THE PSYCHSURVIVALIST

I received my doctorate in Counseling Psychology, have been licensed in New Mexico since 1991, with almost all of my practice in Clinical Psych. I worked inpatient in State Hospitals, in outpatient programs for the severely disabled mentally ill and at what was commonly known as the Albuquerque Jail, formally the Bernalillo County Detention Center, where I supervised counselors. I provided assessments for the State in criminal forensic cases, performed mental health Disability assessment interviews and wrote formal clinical reports, and later reviewed others' reports for Social Security assessing for accuracy and proper determination. Altogether, this amounted to thousands of cases. My most important preparation for what became my unexpected career came from growing up in a dysfunctional family, where I decided at 17 years old that my best alternative was homelessness. That experience brought me into daily contact with drug addicts, alcoholics, the mentally impaired, criminals