{"id":2800,"date":"2021-10-09T00:36:15","date_gmt":"2021-10-09T00:36:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/?p=2800"},"modified":"2021-10-09T00:36:15","modified_gmt":"2021-10-09T00:36:15","slug":"ralph-warren-author-scholar-mental-health-professional-mentor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/2021\/10\/09\/ralph-warren-author-scholar-mental-health-professional-mentor\/","title":{"rendered":"Ralph Warren: Author, Scholar, Mental Health Professional, Mentor"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Ralph Warren<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Fletcher Word<\/p>\n

Ralph Warren has certainly hit his stride. After 27 years behind bars, after being released in 2017, Warren has adapted well to his life of freedom \u2013 an author, a mental health professional, a recent college graduate \u2013 and has committed himself to \u201chelping individuals reach their full potential as human beings.\u201d<\/p>\n

Warren began his prison term in October 1989 after being sentenced in federal court to two life sentences without the possibility of parole. Part of a criminal conspiracy, Warren\u2019s case included four of his brothers, along with several other conspirators. Eventually one life sentence was overturned and the other reduced, enabling him the possibility of freedom at some 27 years later.<\/p>\n

Those 27 years \u2013 \u201c27 and a half,\u201d he corrects a listener \u2013 were not wasted by any means. He used his time to write, to obtain four diplomas as a paralegal, to obtain a GED, to become fluent in Spanish, to start writing novels and screenplays, to work on the legal cases for hundreds of fellow inmates.<\/p>\n

He has now completed five novels and five screenplays.<\/p>\n

Warren, a Toledo native and graduate of Scott High School, continued his education after he gained his freedom. This May, he says, he graduated from the University of Toledo with a bachelor\u2019s degree, completing his individual study course work with an emphasis on social work. During his college career, he adds, he received only two \u201cB\u2019s\u201d \u2013 to mar an otherwise perfect group of \u201cA\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n

His main calling is his work in the fields of re-entry assistance, drug and alcohol rehabilitation and mental health counseling, all interrelated, he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really love the field, mental health is such a big issue and so many are not seeking treatment,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

These days, in the shadow of a pandemic and a nation, and Toledo, plagued by a sharp rise in violence and homicides, Warren\u2019s work among those with mental health issues is especially critical.<\/p>\n

\u201cIsolation does put a strain on your psyche,\u201d he says. \u201cWe are social creatures. Now, you are forced to stay in, you feel closed in, can\u2019t do what you are used to, feel trapped, can\u2019t mingle with friends and are not able to socialize. When you take that away, anger becomes a definite characteristic \u2013 with depression, anxiety and everything involves mental health when it comes to isolation.\u201d<\/p>\n

No more isolation for Ralph Warren. He\u2019s not trapped or feeling isolated. He\u2019s mingling, he\u2019s working, he\u2019s writing, he\u2019s contributing. And society is the better for it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Fletcher Word Ralph Warren has certainly hit his stride. After 27 years behind bars, after being released in 2017, Warren has adapted well to his life of freedom \u2013 an author, a mental health professional, a recent college graduate \u2013 and has committed himself to \u201chelping individuals reach their full potential as human beings.\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"wf_post_folders":[77],"class_list":["post-2800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2800"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2800\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2802,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2800\/revisions\/2802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2800"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=2800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}