Curriculum Vitae

CURRICULUM VITAE 

MICHAEL DeCARIA, Ph.D. 

Clinical Psychologist 

Salt Lake City, Utah USA 

 

SUMMARY 

 Knowledgeable and successful career of clinical and forensic psychology with 50 years of experience in assessment, therapy and consultation. Have worked effectively with adults, older adults, adolescents, and children. Modalities have included outpatient, inpatient, employee assistance and management consulting in private, government and forensic settings.  

  

SELECTED CAREER HIGHLIGHTS 

  • Have provided over 10,000 psychological evaluations and served over 5,000 consumers with individual, group, marital, and family psychotherapy since 1971. 
  • Have provided workshops on clinical and forensic topics in every region of Utah as well as in California, Colorado, Kentucky, Iowa, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon and South Dakota. 
  • Have personally testified over 100 times in Utah District Courts, Utah Juvenile Courts, California Superior Courts, United States District Court for Utah, and military courts. 
  • Keynote speaker, National Drug Court Conference in Portland, Oregon, 1995. 

EXPERIENCE 

August 2013 to June 2024 (Retired) 

  • Clinical Psychologist 
  • Center for Human Potential (c4hp.com), Salt Lake City, Utah 
  • Provided individual, marital/couple, and family psychotherapy to adults and older adults who were dealing with depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), complex PTSD, divorce, grief and loss, marital/couples discord, gifted adult issues, anger, etc. Orientations: eclectic, meditation and mindfulness, and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT). 

August 2013 to December 2018 

  • Clinical and Forensic Psychologist 
  • Center for Human Potential (C4HP.COM), Salt Lake City, Utah 
  • Provided individual, marital/couple, and family psychotherapy to adults, older adults, adolescents and children who are dealing with depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), complex PTSD, divorce including high conflict divorce, grief and loss, marital/couples discord, gifted adult issues, anger, etc. Orientations: eclectic, meditation and mindfulness including emWave technology for physiological coherence, and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT). 
  • Provided psychological evaluations for persons dealing with trauma, neurocognitive impairment, and other serious mental health disorders in order to guide treatment and/or assist in criminal and disability determinations. 
  • Provided forensic evaluations and expert testimony in family law, civil law-personal injury, and criminal law for all sides including prosecutors, defense bar, plaintiffs and defendants.  

 

November 2009 to July 2013 

  • Clinical and Forensic Psychologist 
  • Salt City Psychology, Salt Lake City, Utah 
  • Provided individual, marital/couple, and family psychotherapy to adults, older adults, adolescents and children who were dealing with depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), complex PTSD, divorce including high conflict divorce, grief and loss, marital/couples discord, gifted adult issues, anger, etc. Primary orientation: eclectic complemented by Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT). 
  • Provided comprehensive psychological evaluations for persons dealing with trauma, neurocognitive impairment, and other serious mental health disorders in order to guide treatment and/or assist in criminal and administrative matters. The latter were appealing decisions of government agencies such as the Social Security Administration (disabilities), the Veterans Administration (disabilities), FBI (security clearances), and the FAA (airman medical certificates). 

 

December 1979  to February 2007 

  • Clinical and Forensic Psychologist 
  • Salt Lake County Criminal Justice Services, Salt Lake City, Utah 
  • Provided yearly 250 forensic psychological evaluations of defendants charged with but not convicted of murder; arson; rape and other sexual offenses against adults, adolescents, and children; aggravated assault; domestic violence, etc.; and then consulted directly with the judges of the Third District Court for the purpose of determining release from jail.  
  • Tasked with balancing the defendants’ danger to the community and failing to appear in court with their Eighth Amendment rights.  

 

September 1990 to September 2002 

  • Director of Treatment Services 
  • Salt Lake County Criminal Justice Services, Salt Lake City, Utah 
  • Founded Treatment Services by planning programs and hiring and supervising mental health professionals. 
  • Founded the psychoeducational and psychotherapy modules including treatment programs for substance abuse, sexual offending and anger management. 
  • Directed the delivery of criminal justice mental health treatment programs. 
  • Personally provided group psychotherapy to clients in programs for substance abuse, anger management and sexual offending. 
  • Supervised the expansion of Treatment Services to include the burgeoning Third District Drug Court Program and the Salt Lake County Justice Drug Court Program. 

 

January 1979 to December 1993 

  • Forensic and Clinical Psychologist 
  • Associated Behavior Consultants; Salt Lake City, Utah 
  • Consulted and testified in selected criminal and civil court cases for the defense about the veracity of eyewitness testimony (often with regard to minors who were complaining witnesses in sex abuse cases), effects of psychoactive substances on behavior, criminal intent, and other scientific issues of psychology.  
  • Testified numerous times in all levels of state trial courts, juvenile courts, and federal courts. Once testified in a military court martial. Have testified and/or consulted not only in Utah but also in California, Colorado, Idaho, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Florida.  
  • Always qualified through the voir dire process by the courts as an expert witness skilled in interpreting and explaining the scientific research relevant to the matter at hand.  
  • Utah State Supreme Court has cited the testimony as a basis for decisions including those in capital cases.  
  • Provided psychological evaluations for screening, promotion, and fitness for duty of law enforcement and correctional officers throughout the state of Utah. 
  • Provided individual psychotherapy primarily for persons suffering from depression. 

 

March 1976 to September 1990 

  • Clinical Psychologist 
  • Salt Lake County Substance Abuse Services; Salt Lake City, Utah 
  • Directed a team of clinicians and provided delivery of psychological assessment services for persons with problems with psychoactive substances.  
  • Maintained a high media profile and positive image for Substance Abuse Services; directed a public relations program; personally engaged in frequent news interviews on all four major local television stations (including Rod Decker’s Take 2) as well as radio; frequently interviewed by reporters from local newspapers. 

 

 April 1979 to September 1990 

  • Director 
  • Salt Lake County Employee Assistance Program; Salt Lake City, Utah 
  • Cofounded and developed this employee assistance program that continues to the present. 
  • Consulted with elected officials, directors, managers and supervisors regarding employees with mental health and substance abuse issues that affected the workplace; provided evaluation and treatment for employees who were self-referred or referred by management. 
  • Provided psychological fitness-for-duty evaluations and made recommendations to management regarding treatment, discipline and termination. 

 

September 1973 to August 1974 

  • Psychology Intern 
  • University of Mississippi Medical Center; Jackson Mississippi 
  • A rotating clinical psychology internship accredited by American Psychological Association. 
  • Rotations included inpatient and outpatient psychiatry for adults and adolescents, inpatient and outpatient psychiatry for children, inpatient and outpatient psychiatry at Jackson VA Medical Center, providing consultation services for community mental health centers in rural Mississippi, and providing consultation services for elementary schools throughout Hinds County and Jackson City.  
  • Dr. David H. Barlow was the internship director. 

 

September 1971 to August 1973 

  • Psychology Trainee 
  • Salt Lake City Veterans Administration Medical Center; Salt Lake City, Utah 
  • Provided individual, group, and marital therapy to veterans who had served in the then ongoing War in Vietnam as well as those from WWII, the Korean War, and even WWI. 
  • First year was 20-hours-a-week placement in inpatient substance abuse treatment program located in Building 3.  
  • Second year was 30-hours-a-week placement in the Day Hospital for veterans coping with schizophrenia, bipolar, and other serious psychotic disorders located in Building 10. 

 

EDUCATION 

  • September 1970 to March 1977: Scientist/Practitioner Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology; University of Utah; Salt Lake City, Utah 
  • March 1977 Ph.D., Clinical Psychology; University of Utah; Salt Lake City, Utah 
  • March 1975: M.S., Clinical Psychology; University of Utah; Salt Lake City, Utah 
  • March 1968 to June 1970: B.S. cum laude, Psychology, Weber State University, Ogden, Utah 
  • September 1965 to June 1967: St. Peter’s College; Baltimore, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.  
  • September 1961 to June 1965: St. Charles College Preparatory High School; Baltimore, Maryland 

 

OTHER 

  • Licensed Psychologist 1978 to 2024, Utah, #108666-2501 
  • Life Status, American Psychological Association (APA) since 1983 
  • Member, National Register of Health Care Providers in Psychology, 1980-2024 
  • Donor: Foodbank of Utah and Nature Conservancy. 
  • Language proficiencies: Italian, Spanish, Latin, ancient Greek, and French. 
  • Personal interests: Running and weight training, gourmet cooking, gardening, nature and urban photography, astronomy, American history, domestic and international travel, hiking, and exploring the geoantiquities of Lake Bonneville. 
  • Blogs: https://thecosmos.blog and https://onbecomingaperson.com. 

(2 April 2025)