Martin Swanbrow Becker
Dr. Martin Swanbrow Becker Research in a Minute | FSU College of Education | English | Questionnaire | June 12, 2019
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 Educational Psychology with a specialization 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.
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 programs. Through his research, he investigates how diverse college students cope with stress and why some develop thoughts of suicide while others do not. He expands on this inquiry through his research into the efficacy of suicide prevention 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 trainings on campus and in the community.
Dr. Swanbrow Becker was the Principal Investigator of a federal grant sponsored by SAMHSA that funded the hiring of a Suicide Prevention Coordinator at FSU for three years. This grant allowed FSU to develop and evaluate suicide prevention training for our faculty, staff, and students on the main campus in Tallahassee and the Panama City campus. He was awarded the Partner with a Purpose award for his work with suicide prevention on campus. He leads a vibrant research team of graduate and undergraduate students to continue their work to promote suicide prevention. He has published peer-reviewed articles in journals such as Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, Journal of American College Health, Journal of College Student Psychotherapy, the Journal of College Counseling, the Archives of Suicide Research, and the Journal of Specialists in Group Work. He has presented his research nationally and internationally.
In his position as an Associate Professor at FSU, Dr. Swanbrow Becker teaches courses such as Evidenced-Based Counseling / Psychotherapy, Practicum in Counseling and Rehabilitation, Individual Appraisal in Counseling, Social Psychology, and Biological Bases of Behavior.
He is professionally affiliated with the American Psychological Association and the Society of Counseling Psychology, where he has served as Chair of the Prevention Section.
His current research areas include:
- Examining the efficacy of suicide prevention and wellness-supporting programming, including the role of social connection to facilitate interventions.
- Understanding and preventing the progression of youth along a distress and suicidal continuum of experience with a focus on stress, coping, resilience, help seeking and cultural influences.
- Clinical implications for addressing the mental health needs of young adults in multicultural environments.
- Promoting college student and young adult development.