Comments from Training/Consultation Clients

December 28, 1999

...an extraordinary opportunity for case consultation with a nationally recognized authority on using EMDR with children and adolescents. Ricky is so remarkable that I would encourage everyone in the clinic to join in, even if you don't do EMDR or work only with adults. You'll still learn a lot.

Ricky came to another EMDR study group I attend, and dazzled the group with his wide-ranging thinking, insight, skill, and being completely relaxed and low-key. I took a page of notes on his suggestions for an adolescent girl with very poor school attendance...

[This] is your amazing chance for a small group with a national EMDR leader who is low-key, funny, and not scary to talk to.

October 28, 1999

To Whom It May Concern:

We are writing to recommend Dr. Ricky Greenwald for training and consultation in child/adolescent mental health.

Edgewood Children's Center is a large agency that cares for some of the most disturbed children and adolescents in our state, in various day and residential programs. Our tradition is to provide the highest available standard of care. We have been interested in incorporating research in our work so that we can contribute to developing the standard of care as well as utilizing it. Dr. Greenwald was highly recommended by our regular consultant, who provided supervision to some of our clinical staff in specialized EMDR treatment. We asked Dr. Greenwald to come for several days, to give a workshop open to area clinicians, to consult with our own clinicians, and to help us develop a research program.

Dr. Greenwald met with the administrative and clinical staff to discuss prospects for including the research component in our ongoing work. Although this was very complicated, because of the varied concerns of each department, the common goal has always been providing the best care and treatment for severely emotionally abused children. Dr. Greenwald proposed that the clinical programs be theory-driven in a more systematic way so that we would have greater coherence to our programs, and he offered a model that made sense to us. This suggestion is consistent with our current approach, but has pushed us to consider creating a foundation for pursuing research.

Dr. Greenwald also provided a workshop for area clinicians (including our own) who had already been trained in EMDR. It was focused on adapting EMDR to traumatized acting-out adolescents. This workshop was very well received and has led directly to utilization of Dr. Greenwald's methods on our units.

Our clinical staff was so excited by Dr. Greenwald's work that many of them gave up their Sunday, at no pay, to consult further with him on their cases and on beginning to conduct single- case research while waiting for the agency to organize for a larger project. This session was also extremely helpful, and has led to the EMDR-trained clinicians continuing to pursue this research, obtaining consultation from Dr. Greenwald by e-mail.

We recommend Dr. Greenwald highly for several reasons. Our staff felt very comfortable with him and found him approachable and accommodating. He was well-prepared and well-organized, punctual, had detailed handouts, and was flexible in adapting his schedule to meet our needs. He was very knowledgeable not only regarding his workshop topic, but also regarding research design and how to balance that with the needs of our agency whose primary mission is treatment.

Finally, we were most appreciative of Dr. Greenwald's ability to be responsive and relevant to our particular interests and needs. We have had very good presenters before, but they have offered their approach and we have had to translate that to apply it with our kids, in our setting. The material Dr. Greenwald presented was directly relevant to our setting and could just be used. We have been using his material, and, several months later, our program is still energized by his visit. We hope to bring him back as we continue to develop our clinical treatment and research projects.

June 30, 1998

To whom it may concern:

I am writing to provide you my highest recommendation regarding Dr. Ricky Greenwald. I am the president of Covenant Children's Home and Family Services, a multi-service private agency serving troubled youth and families.

In the winter of 1997/8, we were experiencing an alarming increase in violent incidents in many of our residential programs. On the basis of a recommendation by our Board Chair, who had heard him speak at a conference, we engaged Dr. Greenwald as a consultant to assist us in resolving this problem.

Another reason for selecting Dr. Greenwald was to have him train our clinical staff in his trauma-focused protocol for the individual therapy portion of our treatment programs. This approach addresses motivation, engagement in treatment, and anger management skills along with trauma work. He spent a full day working with our clinicians on this approach, including demonstrations and supervision of small group practice sessions.

Following this training, the clinicians felt prepared to use Dr. Greenwald's approach, and have been reporting increasing confidence and more positive results using it.

We also utilized Dr. Greenwald's expertise in a number of other ways. For example, he spent a half day with our line staff, introducing them to a trauma-based perspective on daily programming. He presented a number of specific techniques to enable them to shift from a sometimes punitive approach to a more therapeutic orientation, while emphasizing the continued importance of physical and emotional safety for both staff and residents. Dr. Greenwald also spent many hours consulting with various committees and groups of administrators, focusing on a range of issues including staff morale, training, and supervision, as well as program changes designed to reduce violence while increasing a focus on involvement with positive activities. He also assisted us in upgrading our method of tracking client progress.

I was very satisfied with Dr. Greenwald's services. He was prompt and reliable at every turn. He had obviously prepared quite thoroughly For example, he had read our entire staff training manual, as well as having comprehensive handouts for each of his presentations. He was also responsive to our needs, even at the last minute. For example, on the first day, increased use of group therapy emerged as a need on some units; by the next morning, Dr. Greenwald had prepared a handout and a brief presentation on conducting groups. He was also exposed to some rather intense expressions of job-related frustration by various staff members, which he handled with poise and respect.

Overall, we found Dr. Greenwald to be extremely knowledgeable as well as helpful in multiple aspects of our programming. He was both well prepared and able to think on his feet. He seemed comfortable with everyone he met, including our clients, line staff, clinicians, and administrators, and the feedback from the various levels of staff has been uniformly positive. He was congenial and gentle but firm in his presentation style.

Perhaps most importantly, in the two months following Dr. Greenwald's consultation, our total incident rate has already been reduced by 50%. The rate of more serious incidents have reduced by more than 50%. Dr. Greenwald's consultation was a significant factor in these reductions and came at a critical time for us.

I recommend Dr. Greenwald highly and without reservation for any work related to emotionally disturbed and acting-out youth.

Sincerely,

David A. Lundberg, M.S.W.
President