Barbara Hardin
Barbara Hardin, Ph.D.
St. Mary's University
Director Student Psychological and Testing
Mobile: 210-436-3135
St. Mary's University
Director Student Psychological and Testing
Mobile: 210-436-3135
I completed my internship at the Austin State Hospital in Austin, Texas, and then
spent an ABD year at the Brown School in San Marcos, Texas, a long term residential
treatment center for children and adolescents. While I was living in Austin, I finished
my dissertation with some interesting twists. I calculated the statistical analysis
using a dummy terminal at my friend’s house hooked up to the University of Texas main
frame to enter the data. The analysis was done in the breathtaking speed of 20 minutes
without any punch cards! And I didn’t have to go to the creepy computer center and
punch the cards. Then, in further science fiction, my dissertation became the first
dissertation that was word processed, not typed on a typewriter, to be accepted by
the Graduate School at LSU. The third point is that I was looking at an aspect of
the cognitive triad in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and some professors on my committee
thought that theory was a “flash in the pan” and not really something to write a dissertation
about!!
But I finished, and I moved back to New Orleans to work at the Westbank Center for Psychotherapy/Jo Ellen Smith Hospital. I was supervised by Ruth Morehouse, Ph.D, an LSU alumni, and worked with Kim Van Geffen, another LSU alumni. I really thought I was going to do inpatient work as a primary focus until along came managed care and hospitals begin to fall apart. I shifted more to outpatient work, with an emphasis on adolescents, young adults and some neurological patients for therapy. After my daughters were born, I worked with Wes Brockhoeft, Ph.D.’s outpatient group, including Dr. John Monguiollot for a while and then out on my own. In all, I was in private practice in New Orleans for 13 years seeing adults, children and adolescents for psychotherapy and psychological evaluations. I loved seeing patients, consulting with schools and completing psychological evaluations, but I was very disillusioned with the false promises managed care had made.
Meanwhile, in my personal life, a lot happened in New Orleans. I met and married my husband of almost 29 years, Stephen Perez. Steve is also an LSU alumni and has mainly worked in academic IT settings. Our two daughters were born in New Orleans. We became lifelong friends with the doctors Jim and Paula Gay, and Jim is our youngest daughter, Laura’s, godfather. Laura is an architect in Austin, Texas and earned her B. Arch from LSU (2011) where she was the Outstanding Student in the College of Arts and Design her sophomore year, so we are also LSU parents. Our oldest daughter is completing her MBA in Energy at Texas Christian University in Ft. Worth, Texas, where she works for an oil company.
Going back to the professional story: In the spring of 1995, my private practice office burned (really—how often have you heard of that happening?) and my husband got a wonderful job offer at Trinity University in San Antonio. I was familiar with Trinity because Dr. Timmons’ children had all attended college there, so I was very enthusiastic. My girls were young, I was tired of arguing with insurance companies and I decided to make a career move. I always liked the practicum at the “Infirmary” , so I applied for a director’s position of St. Mary’s University Counseling Center as a long shot. They hired me and I have been here 19 years as the director of the St. Mary’s Psychological and Testing Services.
College mental health has been the best part of my career. This position has allowed me to use all my clinical skills and development some new administrative ones. I still do psychotherapy regularly; clinical supervision of doctoral practicum students, predoctoral interns and new professionals; lots of community mental health through prevention outreach efforts; lots of crisis management and consultations. I often recall two things on the way to work: when I was an 18 year old freshman at LSU, I was pretty clueless about things; I was afraid that when I made this transition that I wouldn’t get to see real psychopathology. I couldn’t have been more wrong about that!
I have been active in the professional organizations for counseling center directors and have presented many times at the national conference, the Association of College Counseling Center Directors (AUCCCD). I have also been president of the Texas University and College Counseling Directors’ Association. I oversee disability services and “high stakes testing” such as LSAT, etc. as well as mental health. I was on the national review board for The College Board’s program for students with disabilities for 10 years. I also am one of three college level population trainers for the Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC), a division of SAMSHA. I participated in a Treatment Intervention Program (TIP) development for substance abuse through SAMSHA, working on the multicultural and group therapy program. (SAMSHA is a division of NIMH).
One of the really fun parts of working at a university is that I have had the opportunity to teach 39 courses over the years. I have mainly taught Rorschach and personality assessment at the graduate level, but I have also taught graduate level physiological psychology, neuropsychology and intelligence testing. At the undergraduate level, I have mainly taught abnormal and physiological psychology. I was on the university IRB for 10 years and directed a couple of masters’ theses, so I even used my LSU research skills.
I am interested in the value of good psychological assessments, so have developed a practicum training program for doctoral students from a nearby university, Our Lady of the Lake. I still do psychological testing from time to time myself, both to keep my skills fresh and to earn some extra money. Testing has been good to me! I even know the new R-PAS system for the Rorschach.
I appreciated how kind and mentoring our LSU professors were. Dr. Dawson taught me to ask for payment for services, how to set up a practice and was personally supportive of me during a difficult time. Dr. Timmons inspired me to change my major to psychology long ago as an LSU undergrad and was my role model for teaching. Dr. Sue Jensen probably had the longest reaching influence over me because I still have my practicum folder from the “Infirmary” in my drawer. I loved the way she both challenged and nurtured us, and she taught me the incredible value of college mental health interventions…and I am a college counseling center director after all. Dr. Moody gave me the best advice about dissertation defenses and oral exams….”it’s like a basketball game…just run out the clock. Let the professors argue among themselves….it takes up a lot of time….” I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone in Baton Rouge again. It will also be lovely to be drinking together again without having to complete a major exam first!
But I finished, and I moved back to New Orleans to work at the Westbank Center for Psychotherapy/Jo Ellen Smith Hospital. I was supervised by Ruth Morehouse, Ph.D, an LSU alumni, and worked with Kim Van Geffen, another LSU alumni. I really thought I was going to do inpatient work as a primary focus until along came managed care and hospitals begin to fall apart. I shifted more to outpatient work, with an emphasis on adolescents, young adults and some neurological patients for therapy. After my daughters were born, I worked with Wes Brockhoeft, Ph.D.’s outpatient group, including Dr. John Monguiollot for a while and then out on my own. In all, I was in private practice in New Orleans for 13 years seeing adults, children and adolescents for psychotherapy and psychological evaluations. I loved seeing patients, consulting with schools and completing psychological evaluations, but I was very disillusioned with the false promises managed care had made.
Meanwhile, in my personal life, a lot happened in New Orleans. I met and married my husband of almost 29 years, Stephen Perez. Steve is also an LSU alumni and has mainly worked in academic IT settings. Our two daughters were born in New Orleans. We became lifelong friends with the doctors Jim and Paula Gay, and Jim is our youngest daughter, Laura’s, godfather. Laura is an architect in Austin, Texas and earned her B. Arch from LSU (2011) where she was the Outstanding Student in the College of Arts and Design her sophomore year, so we are also LSU parents. Our oldest daughter is completing her MBA in Energy at Texas Christian University in Ft. Worth, Texas, where she works for an oil company.
Going back to the professional story: In the spring of 1995, my private practice office burned (really—how often have you heard of that happening?) and my husband got a wonderful job offer at Trinity University in San Antonio. I was familiar with Trinity because Dr. Timmons’ children had all attended college there, so I was very enthusiastic. My girls were young, I was tired of arguing with insurance companies and I decided to make a career move. I always liked the practicum at the “Infirmary” , so I applied for a director’s position of St. Mary’s University Counseling Center as a long shot. They hired me and I have been here 19 years as the director of the St. Mary’s Psychological and Testing Services.
College mental health has been the best part of my career. This position has allowed me to use all my clinical skills and development some new administrative ones. I still do psychotherapy regularly; clinical supervision of doctoral practicum students, predoctoral interns and new professionals; lots of community mental health through prevention outreach efforts; lots of crisis management and consultations. I often recall two things on the way to work: when I was an 18 year old freshman at LSU, I was pretty clueless about things; I was afraid that when I made this transition that I wouldn’t get to see real psychopathology. I couldn’t have been more wrong about that!
I have been active in the professional organizations for counseling center directors and have presented many times at the national conference, the Association of College Counseling Center Directors (AUCCCD). I have also been president of the Texas University and College Counseling Directors’ Association. I oversee disability services and “high stakes testing” such as LSAT, etc. as well as mental health. I was on the national review board for The College Board’s program for students with disabilities for 10 years. I also am one of three college level population trainers for the Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC), a division of SAMSHA. I participated in a Treatment Intervention Program (TIP) development for substance abuse through SAMSHA, working on the multicultural and group therapy program. (SAMSHA is a division of NIMH).
One of the really fun parts of working at a university is that I have had the opportunity to teach 39 courses over the years. I have mainly taught Rorschach and personality assessment at the graduate level, but I have also taught graduate level physiological psychology, neuropsychology and intelligence testing. At the undergraduate level, I have mainly taught abnormal and physiological psychology. I was on the university IRB for 10 years and directed a couple of masters’ theses, so I even used my LSU research skills.
I am interested in the value of good psychological assessments, so have developed a practicum training program for doctoral students from a nearby university, Our Lady of the Lake. I still do psychological testing from time to time myself, both to keep my skills fresh and to earn some extra money. Testing has been good to me! I even know the new R-PAS system for the Rorschach.
I appreciated how kind and mentoring our LSU professors were. Dr. Dawson taught me to ask for payment for services, how to set up a practice and was personally supportive of me during a difficult time. Dr. Timmons inspired me to change my major to psychology long ago as an LSU undergrad and was my role model for teaching. Dr. Sue Jensen probably had the longest reaching influence over me because I still have my practicum folder from the “Infirmary” in my drawer. I loved the way she both challenged and nurtured us, and she taught me the incredible value of college mental health interventions…and I am a college counseling center director after all. Dr. Moody gave me the best advice about dissertation defenses and oral exams….”it’s like a basketball game…just run out the clock. Let the professors argue among themselves….it takes up a lot of time….” I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone in Baton Rouge again. It will also be lovely to be drinking together again without having to complete a major exam first!