A 2 a.m. phone call from the police is a routine occurrence in Calla Brodbeck Powrie’s day.
As a Designated Mental Health Professional, Powrie will go out to evaluate a patient picked up by the police or the county to determine if they ought to be involuntarily hospitalized due to mental illness. If police believe someone could be a danger to themselves or others, no matter the time of day, she will go out and evaluate them.
A Hillsdale College graduate of 2009, Powrie majored in psychology and then went on to earn a master’s degree in clinical psychology from Eastern Washington University. Upon her June 2011 graduation, Powrie was hired for her current position in Davenport, Wash.
Powrie works for a community mental health agency in a dual role of mental health counselor and designated mental health professional. As a mental health counselor, she works with high-risk, low-income children, teens, and adults in a rural community. As a DMHP, Powrie works 24-hour on-call shifts one week out of each month doing evaluations to potentially hospitalize mentally ill patients involuntarily.
This line of work never crossed Powrie’s mind until she attended graduate school.
“I always had seen myself doing therapy, but until I actually got into grad school, I didn’t recognize that this role existed,” she said. “I didn’t foresee myself working with the chronically mentally ill, and I didn’t see myself working with the legal aspect of a process like involuntary hospitalization.”
The job has challenged Powrie, but she said it is also very rewarding.
“One of the biggest things that I am continually learning is more and more compassion, particularly when working with the chronically mentally ill,” she said.
“Compassion is what you need more than anything. When the patients are lower functioning, we are working on how they are going to make sure they get groceries this week or how they will avoid getting evicted. It’s humbling and an honor that I get to help people at this level, and that they trust me with it.”
A Hillsdale College education served Powrie well in both grad school and as she continues in her career. Powrie said her time at Hillsdale was an extremely good starting point.
“I think I appreciated my education at Hillsdale tenfold when I entered grad school,” she said.
Powrie feels that Hillsdale taught her to learn first and foremost, a skill that served her very well upon entering graduate school. She said she was in a graduate program with nine other students and felt that this mindset of learning prepared her very well.
“There is little hand-holding at Hillsdale,” Powrie said. “And you’re forced, in a wonderful way, to learn how to learn.”
Powrie said she also benefitted from the strong research component within Hillsdale’s psychology program. She said she was the only student in her program that came in with undergraduate research experience.
Nancy Hankel ‘09 was one of Powrie’s best friends in college and they both studied psychology. Hankel said Powrie was a great source of support and help and encouragement.
“I remember her being the most dedicated person to studying and she was on top of everything academically,” Hankel said. “She still managed to keep a really good social life, and I was really impressed with her ability to do that.”
Hankel is not surprised by Powrie’s success.
“She’s really non-judgmental and always there to listen to you, and I think that translates really well to her therapeutic technique. She really is the one person I feel comfortable coming to about anything in my life,” Hankel said.
As Powrie’s adviser at Hillsdale since the beginning of freshman year, Professor of Spanish Carmen Wyatt-Hayes played an impactful role in her undergraduate studies.
“She has always been such a warm, supportive individual in my life,” Powrie said. “She really helped me academically, but also was a support when I would have a social or academic struggle. She was always there.”
The psychology department also pushed Powrie in her studies and career. She said a few professors pushed her beyond what she thought possible.
“I never saw myself as someone who could succeed in the research field,” she said. “But [they] really pushed me into that world and I believe that made me a more well-balanced psychology student.”
Outside of her classroom experiences, Powrie found many other growing opportunities on Hillsdale’s campus. Powrie was a member of Chi Omega sorority since her freshman year, the president of psychology honorary Psi Chi, a member of the Spanish honorary, and involved in College Democrats.
Powrie said her work is draining and a challenge, especially with the on-call shifts. Although she doesn’t see herself remaining in this role forever, she sees herself staying in the field in some form or another, and at some point teaching psychology.
“I honestly can’t picture her doing anything else,” Hankel said.
