Michael Siglag, Ph.D.

Biography

Throughout my career, I have worked with people presenting with combinations of mental health issues, substance abuse issues, and legal issues.  My interests have led me to work in a variety of settings, but primarily psychiatric hospital, forensic hospital, and legal settings.  At the same time, I have also been interested and engaged in a variety of dimensions of training, with my efforts extending to psychologists as well as other professionals and paraprofessionals in the field of mental health.  Opportunities have arisen that have enabled me to serve as director of a predoctoral internship program for doctoral level psychologists, and to lead a state hospital psychology department.  

I have also enjoyed other leadership roles, including in organizing conferences, and serving in professional organizational hierarchies, including serving as a member of New Jersey's Board of Psychological Examiners, and serving as a member of the Board of Directors of the New Jersey Group Psychotherapy Society and of the American Association for Psychosocial Rehabilitation.   Each role of this type has helped make me more aware of broader professional and organizational issues, has helped me to continue to grow personally and professionally, and enabled me to make contributions to my field and to the training of both experienced professionals and those early in their careers.

In addition to my work as a therapist, assessor, and professional leader, I always saw writing as an important aspect of my identity, and another way in which I could contribute.  But, for the most part I prioritized other things.  While I have published professionally as a coauthor on a paper published in Schizophrenia Research, I generally found little time for professional writing in the context of the work I was doing.  Instead, I presented in many professional conferences and forums.  But until I worked on my contributions to this book, as an author and editor, most of my writing consisted of volumes of progress notes, assessment reports, and other private professional communications.  

My involvement in this book on clinical psychologists work in inpatient mental health settings has provided me an opportunity to contribute my own perspective in a different way, as well as participate in soliciting and collecting the points of view of many psychologists doing similar, or sometimes not so similar work. I feel honored and pleased to have been able to help develop and bring to fruition this volume about clinical psychologists' work in inpatient mental health settings in the United States and other countries throughout the world.  It is intended particularly to assist psychologists beginning their careers in such settings, as well as help bring experienced psychologists and others who work in such settings, and provide those who engage in treatment in these settings a vision of current trends and future possibilities for the work in such settings.

Education

University of Detroit, Ph.D., Clinical Psychology

Areas of Research / Professional Expertise

Psychosis, trauma, affective disturbance, forensic psychology, psychodynamic, cognitive behavioral, existential, humanistic, psychosocial approaches to treatment, competency to stand trial, legal sanity

Personal Interests

Reading, writing, raising children in today's world, outdoors, travelling, bicycling

Books

News