BACKGROUND
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BACKGROUND |
| HOME | BACKGROUND | EDUCATION & LICENSES | LOCATIONS & HOURS | INSURANCE PAYMENT | TREATMENT PHILOSOPHY | TROUBLED TEENS | MY INTERESTS | LINKS |
Frequently, I receive phone calls from potential clients asking me about my areas of expertise and what kinds of clients I see in my practice. The following appears to be rather lengthy but is a succinct review of my previous work experiences in the fields of mental health and substance abuse counseling. It is my belief that reading the following page or two will answer a lot of questions about my practice and whether you or your child would be able to benefit from seeing me as a private therapist.
| Research Assistant | My initial employment in the mental health field came as a research assistant for a project at Johns Hopkins University. This project was designed to study the mental health outcomes of adolescents. During my tenure in this position, I would go into a home in Baltimore City and interview an adolescent and the mother of this adolescent. This interview was designed to diagnose mental health problems of the adolescent as well as the respective mother and determine what types of services they had been able to access. This job experience introduced me to the intricacies of diagnosing mental health problems using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM III-R). In addition, I found that interviewing adolescents was a practice I found much satisfaction as well as enjoyment. |
| Counselor | My next experience in the field was employment as a counselor in a community-based, residential psychiatric rehabilitation agency for chronically mentally ill adults. For this agency, I worked as a counselor in 24-hour supervised crisis and dually-diagnosed programs. The crisis program was a 14-30 day program designed to prevent hospitalization or shorten hospitalization for adults experiencing an acute exacerbation of their psychiatric symptomatology. In this program, we treated an array of diagnoses including schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder, major depression and dissociative disorders. The intent was to fully stabilize these clients so that they could return to their community housing. While my graduate education had provided me with an intellectual understanding of the DSM diagnoses, the crisis program provided me with first hand experiences working with adults suffering from these ailments and the types of treatments used for stabilization. I also worked in the dually-diagnosed program at this agency. This program served clients who suffered from mental illness and substance abuse. As a counselor for these clients, I received my first experiences with substance abusing clients and discovered another counseling interest of mine. Eventually, I would go on to become a supervisor for both of these programs. |
| Internship | During my tenure at the agency mentioned above, I was also busy completing internship requirements for my Master of Arts program. My internship placement was in a state psychiatric hospital and involved working with adolescents on a locked-down ward. Working closely under the supervision of a licensed psychologist, I administered batteries of psychological tests and formulated diagnoses for the adolescents with whom I worked. I then facilitated group therapy as well as individual psychotherapy for the adolescents. |
| Counselor | While working as a counselor in the dually-diagnosed program, I developed an interest in substance abuse counseling and my next job would find me at a long-term, residential chemical dependency treatment center. During this job, I was able to gain experience working with adults suffering from chemical dependency problems. I facilitated group therapy sessions and individual therapy sessions with both male and female clients. During my tenure at this agency, I enrolled in graduate school for a second time and began work on my Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study in Clinical/Community Counseling. |
| Family Therapist | Once back in school I switched jobs to one more accommodating to my school schedule and took a job as a family therapist in a county correctional center. During this job, I worked individually with inmates on mental health issues as well as substance abuse problems. Additionally, I did family educational seminars with identified family members of the inmates. After the family seminars were completed, I brought the inmate and the family members together in family therapy. It was during this job where I developed my preference for working with substance abusing individuals in the context of their family and loved ones. I was fortunate to be involved in a family therapy graduate class during the beginnings of this job that provided me with the techniques I would later put into practice on the job. |
| Counselor | Currently, in addition to private practice, I work in the public school system as a counselor. I work as a counselor to students who have been expelled from the traditional schools for violence, weapon possessions, assaults, truancy and other more general behavior problems. I spend most of my week in an alternative middle school doing individual and group counseling as well as classroom instruction. In addition, I work in a several high schools focusing on students suspected of using drugs with the goal of preventing them from failing school, dropping out of school and being expelled from school. |
| Private Practice | My private practice involves all of the experiences I have mentioned. I work with adolescents, adults and families around issues involving mental health and substance abuse. I believe my education and work experiences thus far have prepared me to work with a wide-range of clients presenting with a variety of issues. |