A nice little change from all the Clinical work to instead doing training, education, and coordinating services and getting to use my fancy new Doctorate degree now. 😀

Provide short term counseling for Veterans and Family Members in the Dallas Fort Worth area. Conduct intake interviews and assessments for substance abuse, depression, PTSD, among others. Facilitate weekly Seeking Safety groups and substance abuse groups as needed within the community. Provide individual sessions either in person or via a secure tele-mental health platform to veterans and service members across the state. Assess veterans for other areas of need that are negatively impacting their quality of life. Provide comprehensive case management services for all clients. Provide clinical assistance, such as dealing with a crisis, or boundaries and ethical issues to other staff and volunteers working within the Military Veteran Peer Network. Participate as a clinical staff team member, attending staff meetings and peer case consultations, and performing necessary clinically-related administrative tasks.Provide military cultural competency training to other providers in the Dallas Fort Worth area who are working with military members and veterans. Provide suicide prevention trainings to providers in the local area. Establish a cooperative working relationship with community partners serving Veterans.

Graduated with a Masters Degree in Social Work from the University of Southern California with a 4.0 GPA.

Direct client contact with 10-13 clients a week as an intern doing individual counseling sessions with clients ranging in ages from 4-51. Provided individual, family and veteran counseling for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. Diagnosed clients per the DSM-V, created services, plans, administered assessments, wrote progress notes, completed activities with clients, and tracked their progress through pre-posttest assessment scores. Recorded pre/post therapy results by graphing Excel spreadsheets to discuss with clients/supervisors. Used Play Therapy methods/Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) with child clients. Developed Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Motivational Interviewing (MI), Solution-Focused Therapy and a Strengths Based Perspective depending on clients’ needs and diagnosis with all adult clients. Explored grant research, writing and participated in community outreach programs. Aided in establishing a new Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) Manual and developed safety plans. Generated ideas to expand the agency, receive more grant funding and develop new training ideas through the use of PowerPoint presentations, knowledge and instruction. Shaped and led training for the staff and local community about sexual assault and domestic violence in the military.

In this position, I served as the Alcohol Abuse Prevention Specialist, Drug Demand Reduction Coordinator, Risk Reduction Specialist, and the Suicide Prevention/Education Coordinator for MCAS Iwakuni Japan. My primary responsibility is to support the Marine Corps alcohol abuse prevention and illegal drug use prevention activities through awareness education, timely identification, health promotion, prevention education, and outreach. I serve as the subject matter expert whom provides training and guidance in developing and administering and installation-wide Substance Abuse Program prevention, education, and awareness program for military and civilian employees, their family members, military and civilian retirees, and personnel of other tenant or support elements of the installation. I developed, coordinated, and submitted prevention plans and policy recommendations to prevention alcohol misuse to include plans and policies that reflect the relationship of alcohol use with: drug abuse, family problems, suicide, sexual assault, combat operational stress, financial problems, and other issues that arise. I independently conduct onsite reviews of program operation to develop and revise guidelines and training materials for use by agency officials; developed program plans and proposals, to meet program requirements, and provide program support to improve and sustain the capabilities of commanders, Marines, and family members. I reviewed, modified, developed, and implemented alcohol misuse prevention and intervention educational training programs ensuring training and support capabilities are timely, relevant to commanders’ needs, flexible, sustainable, and thoroughly coordinated with leadership. Training included safety stand downs, new employee orientations, Early Intervention, PRIME for Life, ASSIST, and others as needed. Prepares and provides reports on financial status of expenses, training attendance/usage, and purchase requests.

Received and requested files, maintains logs and verifies custody. Responsible for the preparation of monthly payroll for inmates assigned to the Captain's work detail. Coordinated submission of supervising officer's evaluation of inmate performance, ensures timely completion and computes inmate pay for the Captain's review and timely submission to the Case Management Coordinator. Maintained appointments and meetings scheduled for Lieutenants and the Captain. Scheduled the monthly Lieutenants Meeting, arranges for a meeting room and serves as the recorder during this meeting. Transcribed notes; makes distribution of appropriate memos, reports, and notices; and maintains on file all material pertinent to the Correctional Services operation. Established and maintained files for reports and statistical data, as well as other administrative material. The staff correctional responsibilities precede all others required by this position and is performed on a regular and recurring basis. Specific correctional responsibilities include custody and supervision of inmates, responding to emergencies and institution disturbances, participating in fog and escape patrols, and assuming correctional officer posts when necessary.

I was a Probation Officer for Johnson County. While in that position I had an indirect case load of over two-hundred that I supervised. I motivated the offender to achieve their potential and to increase feelings of worth, in development of self-pride after completing one of their assigned tasks. In this position I routinely dealt with community resources to secure information and develop release plans from probation. These contacts require initiative, independent professional judgment and skill to maintain good public relations and accomplish casework objectives. I have demonstrated sophistication and extensive knowledge of community social problems, community treatment facilities and programs including drug and alcohol aftercare, counseling at family services agencies, etc.I prepared progress reports for such consideration as transfer, revocation, or early termination of probation. I corresponded with judges and parole officers and other professionals regarding the offenders’ case. My case work included preparation of reports, interpreting and evaluating factual information reflecting developmental and circumstantial factors for my caseload. I was assigned full professional responsibility for many cases. I have always exercised considerable independent professional judgment in evaluating the resources of the individual, as well as resources available in the community. I was responsible for implementing and monitoring the treatment plan and initiating necessary changes. I routinely made independent professional decisions and recommendations that have a pronounced effect on the offender's life. I developed and prepared reports of individual progress and evaluation, a large volume of relevant correspondence, and a network of verbal communication with other staff and supporting agencies. I identified financial obligations imposed by the courts on offenders assigned to my caseload, and assisted the offender in developing a plan to complete the obligation.

Working in the separations department I aided in the transition for active to civilian for hundreds of military members at the Pensacola command. As an alternate separations' site, Pensacola received separates' from the entire Marine Corps across the globe. To ensure a timely and professional transition in these circumstances I made liaison with the separating Marine as soon as possible to ensure they felt at ease during their transition. Implemented new tracking systems for separation packages to higher headquarters as well as speeding up the process as a whole by over 50%. Processed personnel actions requests, salary concerns, and payment problems. I have made management decisions concerning the effectiveness and customer satisfaction for all separations' concerns. Supervised personnel clerks in their performance and of their duties as well as influenced their educational concerns, provided counseling on several occasions, and offered guidance. I respond to routine requests for information, such as, status of reports, suspense dates for matters requiring compliance, and similar information readily available from files. Implemented a new system to tract all transition classes, pay, and spousal concerns for separation from the military to included relocating and survivor benefit plan.I designed new programs when necessary to meet special needs, and places students into their respective prescribed programs, for safety and readiness. I wrote learning objectives for skills to be taught in all subject areas that I taught. I maintained and evaluated an accurate record of progress attained by the students and redesigns program if necessary to meet individual needs. I designed and implemented a variety of lessons in areas of weakness. I have created several Power Point Presentations for classes. I directed particular programs within these approaches that effectively generate individual and group motivation.

In my current position I have managed, listened, and motivated over 130 Marines within my work spaces through mentorship and guidance. Providing them counsel when needed, recommending appropriate resources when in crisis, and following up on their progress. At this place I was responsible for receiving, distributing, and routing incoming/outgoing correspondence, screening material prior to distribution to the appropriate personnel and establishing suspense due dates. I coordinate work schedules, travel arrangements, screen phone calls and other secretarial duties for the Commanding Officer (Colonel) of this unit and the other Executive officers as well. During my time here I have supervised the awards and decorations program for 9 operational units accounting for the delivery of over 1,000 personal awards. I have prepared draft and/or final form of materials, such as, memoranda, letters, reports, and typing, reviewing and distributing correspondence. I took initiative to analyze database shortcomings and determined/recommended process improvements with regard to personnel performance records. I also, handled sensitive personnel data with discretion while designing, creating and implementing a new performance tracking system for use by higher-level headquarters. As a Classified Material Control Custodian I ensured that sensitive material was handled appropriately within this echelon in accordance with all DOD and Navy regulations. As a Key Volunteer Co-Coordinator I volunteered my time to help spouses with deployment concerns, issues, and problems. Offering guidance concerning military related topics including pay, schooling, orders, retirement, ect.