Joe is a role model for bad-assed authenticity and masculine vulnerability based on the grace of God. His career addition as an author is meant to both lovingly poke at people as an agitator towards change and growth while combining his zeal for encouragement and inspiration.
Joe knows why he is here. And it consumes him. He longs for a legacy of impact. His history of pain is a badge of honor when redeemed by his current life and aspirations. His life is a miracle and he has always known he would write Nothing Left Unsaid.
"You helped me realize that there is a pain that will never go away. It is only to be managed and utilized. In the end, our pain and wounds are the foundation of much of what we have to offer as agents of hope and healing."
When Joe was hospitalized multiple times as a psychiatric patient over thirty years ago he constantly listened to music on his ‘ghetto blaster’ while wearing headphones. That music soothed him and created some semblance of peace while he ventured into the misery of darkness that felt endless. Now his music is played on an iphone with AirPods as he appreciates the beauty and joy of his wife and three children and also contemplates the enormous responsibility and privilege of being a clinical and forensic psychologist.
Joe is not a huge fan of religion and pretense but is adamant that God is real and can make a difference in our lives. Joe thrives on his easily misunderstood mixture of humanistic encourager and devout follower of Jesus. He enjoys knowing he has few peers with the combination of a robust personal psychiatric history and also many years of solid personal stability and esteemed professional status. Long ago he realized this credential of both personal pain and professional training could never be attained in any Ph.D. program. And as a writer he intends to share that unique mixture as a platform to encourage and inspire people. Authenticity and vulnerability are not only his brand but his salvation.