Roderick Hafer

For the past forty-seven years, I have been a licensed psychologist - professionally blessed with significant roles and leadership positions within the mental health field. Here is a brief sample of my background and areas of leadership: • Director of inpatient psychiatric crisis service • Chief Operating Officer at CIGNA Behavioral Health • President of Magellan Health Services (Texas) • President of APS Healthcare (Maryland) • Vice Chair of Psychiatry Department at University of Wisconsin - Madison • Professor Emeritus Psychiatric Services at University of Wisconsin - Madison School of Medicine and Public Health • Independently licensed in seven states over the course of my career I have always maintained a balance of administrative and leadership roles, never losing a commitment to my growth and evolution working with adults in acute distress. PHILOSOPHY OF CARE Early in my career, I was mentored by O. Spurgeon English, M.D. Dr. English was a practicing psychiatrist who provided therapy until he was ninety-four. What was particularly impressive about Dr. English was his ability to relate effectively to his patients. He was not fixated on a specific philosophical treatment approach and continued to modify and improve his treatment focus over the years. My philosophy regarding therapy has paralleled Dr. English in many respects: I am committed to understanding each patient, learning from our interactions, and cultivating a treatment plan that is effective and meaningful to those seeking my assistance. During the last ten years of clinical practice at the University of Wisconsin, I refined my therapy/treatment philosophy to closely align with a solution-focused approach. This model generally results in improvement over the course of the first few months of treatment. The key elements include: • Quickly establishing a rapport and connection • Understanding the areas of distress/concern • Establishing reasonable treatment goals • Developing key tasks and activities to ensure progress This approach is active and fluid, requiring those in treatment to explore new outlooks and behaviors outside our scheduled visits. As feedback is imperative, a quick evaluation is done before each session, followed by an end of session assessment. With ongoing feedback, we ensure progress is made toward our set goals, and therapy can succeed.