OUR STAFF
Experienced & Non-judgmental & Committed To Client Success
At Healthy Decisions, our mission is to evaluate and help clients eliminate abusive behavior. We are results-driven and continually educate ourselves in proven, evidence-based methods to assist our clients with changing their lives as well as positively affecting those around them.
We use trauma-informed practices and believe that compassion and accountability are not mutually exclusive. Building trust is critical for an effective therapeutic alliance. Each client is entitled to be treated with respect and unconditional positive regard. Our mission is to assist the client with behavioral change, not to punish them through harsh confrontation or judgment.
Founded in 2010, we have decades of collective experience in helping individuals with behavioral change. Our primary intervention modality is a cognitive-behavioral one. Clients focus on identifying the thought patterns, experiences, and prior learning that have contributed to unproductive and abusive behavior. We then help them replace those behaviors with more constructive and non-abusive ones.
Additionally, we believe that a community-coordinated response is critical when working with court-mandated clients. To that end, we participate in task forces, provide information and referrals to victim services agencies, and work with courts and probation departments to facilitate victim safety
INDIVIDUAL STAFF MEMBERS
SUSANNE RUIZ RODRIGUEZ, Esq., M.S., AAC, CCFC
Susanne is the current director of Healthy Decisions. She is a licensed Washington attorney and licensed counselor with a M.S. in Psychology. She is also a Certified Domestic Violence Counselor and a Clinically Certified Forensic Counselor. For the last 16 years, she has been assessing and counseling criminal justice clients. Her legal experience, aside from private practice, includes teaching legal research and writing for 5 years as well as writing approximately 75 appeals. Susanne also served as an advisory committee member to the Washington Dept. of Social & Health Services for the purpose of updating the Washington Administrative Code regarding domestic violence offender intervention.
RICHARD PAIGE, B.S., AAC
Richard performs domestic violence and anger management evaluations, facilitates domestic violence intervention in a group format, and provides individual anger management coaching. He is a licensed Washington counselor and has assessed and counseled hundreds of abusive men and women during the last 20 years. In addition to his counseling education, he earned an Oregon CADC-I level addictions counselor certification and is also a trained paralegal.
MARIA GOMEZ, A.A.S., AAC
Maria provides individual anger management coaching in Spanish and English. She is an Army veteran, received her A.A.S. degree in Criminal Justice, holds a certification in Anger Management, and is a licensed Washington counselor.
CONSULTING STAFF
MIKE WILLBUR, M.S., LMHC, CCFC
Mike provides mental health and other types of evaluation services to persons involved in the criminal justice and social service systems, as well as individual mental health counseling. He is a retired Army veteran, a former Washington State VA counselor, and a Washington licensed mental health counselor with an M.S. in Counseling and specialized training in EMDR. He has years of experience in assessing and treating PTSD – particularly with Veterans – and was instrumental in establishing the Veteran’s Court in Clark County, Washington. He is also a Clinically Certified Forensic Counselor.