Program Presenter - Matt Bellace

Students today need a speaker who can connect with them on a personal level – a dynamic speaker who can hold their attention with humor, interaction, and passionate stories.  Prevention advisors need a speaker who can deliver useful content to students about substance abuse without lecturing to them.  Matt Bellace, Ph.D. is the speaker who can meet and exceed those needs.

Matt has more than fifteen years of drug and alcohol prevention experience.  In 1993, as a Bucknell University sophomore, he founded a grassroots prevention group called C.A.L.V.I.N. & H.O.B.B.E.S. (Creating A Lively Ingenious New Habit Of Being at Bucknell (and) Enjoying Sobriety).  Former Bucknell president, William “Bro” Adams, referred to the organization as “revolutionary.”  In 1996, the group moved into a 23-bedroom, former fraternity house on campus, prompting US News & World Report to remark, “how times have changed.”

A member of the National Speakers Association, Matt has been speaking nationally and internationally since 1995.  His “How to Get High, Naturally!” program has been best described as a combination of interactive demonstrations, inspirational stories, and stand-up comedy.  Dr. Bellace has spoken at national conferences, such as S.A.D.D., Bacchus Network, PRIDE and Youth to Youth International.  His schedule regularly includes over 200 high school and college programs across the country.      

As a stand-up comedian, Matt performs regularly at comedy clubs in his home of New York City.  His stand-up can be heard on both XM and Sirius Satellite Radio and he is a regular comedian on truTV’s “The Smoking Gun Presents.”  Matt’s other credits include National Public Radio, The New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Miami Herald and the 2005 Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal. 

In June 2005, Matt achieved his greatest accomplishment to date.  He received a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Drexel University (Philadelphia, PA).  Dr. Bellace’s subspecialty is child and adolescent neuropsychology, the study of the developing brain and behavior.  He completed his internship at The Mount Sinai Medical Center (NYC), working with patients on the Traumatic Brain Injury and Spinal Cord Injury units.  Dr. Bellace’s dissertation topic was emotional memory, an expertise that is not lost when he presents to an audience.  As a speaker, Matt delivers an impact, using every aspect of his life experience. 

Dr. Bellace’s primary goal is to encourage young people to pursue natural highs and make healthy choices.  He believes that by empowering students to make healthy choices and pursue natural highs, students will be less likely to abuse substances. 

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