(text and background only visible when logged in)
Faculty and Staff Forum to Support Student Mental Health
(text and background only visible when logged in)
About the Program
Thriving Hive is a biweekly virtual forum where Georgia Tech faculty and staff can meet with mental health professionals to discuss ways to support the mental health of students. Attendees can ask general questions, request consultation about a specific concern, and get additional information about mental health topics and resources. Sessions are intended for education and consultation — if direct action is needed for a student issue, session facilitators will make a referral to the appropriate support office. Faculty and staff can attend as many sessions as they would like and do not have to stay for the entire meeting. Each meeting is limited to 10 participants, and registration for each meeting will end one week before the session date.
Please note: In order to protect our students’ confidentiality, no personally identifiable student information should be shared in the meeting or listed on the form, including but not limited to: name, email address, and GTID.
Your Facilitators
Dr. Vidal Annan, Jr.
Dr. Vidal Annan is a clinical psychologist and currently serves as Senior Director of the Center for Mental Health Care and Resources at the Georgia Institute of Technology. In his role, Dr. Annan leads a team of professional counselors and case managers to meet the mental health and wellness needs of the Georgia Tech campus community.
As a clinician, he specializes in several treatment approaches including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, and Client-Centered Psychotherapy.
Dr. Annan received his PhD from Rutgers University in 2001 with a focus on cognitive processing and experimental psychology. He respecialized in Clinical Psychology at Fairleigh Dickinson University with a focus on children, teens, and young adults. Dr. Annan has worked in several areas of mental health and wellness including K-12 schools and higher education institutions, youth development programs, hospitals, mental health consulting, and private practice.
Over the course of his career, Dr. Annan has had the opportunity to teach and present at several colleges and universities including Barnard College, Vanderbilt University, Kean University, and Rutgers University. He has been awarded several grants from foundations such as Autism Speaks, the HealthCare Foundation of New Jersey, and the Prudential Foundation, to conduct program development and clinical work on emotional intelligence, growth mindset, and socio-emotional learning with adolescents and young adults. His book “In My Feelings”, which focuses on how emotions are processed and understood by teens and young adults, was published in June 2023.
Dr. Allison Nitsche Leahy
Dr. Allison Nitsche Leahy is a staff psychiatrist at Stamps Health Services. She completed undergraduate studies at the University of North Carolina, medical school at Louisiana State University, and psychiatry residency at Baylor College of Medicine.
In addition to pursuing child and adolescent psychiatry training, she was inspired to learn more about public health, outreach, advocacy, and public policy in a community psychiatry fellowship at Emory University, where she also received a Master of Public Health degree in Health Policy and Management. After she completed her training in 2010, Dr. Nitsche moved to Utah, where she worked in a variety of settings including inpatient hospitals, outpatient clinics, and schools in a clinical role as well as at the state level in a leadership role and at the University of Utah as a faculty member.
In 2019, she moved back to Atlanta and became a medical director at Skyland Trail, a non-profit organization offering evidence-based treatment to adults with mental health conditions. Since 2020, she has been working in private practice and at Georgia Tech. She is passionate about working with college students as well as trauma, resilience, and prevention efforts.
