Sneak Peek at a University Psychologist’s Day

Annmarie Wacha-Montes
Photo from the CAPS website

I first met Annmarie Wacha-Montes during my two-and-a-half-day Peer Mental Health Educator Training this past winter break. During that period, I got to know some of her work background. She introduced herself as a licensed clinical psychologist, and as the assistant director for the community-based services in Counseling, ADAP, and Psychiatric Services (CAPS). Together with Francesca Maresca, the director of the Health Outcomes, Promotions, and Education (HOPE), they trained us to be mental health educators. 

As Annmarie presented some information about one of the workshops offered in the program, a sound blared from her bag. Someone was trying to reach her by phone. After checking who the phone call was from, she excused herself and had Francesca took over the presentation. After the phone call, she stepped back into the room and informed us that she had to leave. There was a crisis on campus she needed to attend to. She left in a hurry, and didn’t return until a couple of hours later, looking a bit disheveled compared when she left. It was obvious that what she responded to was quite a stressful situation for her, as well.

As someone who aspires to become a clinical and community psychologist, I sat in the conference room wondering if a situation like that occurred in Annmarie's daily work life. I got curious, wondering how her typical day looked like. So, after exchanging loads of e-mails to coordinate our schedules, I was fortunate enough to get an interview with her today.

Interview Highlights

On describing her current occupational roles  

I offer individual and group therapy. I offer consultation for faculty and staff when they are concern about a student. In addition, I also provide assessments. So, if someone is interested in getting connected to our services, I get to know who they are and what’s been going on, how long has it been going on, and we, together, put our heads to create an action plan. And sometimes. I will recommend the students to XYZ, depending on what is helpful for them. I, also, attends group & staff meetings here at the counseling center. 

As an Assistant Director for community-based services, whenever we get an outreach request, or workshops, presentation, or training on campus, then, they get filtered through me. And, I identify whom within our staff would be the best to fulfill that need. I, also, provide evening on-calls, which I am on-rotation with the other staff members. I help with any critical incidents on campus. If there’s a large event, then I help provide response, prevention for those people impacted. I do some research. And I’m involved with some large-scale projects within the university.

This was definitely my reaction when Annmarie described her roles and responsibilities. After telling her that, she told me that she might still have missed a couple tasks she was entitled to do.

On what lead her to pursue a career in the field of Psychology and which life events contributed to her professional identity today

I was always really interested in helping… I knew that mental health existed, and I felt like it was important to provide support for people’s overall health and wellness… 

When I was in a graduate school, I worked at an eating disorder clinic. I worked from four to twelve, at night. And I noticed a lot of the women, who had experience trauma, previous trauma, were really struggling, late at night, with symptoms of PTSD. That was really important.  That really played an important role for me, because I thought, “Wow! This is just people coming in for eating issues, and there is such an history of trauma there”. It was really important for me to kind of figure out what was the best approach to help people who’ve been through trauma in their lives… That was a pretty big shift for me. 

Also, in college, I volunteered to work at a jail. One of the things I was hearing from the inmates was ‘how to make decisions and ambivalent they are about making changes in their lives and how hard it was’. So, I thought, “Wow! How do you help people change their behaviors?” Like, that is so hard. If you think about any of the basic things we have to do in our lives, people are ambivalent about changing. But, if I could gain skills to figure out how I can help someone change... So, I purposely chose to go to the graduate school I had to learn about motivational interviewing. And, that was a specific skill that has been really helpful for me.

See the video below to see how training as a psychologist or a therapist help other people.

On her typical work day

It varies. It could be a few… It could be rounding a group. Doing one or two evaluations or in-take appointments with students, and identify what their needs are, and what would be my recommendation. I will, also, be doing individual therapy. I could be reaching out to different associations, like the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, to see what different campaigns we can consider on our campus.

On her attitude about her work

I knew that I didn’t want to only do one thing. I know I didn’t want to just only do individual therapy for the whole day. I knew I wanted something that was pretty eclectic, and so, I definitely feel like I have that here (at CAPS). And that what’s make me really happy, being here, that I get to do a lot and work with a lot of people. And that’s been really fun.

On how she handles all her workload and responsibilities

I know it is important that I take care of myself. So, I do a lot of family time. And, I do yoga, kind of unwinding and allowing myself to take a break. Otherwise, you know, I wouldn’t be practicing what I preach.

On her advice to undergraduates, in general

It’s really important to think about what you like doing. Know what are your strengths, your weaknesses or the areas you don’t love as much or get frustrated with, and then try your best to match that with a profession and, as well, as a setting. Talking about what your concerns are about the career, or about the job, to people in and out of the field, and especially to your families and those around you are important. The more you expose yourself to the endless possibilities of what’s out there, career-wise, then people (in general) won’t feel so like stuck doing one thing that don’t fit their personality and outlooks in life.

Overall, I’m glad that I did this interview with Annmarie. As we wrap up the interview, I asked Annmarie if she had any last comments she wanted to say, and she said she did. She said, “I think this (psychologist) is a great profession. And I’m happy with what I do”. That statement warmed my heart. I will never forget the image of how Annmarie’s face lit up as she talked about her daily work activities. She definitely is having a wonderful time despite all the workload and time constraint. I want to experience that kind of happiness while I work as a psychologist in the future, as well. I aspire to be a psychologist like her.