W. Michael Nelson III, PhD (Mike) is Emeritus Professor of Psychology and licensed psychologist at Xavier University. Throughout his career he has furthered mental health professional practice within the context of scholarship in both his academic and professional practice areas. As a scientist-practitioner, he integrated what we have learned through science and applied such knowledge to the treatment of various child/adolescent disorders. In addition to his research expertise in the areas of child, adolescents , and their families, he was Board Certified both in Clinical and in Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology and has served on these respective national boards.
Mike integrated clinical practice with research, particularly for youth with externalized (acting out) conflicts. He took what we have learned from cognitive-behavioral evidence-based treatments and developed "user friendly" applications. In addition, he has experience producing therapeutic videos to enhance the knowledge base of mental health professionals employing manual-based interventions (e.g., videos for the Coping Cat by Dr. Philip Kendall and the ACTION program by Dr. Kevin Stark; see Workbook Publishing).
Dr. Nelson won a bronze Telly Award for his work on Captain Judgment, a video series to supplement the Coping Power program (developed by John Lochman, PhD). In addition, Mike co-authored the Children's Inventory of Anger (ChIA), a measure of anger provocation and intensity from a child's perspective. The measure has been used as a routine screening in a number of settings (e.g., schools, clinics, detention centers) and has been translated into Italian, Spanish, Turkish and Chinese.
Perhaps the best example of Mike’s commitment to making user-friendly empirical-supported treatments is his Keeping Your Cool series, co-authored with Al Finch, PhD [published by Workbook Publishing]. In its latest edition, the Keeping Your Cool anger management workbook series (Parts 1 & 2) is designed to help children and adolescents cope with a variety of anger-arousing situations. Whereas the original Keeping You Cool Workbook relied heavily on sports-related situations, the newer editions have a wider range of appeal with new attention to developmental, gender, and diversity issues. The latest workbooks address not only the anger issues experienced by boys, but also the social aggression that characterizes the anger often experienced by girls at that age. Attention is paid to specific anger-arousing situations that are experienced by minorities. The latest editions aim to teach both boys and girls, ages 7-12 children (3rd edition) and teens (1st edition) several of the five best strategies to help them better manage the problematic anger-arousing situations they most frequently encounter in their lives. Accompanying therapist manuals describe the goals and objectives for each of the 27 sessions in the workbooks (Parts 1and 2). In addition to the workbooks, there is a Parent Guidebook (1st edition) to help parents understand what their child/adolescent is being taught and what they can do at home to facilitate their child's gains.