Margaret Kohut is an Oklahoma native and still holds proudly to her "Midwestern drawl." She earned bachelor's degrees in English and criminal justice, and a master's degree in social work. Her initial foray into human service work was as a correctional officer in both adult and juvenile maximum security correctional institutions. Margaret's unique job history includes being a courtroom bailiff and a fugitive recovery agent ("bounty hunter"), and she spent a year in the private practice of clinical social work specializing in adoption studies, pre-sentence investigations, probation and parole intervention, family therapy, and therapy with troubled juveniles. Margaret has a strong educational and vocational history of forensic counseling and addiction therapy. Margaret served in the United States Air Force for 17 years as a commissioned officer and clinical social worker, providing psychotherapy services for active duty members, family members, and retirees. Margaret served the nation during Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom. She is now a disabled veteran, conducting her full-time freelance writing business from her home. Margaret maintains national-level certifications in human services. She is a prolific writer, having penned many award-winning publications for the Air Force on mental health issues, domestic violence, workplace violence, chemical dependency, trauma therapy, and adolescent acting-out behavior. As a civilian, Margaret coauthored an academic textbook on sexual serial killers and has been extensively published in the Canadian Journal of Adlerian Psychology and other academic publications. Margaret founded Rocky Mountain Way Freelance Writing in February 2006 after more than 20 years of non-commercial writing. Margaret was selected for the 2007-2008 Cambridge Registry Honors Edition of Outstanding Business and Professional Women. She is the recipient of numerous writing awards, including the 2008 National Book Award and the Bronze Medal Award from the Independent Publishers contest in 2008 for her book on school bullying. In 2009, Margaret was selected for lifetime inclusion in the Cambridge Who's Who Registry. Margaret lives in Anaconda, Montana with her husband of 18 years, Lt. Col. (ret) Dr. Tristan Kohut, senior physician at the Montana State Prison, and their 13 miniature dachshunds; most of them are accomplished animal-assisted therapy dogs. She can be reached via her Web site, www.rockymountainwaywriting.com.
