Masters in Psychology Podcast - 23: Paul Sheesley, MA, LPC, LCPC, LCADC – Ambitious and Persistent Counselor Becomes One of Washington, D.C.’s Most Notable Transformational Psychotherapists

23: Paul Sheesley, MA, LPC, LCPC, LCADC – Ambitious and Persistent Counselor Becomes One of Washington, D.C.’s Most Notable Transformational Psychotherapists

03/10/22 • 53 min

Around the age of 14, Paul Sheesley took a psychology course in high school. About the same time, his parents gave him a book on psychology for his birthday, “Guilty by Reason of Insanity: Inside the Minds of Killers” by Dorothy Otnow Lewis. After reading the book, especially the case examples and studies, he remembers “becoming fascinated with the field [of psychology].” In fact, during his senior year, he did a practicum at Spring Grove in Maryland which is the third oldest mental health facility in the nation. He became so interested in counseling and psychology that he attended McDaniel College in Westminster, MD for his BA in psychology and neuroscience. Since then, Paul has been focused, driven, and ambitious when it comes to self-development and sharpening his clinical skills and expanding his acumen. In this podcast, Paul shares his academic and professional journey in hopes that his experiences and advice will help those interested in the field of counseling and psychology. During our discussion, he shares some of the most important opportunities in his life which allowed him to expand his education, knowledge, and experience. He continued his education by attending The Chicago School of Professional Psychology for his MA in forensic psychology. During our discussion he shared his belief in applying and improving oneself by learning, and becoming proficient in, new types of therapy. He is a schema therapist and is part of the International Society of Schema Therapy. Paul is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, and a Licensed Clinical Alcohol and Drug Counselor. With almost 20 years of experience in the field of clinical psychology, Paul has his own practice in Washington, D.C. and Bel Air, MD. Through hard-work and dedication, he has built up his reputation as being one of the most notable transformational psychotherapists in the D.C. area specializing in helping politicians, C-suite executives, and other prominent people and couples to achieve balance in both their personal and professional lives. Throughout the podcast, Paul provides suggestions and advice to those interested in the field of psychology and those wanting to start their own practice. He is still fascinated with the brain and how it works and how the two hemispheres work and communicate with each other that he says a good therapist is “an amygdala whisperer.” Listen to the podcast for other advice and to find out what challenges are unique to his D.C. clients. Connect with Paul Sheesley: LinkedIn | Facebook | WebsiteConnect with the Show: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn https://vimeo.com/686592507 Interests and Specializations Paul Sheesley focuses on working with individuals, couples, and families and uses psychodynamic, emotionally-focused, cognitive behavioral theories and approaches to help people achieve balance in their personal and professional lives. His clinical work also draws on schema therapy and a variety of targeted and thoughtful interventions. Education Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Psychology/Neuroscience (2006); McDaniel College, Westminster, MD.Master of Arts (M.A.), Forensic Psychology (2010); The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, Chicago, IL.Certificate of Advanced Study in Counseling/Clinical Psychology (2013); Towson University, Towson, MD.Certified Schema Therapist (2019): The Cognitive Therapy Institute of New Jersey, Lakewood, NJ. Other Sources and Links of Interest Paul Sheesley at PsychologyTodaySchema Therapy Training Institute Podcast Transcription 00:00:13 BradleyWelcome to the Master’s in Psychology podcast where psychology students can learn from psychologists, educators, and practitioners to better understand what they do, how they got there, and hear the advice they have for those interested in getting a graduate degree in psychology. I'm your host, Brad Schumacher, and today we welcome Paul Sheesley to the show.

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22: Rhonda Goldman, PhD – Professor, Psychologist, and Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) Expert

Dr. Rhonda Goldman has known from a young age that she has always wanted to become a psychologist. Her mother was a psychologist, so she admits she “kind of had a little bit of a bird’s eye view” of the field of psychology. Dr. Goldman is a professor in the Clinical Psychology Department at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology and a licensed Clinical Psychologist in Illinois. In this podcast, Dr. Goldman discusses why she chose York University in Toronto, ON, Canada for her undergraduate degree and why she stayed at York University for her master’s and doctorate. She also reveals how exciting it was to work with Dr. Les Greenberg to further develop Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT). Dr. Goldman has taken her passion for EFT and applied it to couples and individuals. She and other colleagues formed the Emotion-Focused Therapy Institute (EFTI) which facilitates and fosters training and educational opportunities for psychologists and therapists interested in incorporating EFT into their professional practices or expanding the types of therapy they use in their own practice. Dr. Goldman also discusses other organizations that may serve as a home for people interested in Emotion-Focused Therapy and those wanting to integrate EFT or other types of therapy into their repertoire of skills. In particular, she discusses how she became a founding board member of the International Society for Emotion Focused Therapy (isEFT) and its purpose. Dr. Goldman was a past-president of the Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration (SEPI) and she discusses how this can serve as another resource or home for those who want to integrate other types of therapy into their practice. During my discussion with Dr. Goldman, she admits that she was lucky in many ways. She was lucky in that she knew while she was an undergraduate that she wanted to be a psychotherapist. Some people don’t figure out what they want to do for a living, let alone knowing what major to declare in undergraduate or graduate school. She was also lucky to have found an exciting place to study, receive good mentorship, and an exciting field of study at York University. She also mentioned that she was lucky because she graduated with her PhD with little to no debt. She said that she would hear stories of people graduating and “paying back debt for years and years” and said that wasn’t her experience as there are many opportunities and agencies to help fund your education in Canada. When asked if there was anything she wished she had known about psychology ahead of time before choosing her career path, Dr. Goldman said she wished she had known that psychology “is so diverse” and that “there’s so much you can do with a degree, especially in clinical psychology.” She then proceeded to list some of the things you can do including applied psychology, therapy, research, and neuropsychology. She states “I wish I knew how much there was to offer, I mean, and I think that’s why you have what you’re doing [the Master’s in Psychology Podcast and website] is trying to help people sort through all that psychology has and try to find their track within it, right? And so, I think that’s really great, because people need some guidance, I think along those line because there is so much out there.” Connect with Dr. Rhonda Goldman: Faculty Page | WebsiteConnect with the Show: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn https://vimeo.com/682933285 Interests and Specializations Dr. Rhonda Goldman focuses on Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) for couples and individuals. She conducts research on EFT for couples, emotional processes, empathy, and vulnerability as well as work on case formulation and the dynamics of emotion, love, and power. She travels internationally providing training workshops for mental heal professionals who want to incorporate EFT into their professional practices. Education Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Psychology (1987); York University, Toronto,

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24: Andrea D. Clements, PhD – Psychology Professor and Researcher Finds her Passion and Calling

Dr. Andrea “Andi” D. Clements was born and raised in Birmingham, AL. When she was in junior high, her dad took a job at the University of Alabama which ultimately impacted her academic and professional life. Though she did very well on her ACT and received many offers to attend college elsewhere, she admits “it was really a no brainer” to attend UA because of the cost-savings, her interest in counseling and psychology, proximity to home, and all of her friends were in the area. In this podcast, Dr. Clements shares her experiences while attending the University of Alabama for her BS, MA, and PhD. She then reveals how she ended up at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, TN and why she has stayed there for almost 27 years. Throughout this podcast, Andi shares some delightful stories and offers advice to those interested in selecting and attending graduate school for psychology and counseling. She even discusses how ETSU is different from other universities and why you should consider attending ETSU for your undergraduate or graduate degrees. Dr. Clements is currently professor and assistant chair of the psychology department at East Tennessee State University. After receiving her PhD in Educational Psychology with concentrations in industrial organizational psychology, statistics, rehabilitation, and counseling, she started as an assistant professor of educational and developmental psychology at West Georgia College. From there, she explains how and why she went to ETSU to continue her professional career as an assistant professor. She worked her way up from assistant professor to associate professor to full professor at UA and explains that she loves being “a medium fish in a medium pond” because it allows her to teach and conduct meaningful research. Andi explains how it makes more sense to her to conduct community-based, meaningful research. She states, “I now have a burning desire to answer a research question” and “that’s what keeps me going.” This is evident in her research on substance abuse and addiction, health psychology, and resilience-building. We discuss her HeART (Health, Addiction, Religion, Trauma) Lab at ETSU along with her role on the leadership team of the Ballad Health Strong BRAIN Institute which studies Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and promotes “the development and dissemination of evidence-based practices that prevent, reduce, or mitigate the negative effects of ACEs on health and health disparities.” Dr. Clements has been involved in church and faith-based work all of her life so when she decided to add the study of religious variables to her research, she attended a five-day training at Duke University. She explains how she and Becky Haas were approached to “try to mobilize the church to address addiction.” This eventually led to her and others co-founding Uplift Appalachia where she currently serves as president. Dr. Clements also talks about the opioid crisis and what Uplift is doing to help churches care for those suffering from addiction. Andi also reveals that she has been a church planter and regularly helps and mentors those living with addiction or have been incarcerated. Listen to the podcast to learn more about how Andi is applying her education and research to address addiction and mental health challenges. Connect with Dr. Clements: LinkedIn | Faculty PageConnect with the Show: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn https://vimeo.com/689512881 Interests and Specializations Dr. Andrea Clements specializes in experimental concentration and developmental psychology. She is passionate about conducting community-based research on substance abuse and addiction, health psychology, trauma-related neuropsychological development, resilience-building, and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). Education Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Interdisciplinary Counseling (1982); The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL.Master of Arts (M.A.),