Dr. Omar Bah, a Gambian journalist, and also the Director for the Rhode Island based Refugee Dream Center, has bagged a PHD degree in Psychology. Dr. Bah, who graduated from the prestigious William James College in Boston, his Psychology (Psyd) degree specializes in: Neuropsychology, Leadership & Organizational Psych.
Dr. Bah arrived in the United States about a decade ago after fleeing from persecution from the murderous regime of the former administration of dictator Yahya Jammeh. Bah narrowly escaped death. He was accused of passing information to the US based Freedom Newspaper, a paper he corresponded for, while working at the defunct Daily Observer Newspaper as an an Editor.
The Freedom Newspaper was hacked. Its Editor’s email and private communications were compromised by the hackers. Dr. Bah was declared wanted by the then Jammeh regime.
Dr. Bah first settled in the West African country of Ghana, before finding his way into the United States. He is married and blessed with kids.
Dr. Bah’s thesis centered on: Neuroscience of Labeling Trauma and its Relationship with Psychological Characteristics and Leadership. His study explored how an individual’s physiological response to thinking about and narrating trauma, being resilient, feeling of belongingness to a community, and their state of well-being, might explain how they survived trauma to emerge as leaders within their communities. The physiological responses explored were heart rate variability and galvanic skin response.
The study examined the leadership conditions of both trauma survivor community leaders and survivor non-community leaders. Data analysis revealed statistically significant differences in heart rate variability between verbally recounting trauma and thinking about it.
Statistically significant difference was found in galvanic skin response scores between verbally recounting trauma and thinking about it. While all participants experienced changes in both heart rate variability and galvanic skin response when thinking about or recounting their trauma experience, survivor community leaders scored higher on measures of resiliency and well-being compared to survivor non-community leaders. These findings reveal a wide range of links between leadership condition, neurophysiological response to recollection of trauma, resiliency, and well-being.
Editors note: Please join us to congratulate Dr. Omar Bah for his well earned PHD Degree. Dr. Bah is a statement to the much talked about American dream. He came to the US without an academic degree, but today he has a PHD degree on his belt.
His wonderful and caring wife Teddi Jallow, should be credited for Bah’s academic success story. As the saying goes: “Behind the success of every man, it is a woman. Thank you, Teddi, for standing by our good friend and brother Dr. Omar Bah. We are proud of you.
That said, the United States of America, should also be thanked for being a nation of immigrants. When Dr. Bah was in tears, America stood by him, America became his sanctuary, it did not stopped at harboring him, it also schooled him. Thank you, America.
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