A Beautiful Mind
Getting help and finding solutions can feel never-ending. Whether it’s a child with learning issues, a depressed or possibly suicidal teen, our own anxiety, or an employee lost in substance abuse, many are left feeling hopeless and overwhelmed as they face a shortage of clear answers and care providers. Meet Mobilian Jack C. Carney, PhD. Finding himself in the center of it all as a licensed psychologist, he dug deep and opened Clarity Health to provide the missing links long before the term “mental health crisis” became an all-too-common phrase. A leading expert, he shares his approach, method, and best of all, his humanity.
By Hayley Hill Photos StevyePhotography, StevyePhotography.com
Getting to know Jack has been a life-changing experience. A literal Jack of all trades, he has a skill set I feel compelled to share. While my particular story isn’t groundbreaking, finding Jack changed my life and that’s meaningful to me. As parent who is friends with other parents and fellow business owners, I know how those feelings of helplessness keep us up at night and impact our ability to work and parent on the daily. I mean, who among us doesn’t know someone who is in some sort of distress? Who has had an easy time getting to the bottom of it? Trying to find answers to the anything-but-simple mental health questions isn’t just overwhelming, it can be like trying to find a specific snowflake in Siberia.
Although I had long been told I have an attention disorder, I just kept swimming like that beloved yet forgetful Disney fish, Dory. Using humor and tapping into my creative side, I’ve been able to make my scatterbrained tendencies an endearing quality. However, I mentioned this to my general practitioner Clare Carney, MD, PhD, at Alabama Medical Group, and rather than just write a prescription, she sent me for a psychological assessment with her husband, Jack, who transitioned his private practice into Clarity Health in 2015.
Not knowing what to expect, I arrived at my appointment, noted the cool mid-century modern aesthetic, and proceeded to take a variety of tests. Easy-peasy. From there, I made a follow-up appointment to review my results with Jack. Thinking we’d talk about my attention deficit disorder, I was positively floored at how much more than that the tests revealed.
From vulnerability to anxiety, forgetfulness and—of course—attention span, I was stunned by the 12-page document that showed everything I was experiencing but was unable to put into words. I felt instant relief as Jack took me through my results and explained how each issue I was experiencing impacted me as a whole and made helpful suggestions for improvement. Everything clicked and I had instant answers. Naturally, I signed my kids up and told anyone who would listen about the miracle of Jack’s services. I almost felt guilty, like I used a shortcut to what can take years to uncover in traditional talk therapy. But, I didn’t care. I’m 54 and don’t have time to beat around the bush.
Available to all, Jack’s psychological assessments provide a clear diagnosis and insight for what many may simply attribute to stress or simply being a lazy teenager. Most importantly, Jack can identify behaviors and beliefs that are incredibly specific to each patient in addition to phycological issues such as anxiety, emotional disturbances, developmental disorders, impulse control, learning disabilities, and so much more.
Not to throw my child under the bus, but I have a teenager who thinks in black and white and has a very short temper and attention span. Jack was able to hone in and show said child on a graph how quickly he tunes others out and shared that while his mother may overlook this, it will cost him in future relationships and jobs. The result? My son made instant changes and is noticeably happier. Sometimes seeing really is believing. There was more, but the point is that having such specific personal insight into why we do what we do has been a total game changer.
Using ADHD to demonstrate both how invested he is and how deeply an undiagnosed condition may impact an individual and their family, Jack explains, “Typically, when someone drives by us quickly, we assume it’s because they’re reckless. When we drive past someone quickly, it’s because the other person is too slow. We all have the tendency to attribute bad things to others and to justify our behavior with outside stressors. All too often I hear from caregivers that their child may be lazy, stupid, dumb, and bad. Tragically, I hear children describe themselves in this manner as well. This isn’t surprising if they’re hearing it from a loved one and incorporating this belief into how they see themselves. This becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy and can undercut a child's willingness to engage in any effort. Even parents with the best intentions may find their child picks up on subtle facial expressions or outbursts and come to see themselves as the problem in the family stress. Thereby, symptoms of ADHD are magnified with additional anxiety and sadness, which only makes learning more difficult. However, many are shocked to learn that symptoms of ADHD may result from birth trauma, oxygen deprivation, genetics, or a traumatic brain injury. Consider objective performance testing to compare your child to the general population of other children of the same age. At least as a parent you can be assured in knowing objectively if it’s an organic structural or emotional difficulty versus defiance.”
Perhaps what’s most impressive about Jack is that he’s interested in and incredibly knowledgeable about almost every psychological condition. Filling a void and using a holistic approach, Jack explains, “We use research-based assessment tools to guide individual and family evidenced-based treatments, educate the courts, and improve decision-making of federal and state agencies and private companies. We even work with internists, psychiatrists, neurologists, and cardiologists when warranted—having a diagnosis is a tremendous help, but we often conduct further testing to help patients and their caregivers with education planning and job exploration, and to determine what’s reasonable if faced with a limiting diagnosis. We can even pre-test potential employees to ensure a good fit for an employer.”
A revered expert in the field, Jack is often sought out to serve and engage in complex cases with child protection services and the domestic and juvenile court system to address safety, risk threat, parental alienation and fitness, child custody, childhood sexual, physical, and emotional abuse, relocation impact, stalking, intimate partner violence, substance abuse, visitation and treatment planning, and parenting coordination, as well as forensic consulting to complete assessments for Employee Assistance Program (EAP), return-to-work assessments, and more.
Accustomed to switching gears, Jack also works with many businesses in multiple roles. If you’re a business owner, you’re well aware a new day is upon us. Companies have learned employee retention and wellbeing go hand-in-hand with growth, safety measures, and success in general. You also know how easy it can be to end up on the wrong side of a costly lawsuit. So yes, corporate responsibility is serious business.
For starters, Jack shares, “It’s important to know that substance abuse costs our nation over $600 billion annually and the National Council on Alcoholism states that $81 billion are from loss of productivity. it’s clearly reasonable that drug testing and treatment can significantly reduce these loses, as most substance abusers are employed. In fact, drug testing employees is effective in reducing accidents, low productivity, health issues, legal actions and costs, absenteeism, and missed deadlines. Employees are expensive and are an employer’s greatest asset. Substance abuse can derail this investment.” Further, “ Psychological testing paired with drug testing can bolster an employer’s confidence in decision-making, as it allows them to identify employees who aren't reaching their full potential and to seek timely solutions. My grandfather told me, ‘It’s not hard to soar like an eagle when you’re flying with turkeys!’ To his point, employers can avoid hiring turkeys with pre-employment drug testing so everyone can soar.”
Turkey analogy aside, Jack has long known what society seems to now accept—we can’t separate the individual from the business. Being qualified to testify in court as an expert in various categories led Jack to expand his services. “Attorneys told me they were limited in court-approved places to send their clients for drug testing. Soon after, we became accredited by the Drug and Alcohol Testing Industry Association and added drug-testing services. We have a Certified Professional Collector Trainer to ensure our staff are Certified Professional Collectors. So not only can businesses secure drug testing for pre-employment, we also offer the collection of data needed to apply for the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) required by the Maritime Transportation Security Act for workers who need access to our maritime facilities and vessels.”
While he has a deep-rooted understanding of the science-based solutions that work, it’s his compassion for all people that stands out the most. From veterans suffering from PTSD to victims of bullying, Jack has great empathy, as he’s a constant witness to the long-term effects and societal impact of what many of us don’t see. Explaining the cycle, he says, “It’s easy to see how bullying and name-calling can negatively impact a child, but newer research strongly emphasizes that when children witness domestic violence, it plays a much bigger role in emotional, educational, and economic performance. Higher rates of future substance abuse, depression, disturbed romantic relationships, academic underachievement, and even severe mental illness are strongly tethered to witnessing domestic violence as well.”
Obviously, this is a heavy topic. But as we navigate all the findings bubbling up to the surface of the mental health crisis, Jack has our backs. As a licensed psychologist with experience ranging from his VA clinical internship to his dissertation, which focused on parent and child early attachment and development, to his certification as a Substance Abuse Professional with the Department of Transportation, he’s got the chops. As for watching the expression on my teenager’s face as Jack described the difference between marijuana today versus the marijuana of the ‘70s and ‘80s? Priceless.
Also, having witnessed Jack at home with his wife and teenaged sons, Jacob and Max, it’s easy to see he steers the family ship with a blend of science and compassion in the form of family runs and workouts, scheduled screen time, and plain old-fashioned togetherness. Perhaps Jack sums it up best, telling us, “The live oak trees in Mobile are my inspiration. I’ve always loved them—they’re slow, steady, and stand strong in any hurricane. Clarity Health provides the foundation that facilitates strong and successful families, communities, and local businesses so they may stand the test of time, just like our live oaks.”
Clarity Health LLC | 2054 Dauphin Street, Mobile | 251.635.4541 | ClarityHealth.com
