Graduate student Elsa Friis receives award for advocacy work, co-authors article on pandemic response behavioral health

Elsa Friis
Elsa Friis, a graduate student in clinical psychology, has been awarded the Richard W. Morrell Community Commitment and Advocacy Award by Emory University - Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine for her critical work during her clinical internship. This award is periodically given to a trainee or faculty member who best demonstrates the spirit and action of commitment to community. Friis is recognized for her advocacy work including the establishment of the Atlanta Behavioral Health Advocates blog on Psychology Today, the development of a social justice advocacy training curriculum for behavioral health trainees, and for dedicating time outside of her internship to provide psychosocial support to frontline workers during the COVID-19 pandemic  as part of the Emory Caring Communities Initiative.
 
As part of her work with Caring Communities, Friis co-authored an article published in American Psychologist on a framework for a behavioral health pandemic response, titled Flattening the Emotional Distress Curve: A Behavioral Health Pandemic Response Strategy for COVID-19.