About Our Staff
Visit our site regularly for featured staff biographies!

James Tresh
For the past 30 years, James Tresh has worked professionally with Deaf and Hard of Hearing children and adults.

He began his career in the mental health field and Deafness at the Center for Deaf Treatment Services in Northville, Michigan, a pioneer program designed to provide mental health treatment and care to Deaf persons with serious and persistent mental illness. Upon completing his degree in Clinical Psychology at Eastern Michigan University, he established a clinical and consultant psychology practice in Garden City, Michigan. During that time, he performed psychological evaluations for Vocational Rehabilitation, public schools and the legal system. In his psychotherapy practice, he treated numerous Deaf and Hard of Hearing patients. He later joined the clinical team at the Sinai Hospital Hearing Impaired Professional Services Program in Detroit, Michigan.

In 1987 he relocated to central Florida and became Program Director for the inpatient psychiatric program for Deaf adults and adolescents at Horizon Hospital in Clearwater. Subsequently, he served as Clinical Director at Florida Hospital of St. Petersburg in 1989. He later opened a Deaf program at The Manors Psychiatric Hospital in Tarpon Springs, Florida. He also opened a private psychotherapy and consultation practice in Safety Harbor, Florida.

In 1991 he established the first private mental health institute for Deaf persons; National Mental Health Institute on Deafness (NMHID) in Tampa, Florida. NMHID, the first comprehensive mental health program for Deaf children, adolescents and adults, offering inpatient care, partial hospitalization, supervised housing and an assisted living facility in several states simultaneously, had program sites in Texas, Florida, New Mexico, Hawaii, Kentucky and Wisconsin. In 1998 as part of this continuum of care, he acquired and established Magnolia House, an Assisted Living Facility for Deaf men and Deaf women in Safety Harbor, Florida.

In 2000, in partnership with two others, he co-founded the National Deaf Academy, the first private residential mental health treatment facility, designed and staffed exclusively for Deaf and Hard of Hearing persons in the United States.

Mr. Tresh has been a national speaker on topics related to psychological issues and Deaf persons. He was a co-founder and a past-President of the Michigan Chapter of the American Deafness and Rehabilitation Association (MCADARA). He has demonstrated consistent advocacy through his efforts to provide educational and career opportunities to numerous Deaf and Hard of Hearing persons in his programs as well as in clinical internships and practica. In 1991, he established and edited the publication, titled The Source, in 1991, as a source of information on mental health issues on Deafness distributed internationally. He has also authored professional articles on Deafness and mental health for The Endeavor and other publications.

_____________________________________________________________________

Cindy Lin, CTRS
Cindy, who is profoundly Deaf, is the Manager of Magnolia House of Safety Harbor. Cindy, Deaf from birth, has years of professional experience working with Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals who also struggle with emotional and behavioral problems such as depression, anxiety or addictions.

Cindy is one of the very few profoundly Deaf individuals who holds national certification as a Recreational Therapist. She received her formal training from Rochester Institute of Technology and Gallaudet University. She received her degree in Recreational Therapy from Gallaudet University. Since that time, she has worked for specialized mental health programs for Deaf youth and adults. She formerly worked as Director of Recreational Services for National Mental Health Institute on Deafness, Deaf Networks and National Deaf Academy.

Cindy is a nationally recognized speaker on issues of treatment of Deaf and Deaf-Blind persons with mental illness using Recreational Therapeutic techniques, having presented at national conventions such as the American Deafness and Rehabilitation Association. She travels around the country presenting this and other topics related to therapeutic recreation in a mental health or education setting.