Dr. Nicholas J. Long, LSCI Institute Founder, 1929-2022
For more than five decades, Dr. Nicholas J. Long held leadership positions in psychiatric research hospitals, schools, mental health centers and universities. Throughout his career, he made a point of working directly with children, serving as a model and coach for his graduate students. During his time at American University, he developed and directed the Rose School, the first inter-agency treatment program for seriously emotionally-disturbed students who were excluded from the D.C. Public Schools. The Rose School received recognition as a national service model by the Children’s Defense League and was honored in the Congressional Record.
In 1991, Dr. Long founded the Life Space Crisis Intervention (LSCI) Institute in order to train professionals in effective, strength-based approaches to working with seriously emotionally disturbed children and youth. Today, there are training sites across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. We are forever grateful for Dr. Long’s insights into the minds and hearts of troubled and troubling children and youth.
Frank A. Fecser, Ph.D.
With Nicholas Long, Frank Fecser co-founded the Life Space Crisis Intervention Institute. Together, they produced the LSCI instructional video series and, with Dr. Mary M. Wood and Signe Whitson, co-authored Life Space Crisis Intervention; Talking with Students in Conflict (2021).
In addition to his significant contributions to the development of LSCI, Dr. Fecser served for 20 years as the Chief Executive Officer of Positive Education Program (PEP), a multi-service, special education and mental health program serving over 3,000 children, youth, and families throughout greater Cleveland, Ohio. During his career, Dr. Fecser has held a number of direct service and administrative positions including classroom teacher, case manager, building administrator, and quality assurance director. He has provided training and consultation to many programs in the U.S., and has authored or co-authored books, articles and monographs on positive approaches to working with troubled and troubling children and youth.
In 2012 Dr. Fecser received the Kent State University College of Education, Health and Human Services Hall of Fame Alumni Leadership Award, and in 2018 was recognized as a distinguished alumnus of Cleveland State University’s College of Education and Human Services. He is a board member of the European Federation of Conflict Management in Education and Care.
Signe Whitson, LSW, C-SSWS
Signe Whitson is the Chief Operating Officer for the LSCI Institute. She is the Dean of Students at a K-8 school in Massachusetts as well as an author and national educator on child & adolescent mental health, bullying prevention and crisis intervention. Signe oversees the daily operations, training curricula, and continuing education activities for the LSCI Institute and is the first point of contact for LSCI Trainers and training participants.
She is the author of seven books, including the LSCI Certification text, Talking with Students in Conflict, Parenting the Challenging Child: The 4-Step Way to Turn Problem Situations Into Learning Opportunities and The Angry Smile: The New Psychology of Passive Aggressive Behavior at Home, at School, in Marriage & Close Relationships, in the Workplace and Online.
For training inquiries or information, please contact Signe at signewhitson@lsci.org
Wendy Beukelman
Wendy Beukelman is the Director of Finance for the LSCI Institute. Wendy develops and implements the finance, accounting, billing, and auditing procedures for the Institute. She also manages, supervises, and coordinates the order processing activities for all LSCI materials, ensuring that orders are shipped according to order specifications.
Wendy is available to assist LSCI trainers and customers with ordering and invoicing of materials and courses. She also manages the graduate credit option offered through Augustana University for LSCI course participants. She has served in a similar role for the past 15 years with Reclaiming Youth at Risk and Growing Edge Training. For questions about materials, invoices, or billing, please contact Wendy at wendybeukelman@lsci.org