When it came to helping children and their mothers traumatized by domestic violence, Dr. Michael O’Leary was a perfect fit.
O’Leary has taken a long and winding road to Ruidoso and Lincoln County. It’s a road that has led him to one of the most challenging jobs he’s had in his career.
“I’ve only been with the Nest two months, but I’ve learned so much,” O’Leary said. “I’ve worked in stressed environments before, but the reasons for being there are a little different.”
O’Leary, who hails with his wife Barbara from Michigan, has spent a lifetime cultivating his skills in teaching and nurturing children with developmental disabilities and behavioral disorders, having earned a PhD on educational evaluation and research. 
After a career in educational evaluation, O’Leary retired to open his own consulting business in Michigan, and came to New Mexico through a University of Utah program dealing with the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
He ended up in the Four Corners area, visiting schools in on the Navajo and Hopi reservations. Eventually, he came to Mescalero to evaluate that school and met their special education director. He found himself working directly with the tribe, evaluating their programs.
“I spent time learning about Mescalero and fell in love with the mountains, the trees and the weather,” O’Leary said. “We have snow, but in the afternoon, the kids were walking around in shorts, and I thought that was cool.”
He found a house in Alto, did his work with the tribe and later became an adjunct professor at ENMU-Ruidoso, teaching child psychology.
He met up with HEAL director Coleen Widell through their mutual friend and long-term Nest supporter, Don Ratay, at a Superbowl party last year. According to Widell, Dr. O’Leary has provided a much needed advocacy voice for the families at the shelter. “The mothers and children respect and appreciate Dr. O’Leary’s services and concern. He is a very popular Advocate at The Nest,” said Widell.
“My job is to help the mothers create environments that empower their children,” O’Leary said. “We have to take them out of any negative approaches that haven’t worked well and put in a more positive approach to manage their behavior.
“Getting kids to behave through the threat of hitting or punching – which they’ve already seen – doesn’t work,” he added. “This is a less taxing setting. I’m not a therapist, I don’t have a license for this, I’m not a clinician. I’m a behavioral intervention specialist.”
O’Leary also works with area schools to give them a bridge to the children from The Nest. He is a fierce advocate for children’s rights to education and special services they qualify for in the school and in developing individual educational plans custom-built for children traumatized by violence in their young lives.
“I am not teaching kids, I’m making sure they get what they need from the education system and seeing that their day is filled with as many positive things as possible,” O’Leary said.