I study how institutions shape the people who serve them — and what it takes to rebuild a life after service ends. Twenty years in uniform, a doctorate in counseling and psychological studies, and published research on trauma, reintegration, and behavioral health.
I enlisted in the United States Navy in October 2000, in the weeks following the bombing of the USS Cole. I served honorably for eighteen years, through multiple deployments in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, and retired in 2018.
That service shaped the questions I have spent my career pursuing. In uniform I worked in clinical leadership and rehabilitation settings, and I saw up close how structured institutional life builds resilience — and how the same structures can leave a person unmoored when they end. I wanted a way to study that properly, not just describe it.
So I went back to school, and kept going. In 2026 I completed my Ph.D. in Counseling and Psychological Studies at Regent University with a concentration in trauma and crisis counseling. My doctoral work produced the Armed Forces Veteran Reintegration Program, a pilot model built around identity reconstruction, autonomy development, and psychosocial adaptation.
Alongside the research I have published widely — on prison-related PTSD, on behavioral health policy, on the lived experience of marginalized communities — and I write for a general readership as the author of War on Black: America's Dark History That Can't Be Erased.
Four areas, each grounded in research and practice rather than theory alone.
Post-traumatic stress and its long tail — including PTSD arising from incarceration rather than combat, a population the research literature has largely overlooked.
How military institutional structures shape identity, autonomy, and decision-making after separation — and how program design can address the institutional dependence those structures create.
Managing multidisciplinary clinical teams, advancing practice standards in mental health services, and closing the gap between treatment research and what is actually delivered.
Designing service models from evidence up, and advocating for the legislative and administrative changes that make them possible — including property tax policy affecting 100% disabled veterans.
Leads applied research on veteran reintegration, trauma, and behavioral health policy. Recent work includes a legal and policy analysis of Nevada's property tax exemption rules for 100% disabled veterans.
Leadership and organizational consulting for behavioral health and human services organizations, alongside a consumer apparel brand.
Eighteen years of service, including multiple deployments in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.
Directed rehabilitation programming for service members, including clinical oversight and multidisciplinary team leadership.
Oversaw clinical operations across a regional footprint, with responsibility for quality of care and practice standards.
Consulted on clinical practice and program development within a state psychiatric hospital setting.
Doctoral project: Exploring Military Psychological Reintegration Barriers: Introducing the Armed Forces Veteran Reintegration Program. Defense passed March 2026.
Examines how military institutional structures influence veterans' reintegration experiences, through a program development design and qualitative focus group methodology. Identifies transition stress, reduced autonomy, and reliance on institutional systems as key barriers, and proposes a pilot reintegration model.
Analyses how Nevada's tiered property tax exemption — capping 100% disabled veterans at $35,400 in assessed value rather than granting a full exemption — produces equity, fiscal, and welfare effects that run counter to the policy's stated goal of housing security.
Finds that the rate of PTSD among formerly incarcerated people is significantly higher than in the general population — and argues that the ex-felon population remains underserved precisely because prison-related trauma is not measured.
A historical account of systemic racial violence in America, written for a general readership and drawing on the author's research in social philosophy.
A fuller working bibliography — including books, monographs, and professional articles — is available on request.
A consulting practice supporting behavioral health and human services organizations — clinical program design, leadership development, and organizational strategy for teams serving complex populations. senojlc.com
An apparel brand built around a simple idea: that curiosity is worth wearing. coolnerd.shop
A scholarship fund supporting literacy and educational access for students who need it most. Literacy is the foundation every other opportunity is built on, and closing that gap is among the most direct ways to change a life. cdjls.org
A candidate for the Florida House of Representatives in 2022 and for Nevada Lieutenant Governor in 2026, standing on a platform of democratic renewal and civic participation. The experience informed two books — Leading Change: My Time to Step Forward in American Politics and Run for Something: The Best Chance to Save Our Troubled Democracy.
Available for research collaboration, consulting engagements, speaking, and media comment on trauma, veteran reintegration, and behavioral health policy.