Dr. Marty Swanbrow Becker is an Associate Professor of Psychological and Counseling Services in the Educational Psychology and Learning Systems Department at Florida State University. He earned his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from The University of Texas at Austin in 2013 and completed his pre-doctoral internship at the Appalachian State University Counseling Center. He is currently chair of the Prevention Section of the American Psychological Association's Society of Counseling Psychology.
Dr. Swanbrow Becker holds a deep commitment to improving people’s lives through designing effective mental health prevention efforts and helping individuals develop to their full potential. At Florida State University, he has integrated his research, teaching, and service to further his study of college student mental health and his efforts to improve suicide prevention and wellness promoting programs. Through his research, he investigates how diverse college students cope with stress and why some develop distress and thoughts of suicide while others do not. He expands on this inquiry through his research into the efficacy of suicide prevention and wellness promoting programs, searching for how to improve the ability of colleges and universities to identify, intervene with, and refer students in distress to professional help. He incorporates his research findings in his teaching as he trains graduate students in how to intervene with suicidal clients. He also trains his students in the science of research methodology by developing campus suicide prevention interventions and disseminating the results of his research through publications and presentations. His research and teaching also drive his service, as he uses his knowledge of suicide prevention to design and deliver mental health trainings on campus and in the community.