1944. It was a good year to be born in Washington, D.C. And like so many who live in the U.S. Capital, I have a secret. But it's not about huge sums of money, special interest groups, or the end of civilization as we know it. It's bigger than all that, going to the very core of metaphysics! My secret involves — hair! You see, before I was born, God gave me a choice. God said, "HEY!! What the... Who the... Get out of my pizza!!" Then He said, "Listen up, little dude (God likes to call me "dude"). You have a choice. When you grow up, you can help people lead happier lives... or you can have great-looking hair." In 1974, I received my Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. Shortly thereafter, thanks to Mr. Thinks-He's-Funny, most of my hair rudely disappeared. Technically speaking, I now have invisible hair.
After graduate school, I began teaching and doing research as a college professor. For me, doing research and teaching about Psychology was important and rewarding, but I soon discovered that teaching people how to actually use Psychology to improve their lives is even better. It was time for a change. Taking the step from academic to Clinical Psychology meant mastering additional material and acquiring a license to practice. In my case, that translated into two years of supervised clinical training at a community mental health center, The Maryland Foundation, and passing a lengthy state exam in 1977. With license in hand, and high hopes for the future, I began to build my private practice while still teaching. In 1982, I bid academia a fond farewell to devote myself full-time to a growing private practice.
In my Bethesda, Maryland, private practice, I work with adult individuals and couples. Over the past 30 years or so, I've had the privilege of helping clients work through just about every kind of issue you can imagine... and some you probably can't... and wouldn't want to. Most of my clients are usually not in a state of bliss. In fact, they're often struggling a bit. But they all possess a fundamental human desire to make their lives better, to make things as good as they can be.
And, working together as a team, that's just what we do.
And then came the Internet. In the early `90s, the online world was still in its infancy. Back then, all sorts of information was being made available on the net — for free. And it was in that spirit that I launched Headworks in 1996. Originally, it was an information-only site for visitors to read and enjoy. But more and more people were using the Internet as a tool to get things done, and I soon began getting requests for advice about specific personal challenges people were facing. At about the same time, I learned that a few other pioneering therapists were already using the Internet for therapeutic exchanges. Believing the Internet had significant potential as a therapeutic channel, I felt the exact nature, and limits, of that potential would be well worth exploring. Thus, when I began therapeutic email exchanges in 1997, e-therapy was experimental. Many years and hundreds of e-clients later, it's probably still most accurately thought of that way. And I do my best to make sure that every potential e-client understands that e-therapy has yet to be scientifically validated in a comprehensive way. One thing, however, is abundantly clear: e-therapy is helping a great many people overcome a wide variety of issues.
In summary, my major credentials for practicing psychotherapy in the State of Maryland include:
- Licensed Psychologist, State of Maryland.
License # 1099, since 1977. - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Psychology.
University of Pennsylvania, 1974. - Bachelor of Science (BS), Psychology.
University of Maryland, 1969.
Hah! You don't know, do you? I might be who I say I am. Or, I might be some space alien weirdo from the Altair system patched into Earth's communication grid and having a good old time. Does it matter? Maybe it does, if you're going to take some of the advice I offer. You might want to check me out. How? You might venture over to Metanoia, a site that has already checked credentials of many online therapists, and see what they have to say about Headworks. Or you could call the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (toll free at 1.877.463.3464) and ask if Richard Sansbury is a licensed Psychologist in Maryland. You might compare the phone number shown on the e-therapy form page with a phone number you get from information. You might even call the phone number and see if it's operational. If you do go to the trouble of calling my machine, say hello.