Vest

In 2001, Dr. James Halpern was working in private practice in Manhattan, teaching at the State University of New York (SUNY) campus in New Paltz, and volunteering with the American Red Cross. Prior to his involvement with the Red Cross, Halpern had earned graduate and doctorate degrees in psychology and taught as an assistant professor of Counseling Psychology and Couples and Family Counseling at SUNY, New Paltz.

Recognizing the traumatic nature and complex dimensions of the tragedy unfolding at the World Trade Center on September 11th, Halpern drove to New York and showed his Red Cross credentials to authorities to be allowed entry into Manhattan. He reported to Red Cross Headquarters and led a team downtown to offer mental health support to responders. Later in the day, he learned that the New York City Mayor's Office and New York City Police Department had coordinated with the Red Cross to establish a missing persons hotline. This hotline served as a vital means through which victims’ families reported and received information as well as support in the earliest days of the aftermath. Halpern, one of the few Red Cross mental health professionals on-hand with prior disaster response and clinical experience, became one of two Red Cross managers for the hotline.