Dr. Michael Pelfrey

Licensed Psychologist - Amarillo, Texas

About Dr. Michael Pelfrey, Ph.D.

Licensure

  • Licensed Psychologist
  • Texas Board of Examiners of Psychologist
  • Texas License #24749

Education

  • 1991-1993 – Supervision in Clinical Psychology  (Two Years)
    Pavilion Psychiatric Hospital, Amarillo, Texas
  • 1985-1986 – Internship in Family Therapy (Two Years)
    Family Therapy Practice Center, Washington DC
  • 1969-1972 – University of Texas, Austin, Texas
    Ph.D. School Psychology with emphasis on mental health consultation, groups and child development.
  • 1968 – Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan
    M.A. English Literature
  • 1960-1962 – Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois
    Graduate Study – Philosophy and English Literature
  • 1960 – McMurry University, Abilene, Texas
    B.A. English Literature

Military Service

  • 1962-1968 – U.S. Air Force
    Served as weapons controller in NORAD and NATO (West Germany) Rank upon honorable discharge in June, 1968 – Captain

Professional Experiences

  • 1995-Present – Private practice. Focus on Family, Individual and Marital therapy and psychological testing. Special interest in working with adolescents as well as domestic violence, health and stress management.
  • 1995-2005 – Clinical Psychologist, Texas Tech University Health Science Center Correctional Health Care providing psychological services to offenders including assessment and individual and group therapy. Supervised masters level clinicians.
  • 1991-1995 – Clinical Psychologist, The Psychiatric Pavilion of Northwest Texas Hospital, Amarillo, Texas. Performed assessments and group therapy with in-patients, and individual, marital and family therapy with in-patients and out-patients (1991-1993 supervised by Kenneth McTague‚ Ph.D. and Diana Rudolph, PhD. pending completion of Texas Psychologist licensure process).
  • 1985-1990 – Supervisor, Family Stabilization Unit, Virginia Beach Department of Social Services, Virginia Beach, Virginia . Supervised a staff of seven using family therapy working with families experiencing severe child physical abuse.
  • 1983-1985 – Crisis Worker, INTERACT, after hours crisis unit for Virginia Beach Social Services, Virginia Beach, Virginia. Adjunct faculty, Tidewater Community Collage, Virginia Beach, Virginia (taught writing courses).
  • 1978-1981 – Research associate, The Institute of Behavioral Science, The University of Colorado‚ Boulder, Colorado Worked with Smart W. Cook in conducting, analyzing and reporting experiments investigating respect and liking in cooperating inter-racial groups.

Professional Publications

  • Cook, S. W. and Pelfrey, M.C. (1985). Reactions to being helped in cooperating interracial groups: a context effect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 49, 1231-1245
  • Cook, S. W. and Pelfrey, M. C. (1980) Effects of Voluntary and directed helping upon interpersonal attraction in cooperating interracial groups. Unpublished manuscript, University of Colorado, Institute of Behavioral Science.
  • Cook, S. W. and Pelfrey, M.-C. (1978) Determinants of respect and liking in cooperating interracial groups: The effects of group success, race of less competent group mate and helping behavior. Unpublished manuscript, University of Colorado, Institute of Behavioral Science.
  • Stenmark, D. E., Wackwitz, J. H.‚ Pelfrey, M. C. and Dougherty, F. (1974) Substance use among juvenile offenders: relationships to parental substance use and demographic characteristics. Addictive Diseases: An International Journal 1, 43-54.
  • Wackwitz, J. H.‚ Pelfrey,, M. C. and Stenmark, D. E. (1974) The relationship of social and personality characteristics on hallucinogen use among college females. Addictive Diseases: An International Journal, 1, 189-202.

Professional Presentations

  • Pelfrey, M. C. ‚ Tetrick, F. and Paige, D. (1989) Working With men who batter:
  • some cautions required. Presented at the 8th Annual Conference on Domestic Violence, Wakefield, Virginia.
  • Pelfrey, M. C., Tetrick, F. and Paige, D. (1988) Working with the Batterer. The first statewide conference sponsored jointly by Men Against Violence Against Women and Virginians Against Domestic Violence, Richmond, VA. .
  • Cook, S. W. and Pelfrey, M. C. (1983) The effects of being helped in cooperating interracial groups. Paper presented at the American Psychological Association Convention, San Francisco.
  • Pelfrey, M. C. (1981) Life is no accident: Freud revisited. Presentation to Parents Without Partners, Boulder, CO.
  •  Stenmark, D. E., Milne, L. D. and Pelfrey, M. C. (1974) The effects of applying community psychology theory to the state planning process. Paper presented at the American Psychological Association Convention, New Orleans.
  • Pelfrey, M. C. (1974) The influence of language in cognitive development. Paper presented a1 The American Psychological Association Convention, New Orleans.
  • Wackwitz‚ J. H.‚ Stenmark, D. E.‚ Pelfrey, M.C. and Milne, L. D. (1974) Targeting of resources to combat drug abuse. Paper presented at 18th Internation Congress of Applied Psychology, Montreal, Canada.
  • Wackwitz, J. H., Stenmark, D. E.‚ Pelfrey, M.C. and Milne, L. D. (1974) A community psychology approach to drug abuse prevention planning. Paper presented at the Southeastern Psychological Association Convention, Hollywood, FL..
  • Stenmark, D. E, Wackwitz, J. H. and Pelfrey, M.C.‚ (1974) Family court survey of substance abuse by juvenile offenders. Paper presented at the Southeastern Psychological Association convention, Hollywood, FL..
  • Pelfrey, M.C. (1974) Language as a factor in cognitive development. Paper presented at the Southeastern Psychological Association Convention, Hollywood, FL..
  • Pelfrey, M. C.‚ Lyons, B. and Rutherford, G. (1971) Assessment of need for recruitment of minority students into Psychology graduate programs. Paper presented at the Texas Psychological Association, Austin, TX. .
  • Pelfrey, M. C. (1971) What psychology might contribute to education. Paper presented at the American Psychological Association Convention, Washington, D. C.

Other Educational Experience

  • 1993 – Alumni Workshop for Rorschach (the Exner System) Workshop presented by John Exner and Irv Weiner, Asheville, NC. 3 days
  • 1992 – Advanced Rorschach Tutorial-Scoring and Interpretation. Workshop presented by Rorschach Workshops, Houston, TX. 16 hours
  • 1992 – The Moderated Settlement Conference, Presentation by Edna de los Santos, J.D , Corpus Christi, TX. and The Dispute Resolution Center, Amarillo, TX. 3 hours.
  • 1992 – Diabetes Update: Tools for Empowerment, Workshop presented by Cathy Feste, St.Paul, MN. and Amarillo College, Amarillo, TX. 8 hours.
  • 1992 – Suicide: Standard of Care, Presentation by Texas Tech Health Sciences Center, Amarillo, TX. 2 hours.
  • 1992 – HIV Test Counseling and Partner Notification, Presentation by Northwest Texas Hospital and Amarillo College, Amarillo, TX. 9 hours.
  • 1992 – Depression Awareness, Recognition and Treatment, Intensive Workshop presented by faculty of University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, TX 12hours
  • 1991 – American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy 49m Annual Conference, Dallas,TX. 4 day conference, including a one day (6hr.) institute on working with couples. 22 hours total Seminar time.
  • 1991 – Brief Dynamic Psychotherapy: Evaluation, Focus and Termination, Joseph C. Kobos, Ph. D. Joint presentation by Texas Tech Health Science Center and Northwest Texas Hospitals, Amarillo, TX. 12 hours total.
  • 1991 – Dispute Resolution Training. The Panhandle Dispute Resolution Center, Amarillo, TX. A 40 hour training Workshop in mediation
  • 1988 – Seventh Annual Conference on Domestic Violence‚ Virginia Department of Social Services and Virginians Against Domestic Violence. A 3 day Conference with national speakers and Workshop presenters.
  • 1987 – Sixth Annual Conference on Domestic Violence, Virginia Dept. of Social Services and Virginians Against Domestic Violence.
  • 1986 – Family Therapy Networker Symposium, Washington, D. C. 3 day with national presenters and Workshop leaders. 2 day. Workshop on Ericksonian hypnosis in family therapy (Bill O’Hanlon).
  • 1985 – Fourth Annual Conference on Domestic Violence Virginia Dept. of Social Services and Virginians Against Domestic Violence.
  • 1985 – Family Therapy Networker Symposium. 3 day Conference with national presenters and Workshop leaders. Workshop on dealing with families with alcoholism (Michael Elkin), and Workshop on Ericksonian Hypnotherapy with the Lanktons.
  • 1985 – Advanced Workshop in Child Abuse. Virginia Dept. of Social Services. An intensive 4 Week program.
  • 1984 – Third Annual Conference on Domestic Violence, Virginia Dept. of Social Services and Virginians Against Domestic Violence.
  • 1983 – Second Annual Conference on Domestic Violence. Virginia Department of Social Services, and Virginians Against Domestic Violence.
  • 1975 – Workshop in Community Psychology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, S.C., Robert Reiff and Donald Klein, leaders. 3 days
  • 1974 – Seminar on Mental Health Consultation, Harvard University Medical School,Gerald Caplan, M.D. Seminar leader. 3days
  • 1974 – Seminar on Psi phenomena, Association for Humanistic Psychology, New Orleans, Stanley Krippner, leader. 1 day
  • 1970-72 – T-group training, austin, TX. Elliot Aaronson, Trainer.
  • 1970-72 – Graduate Student Professional Development Program, National Training Laboratory (NTL)‚, Bethel‚ Maine and other locations.
  • 1971-72 – Advanced psychotherapy practicum, Student Health Services, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX.

Professional Organizations

  • The American Psychological Association
  • The Texas Psychological Association
  • The Panhandle Psychological Society

Community Activities

  • Co-founder of Virginia Beach chapter of Parents Anonymous
  • Co-founder of Men Against Violence Against Women
  • Co-founder of Virginia Alliance of Social Work Practitioners
  • Co-founder of two groups to work with men who batter their partners
  • Co-founder of one group to work with women who are battered by their partners
  • Served for three years as member of review committee for Virginia state and federal domestic violence grants
  • Co-authored new child abuse legislation for Virginia
  • Volunteer for Panhandle Dispute Resolution Center, Amarillo, TX
  • Volunteer for HOSTS (Helping One Student To Succeed) Amarillo Independent School District, Amarillo, TX.
  • Volunteer leading Men’s Group (10 years) for Multiple Sclerosis, also National Presenter for Health Care Provider education and on local Clinical Committee
  • Board member and chair of Patient Services Committee for regional office of National Kidney Foundation (6 years)