My Story
The path to becoming a specialist in forensic domestic violence evaluation began with a tragic event. I share my story in More Than Domestic Violence.
I Work With Attorneys and Individuals
Attorneys
My forensic approach delivers a fact-driven evaluation that’s uncovered the details of the case. This helps defending attorneys fight for their client’s rights.
Individuals
My forensic approach delivers a fact-driven evaluation that ensures court mandated treatment aligns with your treatment needs.
Hello. I’m Mike Willbur.
Washington and Oregon State licensed mental health professional
Clinically Certified Forensic Counselor
I am an LMHC in the state of Washington and LPC in Oregon. In this capacity, I have interviewed more than 900 individuals—all engaged with the Justice System in some way. Just over a third of these individuals are in jail for assaulting a family member. Many of these individuals were also abusing substances, such as alcohol and other illicit drugs.
However, to suggest that domestic violence is a drug problem is simplistic. Numerous problems surround families today. They all influence how family members treat each other. For example, childhood trauma affects behaviors and mental health (as well as physical health).
For more than 40 years now, we have been treating domestic violence as the crime that it is. We’ve excelled at identifying offenders. We’ve depended on punitive measures when adjudicating intimate partner violence. Unfortunately, as pioneering as our friends in Duluth, Minn. were at developing a strong domestic violence intervention approach, it often causes irreparable harm. Families are torn apart before the court sees accurate reports on how a home is functioning.
My Background
My father and uncle both served in WWII. My uncle went on to serve in both Korea and Vietnam. These men taught me that the ticket to fulfillment was hard work, and the finish line was retirement on a social security check with plenty of grandchildren.
I originally chose the military to overcome the financial challenge of college. It became a career, where I spent 19 months in Vietnam and over 10 years in Korea. The remainder of my career military career was spent on the east coast in places like Hunter Army Airfield (HAAF), Georgia., Ft., Eustis, VA., Fort Campbell, KY., Fort Polk, LA., and two tours of duty at Ft. Lewis, WA.
During my nearly 24 years in the military, I attended any school the Army was willing to send me to. I worked as a Platoon Sgt, in Quality Control for Aircraft Maintenance and as an Aviation Maintenance Instructor, Translator, and Army Recruiter. In my final assignment, I worked with a drug eradication team which included Customs and DEA.
After serving a full and satisfying career in the Army, I spent a short time as a supervisor in a local silicon wafer plant, before purchasing and operating a convenience store/gas station and a dry cleaner. I even owned and operated a mortgage brokerage firm and insurance company. However, I sold these businesses to free up my time to complete my masters program in counseling.
In 2008, Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs employed me as a Incarcerated Veterans Program Specialist. This gave me the opportunity to organize the Clark County Veterans Court program. I also authored the mentor program manual and supervised the VetCo mentor program from 2011 until my retirement at the close of 2013.
After I returned to private work in 2014, I continued my involvement with treating Veterans who have been adversely effected by war trauma. Trauma counseling and how PTSD and TBI play into aggressive behaviors was the major focus of my therapeutic counseling practice.
Now, I am working entirely as a forensic counselor—providing an objective and neutral opinion, rather than playing an accepting and supportive role with the people I evaluate.
My Tools and Certifications
- Domestic Violence Inventory
- Treatment Intervention Inventory (TII)
- Adverse Childhood Experience Questionnaire (ACE)
- Danger Assessment (DA)
- Spousal Abuse Risk Assessment (SARA)
- Additional Behavioral Assessment Questionnaires
- Additional Mental Health Testing Instruments
My Education
- BS, Psychology
- MS, Counseling
- LMHC/LPC/Clinically Certified Forensic Counselor
- Domestic Violence Perpetrator Treatment Provider certification, State of Washington 2012-2021
- EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)
- CPT (Cognitive Processing Therapy)
