Dr Kent’s Blog

 

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Written in 2000, this provides an accounting of my professional training and development as a psychologist.  Similar KSA questionnaires were submitted for clinical psychologist positions.  These give an accurate history of my broad-based training and diverse experience in a variety of settings with an emphasis upon the first four years in my post-doc clinical experience.

 

 

John Taylor Kent, Ph.D.

 

 

Cognitive Behavioral Psychologist

 

 

KSA’s Supplemental Questionnaire

 

 

On Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

 

 

(Postscript 2006)  When I began my graduate studies in 1988 in Neuropsychology, I had been advised that one needs to specialize in order to compete in the coming market.  However, I later changed my emphasis to Industrial/Organizational Psychology with an eye for eventually developing systems for the delivery of superior psychological services.  Nonetheless, as I progressed, I learned that I had indeed specialized prematurely because I discovered that working as a generalist provides me the greatest joy, the most diversity as there are limitless numbers of combinations and possibilities and, more importantly, having a view of the “Big Picture” with the entire human developmental spectrum in front of me with an accounting of extended family and multi-generational phenomena, I could select interventions which were far more efficacious.  Serving clients successfully is the prize and for these talents I am ever grateful.

 

 

Position: Clinical Psychologist (GS-13)

 

1.                 Knowledge of mental health issues unique to rural and reservation populations and the agencies that provide services to rural and reservation populations.

 

My initial undergraduate degree was in English (1974) at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington.  I am able to write at a technical level as well as communicate in the vernacular, the common language of the people.  I have learned how to establish rapport with difficult clients.  I am able to adapt to the prevailing modes of communication and have done so to conduct therapy in the Bush in Alaska and in rural Northeast Mississippi.

 

While working in the interior of Alaska, I learned and adapted to the ways of the people in communication, counseling and being there with them.  This required me to adopt the prevailing modes of non-verbal communication skills including making minimal eye contact, regulating body posture and verbal skills employing long pauses between responses and using words sparingly.  I was fortunate to be escorted by the director of Yukon-Kuskokwim Mental Health Services and had the help of many other professionals including Native American professionals.  I learned how to demonstrate respect when entering a new village.  This included visiting with the village chief and checking in with local law enforcement and other leaders upon arrival.  I was very fortunate to have the help of so many people in getting oriented.  As a human being, I feel I can adapt and learn the ways of the people in order to learn how to serve them best and share in their struggles and their peace.

 

As a psychologist who has worked in various value systems, I know the necessity of learning the ways of the people and culture before diagnosing and treating.  I have worked in several systems and with diverse populations, and I understand the importance of culture.  It is incumbent upon the successful applicant to learn the ways of the people including the traditional ways of healing, mythology, value systems and belief systems in order to render effective services.

 

Most of the criteria for diagnosis according to the DSM-IV require maladaptive behavior in various settings including occupational and social.  It is important to reference maladaptive behavior according to the accepted norms of the system within which one is functioning.  Therefore, one must take into consideration the social values in the environment and the comfort or distress of others when making decisions regarding what is maladaptive.

 

As a service provider at Fort Defiance Indian Hospital, I would learn the ways of the people in order to be able to serve them better.  This includes becoming familiar with the various traditional healing modalities, cultures and groups served in the area.  It is incumbent upon the successful applicant to learn the ways of the people and to educate herself or himself to serve the people more effectively.

 

Outside of work, I consult daily with professionals internationally on the Internet via the listserv for the International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology.  I continue to maintain contact with professionals with whom I have previously worked in various regions for the purpose of mutual support and professional development.

 

As with any other practitioner in the healing arts, there are limits to one’s competency.  In extremely difficult cases, I consult with other professionals in seeking the best conceptualization of the case possible before making treatment decisions.  I am always eager to extend my abilities by researching to meet the special needs of my clients.

 

Growing up the son of a career military Army officer, I have lived all over the United States and spent a total of four years living overseas including a year of college study at Gonzaga-in-Florence, Italy.  I have worked in a variety of settings from the Bush in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in Alaska to the Deep South in rural Mississippi.  My graduate studies were primarily at the university with the highest percentage of foreign students in the country—United States International University, San Diego.  I have learned how to respect differences and to take the time to listen and wait to learn the culture, the ways of the people prior to either choosing my own actions or interventions in a particular setting.

 

My mission as a Village Counselor and Psychology Intern in the interior of Alaska serving the peoples of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta required me to bring other professionals together for several purposes.  I developed and implemented forms and paperwork for basic and critical procedures such as Informed Consent to Treatment, records keeping, Medicaid administration and computer program configuration.  I brought schoolteachers and families together to address issues regarding the children.  It also required me to pull together leaders and people for the purposes of crisis management when emergency intervention was needed.  For example, it was necessary to bring villagers together and inform them of their opportunity to unite and take care of children at unfortunate moments when the children’s parents had died tragically.  As a Village Counselor, in addition to processing grief and tragedy, part of my duties in administering Indian Child Welfare Act Services (ICWA) required me to inform the tribal counsel of their option to declare orphaned Native American children as wards of the Tribal Court to assure that the children would remain home in the village.

 

2.                 Skills in providing crisis intervention services in a variety of crises: suicidal crises, domestic or other interpersonal violence, sexual assault, child abuse and neglect, substance abuse and psychiatric emergencies.

 

While working for Bethel Community Services, I augmented my income by working on-call for emergency intervention for Yukon-Kuskokwim Mental Health Center.  Currently, on a rotational basis I work on-call for the after hours Hot Line at Region III Mental Health Center for emergency intervention.  This required good judgment regarding intervention and coordinating service with other professionals including sheriffs and emergency room personnel.  At the clinic at Region III Mental Health Center, I also take emergency telephone calls and serve walk-in emergency clients.

 

At Region III Mental Health Center’s inpatient Chemical Dependency Program (CDP), I regularly triage patients and assist counselors in conceptualizing cases and planning treatment.  Often, this involves co-therapy sessions in which we prioritize the needs of the client.  The CDP unit turns to my expertise for psychological services including therapy, dual diagnosis, test interpretation (MMPI and MMPI-2), expertise regarding primary diagnoses, fine tuning the treatment plan and goals for complicated cases and difficult patients.  The Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) refers approximately 60% of our inpatient CDP clients.  It is often my responsibility to determine the appropriateness of the facility for the needs of very special clients and complex cases, and to refer to our local inpatient facility as necessary for possible psychiatric stabilization or medical detoxification.

 

Under the supervision, I have treated both perpetrators and victims of abuse including sexual abuse.  My current supervisor’s philosophy, Dr. Masur, is simply that in order to remain objective and to be competent at treating victims, one must also be willing to treat perpetrators.  I have adopted this philosophy.  I am adept at establishing rapport with difficult clients and motivating them to improve their quality of life.

 

Region III Mental Health Center has contracts to deliver psychological services for the seven regional county offices of the Mississippi Department of Human Services.  Social Workers refer clients to me regularly for evaluation and recommendation.  Often these center on child custody, ability to parent and abuse issues.  I also receive referrals from the SAFE emergency shelter for abused spouses and children. 

 

From 1997 to the present, in a volunteer capacity, I established and continue to chair the Disaster Mental Health Committee for the Northeast Mississippi Chapter of the American Red Cross.  This included recruitment of volunteer mental health professionals, arranging for training, structuring the program, development of policies, procedures and implementation for emergency intervention including natural disasters.  During this time, I worked two tornado disaster sites.

 

3.                 Ability to provide a wider range of psychological testing and clinical services: assessment of children, adolescents and adults; provides individuals, couples and family therapy.

 

My training and experience are broad-based and began with an interest in Music Therapy and the effects of music upon consciousness.  My experience of approximately two years as a music therapist and more than four years of postdoctoral clinical experience in diverse settings has given me a broad base of knowledge.

 

From 1979-1981, I recorded seminars in Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) and studied at both the General Practitioner and Master’s levels in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  In 1992, in San Diego I worked at Richard Bandler’s center for NLP training and refreshed my knowledge and skills of NLP.  I use the communication skills learned in NLP regularly in therapy including with emotionally disturbed clients and psychotic patients.  These facilitate my effectiveness with clients suffering psychotic symptoms and extreme mood disorders.  From my NLP training, I am familiar with the work of Virginia Satir and hypnotist Milton Erickson and I use rich analogies and metaphors to assist a client to implement change.

 

The impetus of my experience as a treatment provider was working with children and adolescents beginning in 1983 as a Music Therapist at the Jesse Lee Home in Anchorage, Alaska for Alaska’s Children’s Services.  This spurred a desire in me to develop skills to help children more effectively.

 

My undergraduate studies in psychology were at the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA), a program noted for its strength in Behavioral Therapy.  It included rat laboratory training, studies in psychodynamic theory and the Self-Psychology of Heinz Kohut.  At UAA, I began graduate studies in Neuropsychology. My graduate work was primarily conducted at United States International University (USIU), an institution noted for its strength in Humanistic Therapy and Family Therapy featuring stars such as Rogers, Haley, Perls, Satir, Frankl, May and Framo.  At USIU, I also studied Progressive Muscle Relaxation under the late F. J. McGuigan, Ph.D. at the International Center for Stress Management.

 

In 1996, in the interior of Alaska in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, the focus of my work as a Village Counselor was in Family Systems.  In 1996, at Region III Mental Health Center, I began my postdoctoral internship at the Center for Children under Dr. Eldridge E. Fleming.  Our focus was on children and families.  At Region III Mental Health Center I assisted Dr. Fleming in administered biofeedback techniques to for headache reduction.  Since that time, Dr, Fleming has retired, The Center for Children has closed, and those functions have been integrated into the services provided by the main center at Region III.  I continue, as do my cohorts, to provide the services to children and adolescents begun under Dr. Fleming in 1985.

 

My interventions are primarily focused upon behavior and building self-efficacy based on the Developmental Model.  This includes behavioral treatment and risk management for substance abuse if appropriate.  Nonetheless, I work in support of the 12-step treatment program based on the Medical Model at our inpatient Chemical Dependence Program.

 

My duties include substance abuse assessment and treatment for the Mississippi Driving Under the Influence (DUI) remedial program.  For DUI treatment I rely upon behavioral treatments developed by Miller and Dollard for self-monitoring, and Marlatt and Gordon for risk management for the prevention of slips, lapse and relapse.  I also draw upon the client’s expectations and self-efficacy enumerated by Bandura.  However, should behavioral treatment fail or should such be contraindicated, I refer clients for inpatient treatment in our 12-step program emphasizing the Disease Concept and the Medical Model for treatment or for medical detoxification as necessary.

 

My knowledge of clinical psychology is broad-based having worked in primarily community mental health settings in the Alaskan Bush and rural northeast Mississippi.  Secondarily, I have experience at inpatient settings.  My philosophy is to treat the client in the least restrictive environment possible.  This includes minimal use of medications as necessary.  The purpose of my approach is to build the most expectancy in the patient possible for a good outcome, to build self-efficacy, to avoid creating dependency in the client, and to avoid iatrogenesis.  To these ends, I have studied various schools of philosophy.  My initial studies in 1979 were in Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP), followed in 1988 by Behavioral Psychology (Skinner) and Self-Psychology (Kohut).  In graduate school, I expanded this to include Humanistic Psychology (Rogers) and other disciplines at United States International University in San Diego.  Although I consider my orientation primarily Behavioral and Cognitive-Behavioral, my approach is eclectic.  I bring to bear the treatment that most benefits the client.  I am always eager to expand my repertoire to meet the needs of my most difficult clients.

 

My experience of approximately two years as a music therapist and more than four years of postdoctoral clinical experience in diverse settings has given me a broad base of knowledge.  I have worked in community mental health outpatient services for more than four years.  In the Bush in Alaska, I primarily served families.  At Region III Mental Health Center, we serve a generic population including families.  My strength, effectiveness and experience have been in individual and family services although I am trained in group therapy, organization psychology and intervention.  I also offer marriage counseling and counseling for couples.

 

In 1996, as a Village Counselor and Psychological Intern serving several villages in the interior of the Bush in Alaska with the Kuskokwim Native Counseling Center out of Aniak, I assisted in the development and implementation of procedures and standardized paperwork for services such as obtaining Informed Consent to Treatment and including Medicaid administrative procedures.

 

My training is broad-based and began with an interest in Music Therapy and the effects of music upon consciousness.  I studied Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) training at both the General Practitioner and Master’s levels from 1980-1982 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  In 1992, in San Diego I worked at Richard Bandler’s Center for NLP training and refreshed my knowledge and skills of NLP.  I utilize the communication skills learned in NLP regularly in therapy including with emotionally disturbed clients and psychotic patients.  These facilitate my effectiveness with clients suffering psychotic symptoms and extreme mood disorders.  From my NLP training, I am familiar with the work of Virginia Satir and hypnotist Milton Erickson and I use rich analogies and metaphors to assist a client to implement change.

 

My caseload includes seriously mentally ill individuals diagnosed with chronic thought disorders including schizophrenia and mood disorders such as bipolar disorders.  I diagnose and treat a wide spectrum of disorders.  I utilize a broad array of treatment modalities including simple interventions such as behavioral self monitoring for Panic Disorders to more complex and long term interventions such as Schema-Focused Therapy (Young) for persistent Personality Disorders.

 

I treat those suffering from anxiety and depressive symptoms most directly and effectively.  I rely upon Behavioral and Cognitive-Behavioral interventions to treat these primarily although I often employ paradoxical assignments.  I am effective with clients suffering psychotic symptoms and extreme mood disorders.

 

My duties currently include psychological evaluation, consulting and assessment for our therapists at the main center and in our outreach centers, more than 50 master’s level School Support Therapists in the community schools, Case Managers, chemical dependency counselors at our inpatient CDP treatment center, and treatment providers in our Group Home for the Chronically Mentally Ill (CMI).  Duties also include pre-screening assessment of individuals regarding the need for treatment for a mental illness and possible involuntary commitment.  I also assist my supervisor and other therapists in difficult cases regarding evaluations and in forensic cases.  This requires me to work closely with our psychiatrist, child psychiatrist and the professionals from our satellite centers located in the seven counties we serve.

 

The therapists from our satellite treatment centers and the main center meet weekly for two hours to staff difficult cases, to coordinate our treatment efforts and to provide for the professional development of staff and the services we provide.  I provide a significant amount of training materials and presentations for our weekly staff meetings.  I read a tremendous amount of material and bring the latest research to staffing.  Physicians, therapists and counselors have access and utilize my services daily in regards to assisting them in conceptualizing their cases and better planning the course of treatment for clients.  I also benefit from our consultations and the input of team members.  My duties also require me to consult with other mental health agencies, school personnel and attorneys.

 

I also assist and train other staff and practicum students in the administration and interpretation of tests.  Often, I am called to interpret and write psychological reports for tests administered by my supervisor and/or master’s level colleagues.  I am noted for my ability to complete accurate reports in a timely fashion.

 

During the four years of clinical experience since graduation, I have employed primarily Family Therapy, Behavioral Therapy and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy.  In the past year, I have augmented this to include the Schema-focused approach to Cognitive Therapy developed by Jeffrey E. Young, Ph.D. for personality disorders and continue to develop my skills in this area.  Consistent with Schema-focused Therapy, I integrate methodology from Family Systems, RET, Gestalt, Transactional Analysis, Reality, Existential, and Psychodynamic Therapies and other modalities as best suit the needs of the client.

 

My undergraduate studies in psychology were at the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA), a program noted for its strength in Behavioral Therapy.  It included rat laboratory training, studies in psychodynamic theory and the Self-Psychology of Heinz Kohut.  At UAA, I began graduate studies in Neuropsychology. My graduate work was primarily conducted at United States International University (USIU), an institution noted for its strength in Humanistic Therapy and Family Therapy featuring stars such as Rogers, Haley, Perls, Satir, Frankl, May and Framo.  At USIU, I also studied Progressive Muscle Relaxation under the late F. J. McGuigan, Ph.D. at the International Center for Stress Management.

 

My graduate coursework at the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) and United States International University (USIU) prepared me for the administration of psychological tests including individual and group intelligence tests and projective tests such as Murray’s TAT and the Rorschach.  Primarily, I use the Wechsler series of intelligence tests.  I am also educated in the construction of tests.  I conducted job analyses, constructed and validated personnel selection tests as an Administrative Staff Assistant at the State of Nevada Department of Personnel performing the duties of an assistant staff psychologist.  I began administering individual psychological tests professionally while working at the Kuskokwim Native Counseling Center under the supervision of Dr. Lorin Bradbury, Psychologist. 

 

Early in 1996, I began supervised experience with Lorin Bradbury, Ph.D. in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.  Shortly after assuming this position, I realized that although I was getting excellent clinical supervision there would not be sufficient training in psychometric testing at this location for me to develop fully as a professional.  After consulting with Dr. Bradbury about my concern and interest in obtaining appropriate training in psychometric testing, I followed his recommendation and pursued an internship at the community mental health setting where Dr. Bradbury completed his postdoctoral internship.

At The Center for Children under Eldridge E. Fleming, Ph.D., FPPP, Psychologist/Clinical Director, I administered basic psychological evaluations, brief neuropsychological testing and remediation, and other testing including adult psychological evaluations for the Mississippi Department of Disability Services.  During one five-month period, it was estimated that I had administered approximately 135 psychological assessments.  These batteries typically included the one of the three Wechsler series intelligence tests (WPPSI, WISC, and WAIS) or the Kaufman ABC, WRAT-3 or WIAT, the Bender Visual-Motor Gestalt, brief Halstead-Reitan neuropsychological testing, and the Gordon.  Dr. Fleming trained me in the administration of the Boder, PIAT-R, and the use of numerous other tests and behavior rating scales.

 

At Region III Mental Health Center, I continue to administer psychological evaluations to adults, adolescents and children including forensic evaluations.  During this time, I have trained under Louis Masur, III, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist/Director.  Dr. Masur has trained me in the administration and interpretation of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2), the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory for Adolescents (MMPI-A) and numerous other instruments.  I continue to administer psychological tests and write reports for forensic evaluations, evaluations for the Department of Human Service and Vocational Rehabilitation Services, and in-house referrals from other therapists, case mangers and counselors.  One day per week, I work at our inpatient facility Harbor House in our Chemical Dependency Program (CDP) administering psychological tests and test interpretation for staff.

 

My duties include pre-screening assessment of individuals regarding the need for treatment for a mental illness and possible involuntary commitment. I also conduct Mental Status Examinations for the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation with recommendations for treatment.

 

Dr. Masur has given me many directed reading assignments.  I have trained in the administration and interpretation of personality tests such as the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2), the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory for Adolescents (MMPI-A) and other instruments.  I also assist others in learning to administer and interpret tests.  Often, I am called to interpret and write psychological reports administered by my master’s level colleagues.

 

Since beginning in 1996 as a postdoctoral psychological intern and continuing as a psychological resident at Region III Mental Health Center, I have taken a significant role in the motivation, training and orientation of staff, practicum students and interns.  I provide significant training materials, regular presentations and support to master’s level staff, case managers, program directors of our inpatient Chemical Dependency Program and our Support Therapists for Children’s Services outreach in the community and schools.  I have also assisted with the development and implementation of policies and procedures including the transition to the Mississippi Department of Mental Health requisite paperwork and standards authorized under Mississippi State Senate Bill 2100 (1997).

 

Outside of work, I consult daily with professionals internationally on the Internet via the listserv for the International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology.  I continue to maintain contact with professionals with whom I have previously worked in various regions for the purpose of mutual support and professional development.

 

As with any other practitioner in the healing arts, there are limits to one’s competency.  In extremely difficult cases, I consult with other professionals in seeking the best conceptualization of the case possible before making treatment decisions.  I am always eager to extend my abilities by researching to meet the special needs of my clients.

 

I have worked in community mental health outpatient services for more than four years.  In the Bush in Alaska, I primarily served families and children.  At Region III Mental Health Center, we serve a generic population that is heavily weighted towards families and children

 

In 1996, in the interior of Alaska in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, a significant proportion of my work as a Village Counselor was working with children.  In 1996, at Region III Mental Health Center, I began my postdoctoral internship at The Center for Children under Dr. Eldridge E. Fleming.  Our focus was on children and families.  At Region III Mental Health Center I assisted Dr. Fleming in administered biofeedback techniques to for headache reduction.  Since that time, Dr, Fleming has retired, The Center for Children has closed, and those functions have been integrated into the services provided by the main center at Region III.  I continue, as do my cohorts, to provide the services to children and adolescents begun under Dr. Fleming in 1985 when he founded The Center for Children.

 

I use a combination of treatment modalities including references to bibliotherapy to empower parents in rearing their children.  I treat those diagnosed with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity and Oppositional Defiant Disorders in the least restrictive environment possible.  If a parent has the internal resources to understand the material I present, there is rarely a need to rely upon stimulant medications.

 

I also offer family and marriage therapy drawing upon Family Systems (Haley), Structural Family Therapy (Minuchin), Imago Therapy (Hendrix) approaches, and bibliotherapy resources.  I also integrate treatment for boundary issues (Cloud & Townsend) in family systems, for rearing children and for individuals.

 

My empowerment approach with the parents of children diagnosed with Oppositional Defiant and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorders typically is effective and brings relief expeditious enough so as to avoid or minimize the need for a referral for a trial period of stimulant medication.  I use a combination of treatment modalities including references to some extremely fine bibliotherapy to empower parents in rearing their children.  If a parent is able to apply the material I present, there is rarely a need to refer for a trial period of stimulant medications.

 

As a member of the Advisory Council for the International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology (ICSPP), I participate daily in the ICSPP listserv discussions with more than 100 other practitioners around the world.  ICSPP is known as “The Conscience of Psychiatry and Psychology” and focuses upon ethical concerns and efficacious treatment methodology.  The Advisory Council is extremely concerned with the treatment of children.  I support others in this Internet and email based international conglomerate and receive advanced input regularly on a variety of issues relating to professional practice.

 

4.                 Ability to perform suicide risk assessments of clients with a major mental illness.  Ability to make recommendations as to whether these patients are a danger to self and/or others and are in need of involuntary commitment to an inpatient psychiatric hospital.

 

Currently, I work in a multi-modal and multi-disciplinary regional community mental health center providing services for the population of seven counties in rural Northeast Mississippi.  Region III Mental Health Center employs other psychologists, therapists including School Support Therapists, case managers, psychiatrists, substance abuse counselors, youth counselors, child specialists, physicians, teachers, and nurses.  We provide a full range of services to a generic population providing all but inpatient psychiatric services. 

 

This requires cooperation of all within our various subdivisions and approximately 150 staff members with organizations exterior to our mental health service center.  This requires me to work closely with our medical staff including psychiatrist, child psychiatrist, nurses and physicians.  Additionally, it requires me to interface and coordinate efforts for services for clients with our satellite offices in the counties and with other agencies and professionals in the community.

 

Our School Support Therapy program places more that 50 master’s level School Support Therapists in the community schools and homes working with children, educators and parents.  I perform psychological assessments for our School Support Therapists as well as provide training, direction and educational materials for my master’s level colleagues.  When School Support Therapists encounter difficulty with their clients and are unable to treat clients effectively, they refer them to me for assessment, recommendations including for hospitalization or residential treatment.  Hence, I get the most difficult cases.

 

One day per week, I work at our inpatient facility Harbor House in our Chemical Dependency Program (CDP) providing psychological services including triaging clients, testing, therapy and extensive consultation with staff physician and nurse, substance abuse counselors and staff regarding treatment of clients and occasional emergency intervention.

 

However, on critical days when there as assessments and commitment hearings, I remain in-house at Region III.  My office is adjacent to our clinical director.  I spend a significant portion of those days assisting our supervising clinical psychologist is determining the need for treatment for those who may or may not be adjudicated mentally ill.  My opinion is given great weight and often my interventions at the moment pull an unfortunate one back into the fold.  In cases of severe decompensation, I am able to match the psychotic patient and guide them to safely take that ride that they so desperately need when other professionals are unable to communicate with them.

 

My preference is to treat potentially suicidal patients with Problem Solving (Strosahl & Chiles, 1999) and a combination of Risk Management and Harm Reduction (Marlatt & Gordon).  And I prefer to use the suicide prevention methods empirically demonstrated to be effective in analogue research of Dr. Marsha Linehan (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy).  I find that my approach diffuses situations quickly and easily.  It avoids the fatal power struggle that is all too often present in the standard treatments we have provided over the years.

 

While working for Bethel Community Services, I augmented my income by working on-call for emergency intervention for Yukon-Kuskokwim Mental Health Center.  Currently, on a rotational basis I work on-call for the after hours Hot Line at Region III Mental Health Center for emergency intervention.  This requires good judgement regarding intervention and coordinating service with other professionals including sheriffs and emergency room personnel.  At the clinic at Region III Mental Health Center, I also take emergency telephone calls and serve walk-in emergency clients.

 

One day per week, I work at out inpatient facility Harbor House in our Chemical Dependency Program (CDP) providing psychological services.  This includes triaging clients, testing, therapy and extensive consultation with staff physician and nurse, substance abuse counselors and staff regarding treatment of clients and occasional emergency intervention.  At the CDP, I regularly assist counselors in conceptualizing cases and planning treatment.  Often, this encompasses co-therapy sessions in which we prioritize the needs of the client. 

 

The CDP unit turns to my expertise for psychological services including therapy, dual diagnosis, test interpretation (MMPI-2 and other tests), expertise regarding primary diagnoses, fine tuning the treatment plan and goals for complicated cases and difficult patients.  The Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) refers approximately 60% of our inpatient CDP clients.  It is often my responsibility to determine the appropriateness of the facility for the needs of very difficult clients and complex cases, and to refer to our local inpatient facility as necessary for possible psychiatric stabilization or medical detoxification.

 

5.                 Ability to coordinate client services within IHS and between other federal, state, tribal and community agencies in order to provide comprehensive services.

 

With more than four years of postdoctoral clinical experience in a variety of settings plus approximately two years of prior experience as a music therapist, my skills are current and practical.  When I began my graduate studies in psychology approximately a decade ago, I cross-trained in Industrial/Organizational Psychology with the goal to design and implement innovative programs for the delivery of exceptional mental health services.

 

In 1996, as a Village Counselor and Psychological Intern serving several villages in the interior of the Bush in Alaska with the Kuskokwim Native Counseling Center out of Aniak, I assisted in the development and implementation of procedures and standardized paperwork for services such as obtaining Informed Consent to Treatment and including Medicaid administrative procedures.

 

My training and experience in team building, leadership and organizational development make me an excellent candidate for the position at Fort Defiance Indian Hospital.  I apply the Jungian principles of the Myers-Briggs typology and other modalities to matching co-workers and building teams in a manner to capitalize upon complimentary and synergistic employee strengths. 

 

My training and experience has made me adept at reading environments, assessing patient and program needs, and planning effective training and development.  I am skilled at organizing effective changes in harmony with administrations to reinforce, to build and to motivate cohorts, colleagues, and collateral professionals.  I have the ability to plan and build programs for the delivery of mental health services in consideration of bottom line expectations.

 

In 1983, I developed a Music Therapy Program for Alaska’s Children’s Services at The Jesse Lee Home in Anchorage, Alaska.  This required coordinating services with teachers, child counselors, child psychologists and therapists, music instructors, guest artists and volunteers.

 

In 1968, I began teaching music.  My musical activities have included music performance in many formats with a variety of people.  This included owning a Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) computer based music production studio and contracting with professional musicians for various music projects until I entered graduate school in 1990.  This required me to contract with other professionals and to lead them to produce a finished product, be it a performance or a film music score.

 

From 1989 to 1990, as a volunteer I was chairman of the committee establishing Compeer for Anchorage, Alaska.  Compeer is a nationally based organization that pairs adult volunteers with chronically mentally ill individuals for companionship.  It focuses primarily on lonely mentally ill adults and adolescents but includes children.

 

I have worked in community mental health outpatient services for more than four years.  In the Bush in Alaska, I primarily served families.  At Region III Mental Health Center, we serve a generic population including families.  My strength, effectiveness and experience have been in individual and family services although I am trained in group therapy, organization psychology and intervention.  I also offer marriage counseling and counseling for couples.

 

My initial undergraduate degree was in English (1974) at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington.  I am able to write at a technical level as well as communicate in the vernacular, the common language of the people.  I have learned how to establish rapport with difficult clients.  I am able to adapt to the prevailing modes of communication and have done so to conduct therapy in the Bush in Alaska and in rural Northeast Mississippi.

 

Since beginning in 1996 as a postdoctoral psychological intern and continuing as a psychological resident at Region III Mental Health Center, I have taken a significant role in the motivation, training and orientation of staff, practicum students and interns.  I provide significant training materials, regular presentations and support to master’s level staff, case managers, program directors of our inpatient Chemical Dependency Program and our Support Therapists for Children’s Services outreach in the community and schools.  I have also assisted with the development and implementation of policies and procedures including the transition to the Mississippi Department of Mental Health requisite paperwork and standards authorized under Mississippi State Senate Bill 2100 (1997).

 

Region III Mental Health Center has contracts to deliver psychological services for the seven regional county offices of the Mississippi Department of Human Services.  Social Workers refer clients to me regularly for evaluation and recommendation.  I also conduct Mental Status Examinations for the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation with recommendations for treatment.

 

The impetus of my experience as a treatment provider was working with children and adolescents beginning in 1983 as a Music Therapist at the Jesse Lee Home in Anchorage, Alaska for Alaska’s Children’s Services.  This spurred a desire in me to develop skills to help children more effectively.

 

In 1983, I developed a Music Therapy program raising in excess of $15,000 in donations and coordinating local resources including guest artists and music teachers for Alaska’s Children’s Services at The Jesse Lee Home in Anchorage, Alaska.  As a contracted consultant, I worked 25 hours per week from August 1983 to January 1985 conducting music therapy.  This consisted of working with teachers, child counselors, child psychologists and therapists, music instructors, guest artists and volunteers.

 

My mission as a Village Counselor and Psychology Intern in the interior of Alaska serving the peoples of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta required me to bring other professionals together for several purposes.  I developed and implemented forms and paperwork for basic and critical procedures such as Informed Consent to Treatment, records keeping, Medicaid administration and computer program configuration.  I brought schoolteachers and families together to address issues regarding the children.

 

It also required me to pull together various professionals, leaders and people for the purposes of crisis management when emergency intervention was needed.  For example, it was necessary to bring villagers together and inform them of their opportunity to unite and take care of children at unfortunate moments when the children’s parents had died tragically.  As a village counselor in addition to processing grief and tragedy and as part of my duties in administering Indian Child Welfare Act Services (ICWA), on a few grievous occasions it was necessary for me to inform the tribal counsel of their option to declare orphaned Native American children as wards of the tribe so that the villagers may assume custody and ensure that their children would remain in the village.

 

Currently, I work in a multi-modal and multi-disciplinary regional community mental health center providing services for the population of seven counties in rural Northeast Mississippi.  Region III Mental Health Center employs other psychologists, therapists including School Support Therapists, case managers, psychiatrists, substance abuse counselors, youth counselors, child specialists, physicians, teachers, and nurses.  We provide a full range of services to a generic population providing all but inpatient psychiatric services.  This requires cooperation of all within our various subdivisions and approximately 150 staff members with organizations exterior to Region III Mental Health Center.  This requires me to work closely with our medical staff including psychiatrist, child psychiatrist, nurses and physicians.  Additionally, it requires me to interface and coordinate efforts for services for clients with our satellite offices in the counties and with other agencies and professionals in and outside the community.

 

The past two years (1999-2000), as a guest, I have provided expertise on a pro bono basis for a local FM radio talk show entitled “Speak Your Peace” hosted by Brandi Alexander for Clear Channel Communications.  We have covered various issues including treatment for substance abuse, mental illness and dementia.

 

—Everyone has something to teach

 

Every one,

 

And we can learn some thing from

 

Each person

 

We meet—

 

 

For reference feel free to contact these three psychologists under whom I have worked as a psychological intern and psychological resident:

 

1. April 1997 to September 2000.  Louis Masur, III, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist/Director, Region III Mental Health Center, 2434 South Eason Boulevard, Tupelo, Mississippi 38804, (662) 844-1717.

 

2.  September 1996 to April 1997.  Eldridge E. Fleming, Ph.D., FPPP*, Counseling Psychologist, Neuropsychologist and Prescribing Psychologist, Tupelo [*Psychopharmacological Prescriptive Practice].

 

3. March 1996 to July 1996.  Lorin Bradbury, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist and Neuropsychologist, Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Mental Health Center, Bethel, Alaska.