Island counseling group reaches out to public
BY PETER B. BRACE INDEPENDENT WRITER
Last October, two island therapists were talking about their profession over lunch at the Downyflake when they agreed that it would be a good idea to form a group and share their expertise. From that casual discussion, the Professional Consultation Group was founded by family therapist Richard Ross and clinical psychologist Robert Weaver III. Shortly after the group was established, mental health counselors Mary Michetti and Nancy Rappaport were invited to join, as was family therapist Christine Smith and psychiatric nurse practioner Anne Kronenberg.

The group's affiliation allows them to exchange clinical knowledge with one another and refer their patients to each other when multiple areas of counseling and treatment arise. All the group members are in private practice and meet monthly.

"All of us have worked at mental health agencies and we want to put a face on private practitioners here," said Ross. "We can refer people out pretty quickly when we find out what their issues are. I think we can respond a lot quicker than having to go through intakes, and we know each other's strengths. The client gets the advantage of not being married to one therapist. I think it's healthy. People have different needs at different times of life."

As a means of introducing themselves to the community, on Tuesday, April 15, at 6 p.m. in the Atheneum's downstairs gallery room, the group will present the first in a series of panel discussions they plan to offer free to the public at the start of each season of the year. The first presentation is called "Relationships: What Works and What Doesn't," wherein the practitioners will address particular types of relationships and behaviors for approximately 10 minutes each, then open the talk to a question and answer segment.

"All of us are serious about what we're doing for the community," said Kronenberg, who will discuss the joys and pitfalls of being a grandparent and the importance of creating clear boundaries and mutual respect between grandparents and their own children in the three-way association.

Ross will discuss couples and the principles associated with their successful relationships as the 'architects of the family.' Michetti will cover the topic of fair fighting and when it crosses a line to become domestic violence. Weaver will discuss living with and understanding the challenges of adolescents. Rappaport will talk about risky behaviors, why people engage in them and their physical and emotional effects.

• Ross received his master's degree in family therapy from UMass Boston. He specializes in marriage and family therapy, individual and couples therapy and alcohol and drug counseling.

• Weaver has degrees from Bowdoin College, Memorial University of Newfoundland and the California School of Professionals in Psychology. He founded two branches of the Weaver Center in 1985 serving Nantucket and Wayland, Mass. The center focuses on evaluation and treatment of children, teens, adults, parents and schools having or working with learning, attention, organization, self-esteem, social and behavioral difficulties.

• Kronenberg was a psychiatric nurse practitioner with the Bethel Family Medical Group in Brockton, Mass. for 10 years until 2007. Her practice focuses on problem-solving skills, depression, anxiety, attention deficit disorder and bipolar disorder. Her degrees were earned at Cornell New York Hospital and Harvard Graduate School of Education. Though she has a holistic approach to counseling, she is licensed to prescribe medications.

• Michetti began working with A Safe Place in 1989. She earned her degrees in counseling and psychology from Vermont College and Lesley University. She specializes in domestic violence issues and is a licensed mental health counselor and certified rape crisis counselor.

• Rappaport earned her degree from Harvard in 1981 and is licensed in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Hawaii and on a national level. She counsels clients with issues ranging from balancing work and personal time, change and stress, relationships, bereavement, eating disorders

and post-traumatic event effects. I