James joined the Sea Mar team in May 2023, accepting the role as Behavioral Health Program Manager of the Sea Mar Tacoma BH Clinics. Prior to joining Sea Mar James worked across a broad number of behavioral healthcare settings and social service organizations over the last 30 years, including the administration of adult inpatient evaluation and treatment facilities in Washington, Community Mental Health systems in New England, Geropsychiatric Inpatient Care and Addiction Treatment Programs in several states.

James professional development has included studies at the University of Oklahoma’s Center for the Studies of Alcohol and Drug Related Diseases, implementing evidence based behavioral health outpatient practices in New England, serving as Research Administrator at the University of Washington’s Institute of Translational Health Sciences and most recently the successful implementation of evidence-based practices in acute care involuntary treatment settings in Washington.

James was raised in the mid-southern area of the US, going to school, and working in both Oklahoma and Texas. James is a member of the Choctaw tribal nation of Oklahoma and has many generations of relatives across the region. Living in Washington the last 15 years James and his family have embraced the wonder of the beautiful Pacific Northwest, enjoying the forests, mountains and waters, exploring the Puget Sound and Salish Sea islands and coasts.

In returning to community-based healthcare services at Sea Mar, James brings his experience of developing quality, professional services that embrace kindness and dignity to everyone, supporting practices such as trauma informed care, cognitive behavioral and rational emotive therapies. James recognizes that therapeutic service organizations are in themselves a family-like community and should embrace the healthy principles of recovery mindedness, empathy and kindness to themselves and everyone they serve.