My Story

Dr. Joel Caldwell, Psy.D.

I always dreamed of running my own business.  Here's where I went wrong.

In 2004, I started my own consulting company providing psychology services to local skilled nursing facilities.  It was successful almost immediately.  However, I was not prepared for this success, and it resulted in my values and integrity being seriously compromised.

As my business grew, I became overly focused on the bottom line.  Despite taking on more work, it never felt like enough and I began to take shortcuts in my work in order to increase profits.  On occasion, the shortcuts resulted in a disregard for established rules.  This included engaging in illegal billing for my services.

My wife and others close to me had no idea that I had begun compromising my ethics, and that was the way I wanted to keep it.  Although it was not my original intention, I had created a double life which became a huge burden.  My focus went from serving my clients to covering my tracks.  As a result, my business and relationships suffered.  What I thought would bring me happiness was actually making me miserable.

In November 2009, I received a call from an investigator who wanted information about my business.   I answered all of his questions and he said he would be in touch.  It was over a year before I heard from him again.  In December 2010, the lead investigator contacted me and told me they had completed their investigation. I agreed to an "exit interview" after consultation with my attorney.  The investigator showed me a stack of files- the contents would forever change my life.  Immediately, I thought about my family, my co-workers, and my future career.  I was in disbelief about what was happening, and wondered what was going to happen to me.

It was a long wait before charges were brought against me.  After my last meeting with the investigator, it was almost 18 months before they were ready to proceed.  After the long legal process, I found myself owing thousands of dollars in restitution- and sitting in jail.  Considering that I had never been convicted of anything more than speeding, the thought of spending time in jail was more than I could comprehend.

Since completing my sentence, it has been a long climb back.  I have been able to reconcile with my family and friends, and my marriage has never been stronger.  I attribute much of my post-incarceration success to the important groundwork I laid before I went to jail.  One of the most important things to come out of this has been my experience of the legal process.  It was overwhelming for my loved ones, as well as for myself.

The fallout from the legal process can be extreme.  I have heard similar stories repeatedly as I have talked to affected families.  I have seen many people make serious mistakes professionally, socially, and personally as a reaction to the pressures experienced during their ordeals.

Having endured the process ourselves, my wife and I have seen an overwhelming need for a service that can guide people through these important aspects of the process.  We would have found a service like this invaluable when we were searching for answers.  We feel strongly about helping others and their families overcome these challenges.

As a result of this passion, we established Crisis Recovery Specialists.  In developing this service, we considered what would be most valuable to families going through this difficult time.  What results is something of which we are very proud.  This is a service that goes well beyond the services provided by an attorney or a therapist, and is much more than simply preparing you for the prison experience.

My wife and I utilize not only our combined 50 years of experience as psychologists (which includes years as an administrator in the prison system), but also the experience of having successfully navigated the fallout of a public legal battle.  We want to add compassion and humanity to a process that is often missing both, and we have committed to making the service our life's work.

Looking back, while being incarcerated was uniquely challenging,  I now see it as a necessary step in my life experience.  Without this eye-opening reality, we might never have realized how important it is to help others manage the impact of being charged with a crime.  And now, because of our deeply personal history, we help others- perhaps like you- emerge stronger, with their relationships intact, ready to rebuild their lives in meaningful ways.

So that's who we are.  That's where we've been.  How about you?