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Pathways to Success:
Professional Development Throughout the Career-Span

I first entered independent practice following serving four years as an Army Psychologist. I accepted a position with a group practice situated in an old home that had been converted into offices. I began work there as the junior person; receiving an office in what had been the basement. Each morning I would gather my charts for the day and then carry them down the circular staircase to my basement office with the one small glass brick ‘window’ that indicated if it was day or night (except on really overcast days). I would see the day’s patients, do all my return phone calls, complete my documentation, and then come back up the stairs to drop off the day’s charts and leave. During the winter it would be dark both when I went down the stairs and when I came back up at the end of the day. While I found the work professionally rewarding, I none the less found it to be a very professionally isolating situation.

As a result, I began to consider other work options. I looked in the paper and, eschewing other private practice opportunities, I saw an ad for staff psychologists at a state hospital in a nearby city. I called the chief psychologist and inquired about the positions they were advertising. While they were looking for a full-time person, the phone conversation went very well and we scheduled an appointment to meet and discuss the possibility of part-time employment. The interview went very well and I accepted a part-time position as a staff psychologist. This twenty hour per week position came with full state employee benefits (very welcome to one starting out in independent practice) and she was very willing to have me work from 7:30am to 12:30pm four days each week (a great arrangement since most of the patients in my practice seemed to want afternoon and evening appointment times).

This position involved work on an inpatient unit conducting assessments and comprehensive evaluations of patients as well as providing individual psychotherapy and co-leading groups. In addition to direct patient care, however, it also involved attending morning report, team meetings, community meetings on the unit, and staff meetings. These activities provided many opportunities for professional interaction with colleagues and seemed to provide a nice balance to my clinical work. Our unit also had psychiatric residents and third year medical students there on rotation. I began providing them with training seminars on a variety of topics such as clinical interviewing, hypnosis and biofeedback, pain management, psychological assessment, and others. This then led to an adjunct faculty appointment at the medical school. I continued providing training to medical students and residents but also began providing weekly supervision to an intern in clinical psychology. I discovered a great affinity for these activities.

Another interesting event occurred at around this time. My direct supervisor, the chief psychologist, told me during one of our conversations after a staff meeting that she was finishing a term on the state psychological association’s ethics committee. I asked her about this and she described her activities. Having never done anything like that before, I asked her how one gets involved in such activities. She said “you just have to be nominated for it” and offered to do so for me. Not stopping to think about what I might be getting myself into I quickly said yes (no big surprise to those who know me!). I was selected for a three-year term on the Maryland Psychological Association ethics committee and soon after attended my first meeting. As I became more involved on the ethics committee I saw a great need for education of psychologists, both MPA members and those serving on the ethics committee, rather than just the primarily adjudicative role of the ethics committee at that time. I worked on and created a training manual for ethics committee members and began a series of question and answer columns on ethics issues and dilemmas in the association’s newsletter. After a short time these brief columns grew into articles as I learned more and my interest in ethics grew. Over time, I began providing ethics workshops to several psychology internships in the area as well as continuing education workshops for psychologists. I also began giving presentations at conferences and expanding my writing to psychology journals.

All continued to grow my practice. I found the varied activities of my practice, the hospital, supervising an intern, training students, providing workshops, and professional writing to be a great balance for me. My activities in each area grew and I found myself looking forward to work each day and to my many varied activities. I had learned that providing 40 hours of individual psychotherapy each week was far beyond my capabilities and that attempting to do so would quickly lead to burnout. I also found that I thrived on the professional and personal interactions and relationships I was involved in through my various roles.

Over time, I expanded my role as an ethics educator and developed a professional reputation in this area. I had provided continuing education workshops to many psychologists throughout the state and had an ethics article in each issue of the association’s newsletter year after year. I was then contacted by a local college to teach a Masters-level ethics course in their summer session to fill in for a faculty member who was ill. It seemed like an exciting possibility, and as my wife pointed out, a much better working environment than the state hospital (I assumed it would be less likely that I would be assaulted by a graduate student than one of our inpatients). I taught the course and found it to be a tremendous experience. I found that I love teaching (there were hints of that in providing supervision, training students, and giving workshops) and really enjoyed the students. It was a very positive experience. The administration and students were pleased with me as well and I was offered an adjunct position to teach two courses per semester. I did that for one year and it went very well. I also began serving on thesis and dissertation committees and found this work with students to be enjoyable and rewarding as well. I was then offered a position on the Core Faculty (a non-tenure track time position). I’ve been doing that for seven years now and recently became a full professor. The Core Faculty position carried with it full-time benefits and a significant time commitment. So, I resigned from my state hospital position and opened an new chapter in my professional life.

I teach one full day each week and work in my practice the other four weekdays. As part of my teaching I also involve students in my professional writing and my presentations at APA conventions. I’ve had the great pleasure of being involved in a number of mentoring relationships and find that to be one of the highlights of my professional work. While not a formal part of my job description, this is certainly one of the more rewarding aspects of my work.

It also turns out that my participation on the state psychological association ethics committee was just the beginning of involvement in the profession of psychology. I chaired that committee, was appointed to serve on the board of the association, and then ran for and won elected office, culminating in service as President of the association and at present, service as Representative to APA Council. During those years I also became involved in APA Divisions 31 and 42, the two divisions that represent my professional activities and identity. I have found this to be a professionally and personally rewarding set of experiences. The friendships I have made are wonderful and I’ve greatly enjoyed the opportunity to contribute to the profession.

Throughout all this time I also strove to maintain a balance between my professional and personal lives. I have endeavored to take time for myself and my family, I have coached my children’s soccer teams for almost ten years, and I’ve remained active in their schoolwork and religious education. I’ve worked hard to be sure that work didn’t intrude too much into family activities. I found that it would be easy to just see one more patient, then one more, then one more, then one more, …. Setting limits was always a conscious effort, but well worth all the rewards. When I was first starting out in practice I was very reluctant to turn down a referral. I didn’t want to disappoint referral sources and was working hard to build my clientele so I could actually earn a good living. But, I would have potential patients wanting to be seen at all times of day that were convenient to their schedules. I would end up seeing patients at 8:00am and 8:00pm with others spread out in between those times. I quickly learned that I couldn’t keep up that schedule and maintain my sanity and have any kind of family life. After a while, I learned to set better limits with patients, better managing my own insecurity about losing patients if I didn’t cater to all their stated needs. Interestingly, over time, I found that patients were generally accepting of the limits I set. I also think it was beneficial for them to see me model appropriate self-care and limit setting. They easily were able to understand my need to only work until a certain time and that it might not be in their best interest to meet with me after twelve hours at work. They also have been receptive when I have explained that this was my family time; hopefully, more good role modeling behavior as well.

The combination of various clinical and professional activities has helped me to achieve a balance that has been gratifying, rewarding, and enjoyable. I have found that my teaching makes me a better clinician and my clinical work makes me a better teacher. The balance of diverse activities has assisted me to prevent burnout, to enjoy being a psychologist, and to continue grow and develop as a psychologist. While each psychologist must figure out her or his own balance of activities to help ensure continued professional development, doing so is of great value and will not be regretted.

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