Gene G. Abel, M.D.

Dr. Abel is a distinguished board-certified psychiatrist with a national and international reputation for diagnosing and treating sexual problems. He is considered by many of his colleagues to be the leading psychophysiology researcher in studies of sexual behavior problems in the United States.

Known for his innovative research, Dr. Abel is the inventor of the Abel Assessment for sexual interest™, a diagnostic test that discriminates between people who have a high sexual interest in children and adolescents, and those who do not. Designed for large-scale screening, the test is both portable and noninvasive.

He has directed six National Institute of Mental Health research projects that have uncovered new information about the evaluation of sexual problems. Through these federal research projects he has developed effective treatment methods. Dr. Abel has published over 130 medical articles in scientific journals.

In addition, Dr. Abel is a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, who was for many years a professor at Columbia University School of Medicine, and currently teaches at both Morehouse School of Medicine and at Emory University School of Medicine. He is a past president of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, a Fellow of the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research, and a Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. Dr. Abel was honored with the 1990 Society for Sex Therapy and Research Masters and Johnson Award and the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abuser's 1991 Significant Achievement Award.

Tracy L. Irvin, M.D.

Dr. Irvin is a forensic and general psychiatrist who received her undergraduate degree from Duke University in electrical engineering and her medical degree from the University of Florida College of Medicine. Dr. Irvin completed her internship and residency training at The New York Presbyterian Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, the Payne Whitney Clinic.

She completed her forensic fellowship at Columbia/Cornell Residency in Psychiatry and the Law, at The New York Presbyterian Hospital in New York in 2001. Dr. Irvin is Board Certified in general psychiatry.

Dr. Irvin is a member of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, American Psychiatric Association and the American Medical Association.

Gregory E. Skipper , M.D., FASAM

Dr. Skipper is the Medical Director of the Alabama Physician Health Program and Alabama Veterinary Professionals Wellness Program. These programs promote health and wellbeing among professionals, provide early detection and intervention when indicated, refer individuals for evaluation and treatment, and provide long-term monitoring and advocacy. Dr. Skipper has worked with the Federal Aviation Administration evaluating commercial pilots and other airline personnel and developing aftercare and monitoring protocols.

Dr. Skipper is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Alabama Birmingham and is certified in Internal Medicine and is a Fellow of the American Society of Addiction Medicine. He is a certified Medical Review Officer. He was Medical Director of Springbrook NW in Oregon and previously on the faculty at the Oregon Health Sciences University where he introduced Addiction Medicine curriculum into the medical school and helped develop the first Addiction Medicine Fellowship. He is on the Board of Directors of the Council on Substance Abuse, the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, a member of the FDA’s Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee and a member of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment National Advisory Council. Dr. Skipper serves on the Governor’s Alcohol Abuse Task Force and Controlled Substances Committees in Alabama.

Dr. Skipper has published widely in Addiction Medicine both in books and peer review journals and speaks frequently both nationally and internationally regarding various aspects of addiction treatment, drug testing, ethics, and behavior among professionals. He consults with the Prison Project and provides expert witness testimony against the death penalty in murder cases involving drug addiction. He has appeared on the Jim Lehrer News Hour, the Today Show, and other media venues.

Scott C. Stacy, PsyD

Dr. Stacy is president of Acumen Assessments. He is an internationally recognized provider of psychological assessment, consultation, educational, forensic, and treatment services to professionals. The focus of his work centers on helping licensed professionals understand and resolve the complex emotional and ethical fallout associated with professional burnout, professional sexual misconduct, disruptive behavior, psychiatric difficulties, sexual addiction/compulsivity, and substance abuse/dependence. In addition to his role as a forensic and clinical psychologist, Dr. Stacy is a consultant to medical institutions and groups regarding organizational and division related difficulties/conflicts, leadership structure, and team building.

Dr. Stacy is a faculty member of the Federation of State Medical Boards, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta, and the Kansas Bar Association. He is also Co-Chair of the Colleague Assistance Committee for the Kansas Psychological Association.

Dr. Stacy received his doctorate in clinical psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology in San Diego. He completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Menninger Clinic during which he worked with professionals in crisis and was also a consultant and faculty member of the Menninger Leadership Center. Because of his expertise on issues such as professional burnout and its effect on judgment and behavior, Dr. Stacy has been cited in periodicals such as the New York Times, Fortune, Business Week, the Washington Post, Business Ledger of Chicago, and Physician's Personal Advisory. Dr. Stacy regularly speaks in the United States and Canada regarding matters associated with professionalism, professional boundaries, and physician health and well-being.

Roger B. Szuch LCSW, LMFT

A graduate of the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration in social groupwork, Roger has extensive experience in street work with teen gangs, juvenile institutional corrections, residential treatment of emotionally troubled adolescents, parenting issues, and treatment of difficult families. He served on the 491 Board of CSW, MFT, and MHC from 1992 until 1997 and has Chaired the Marriage and Family Therapy Probable Cause Panel. He is a seasoned systems clinician, trainer, and supervisor. Roger has maintained a full-time private practice in Jacksonville since 1985.

Stephen J. Schenthal, Founder and President of Professional Boundaries, Inc.

Stephen Schenthal is trained as a Board Certified Psychiatrist and Board Certified Diplomate in Clinical Social Work. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan., received his Masters of Social Work from Tulane University School of Social Work, his M.D. from Louisiana State University School of Medicine, and completed his psychiatric training at the Ochsner Foundation Hospital in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he served as chief resident in the Department of Psychiatry. In 2001, Stephen Schenthal created the Smart Boundaries™ Courses, Seminars, and Workshops and Professional Boundaries, Inc. to develop, market, and produce high quality continuing education programs for a variety of professions. Stephen Schenthal is currently devoted full-time to these projects. Programs have been presented at state, national, and international conferences, including the U.S. Psychiatric Congress.

John R. Whipple, MD

Dr. Whipple brings extensive experience to the diagnosis and treatment of professionals who struggle with midlife burnout, engage in sexual or disruptive behavior, and confuse professional with personal boundaries. As a Board certified psychiatrist and certified Forensic Consultant, Dr. Whipple brings experience in psychodynamic psychiatry, psychoanalysis, positive psychology, sex therapy, EMDR, and present moment consciousness to bear on professional boundary education. Dr. Whipple is the Psychiatric Consultant for Acumen Assessments in Lawrence, KS.

Following his medical degree at the University of Virginia, Dr. Whipple completed his internship at The Eastern Virginia Graduate School of Medicine, in Norfolk, VA and residency training at the Menninger Clinic, in Topeka, KS where he received a Seeley Fellowship for distinguished performance. Dr. Whipple worked as a staff psychiatrist at Menninger’s from 1990-1997 on the Alcohol and Drug Rehabilitation Program, the Psychotic Disorders/HOPE program and later, in the Adult Outpatient Department, where he began working with disruptive and impaired professionals, Dr. Whipple also functioned as a clinician in the Menninger Center for Sexual Health and the Somatic Therapies Clinic. Dr. Whipple began his psychoanalytic training at the Menninger Institute for Psychoanalysis and later graduated from the Greater Kansas City Psychoanalytic Institute. Dr. Whipple was on the faculty of the Karl Menninger School of Psychiatry as well as an Associate Faculty at the Menninger Institute during his tenure in Topeka. Currently, he is a Faculty Member at the Greater Kansas City Psychoanalytic Institute as well as on the Board of Directors for the Greater Kansas City Psychoanalytic Foundation.

In addition to his collaborative work with Acumen Assessments, Dr. Whipple is co-owner of the Mental Health Collective, LLC, in private practice as a psychodynamic psychiatrist.

Jon Porter, JD

Jon Porter is a partner of the law firm of McDonald, Mackay & Weitz, L.L.P., Austin, Texas. Licensed in Texas since 1999, Mr. Porter has worked as an attorney in both the public and private sectors. He worked as an appellate attorney for a large Houston-based law firm, writing briefs for various courts including the US Supreme Court and the Texas Supreme Court. In the public sector, Mr. Porter was a legislative aide for Texas Representative Senforia Thompson. He was a licensure investigator for the Texas Medical Board for several years before attending law school. Mr. Porter returned to the Texas Medical Board as a prosecuting attorney and later became the Director of Enforcement and Compliance.

Mr. Porter joined as a partner of the law firm of McDonald, Mackay & Weitz, L.L.P in 2003. His current practice focuses primarily on physician licensure defense, health law, general administrative law, and professional licensing for health care providers. He frequently works with health care professionals who are experiencing chemical or mental impairment, standard of care issues, licensure matters and boundary issues. Mr. Porter is frequently called on for speaking on topics of medical regulation and medical-ethical issues.

Peter Graham, PhD

Prior to forming Acumen Assessments, Inc., Dr. Graham served in numerous clinical and administrative leadership positions at the Menninger Clinic from 1992 to 2001. During that time, Dr. Graham worked with and led multidisciplinary clinical teams across the continuum of care, provided diagnostic consultation services to all programs within the Menninger system, designed evidenced-based treatment programs, taught and supervised postdoctoral psychology fellows, psychiatry residents, postmasters social work fellows, and psychoanalytic candidates, and collaborated on teams charged with the task of organizational change. After receiving additional training in management and leadership psychology and executive assessment with RHR International in Toronto, Canada, Dr. Graham returned to the Menninger Clinic and was Program Director of a multidisciplinary inpatient rehabilitation program for individuals with severe mental illness and addiction for an additional year.

Since 2002, Dr. Graham has focused his work on the evaluation and treatment of professionals, forensic evaluations, and specialty clinical and corporate consulting. Most recently, he presented on boundary violations and professional sexual misconduct in a series of on-line seminars for the Federation of State Medical Boards and provided workshops for the participants in the New Hampshire and Mississippi Physician Health Programs. In January and February 2007, he presented in an on-line web seminar for the Federation of State Medical Boards on Disruptive Behavior and presented a workshop on Disruptive Physicians to the Alberta College of Physicians and Surgeons, along with his collaborator, Scott Stacy, PsyD. As a faculty member of the Kansas Bar Association, Dr. Graham presents regularly on the subject of mental health, well-being, and substance abuse/dependence at continuing legal education conferences.

Dr. Graham is a specialist at assessing and treating professionals with disruptive behavior patterns, professional misconduct problems, mood and anxiety disorders, career burnout, compulsive behavior and substance abuse. He has assessed, treated, and consulted with over 600 physicians and other professionals since 1992. Using an approach that extends from the internal dynamics of the individual to the level of organizational culture and leadership, Dr. Graham helps clients understand how their various roles and relationships, public and private, interface with one another and occasionally collide. He also specializes in forensic psychological evaluations and in primary care and specialty medical psychological assessment and treatment. Dr. Graham has a specific interest in empirically based assessment and psychotherapeutic approaches.

Dr. Graham graduated cum laude from Clark University and received his doctorate in clinical psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology in San Diego. He then completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Menninger Clinic before training in adult psychoanalysis at the Topeka Institute for Psychoanalysis. He is a former fellow of the American Psychoanalytic Association, was a member of the teaching faculties of the Karl Menninger School of Psychiatry & Mental Health Sciences and the Topeka Institute for Psychoanalysis. He is a faculty member of the Federation of State Medical Boards.

He is also a member of the American Psychological Association and the Kansas Psychological Association, and he co-chairs the Colleague Assistance Program in Kansas.