I’m a licensed mental health counselor and certified alcohol and substance abuse counselor in New York State, with more than 30 years experience. I have also written books.
In November, I will be publishing The Road to Reconciliation: A Comprehensive Guide to Peace When Relationships Go Bad. It describes a path towards healing and potential forgiveness for anyone in a relationship affected by selfishness, violence, abuse, addiction, or betrayal. It guides the reader on how to assess the damage done and recognize codependency and vindictiveness in themselves, blocking the way from injury to peace. It gives pragmatic advice on how to find safety, assert needs, apologize, make amends, and promote change.
In 2016 I published Constructive Conflict: Building Something Good Out of All Those Arguments. I’m a prolific blogger of articles on mental health and relationships at www.keithwilsoncounseling.com.
But you should know that’s not all that I have done.
I moved to Western New York State when I was 19. I built a house, farmed, and started a small lumber company.
When I got tired of making little pieces of wood out of big pieces of wood, I went to Empire State College and got a degree in psychology. I interned at a Veteran’s Administration chemical dependency unit. My first job was working with troubled adolescents in a group home. I was an employment counselor for a while, took calls on a crisis line, facilitated group therapy for male sex offenders, and was employed as a therapist at a program for people with severe mental illnesses.
I completed a master’s degree in education with an emphasis on counseling from Alfred University.
For twenty years, I provided psychotherapy in a community mental health center in Rochester, NY, known first as Depaul, then St Mary’s, then Unity, and now, Rochester Regional.
I studied at the Family Therapy Institute at the University of Rochester, and completed a certification program in drug and alcohol counseling associated with SUNY Brockport.
I was one of a small group of people who developed one of the earliest programs to integrate mental health and chemical addiction (MICA or Dual Disorders) treatment. I also worked at bringing tobacco counseling to mental health and substance abuse treatment.
I wrote and published several short stories and two novels, Fate’s Janitors: Mopping Up Madness at a Mental Health Clinic and Intersections.
And I’ve raised a family of four children.
In 2010 I resigned from my job at the community mental health clinic to start a private practice.
I wrote and published several short stories and two novels, Fate’s Janitors: Mopping Up Madness at a Mental Health Clinic and Intersections.
And I’ve raised a family of four children.
