Cheryl Clark

Cheryl Clark Quick Facts

As well as President and co-founder of DOING LIFE!® International Inc., Cherie Clark is also the Director of Shock Incarceration and the Willard Drug Treatment Campus (DTC) for the New York State Department of Correctional Services (NYS DOCS).

Shock Incarceration is internationally recognized as the leading program of its type in the world. In 2004, research documented more than $1 billion in cost savings to the taxpayers of New York State for the institutional phase alone.

Dr. Clark has worked in human services since 1966, first in Social Services then Juvenile Justice. She started in Criminal Justice in 1974, where after other management positions, she researched, designed and implemented a Total Learning Environment™ (TLE™) for the NYS DOCS, the Network Program.

In 1985, Dr. Clark was appointed Director of Staff Development for the NYS Division of Parole, to assist with the implementation of the Division's Regional management system. She developed supervisory and Management Training Programs for the Division, in addition to streamlining and improving training programs for all levels of Parole staff. She considers one of her most significant accomplishments for that agency the design and implementation of the first Street Survival course for Parole Officers.

Dr. Clark returned to DOCS in 1987 to develop the Shock Incarceration program and has directed this initiative since its inception. Because of the outstanding, unprecedented success of Shock, in 1995 Dr. Clark was asked to design the Willard DTC and expand Shock staff training to include all staff of the DTC. The Willard DTC is unique as a stand-alone correctional Drug Treatment Campus. Based in both military and Network community models, Shock Incarceration and the DTC have an equal emphasis on self-discipline, treatment and life skills education.

Dr. Clark earned a Ph.D. in the School of Health and Human Services at Columbia Commonwealth University and holds a Master's Degree in Educational Psychology from the College of St. Rose in Albany, NY. She has studied accelerated learning and transformation technologies for more than 30 years. Her doctoral dissertation, 12° Of Freedom: Synergetics and the 12 Steps to Recovery , is considered a ground-breaking work in the field of substance abuse treatment. It includes a comprehensive overview of the model she named Social Synergetics™, offering an innovative, fully integrated model for recovery from addictions.

In 1990, Dr. Clark was awarded the Governor's Productivity Award for outstanding contributions to State Government. In 1995, the American Correctional Association acknowledged her for her outstanding contributions to corrections, as "Best in the Business". Dr. Clark is internationally recognized as a leader in her field and an expert in substance abuse treatment. She is the principal author of DOING LIFE! A Life Skills Program for Recovery From Addictions® and SMART Choices: A Guide for Making Choices That Work .