When Elaine Brown steps in as the recently elected Hayes County Court Judge, she will be armed with a combined knowledge of law and counseling as a result of years of practicing law and counseling.
“We felt we could bring both specialties to the position to ensure a viable mental health court,” she said.
Brown graduated from the University of Houston Victoria Counseling Psychology Graduate Program in 2011. She earned her Juris Doctor degree from Texas Tech University School of Law in 1991 and practiced law for several years before earning a degree in Counseling Psychology. As a lawyer she has over 30 years of experience and while practicing law she has been a professional counselor for 10 years. Dripping Brown, a resident of Hayes County near Springs, was inaugurated as Hayes County Judge in the County Third Court on January 1. A mental health court program was created in the summer.
Kyoko Amano, Dean of the UHV College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, said: “Mental health is an important aspect of our society that intersects with many other areas, and Elaine is ready to serve her community well. I wish her all the best.”
Brown decided to pursue a degree in Counseling Psychology so that she could better understand the psychological, mental health, and emotional aspects of the cases she saw as a family law and criminal law attorney. During his time as a graduate student at UHV, he learned new skills that have served him well as both a counselor and a lawyer. For example, motivational interviewing, which can be useful in situations such as interviewing someone who has a substance abuse problem. What she found useful to her was that she practiced hypothetical situations with other students and received feedback from her professors on areas that could be improved. She is also grateful for the support she received for her practice from her UHV Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychology, now retired, Paul Hamilton.
The skills and methods she learned through her Counseling Psychology Program have proven useful not only with her clients, but also when working with other attorneys and handling cases as an attorney.
“Law is very analytical and advice-oriented, but when you switch to the aspect of mental health counseling, your role is not to give advice, but to help individuals come up with their own answers,” said Brown. “I feel successful in doing that for my clients. I have received positive feedback in mediation and in working with other attorneys.”
A UHV graduate student, Brown was bright, focused, and had an eye on how to combine his expertise as a lawyer with his ability to help people with mental illness, said the professor of psychology and director of UHV. says Catherine Purse. Counseling psychology program.
Mental health courts are a relatively new development and these courts are looking for innovative ways to treat offenders with mental health problems, Perz said. In many places, prisons have so many people with mental disorders and all sorts of problems, but usually very few services are available while incarcerated. As a result, recidivism increases and opportunities for rehabilitation decrease.
“She was an extraordinary psychotherapist who could empathize with all kinds of clients,” says Perz. “Elaine is ideally prepared to lead a mental health court. It gives us an exceptional understanding of the complexities of both worlds, allowing us to balance justice with the needs of people with mental health challenges.”
In her new role, Brown will act like a supervisor for the mental health court program. Her other duties include providing probate guardianship, overseeing criminal misdemeanor cases and some civil cases. .
People with mental health issues must apply to the Mental Health Court Program and follow certain steps. Brown monitors individuals to make sure they are making progress in the program. pouring. There are often people in the criminal justice system who are there for a mental health crisis and who could be better served by getting mental health treatment. , protect the public and reduce the number of repeat offenders.
“I look forward to making positive changes to improve the functioning of the courts and help individuals who participate in mental health courts find healthier paths in life,” Brown said.
For more information on the UHV Counseling Psychology Program, please visit www.uhv.edu/liberal-arts-social-sciences/ Graduate-degrees.
