O'Grady Psychology Associates

Psychotherapy, Marriage Counseling, Neuropsychological Assessment

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Our Evolving Field

Our Evolving Field

For several years every spring I have spoken at Career Day at our local high school and middle school. Men and women representing many diverse jobs assemble in the multi-purpose room for coffee in the morning before being dispersed to the assigned classrooms to speak with high school students about our jobs. To my delight, on each occasion, the Psychologist profession had the largest turnout.

One of the most common questions asked is, “Why did you choose to become a psychologist?” I love this question. It challenges on many levels. Being careful to not discourage, I avoid the words HMO, managed care, reimbursement and collection problems. I also tread lightly when discussing the different degrees and licenses of those who work in mental health. I refrain from talking about unpaid internships and the cost of graduate school. Those in the room are clearly interested in our profession––they are learning about themselves, learning how they are like or unlike others, discovering the patterns that underlie the complexities of how we think and feel. I see in these kids the excitement that launched me, and others like me, into a career in psychology.

We are indeed a privileged profession. In each person who comes to us, there lies a story to be found. The story usually has a universal motif and a theme distinctive to that individual life. When I describe our work to students, I often use the image of having a stack of books on my table, and each hour I take down a different volume, open to a chapter that flows from the previous hour a week apart. Most men and women who come to us for therapy seek wholeness, and the stories that unfold bit by bit, hour by hour, nourish the thirst for, as Dante wrote, “the love that moves the sun and the other stars.”

Our field is rapidly changing with the addition of neurocognitive sciences, and changes in diagnostic criteria and treatment strategies for a number of disorders. Research is continually evolving and our access to information and databases is unparalleled. It is exciting to see the eagerness of high-school students, and graduate students as they explore the field of psychology.

The Contra Costa Psychological Association welcomes graduate students and early career psychologists to our organization. We have seasoned and accomplished members who are working on mentoring. Both the California Psychological Association and the American Psychological Association have made great efforts to help younger psychologists to find work. These organizations offer programs in mentorship, leadership, grant writing, and free legal and ethical hotlines. In addition, they provide tangible, value-added resources such as financial planning, debt reduction, and loan repayment. Resources such as these are immensely valuable at a time when job stability is tenuous.

Originally published: President’s Message Spring 2012

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Writing About Our Work: Psychologists as Writers

Writing About Our Work: Psychologists as Writers

The summer solstice has come and gone.  I hope that the long warm evenings are calling you to outside and you are able to find time to enjoy the summer we thought would never arrive.

In early June we hosted our continuing education program with a salon-style meeting at my home.  The presentation, “Authors in Conversation: Publishing in Psychology,” attracted members who have an interest in writing.  In contrast to our usual extravagant Lafayette Park Hotel venue, we thought the intimate and informal home environment might foster a greater sense of community as well as a more discussion-based space for information sharing.   Our panel members included authors Drs. Andy Pojman, Rhoda Olkin, Ed Abramson, and Ann Steiner. We had the opportunity to ask these experienced writers about the fragile balance of maintaining a healthy psychotherapy practice and making time to write.

Their personal accounts and ideas, peppered with witty anecdotes, proved to be informative and fun.   There were many funny stories about all the creative ways to avoid sitting down to write.

The majority of psychologists practice in isolation.  At the heart of psychotherapy is confidentiality.  Rich with poignancy and vivid in pathos, we have profound and even sacred moments that are worthy of re-telling.  However, we go home at the end of a day and are bound by our code of ethics to not talk about what we do.

I have often been with friends who ask how my day was, and I smile and say “it was a good day, or it was a full day”, or another equally vague response.   Early in my career, I would have to monitor myself at book groups and dinner parties to not begin a conversation with, “I had this patient who…” As psychologists, we are thus unable to contribute much of what we do during our workday, despite the often interesting and touching moments that make up our working life.

Yet we can write about our work.  All psychologists have experience in writing.  To become a psychologist we had to write a dissertation.  It is one of the things we did that separates us from other mental health professionals.  We may have agonized over the dissertation, and then once completed, we quickly moved onto the “real work” of helping our patients.

Building a full-time practice left little time for writing.  Yet as our authors described, making the time to put into words what we do allows us to develop as a professional and to contribute our expertise to our peers and the public.

President’s Message:  Published in the Contra Costa Psychological Association Newsletter July 2011