Bio
Bob Decker earned a Doctoral Degree from Barry University in Counselor Education, and a Master of Arts Degree in both School and Community Counseling from Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. Mr. Decker is currently the President/CEO of the Mental Health America of East Central Florida. Previously he was employed by The Ripple Effect as Interim Executive Director, an organization advocating for the homeless. He was also employed with the Mental Health Association of Central Florida for nine years as Director of Community Support Services where he also coordinated a state model for training Guardian Advocates in District 7. Mr. Decker is a Florida State Licensed Mental Health Counselor and a Florida Provider of Continuing Education Units under Florida Statute Chapter 491. He has counseled HIV infected and affected clients and at-risk high school and college students. He presents nationally at professional conferences and workshops on diverse topics such as medical errors in the mental health profession, ethics in the mental health profession, gay and lesbian teen suicide, the role of expectancy behaviors in the classroom, cultural competence in suicide assessment, crisis response, and other issues dealing with mental health and diversity. He has served on various grant review committees for SAMHSA since 1998. Mr. Decker was inducted into Psi Chi, the National Honors Society in Psychology, at Rollins College in 1997 and pledged the Kappa Delta Pi, Nu Psi Chapter at Barry University in November 2002. He has received specialized training in Clinical Hypnosis and EMDR. In 1998 Mr. Decker accepted a gubernatorial appointment to the Local Advocacy Committee for District 7and again in 2006 as the District Representative to the Florida Statewide Advocacy Council. In September, 1999, he was awarded the George McKenney Worker of the Year Award by the Florida Association of Information and Referral Specialists. In 2012, he was also awarded the Cheryl Laird Leadership and Achievement Award by the Mental Health Counselors of Central Florida. Mr. Decker has also served as an adjunct professor at the Webster University in Orlando and Daytona Beach, Stetson University in DeLand, Florida, NOVA Southeastern University in West Palm Beach, Florida, University of Central Florida and Valencia Community College in Orlando. He is trained in Mental Health Disaster Services by the American Red Cross. In December 2001, he spent 2 weeks in New York City working with police and fire fighters at Ground Zero at the World Trade Center and was part of the Hurricane Katrina Response in New Orleans in 2006.
Mr. Decker is currently a member in good standing of:
• American Counseling Association (ACA)
• Mental Health Counselors Association of Central Florida (MHCACF)
• National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC)
• Florida Mental Health Counselors (FMHCA)
• American Mental Health Counselors Association
