Philip McDowell

Philip McDowell was born in Glens Falls, NY on November 8, 1943. He attended Glens Falls public schools, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine and the University of Michigan School of Social Work, from which he received his MSW in 1968. After a stint as a psychotherapist at The Counseling Center in Bangor, Maine, he was appointed Director of Community Services in Lewis County, New York in 1975. He served in that position for 29 years, during which he founded the Lewis County Community Mental Health Center, and a variety of other community-based services for persons with mental health, developmental, and substance abuse concerns. During his tenure, he always maintained a significant clinical caseload in addition to his administrative duties. He was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the New York State Office of Mental Health in 2002, and retired in 2004. Since then, he directed the Deployment Cycle Support Program at Fort Drum, New York for two and one-half years, and has provided consultation to mental health agencies, maintained a private practice, and researched and written the book "Thinking About Thinking."