New but long overdue

[Ripley2010]

Thank you for the welcome everyone! I'm grateful to be here and have a chance to talk with you.
Igraine, the work I currently do involves released inmates who were wrongfully convicted. These individuals' cases were taken up by the state's Innocence Project and found to have been wrongfully convicted of various crimes. I help the individual make the transition back to freedom. Often times when an individual is arrested, charged, and wrongfully convicted of a crime the family members, friends, and community turn their backs on that individual believing that a conviction must mean guilt. After they are exonerated and released, it is important to counsel them on various issues and help reestablish the family they had before this travesty if possible.

I cannot see me being an effective counselor to an admitted sexual abuser of children but I have worked with rapists without it having any ill effects on me.

As a young child I was kept locked in the basement away from my family and others for five years and in that time, I realized what a true travesty it is to convict someone who is innocent, so I had a soft spot for anyone finding themselves in such a situation. Helping to restore a person's true sense of freedom and regain the trust he was stripped of is very satisfying for me. No amount of compensation can make up for a wrongful imprisonment but it is important that we never allow ourselves to believe that being free now is "good enough".

Thanks for your interest. Usually when I say I'm a forensic psychologist, the first thing people think is that I'm a profiler thanks to TV. <grin>