By Mary McPhail Gray
NVW Board Chair
Have you been to the Storyteller theater this week? It is the holiday season when the audiences become larger and new movies are pushed out by the industry to capture your attention. We hope you all notice the new ad for Nonviolence Works while you are waiting for the previews!
We want you to know that we are here for you! We often hear that many people do not know we have competent clinicians that service individuals, families and couples, in addition to our ongoing work with youth. We especially want you to know that we have clinicians skilled in service to our veterans, and we want you to help us spread that word.
Our website gives you an excellent overview of our programs and the deep strength of our staff. There is also an online referral form for yourself or others for whom you wish to seek services.
A review of the clinical and administrative staff bios on the web site will show you the tremendous depth of education (all clinicians have master’s degrees), variety of professional experiences (from in-patient therapy services to wilderness-based interventions), and creative skills to develop intensive individualized counseling. For example, two therapists—Rima Ralff and Marsha Carlson—actively use art therapy with clients. Several others—Sadie Quintanilla, Rima Ralff, Karen House, and Marcella Skogen—are comfortable using movement and wilderness therapies of various kinds to help clients center and reduce stress.
The strength of the clinical staff is also shown in the specialties they possess. Steve Moser specializes in services to adolescent boys and men who have been involved in the legal system or are struggling with anger, substance abuse, and general mental health issues. He leads the Nonviolence Awareness Class for men and provides counseling for men struggling with custody and divorce issues. He also leads a parenting class for men and actively encourages community contacts to promote and support the need for parenting education for both men and females.
Rima Ralff has advanced training in infant mental health, and Beatrice Miera is skilled in vocational rehabilitation and social services disability application assistance. Both Amy Dondanville and Anne Karsian use dogs to assist them in therapies. NVW is enhancing its capacity in services to veterans; our promise to veterans is that they will never be left behind.
Our staff is able to provide a neutral space where clients can bring issues to work on with compassion and support. Even the strongest relationships can run into challenges, and experienced clinicians use many different interventions to help people build positive new behaviors. Critical life issues can be dealt with—if intervention is early and focused.
NVW’s Restorative Parenting Classes and Supervised Visitation services are both focused on providing new parenting skills to families that have struggled with violence and broken trust. Learning new skills is the desired outcome of these programs.
There is broad competence in all the staff in helping clients handle grief and loss—emotions that are particularly visible at the holiday season. Clinicians have in-depth knowledge of anger, loss, trauma and crisis in individuals and families. We serve adults as single clients, couples, or family members with models that can be designed uniquely for your life situation. We are here for you.
Nonviolence Works has the largest staff of licensed and credentialed behavioral staff in northern New Mexico. You can reach us at 575-758-4207 for information or referrals.
Mary McPhail Gray is the board chair of Nonviolence Works and can be reached at mcphailconsulting@gmail.com or 5757-779-3126.
