., (1939 – 2017) devoted her life to helping people improve their mental, emotional, and social health. Over the course of a nearly 50-year career, she made innumerable contributions to the mental health field, including groundbreaking work on emotional intelligence, holistic health, attachment, and childhood trauma.
She was a sociologist, psychologist, and writer who believed each of us has the capacity to make life better for ourselves and others. Passionate in her belief that improved mental and emotional health holds the key to this possibility, she looked for new and better ways to help people.
Melinda Smith, M.A., Editorial Director, has a master’s degree in psychology and over 15 years of experience as a health writer and editor. She is passionate about keeping up with the latest research and giving readers the facts they need to make better choices and take control of their mental health.
Lawrence Robinson, Senior Writer / Editor, has over 20 years of experience writing about health and fitness. For the last 8 years, he’s been committed to bringing HelpGuide’s empowering message to more and more readers looking to overcome mental health challenges. He is also a published author and has edited several books on psychology.
Adrian Tarango, Technology Manager / Lead Web Developer, has over 20 years experience in IT management, web application, and mobile app development. For the last 12 years he has been responsible for transitioning HelpGuide through various stages of web innovations and technologies, including Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP), while preserving the essence of our content. He is devoted to enhancing and expanding the presentation of HelpGuide’s unique reader experience.
Mike Weber, Web Developer / Analytics Researcher, brings a Physiology B.S., collegiate Certificates in Media Arts, and 22 years of environmental assessment experience to HelpGuide. He manages the staging server and content conversion to HTML. He also manages website analytics, and communicates and interprets key analytics findings for staff and Board.
Anne Artley, M.S., Communications Specialist, has a master’s degree in journalism from USC’s Annenberg School. She has 3 years of postgraduate journalism experience. Anne is responsible for managing HelpGuide’s social media and handling reader requests.
Ken Vader, Software Developer / IT Administrator, has a B.S. in Computer Science and over 10 years of experience in IT administration and support. Ken assists in maintaining HelpGuide.org’s quality as well as providing technical support to the HelpGuide team.
Our Board of Directors
Shirley Fredricks, Board Secretary/Treasurer, is a long-time trustee of the Lawrence Welk Family Foundation and a founding board member of the National Center for Family Philanthropy. Shirley has been engaged in virtually every important movement in the country to educate and inspire family foundations dedicated to supporting the public good.
Marti Glenn, Ph.D., is the Clinical-Director of Quest Institute offering intensive retreats to help adults heal early developmental trauma. Dr. Glenn was the founding President of Santa Barbara Graduate Institute, known for its graduate degrees in prenatal and perinatal psychology, somatic psychology and clinical psychology.
Robert C. Hamilton, MD, FAAP has practiced pediatrics attended in Santa Monica for the past 26 years. He earned his bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from University of California, Davis; went to UCLA for medical school and pediatric residency. Dr. Hamilton founded Pacific Ocean Pediatrics and has led 22 medical mission teams to Africa.
Robert Segal, M.A. Earned a Master’s degree in Educational Psychology and focused on holistic health as a facilitator and conference organizer. Robert founded commercial development / property management firm. He is an active board member in numerous non-profit organizations. He’s been HelpGuide’s technical and operations manager since the website was launched in 1999. He is currently the CEO / Executive Director.
Monika White, Ph.D., Board Chair, is a nationally recognized author and lecturer in the field of aging. Dr. White was the president and CEO of the Center for Healthy Aging and an adjunct professor of gerontology at the USC Davis School of Gerontology. She has concentrated her emphasis on care management for older adults and their families.
Our Advisory Board
Ted Hutman, Ph.D., is a psychologist and assistant professor in Psychiatry at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. His research is in identifying early signs of autism in infants and toddlers. Dr. Hutman teaches social skills to children, adolescents, and adults and works with parents to address their children’s social, emotional, and behavioral challenges.
John E. Kobara, M.A., MBA, is chief operating officer of the California Community Foundation, responsible for the development, marketing, administrative, grantmaking, civic engagement and donor relations functions of the foundation. He also has been leading and managing innovative nonprofit organizations, companies and technology startups.
Michael Craig Miller, M.D., is the Senior Editor for Mental Health Publishing at Harvard Health Publications. He was Editor in Chief of the
Harvard Mental Health Letter from August 2000 to March 2012. Dr. Miller is a member of the faculty of Harvard Medical School and on the medical staff at Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
Damon Ramsey, M.D., is a healthcare futurist and practicing physician in Vancouver. He is founder and president of InputHealth, an award-winning digital health company. Dr. Ramsey’s career has been distinguished by his blending of clinical expertise and command of software design in producing solutions that tackle healthcare delivery’s glaring inefficiencies.
Fernando Torres-Gil, Ph.D., is professor of social welfare and public policy at UCLA School of Public Affairs, and an associate professor at USC Davis School of Gerontology. He has worked in the fields of disability and aging since the 1970s and was the first Assistant Secretary for Aging in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. President Obama appointed him to the National Council on Disability.
Laura Trejo, MSG, MPA, is general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Aging, and the technical and policy advisor to the mayor and city council on matters affecting the elderly. She has consulted and trained extensively throughout the U.S. and internationally, and she has received prestigious awards during her two decades of work in creating social change.
