PSU History
Victor began as an adjunct instructor in 2018 and is also an alumnus of PSU's MSW program.
Experience
Victor has worked in the addictions and mental health field for nearly twenty years in ambulatory, residential, crisis, and community outreach settings. Victor works across the care spectrum of services within this field, from abstinence-based models to harm reduction, and also supports people with co-occurring concerns and stand-alone mental health diagnoses. He holds credentials as a licensed social worker and chemical dependency counselor in Oregon and Washington. He has practiced at several levels of direct care, from being a Residential Counselor to a Clinical Director; he therefore understands that everyone plays an equal and critical role in creating an environment of healing regardless of their title or credential. Victor provides strengths-oriented licensure and intern supervision, with a focus on collaborative case consultation. Victor is a generalist practitioner who supports humans across the lifecycle.
Academic/Research Interests
Victor's principal modality regarding direct client care is Strengths-Based Talk Therapy; within this tradition he has developed and taught several psycho-educational curriculums including Anger Management, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Diversity and Mental Wellness, Seeking Safety, and Relapse Prevention. He has also facilitated long-standing process-oriented groups and client focus groups centered on improving care outcomes. Victor’s principal focus in his MSW program was within the macro track, which has afforded him a structural orientation to the work, borrowing perspectives rooted in anti-racist, anti-oppressive, and anti-colonial modalities as well as Queer Theory. One of his primary passions is partnering with new clinicians and students to find their unique talents in helping others. Victor teaches from a modality of feedback-informed education, ensuring that each learning experience is unique, relevant, trauma-informed, and meaningful. Victor is guided by the science of altruism and kindness, understanding this to be a critical component of continued human evolution. Victor's undergraduate degree is in English Literature, and he continues to believe in the power that story-telling plays in personal and societal transformation.
Personal Interests
Victor has several creative outlets, including pottery, miniatures, and writing short stories.