Kathryn Brown

I changed it once officially, but considered three different degrees before settling on psychology.

When I started college I was very confident that I wanted to go into medicine to be a medical doctor. However, as school progressed I had a difficult time staying competitive for medical school and struggled with my science classes. My junior year I took a course in genetics which finally made me stop to reconsider my goals. I got the first D of my entire life in that class.

I happened to be working at the Academic and Career Information Center at the time and started thinking about how I might figure out an alternative career, especially since it was so emotionally difficult for me to consider an alternative to medicine. One day my supervisor suggested that I think about the reasons I wanted to be a doctor. When I looked at my list I realized that ALL of the reasons had to do with the relationship to the patient. I thought a long time about my interests and abilities as well as some limitations to changing majors. I decided that I did not want to add any more time to my schooling for financial reasons, so I needed to pick a major that I could still finish within the next two years.

I ended up torn between English and psychology. At the time I thought I wanted to teach at the university level. I took classes in both disciplines to see which one I liked better. By the end of that semester I decided to go into psychology. After I changed my major from biology to psychology I started the process of thinking about graduate school.

• Career Center
• Alpha Delta Pi
• French Club
• Psi Chi-International Honor Society in Psychology
• Psychology Department Research Assistant

When receiving your Ph.D. clinical or counseling psychology you have to do a year-long internship. I usually describe this like a residency for medical students. It is working for a year under close supervision for much less money than you will be making when you graduate. I worked at K-State Counseling Services in their internship program. I did all the things that other staff members did, but was supervised throughout.

I started officially applying for jobs in January 2009. I had been in graduate school both in Colorado (for my master’s) and Mississippi (for my PhD). Thus networking was built in to working on my degrees and doing practicums.

During my internship year I looked at different websites geared toward recruiting psychologists for different agencies. One website in particular was for my specialty area, which is university counseling centers. Most of the places where I interviewed required an initial phone interview before they decided to fly me in for a traditional interview. The typical interview for this level of a position is a full-day event.

During the interviews I was typically asked to present a case study about one of my clients so they could get an idea of how I worked with people. They also required that I develop a presentation geared toward educating undergraduate students about a topic area in which I was interested.

I went to lunch and dinner with different staff members. Throughout the day I was provided a campus tour and a tour of the department, and met with several key members of the organization (e.g., vice president of student affairs). Most of the interviews were done in a group setting, but some of them were one-on-one.

The entire job search took about six months, which was much longer than most people with my level of education. I spent roughly two to three hours a week looking and applying for jobs. This was in addition to working full-time. I went on four different in-person job interviews (I don't even remember how many phone interviews) before I was offered and accepted my current position.

I currently work in private practice. My typical day is seeing clients, doing paperwork, and communicating with insurance companies as needed. I may also consult with colleagues about a particular client. I enjoy the flexibility of setting my own schedule and working at my own pace.

When I worked as a licensed psychologies, my days varied quite a bit. I saw students for individual counseling every day; sometimes I will only had room for one or two clients, but then other days I see up to six. I attended meetings to help with program development in different areas. I co-lead therapy groups, and had two groups a week.

I was responsible for developing and delivering presentations to students on different mental health topics. I had two days a week where I did two hours each day of crisis coverage, meaning that I was on standby to help students who have just been sexually assaulted, feeling suicidal, homicidal, etc. Each semester I had the after-hours phone to assist students that are in crisis.

I taught a class on campus, which allowed me to take on a different role with students. I enjoyed having the opportunity to teach others about the field of psychology and help them determine if this is the right field for them.

Finally, I had a part-time private practice in which I am a co-owner. There I saw individuals and couples as well as provide ADHD assessment to members of the Manhattan community. Being a co-owner of a business requires that I know how to run the business in addition to provide the clinical work. I was in charge of developing policy and procedures, billing, marketing, etc. It has been very different experience from working within an agency as I have for the past 5 years.

I love being able to see clients in my own practice. There is a sense of ownership that I did not have when I worked in an agency. It is wonderful to have more time with clients and not feel as pressured to meet the needs of the agency. I really love the time I spend with my clients, the day goes by so quickly when I am with them.

Understanding the ever-changing landscape of insurance companies and reimbursement has been a challenge. You have to be an advocate for yourself and acknowledge your own worth. I also find it challenging at times to ask the clients directly for money, but it is a necessary part of the professional relationship. In order for clients to believe in your worth, you have to be comfortable with what you charge and why.

I didn’t expect to be in private practice. I also did not think I would be teaching as an adjunct faculty but enjoy both roles. I will say that the career change came from necessity, university counseling centers do not pay very well and I had significant student loans to cover. It became a question of what was best for my family. I never would have thought this would be where I am now.

Providing for my family has taken a more central role in my career decision making. Being in private practice allows more time with them and more comfort financially (though there are times when it feels more risky because there is no base salary and/or benefits).

I wish I would have taken a few business classes, maybe even made it a minor. I didn’t realize how much knowledge of business would play into psychology, even if working for an agency. If you want to advance knowing how to set a budget and in general run a business can help set you apart from others in the field.

Psychology of Mass Communication with Dr. Harris. I LOVED that class.