Michele Downey is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in private practice in Carlsbad since 1987. She is a Registered Nurse in New Mexico and California since 1977, holds an Associate's Degree in Science, a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology, a Master's Degree in Counselor Education, and is a Master Addiction Specialist through the National Board of Addiction Examiners. Michele has been involved in the field of Chemical Dependency since 1974. She has experience with inpatient and outpatient settings (locked, secured and open), as a clinician, supervisor, and manager with a diversity of populations, with both medical and social model programs. Since 1981, Michele has worked with children & adolescents with emotional, behavioral, and psychiatric disturbances, setting up behavioral management systems and implementing family educational programs. She has assisted in the planning, training & implementation of several chemical dependency, psychiatric and dual diagnosis treatment units in both New Mexico and California. She helped open the first CARE unit in New Mexico in 1974 and pioneered the first therapists to admit to hospital programs in the 80’s. In a two-year period, she implemented a unique Student Assistance Program with the 14 school districts and 32 school sites and completed an intervention at a community level in Imperial County with programs she completed through the Imperial County Office of Education. These Genesis-Core groups are continuing 25 years later. During those two years, she served as an instructor through UCSD Continuing Education Department on Student Assistance Programs for Teachers. She is a certified Domestic Violence Treatment Provider for the State of California, as well as an Addictions Interventionist trained by Dr. Vernon Johnson “The Father of Intervention”. She has many series of workbooks for families with out of control teens, and people with depression, anxiety and addictions. Her private practice specializes in treating families affected by mood disorders & addictions using a 12-step approach along with an unusual style of advanced recovery therapy groups, which creates community. She co-authored the book “Feeling Terrific: Four Strategies for Overcoming Depression Using Mood Regulation Therapy” with Dr. Namir Damluji and Renee Sievert RN LMFT in 2006 available through Amazon.com. She has been producing a series of relaxation, visualization & meditation music CD’s and Videos in concert with the Australian recording artists “The Chill Sessions”. She is now creating a line of products with her unique style of painted glassware, and winning top honors in competitions in National Pro-Am Ballroom by using the versatile techniques shared in her CD’s. As a Master Life Coach, she most recently she graduated her first group of 10 Recovery Life Coaches from her school, all of whom have extensive therapy and 12 step experience and specialize in mood disorders and families affected by addictions. In 2011, she expanded her offices to include LA and San Diego. She lived in Hollywood in a 30,000 sq. foot art studio with Bob Womack, President of Steve Kaufman art and RawSakStudioinc., world’s premier pop artists. Her daughter, Rheanna,(a singer/songwriter) and husband, Jesse,(a videographer) have 2 children and live in Encinitas, CA. She returned to living in Carlsbad in 2017 to be near her grandchildren. She worked for a year at Present Moments Treatment center and At the Sea Intensive Outpatient Program where she created their IOP program. Continuing in her private practice, and on the board of SOAP (Society of Addiction Professionals) as the continuing education and special events person, she works with families affected by mood disorders and addictions. While doing all this, she has completed working on her internet marketing credential from the University of Virginia. She was on the North Coast Crisis Intervention and Response Team through New Alternatives Inc. and worked with the Family Therapy Institute in La Mesa with Dr. Chad Hybarger working mainly with children and their families. She has been certified as an NLP Practitioner, Hypnosis Practitioner and „Healing Hands for Nurses“(Energy Work) through Scripp’s Green Hospital.