Dr. Ricardo Gillispie, PhD, LCSW, LCSW

Dr. Ricardo Gillispie, PhD, LCSW is a Mississippi-based social work professional with a multi-decade career spanning clinical practice, administration, consulting, and education. He earned a Bachelor of Social Science from Mississippi Valley State University in 1973 and completed a Master of Social Work at the University of Southern Mississippi in 1975 as part of that program's inaugural cohort. He later completed a PhD in Social Work at Jackson State University in 2000 with a primary focus on psychotherapeutic social work. LCSW indicates that he is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with training to provide clinical assessment and psychotherapy.

Early in his career he served as Assistant Director for Region Ten (Weems) Mental Health Center from 1973 to 1985, where he authored the initial operations grant for the center. He went on to serve as Clinical Director and an investor in Laurel Wood Psychiatric Hospital in Meridian, and later co-owned and served as CEO of Family Counseling Services, PLLC, a private behavioral health group practice that included psychiatrists, licensed clinical social workers, doctoral-level psychologists, licensed professional counselors, and psychiatric nurse practitioners. In private practice he specialized in marriage and family therapy and in treating cognitive and affective disorders, including depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Dr. Gillispie has a long record of consulting and program development. He designed an early mental health program for corrections and later served as Deputy Warden of Mental Health Programs at East Mississippi Correctional Facility while maintaining private practice. He accepted consulting roles to develop psychogeriatric intensive outpatient programs, providing training and program surveys aligned with CMS guidelines, and has worked as a group therapist for Rush/Ochsner intensive outpatient psychogeriatric programs. His professional service includes leadership roles with the National Association of Social Workers regionally, a term as chairman of Mississippi's first Social Workers Licensure Board, auditing correctional facilities for the American Correctional Association, and serving as a psychiatric social worker surveyor for Medicare and Medicaid compliance. He was named Mississippi Social Worker of the Year by the state NASW chapter in 1992 and was inducted into the Meridian Community College Hall of Fame in 2006. Dr. Gillispie has also taught as a part-time instructor and served as adjunct faculty, bringing practice-informed perspective to social work education.