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Nadyia Abbas named executive director of Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health Massachusetts and Rhode Island

Villanova, PA – Feb. 14, 2023 – Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health, one of the nation’s oldest and largest nonprofit providers of behavioral healthcare, today announced that President and CEO Carl E. Clark II has named Nadyia Abbas, M.A., CGAS, LMHC, LADC-I, executive director of Devereux Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Abbas currently serves as Devereux Massachusetts and Rhode Island’s interim executive director, a position she has held since February 2022. She will assume her new role effectively immediately.

As executive director, Abbas will oversee the care and treatment of approximately 500 children, adolescents and adults, annually, who are living with emotional, behavioral and cognitive differences. Devereux Massachusetts and Rhode Island serves individuals through a broad spectrum of treatment settings, including residential treatment, campus- and community-based group homes, a special education day school and therapeutic foster care.

“Nadyia is a highly accomplished leader who has been part of the Devereux Massachusetts and Rhode Island family for more than 20 years,” said Clark. “Since assuming the position of interim executive director last year, she has served as a stabilizing force, supporting her team while ensuring we continue to provide the best possible care for the individuals and families we serve. Nadyia’s extensive behavioral healthcare background and demonstrated commitment to helping those in our care lead positive and productive lives make her perfectly aligned for this role.”

About Nadyia Abbas, M.A., CGAS, LMHC, LADC-I

As executive director of Devereux Massachusetts and Rhode Island, Nadyia Abbas, M.A., CGAS, LMHC, LADC-I, brings more than 20 years of behavioral healthcare experience to this position.

Abbas is a trained clinician, licensed alcohol and drug counselor, and licensed mental health counselor. She joined Devereux Massachusetts and Rhode Island in 2002 as a direct care counselor. Since that time, she has served in roles of increasing responsibility, including clinician, program director, senior program director and community administrator. In 2018, she was promoted to assistant executive director. In this role, Abbas provided leadership to the center’s clinical, educational and operational teams. In 2022, she assumed the role of interim executive director.

Abbas earned her Master of Arts in counseling psychology from Anna Maria College in Paxton, Massachusetts, and a Bachelor of Arts in specialized honors in psychology from York University in Toronto, Canada. Abbas is an adjunct professor at Fitchburg State University, where she instructs graduate-level students in the area of counseling.

About Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health

Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health is one of the nation’s largest nonprofit organizations providing services, insight and leadership in the evolving field of behavioral healthcare. Founded in 1912 by special education pioneer Helena Devereux, the organization operates a comprehensive national network of clinical, therapeutic, educational, and employment programs and services that positively impact the lives of tens of thousands of children, adults – and their families – every year. Focused on clinical advances emerging from a new understanding of the brain, its unique approach combines evidence-based interventions with compassionate family engagement.

With more than 7,500 employees working in programs across the nation, Devereux is a recognized partner for families, schools and communities, serving many of our country’s most vulnerable populations in the areas of autism, intellectual and developmental disabilities, specialty mental health, education and foster care. Programs are offered in hospital, residential, community and school-based settings. They include: assessments; interventions and support; transition and independent life services; family and professional training; research and innovation; and advocacy and public education. For more than a century, Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health has been guided by a simple and enduring mission: To change lives by unlocking and nurturing human potential for people living with emotional, behavioral or cognitive differences. www.devereux.org

About Devereux Massachusetts and Rhode Island

Devereux Massachusetts and Rhode Island provides individualized treatment for children, adolescents and adults living with emotional, behavioral and cognitive differences. Service offerings include residential treatment, campus- and community-based group homes, adult residential and placement services, a special education day school, autism services, short-term assessment and rapid reintegration, diagnostic services, vocational training, and therapeutic foster care. www.devereuxmari.org

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