I am directly affiliated with the AZBBHE and the executive director, Debra Rinaudo. I must remain anonymous as I have been a victim of this board and it's director. There are many therapists/counselors who have had similar experiences as my own but are unable (or too afraid) to come forward. There is no doubt that any complaint against the ED will result in retaliation which would include the loss of license and career. I know as I have experienced this with certainty.
It was very hard for me to accept that as a citizen of the US, I would be treated with such injustice - that my words would be used against me, my honesty would be distorted, and my reputation smeared for the rest of my career.
The ED runs this board with an iron fist. She's a bully in the true sense of the word. Recently several therapists hired a private investigator to look into Rinaudo's history. It was discovered that she has a covered up ethics violation. She was not granted a license to practice law in AZ. She made an agreement with her prior employer to cover up the violation as long as she agreed to withdraw her license as an independent attorney. Yet now, it is her job to oversee the ethics of behavioral/mental health experts!
There have been several pending legal disputes over her antics as the ED. Janet Napolitano actually sat in on board meetings because of the number of complaints against the ED. For some reason she has been allowed to keep her job and has continued to be a pain in the state's arse and budget.
I witnessed her short fuse several times personally. One time during an investigation, she pounded her fist on the table and said to a therapist and her attorney, "You better get your client's act together or I will order a psych eval (psychological evaluation)!" As many know, those psychological evaluations can be powerful tools for a court to exonerate or condemn - words can be twisted, exaggerated, minimized, etc. She did not make that statement because she believed the therapist had a serious mental health problem, but as a threat and a warning - do not mess with me or I will find a way to get you! At another occasion, she was unhappy that a psychological evaluation did not have her hoped for results - she subpoenaed copies of the therapists medical records. Those records are now part of a PUBLIC file! Those records still did not indicate the therapist's supposed guilt - the ED continues to work on that case, trying to find something to hang this therapist. These are grave ethics violations for any director. These are just 2 examples. I could go on and on and on and on!
She is threatened by strong women, attractive women, peaceful-type people who believe strongly in honesty, private practice therapists, experienced therapists, those who question her decisions, ethics or power Ive seen this time and time again over the years. She quickly and irrevocably develops a bias.
I have been observing the antics of this board for over 10 yrs and I am astonished at the lack of oversight, the big government power, civil rights violations, twists of the law and legal-ese, cover-ups, playing favorites - the belief that innocent until proven guilty does not apply here. Debra Rinaudo spoke those words directly to me! She said that the opposite applies when someone is implicated in an ethics violation, which is governed by a license (actually, Debra Rinaudo governs not the laws, statutes, and directives as it should be). It does not matter who makes that implication or whether there is merit to the implication - what matters is the impression of Debra Rinaudo. She decides your guilt based on her own insecurities and projections.in addition, she has made it her mission to dig and dig into a persons past/life until she finds something to support her twisted beliefs.in other words, when you choose a career in which you hope to help the mentally ill, downtrodden, hurt, depressed victims of this society, you lose the privileges granted by our constitution. This is because you sign away those rights when you agree to be a licensee - that license is granted by a board (which is meant to be the overseer) in order to protect the best interests of the public from bad or criminal therapists.instead, this board lost its purpose and became a supporter of an Overlord - this board makes decisions on the whims of Debra Rinaudo. It is obvious to anyone present (even public board meetings) that Debra Rinaudo decides who to exonerate or who to condemn. The board and its attorneys general is just the decoration.
Please therapists and public, friends and family of therapists - write your experiences here is this forum. Therapists please understand that our love for our job of helping people cannot overrule our need for the honor and respect of our civil rights. We need to limit Debra Rinaudos governing power and expand the public's power of believing that they are protected from the bad and that they will be helped by the educated, good, experienced, decent therapists/people/counselors/directors/etc that are trained to give power back to the victims.
Let me add here! Bringing this to the publics attention is not a disguised effort to hide the bad or criminal therapists. This is a plea for fairness. We all want to see the bad therapists punished or rehabilitated. Debra Rinaudo does not make decisions based on who is good or who is bad (as you can see from Purdues problems).instead she goes after anyone who she dislikes. She can ruin or destroy careers, families, patients lives with the snap of her finger. Lets band together!
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