Patricia "Pat" Fleming
Once in a while you come across someone who believes in the good in people – all people. Someone who believes it is possible to overcome the impossible; someone who, believes in, and can find, the best in each of us – although it may take time, guidance and compassion. Dr. Pat Fleming is one of these people.
A native of Wyoming, Pat Fleming has touched many through her expertise as a psychologist and through her background in education. Many of those she has served are the individuals in our communities who are most at risk.
Patient and innovative in her approach, she helped her clients understand, and ultimately break through, the barriers they faced. Fleming not only believes in the people she has worked with, but in her profession and the importance of helping those around her understand the complexities of mental health issues.
Her dedication to serving populations that are often the most difficult to reach is a hallmark of Pat’s career. During the several years in which she provided psychological services for the Wyoming Women’s Center prison in Lusk, Pat counseled inmates and guided group sessions. And while her knowledge and her techniques for dealing with individuals who are struggling with the most challenging issues are impressive, Pat’s capacity for meeting the person in front of her with directness – coupled with unwavering acceptance – is what sets her apart.
Pat is approachable and non-threatening, which made it possible for clients, as well as decision makers in the community, to understand that unless underlying mental health challenges are addressed, positive change cannot occur. Her unflinching capacity for acceptance allowed clients to learn to accept themselves and to gain the self-confidence required for change and growth.
It is clear that Pat’s influence on those she counseled was significant, but she also influenced those closest to her. One such example is the path that Pat’s daughter, Ray Fleming Dinneen, also a psychologist, has taken in creating the program now known as CLIMB Wyoming. The nonprofit trains and places low-income, single mothers in careers that successfully support their families.
CLIMB is hugely successful due to the holistic approach taken within the organization. This includes mental health services – integral to participant’s training and eventual job placement. Pat developed the mental health assessments for CLIMB. The assessments help each participant - CLIMB staff, as well as community partners - understand the significant barriers these women face. Such understanding leads participants and staff to “accept the women for who they are,” says Ray.
Such understanding and acceptance seems to be what drove Pat in her profession. “She never let the system stop her. She never gave up. You couldn’t ask for a better advocate,” Ray says proudly.
The role of advocate was most obviously tested during the two decades before Pat retired, in her work with death row inmates across the country. Pat assisted the inmates and their legal counsel, as well as their families during the final appeal process, to provide psychological evaluation and consultation.
“She was so skilled in talking with families and not judging,” says Ray. “Her counsel and testimony was powerful because she could help a judge, or jury, understand the complexities of the inmate’s background and mental status – usually severe mental illness – that contributed to committing these heinous crimes.” Pat was often called in for assistance when there was very little time left before the date of execution. She would pour over all of the files, weeding through them to uncover information that may have been missed, or misunderstood, to ensure that the inmate’s case was treated justly.
Pat Fleming’s influence is far reaching, and her professional accomplishments many. But Pat is most proud of that closest to home - her four children (three of whom have chosen psychology as their own profession), her grandchildren, her late husband and close friends, and yes, her Wyoming home. For all of these, we can be proud to call Pat Fleming a Trailblazer for Wyoming.
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