A Journey Well Traveled

Ralph Earle Retires

The time was June 18, 1974, Ralph just resigned as the Executive Director of Ecumenical Counseling Services to create, along with his wife Glenda, Psychological Counseling Services (PCS). Glenda managed the office and Ralph set to work building his private practice. As you may know, Ralph loves to network and around two months later three additional therapists joined him: Dallas and Nancy Demmit and Bill Retts. Thus began the PCS group of therapists.

At his core, Ralph has always been a minister, a career he enjoyed prior to becoming a therapist. A passion for his work to reflect ministry was matched by his desire for inclusion. Maintaining an eye on diversity is reflected in becoming one of the initial sex therapists in the Valley, viewing spirituality as a critical dimension in therapy, teaching a course at one of the reservations, and sensitivity to social justice issues. Ralph has long been viewed as a visionary leader. This has included a time as president of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy in the late 80’s, time spent training with Virginia Satir, Milton Erickson, Reinhold Niebuhr, Paul Tillich and developing the New Hope Educational Foundation (which helps make the ITP process accessible to those who could not typically afford it).

The most pivotal time frame in PCS’s history was the development of what is now known as the PCS Intensive Treatment Program (ITP). The ITP program has its roots in earlier trainings with Marilyn Murray in 1988, the year Marcus Earle joined the practice. What Ralph now describes as being “Marilynized” led to his referring clients to her for trauma work. Marilyn’s therapeutic process at the time was to meet with one client for 20 hours a week, for three continuous weeks. Marilyn, realizing PCS offered services she did not, primarily working with sex addiction (Ralph wrote the second book on the topic with Dr. Greg Crow), began referring her clients to PCS. Soon Marilyn started joining her client’s journey to PCS, this combined with Ralph’s already developed team treatment approach, led to the development of the ITP process. Since those early years, Ralph, Marcus, PCS therapists, and clients have helped to form the current eight-day format.

Now 53 years into his career as a Family Psychologist, Ralph has decided to move on and is formally retiring on April 26, 2023. He and Glenda plan to enjoy living more simply in Portland, Maine, as they enjoy living near the ocean and watching the seasons change four times unlike Arizona’s two seasons.

Thank you to Barbara Brown for Together AZ. This includes gratitude for her deceased husband, Bill, who was very influential in the addiction recovery world. Barbara has carried on that tradition in her creative, compassionate, and competent way of helping all of us in Arizona to appreciate that recovery is achievable.

Learn more about PCS at www.pcsintensive.com