My professional education and career as a social worker

I earned my Master’s Degree in Social Work from Loyola University of Chicago in 1982. Soon after, I took a position as a school social worker with School District U-46 in Elgin, Illinois. First at Larkin High School and then at South Elgin High School in 2005. I retired in 2014 after 32 years of service.

During my career as a school social worker I addressed a wide variety of problem situations involving teens and their families. These encompassed many diverse and serious psychiatric conditions and death events. I was directly involved in the assessment and/or treatment of approximately 10,000 troubled teens and have given educational classroom presentations to over 25,000 students. Many of these presentations were provided mainly for the purpose of preventing a student suicide. I participated in numerous specialized post-graduate training programs, conducted several research projects, including two that were published in the journal Social Work and one in the School Social Work Journal. I have also provided over 75 professional education workshops at the local, state and national level prior to my retirement. My career included experiences with death events outside of my role as a school social worker. These were individual and group counseling sessions in New York City in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11/01 attack, counseling sessions in Northern Illinois University classrooms after the February 14, 2008 rampage shooting at that University, and time with medical students who lived through Hurricane Irma in September, 2017. All of these experiences have provided me with many valuable lessons and a level of wisdom that I feel grateful to possess and am happy to share with anyone who has come upon this website.

Since my retirement as a practicing school social worker in 2014 I have established and maintained a private practice in my home in order to continue to do what I have enjoyed doing the most; helping troubled teens and young adults find their pathway to greater happiness, peace of mind, and significance in this world. I also have worked intermittently as a visiting wellness counselor at the American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine on the island of Sint Maarten. At this time I am no longer providing post-retirement professional educational presentations to local and national groups of school social workers and other mental health professionals. However I remain available and prepared to assist a secondary school district, university or college in the wake of a student suicide or school shooting. I am similarly available to a place of business following a similar type critical incident. Other priorities at this time have limited my ability to sustain long-term assistance to teens and young adults, although I remain available to those who can move forward with brief or short-term assistance.