We have a situation that borders on a snake pit
—Robert F. Kennedy

ABOUT AMERICAN SNAKE PIT

In 1987, following a public outcry about its questionable medical practices, Staten Island’s Willowbrook State School for people with intellectual disabilities closed its doors for good.

Flat broke and almost finished with graduate school, Dan Tomasulo—now a core faculty member at Columbia University's Spirituality Mind Body Institute—was hired to relocate Willowbrook’s most severely disabled inhabitants into a groundbreaking community-based group home.

American Snake Pit is the story of the disregarded souls who ended up in Tomasulo’s care; of the eccentric, resilient staff who helped make such a momentous success possible; and, most of all, of one man’s persistent struggle to give voices to those who could not advocate for themselves.

PRAISE FOR AMERICAN SNAKE PIT

“Tomasulo’s memoir gives a voice to those who otherwise wouldn’t have one. It reaches into the very heart of what is possible when people are given support, compassion, and an opportunity to thrive.”
—Scott Barry Kaufman, author of Ungifted and Wired to Create (with Carolyn Gregoire)

“Equally harrowing and transcendent in its telling, Tomasulo's revealing tale balances on the boundary of what it is to be human, and to endure with dignity and compassion.”
—Barnet Bain, Core Faculty, Spirituality Mind Body Institute, Teachers College, Columbia University; author of The Book of Doing and Being; and producer, What Dreams May Come

“Dan Tomasulo's tale of hope and grit explores a dark blemish in American history, re-framing the narrative—both of his own life and that of his patients—through hard work and compassion, and irrevocably altering the civil rights discourse about how we care for the most severely intellectually disabled in this country. If you want people to change for the better, you have to change their situation. American Snake Pit shows with courage and compassion how this can be done. From my viewpoint, this is the formula for hope.”
—Philip Zimbardo, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Stanford University, and author of The Lucifer Effect

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dan Tomasulo is the author of two previous titles, most recently Confessions of a Former Child: A Therapist’s Memoir (Graywolf Press, 2008), winner of the 2009 Rebecca's Reads Written Arts Award in Creative Nonfiction. He co-authored Healing Trauma: The Power of Group Treatment for People with Intellectual Disabilities (2005), the American Psychological Association’s first book on psychotherapy for people with intellectual disabilities, and is also the author of Action Methods In Group Psychotherapy: Practical Aspects (Taylor & Francis, 1998). His second memoir, American Snake Pit, was selected as a finalist for The Southampton Review's 2016 Frank McCourt Memoir Prize and the screenplay has received over 20 awards at international film festivals since June 2017.

In addition to his writing, Tomasulo is the creator of Interactive-Behavioral Therapy, a widely used form of group therapy for people with intellectual and psychiatric disabilities. An expert on group therapy, he writes for Psychology Today's “The Healing Crowd.” He also authors the daily column, “Ask the Therapist” for PsychCentral.com, as well as their “Proof Positive” blog on practical applications of positive psychology.

He is a celebrated international speaker on topics including resilience, the science of hope, mental health, intellectual disabilities, positive psychology, positive education, and positive psychotherapy. He serves as part of the core faculty for the Spirituality Mind Body Institute (SMBI) at Columbia University's Teachers College and holds a PhD in Psychology, an MFA in Creative Writing from the New School, and was the first licensed psychologist and psycho-dramatist to graduate from the University of Pennsylvania's Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) program, where he currently serves as an assistant instructor for Martin Seligman, founder of positive psychology. He is a developer of the Dare to be Happy experiential workshops for Kripalu, and recently became Director of the New York City Certification in Positive Psychology for the Open Center. He has been honored by the health and wellness platform, Sharecare, as one of the top ten online influencers on the topic of depression and won the 2010 and 2012 International RETHINK Theater Playwriting Competitions, which premiered in Auckland, New Zealand on World Mental Health Day.

Find him online at:
dare2behappy.com
@tomasulo