PSP Gathering 2025

I cannot attend the get-together which is coming up very soon. However, I want to heart-felty thank Dr. Bergquist, the faculty (especially Nancy), and students in my April 1994 PSP graduating class for the opportunity that resulted in becoming a licensed mental health professional.

What I have been doing since:

Upon starting the program I was a licensed Speech and Language Pathologist and certified teacher for children K-12 and adults. Upon my graduation I immediately became a psychologist at Napa State Hospital, a large residential psychiatric treatment hospital for LPS and Forensic clients. Upon retirement from the state I had been the Chief of Psychology for years. My work there included earning a Superior Accomplishment Award and two Sustained Superior Accomplishment Awards from the California Department of Mental Health. Concomitantly, I also worked for the California Department of Rehabilitation.

I then began working for the City of Napa Police Department and the California Highway Patrol, earning the Police Chief’s Coin for distinguished public service and an individual Certificate of Recognition from the California Legislature Assembly (for my work with CHP).

Since relocating to Los Angeles I have been working on the Los Angeles Mayor’s (Mayor Garcetti and Mayor Bass) Crisis Response Team, working directly with the LAPD and Medical Examiner’s Office. 98% of our callouts involve a death, frequently a homicide or suicide. I am also a mental health service provider for the Red Cross as a first responder to disasters and with their Services to the Armed Forces program, earning the Regimental Coin from the Army’s Rough Riders in L.A.

Lastly, unrelated to my learning at PSP although that experience helped to give me the confidence to pursue, I have earned a variety of awards for work on stage and screen.

In the past 3.5 years I have produced/wrote/acted or  just performed for others in Short Films that have done well on the awards circuit. The awards include Best Actor (Silver) at the Paris Film Awards and Gold at the Florence International Film Festival. My Short films have played at Cannes, Tokyo, Seoul, London, Toronto, others here and abroad. I am working on my first full-length film. One played at the Burbank Film Festival last Fall at the busiest cinema complex in the U.S.A. – near my home in Burbank. The red carpet is always cool.

Please forgive the length of this message. But, none of this would have happened without the confidence, pride, learning, and determination gained from the school.

Much Obliged,

Jim