The 2015 Conference Presenters are leaders in their fields. We have gathered the best of New Mexico’s experts, those with front-line experience in the fields of psychiatry, law, and guardianship. This topic is timely, the presenters are knowledgeable, and the information is relevant to today’s issues.

Brendan Gould BA

I have earned a liberal arts degree from St Ambrose University, but have had no better learning experience better than what has been provided to me by the protected people I serve, and my anecdotal experiences. I have worked as a guardian for 9 years and have real life experience with making ethical decisions. These range from end of life decision making to residential providers eliminating soda from people’s diets. Within the last few years I have had the opportunity to learn about the ethics of mental health treatment while running the Treatment Guardianship program for the state of New Mexico.

Cynthia Geppert is Chief of Consultation Psychiatry and Ethics at the New Mexico Veterans Affairs Health Care System. She is also Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Director of Ethics Education at the University Of New Mexico School Of Medicine. She has served as the Acting Chief of Ethics Consultation far the VA National Center for Ethics in Health Care. Dr. Geppert Is board certified in general psychiatry, psychosomatic medicine, hospice and palliative medicine, addiction medicine, and pain medicine. Dr. Geppert is a fellowship-trained clinical ethicist with a doctorate in clinical ethics consultation.

Nancy Koenigsberg, MSW, JD

Nancy Koenigsberg, MSW, JD, has been the Legal Director of Disability Rights New Mexico, where she has managed the agency’s representation of individuals throughout New Mexico in federal district court, state courts, administrative hearings and informal settings.  In addition she provides individual representation and serves as co-counsel in the agency’s impact litigation.  She is also active in public policy advocacy.

 

Ms. Koenigsberg is a member of the New Mexico Supreme Court Ad Hoc Mental Health Rules Committee which is tasked with drafting court rules for proceedings related to mental health issues and is also a member of the Medicaid Advisory Committee (2003 to present). She was recently appointed to the Mental Health Resources Advisory Committee established by the consent decree in the federal law suit United States of America v. the City of Albuquerque, to help address the Albuquerque Police Department’s excessive use of force, particularly against people with mental illness and other disabilities.  She served on the 2011 House Memorial 45 Task Force which reviewed the Adult Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code for possible revision.

 

Ms. Koenigsberg was the co-chair of the 2007 Children’s Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code Revision Task Force which produced a bill to update that law and provided expert testimony for the bill’s legislative hearings. She provided legislative advocacy for the Mental Health Care Treatment Decisions Act, our state's mental health advance directives law.  She was a member of the Behavioral Health Planning Council, the advisory committee to the New Mexico Interagency Behavioral Health Purchasing Collaborative (2004 to 2006).  From 1998 to 2003 she was the Director of the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty.  Ms. Koenigsberg received her BA from the State University of New York at Albany and her MSW at Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri.  She is a 1988 graduate of the University Of New Mexico School Of Law.

Kimmie Jordan, MS, CPRP, LADAC, LAMFT

Kimmie Jordan is a Certified Psychiatric Rehabilitation Practitioner, Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor, Licensed Associate Marriage and Family Therapist, and Certified Life Coach who has worked in the mental health field since 2000. She graduated with honors from New Mexico State University with her M.S. in Family and Consumer Sciences.

 

In 2011 she received the Public Service Award and in 2006 she received the Rehabilitation Practitioner award from the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association of New Mexico for her dedication and excellence in providing psychiatric rehabilitation services.

 

She specializes in psychiatric rehabilitation and mental health counseling for individuals with mood and anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, personality disorders, dual diagnosis, substance abuse, and involvement with the criminal justice system. She has experience providing Life Coaching services for individuals wishing to increase personal or professional growth and develop the motivation to achieve their goals. She has extensive presentation, keynote, and workshop experience educating various groups about mental illness and recovery. She has provided training to treatment guardians since 2013. She works with and provides consultation services related to mental health for providers and advocacy groups.

 

Ms. Jordan currently serves as President for the National Alliance on Mental Illness - New Mexico (NAMI-NM) and board member for the Psychosocial Rehabilitation Association of New Mexico (PSRANM)

Dr. Paul Hopkins

Paul E. Hopkins, D.Min., is a counselor and consultant specializing in adult and couple psychotherapy and organizational leadership. He served as President and CEO of the Samaritan Counseling Center of Albuquerque for 18 years, and currently provides psychotherapy through his private practice in Albuquerque. Dr. Hopkins is a Clinical Member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and a NM licensed clinical mental health counselor. He is past president of the New Mexico Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, serves on the board of First Choice Community Healthcare, chairs the Mental Health Task Force for the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, and is a member of the Rotary Club of Albuquerque.

 

Granted a Doctor of Ministry degree in pastoral counseling from Christian Theological Seminary. Indianapolis, Indiana. in 1983, Hopkins is an ordained minister of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) who has served his denomination nationally as director of family ministries. He has also served as director of a court-connected counseling agency in Indianapolis and was the founding director of the Samaritan Counseling Center in Amarillo, Texas. Hopkins is author of numerous articles in professional and popular journals. He has published two books, A Different Kind of Husband (Chalice, 1992) and Pursuing Pastoral Excellence (Alban, 2011).

 

Paul has been married for 50 years to LaDonna Janzen Hopkins, a fund-raising and organizational consultant for nonprofit organizations. They have two children: Sean, who was at the time of his death in 2013 director of resource development for Saranam, a program serving homeless families in Albuquerque, and Sarah Tolch, a teacher in St. Louis.

Jennifer Klosterman Rielage, PhD.

Dr. Jennifer Klosterman Rielage is a Staff Clinical Psychologist at the New Mexico VA Healthcare System. Her clinical practice and research is in the area of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), particularly co­ occurring substance use disorders and PTSD. She graduated from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in 2004 and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for Excellence in Substance Abuse Treatment and Education (CESATE) located at the Seattle Veterans Administration

 

She has been with the New Mexico VA system since 2005, first as the Clinical Director of the STARR, a dual disorder residential treatment program that treats comorbid PTSD and substance use disorders and most recently as a staff member of the men's outpatient PTSD team. She provides diagnostic assessment and treatment of PTSD with a focus on Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE) and Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) as well as group­ based Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). She is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor with the University of New Mexico's School of Medicine and teaches courses on brief psychotherapy treatments to third year psychiatric residents. In 2013 she was awarded the Robert Kellner Teaching Award for her work with the psychiatry residents.

Jean Keim, PhD.

Dr. Jean Keim is a licensed psychologist who also holds advanced board certification. She is a nationally sought-out speaker for her expertise in the diagnosis of mental disorders, which she has taught for 25 years. Dr. Keim performs diagnostic evaluations for the courts and frequently consults on care of the mentally ill. In addition to her diagnostic knowledge, Dr. Keim has expertise in Group Psychology and Group Psychotherapy.

 

She is a former president of the society of Group Psychology and Group Psychotherapy, American Psychological Association. She additionally, created and funded a national foundation for the study of Group Psychology.

Dr. Keim is a tenured faculty member at UNM and has also worked as a Clinical Director, and Chair of Disaster Mental Health for the American Red Cross.

Gerald L. Russell, PhD

Dr. Russell is the President of Medical Staff, New Mexico Behavioral Health Institute (NMBHI), where he provides direction and management of the NMBID Adult Psychiatric Division to assure the delivery of quality health care services to adults with acute and chronic mental illness including evaluations and treatment.

 

Dr. Russell has clinical and administrative supervision of individuals working in the division. He conducts admission evaluations neuropsychological evaluations, supervision of psychology graduate students, and prepares court documents and provides court testimony for commitments.

 

Dr. Russell was the CEO, and President of High Plains Neuropsychology Associates PC in Private Practice where he provided neuropsychological assessments on children, adolescents, and adults individuals, local and regional agencies, local schools, and local private   entities.

 

Dr. Russell has been an Associate Professor of Cognitive Psychology & Neuropsychology New Mexico Highlands University, College of Arts and Sciences.

Amanda Frazier, JD

Amanda Frazier graduated from UNM School of Law in 2001. After law school she worked at Sutin, Thayer and Browne, primarily doing commercial litigation. When she discovered that really wasn't her cup of tea, she found a job working at the State Bar in the Lawyer Referral for the Elderly Program. As an LREP attorney, she worked with seniors on a myriad of issues and set up and attended senior workshops throughout the state.  After leaving LREP, Amanda hung out her shingle, primarily doing guardian ad litem work in family law, adult guardianships and in child welfare law cases. A few years into this work, she was approached by Advocacy, Inc. to become their staff attorney. As staff attorney, Amanda handled kinship guardianship, child welfare cases and worked with Aging and Long Term Services on issues around youth transitioning to adulthood in need of guardianship.

 

In 2013, Amanda joined the Second Judicial District Court as the newly created PQ Special Master to help with the huge volume of adult guardianship cases that the Court oversees.

Jason Buckles, MA, LPCC

Jason Buckles has been an agency director of a behavior consultation agency in New Mexico for 10+ years prior to taking his current position at the Department of Health. As agency director he provided direct services to a caseload of 30+ individuals with developmental and/or intellectual disability and co-occurring mental health diagnoses.

 

He is currently the state-wide Clinical Director of the Bureau of Behavioral Supports - part of the Developmental Disabilities Supports Division of the New Mexico Department of Health.

 

Jason is also a Ph.D. candidate in Special Education at the University of New Mexico. His research interests include community-based positive behavior supports for persons with I/DD, sexuality risk assessment and management, and non-aversive behavioral technologies. He will be completing his degree in 2016.

Tim Gardner, JD

Tim Gardner has been an attorney with Disability Rights New Mexico for seven years, and he has found his guardianship defense work to be the most rewarding part of his caseload.  Before law school, he was a social worker and community organizer.  Tim believes strongly in everyone's right to participate as fully as possible in the decisions affecting their lives, as he believes in the importance of an appropriate fit with the guardian when one is necessary.  He stays busy at home raising his three children.

Miguel Chavez, MSW

Miguel Chavez has been the Senior Advocate for Disability Rights New Mexico (DRNM) for over 28 years. He runs DRNM's office in his childhood hometown of Las Vegas, where he works extensively with the state's Behavioral Health Institute (BHI). Miguel regularly assists former BHI patients after discharge. He has conducted extensive trainings inside BHI and elsewhere throughout the state, and he is the Coordinator for DRNM's Mental Health Advisory Council. Miguel has a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Michigan.

Dr. Erika Johnson-Jimenez, PhD

Dr. Erika Johnson-Jimenez is a clinical psychologist for the Home Based Primary Care (HBPC) and the Caregiver Support programs at the Albuquerque VA. She provides cognitive evaluation, evidenced-based individual and family therapy, and consultation-liaison services for veterans enrolled in the interdisciplinary HBPC program. Dr. Johnson-Jimenez also maintains a private practice specializing in capacity evaluations for guardianship and other forensic purposes, disability assessment, and psychological testing for medical procedures.

 

She completed her Ph.D. at University of South Dakota and her internship at the Southwest Consortium in 2004. Her clinical interests include competence assessment, geriatric mental health, and dementia care. Her research interests include cross-cultural assessment, development of trauma symptoms in first responders, and trauma symptoms at the end of life. Her personal interests include care of adolescent humans and geriatric felines.