Carolyn Barcus
Recruiting
and Supporting American Indian
Psychologists
Carolyn
Barcus, EdD, is a member of the Blackfeet Tribe of
Northern Montana. Her Blackfeet name is Bear Woman.
Barcus has dedicated her career to improving the
mental health and well being of indigenous people in
North America. She has been doing this by recruiting
American Indians into psychology and supporting them
so they can successfully complete their education. She
has taught many undergraduate and graduate classes
over the years and still continues to teach. Barcus
has also played a major role in bringing together
American Indian psychologists, American Indian
psychology students and others who are dedicated to
enhancing the health of Native people. In addition,
she has worked at the development of American Indian
psychology as a science.
For many years Barcus provided direct care through her own
part-time practice, working primarily with women who were
sexually abused as children. Her interest in sexual abuse
developed while working with perpetrators and survivors of
sexual abuse at the Intermountain Sexual Abuse Treatment
Center. “Sexual abuse is a world of pain,” she says.
Currently Barcus is Co-Director of the American Indian Support
Project (AISP),
which she was instrumental in developing. From 1991
until 2008, she was Director of AISP. For 5 years before
that she was assistant director of the program. Barcus
is proud of the work that the 35 graduates of AISP are
doing in Native communities in the United States and
Canada, providing much needed psychological services and
serving as role models. Four AISP students are currently
working on their graduate degrees. Barcus is encouraged
by the growing numbers of bright Indian people who are
seeking careers in psychology. “Most Native people who
are applying to our program are interested in making
things better for Native people,” she says.
Bring
Leaders in Psychology Together
Every year,
since 1987, Barcus and the AISP students have hosted the
annual Convention of American Indian Psychologists and
Psychology Graduate Students at Utah State. (Since 1997
the Society of Indian
Psychologists has
co-hosted the convention.) In addition to making
presentations on general topics in practice and
research, the psychologists focus on the developing
science of American Indian psychology. Prior to the
convention there is a weekend retreat at Bear Lake that
includes ceremonies and talks by a medicine person.
Barcus was President of the Society of Indian Psychologists
from 1999-2001. Even when she has not been an officer, she
has played a leadership role.
From Physical Education to Psychology
Raised on the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana, Barcus
earned her bachelor’s degree in physical education at
Montana State University. She taught junior and senior high
school for 7 years and then earned her masters’ degree in
physical education at Utah State. While in the masters’
program, Barcus coached the women’s tennis team and the
women’s bowling team. As she traveled around the country
with these teams, she was able to help team members with
their sport-related problems, such as how to hit a stronger
overhead shot in tennis. However, she didn’t feel equipped
to help the young women with the problems they brought to
her regarding their emotional lives, for example,
depression and relational problems. Consequently, Barcus
started taking courses in counseling and ended up earning
the last EdD in psychology at Utah State.
Rich
Background
Barcus’ first
part-time private practice work was with the Department of
Corrections, State of Utah. For 9 years she counseled
inmates and provided other services. In 1978, while
continuing with her private practice, she served first as a
mental health specialist and then as the service unit
director for the Indian Health Service Intermountain Tribal
School in Brigham City, Utah. Her work over the years
included administering Indian Health Service Health Center
Programs, doing in-service training, developing school-wide
treatment teams, supervising social workers, and doing
crisis intervention.
In 1985 when Barcus joined Utah State she continued to work
for IHS, now as a consultant. She also supervised USU
psychology department practicum students at Intermountain
Sexual Abuse Treatment Center where she worked from
1987-1992.
A
Love of Horses
Barcus has
a passion for horses. In fact, she admits that she is
“horse poor”. For 7 years in a row, she and friends
have ridden in increments from Logan, Utah to
Yellowstone National. (Each year they started their
ride from where they left off the previous year.)
Barcus’ goal is to reach her home on the Blackfeet
Reservation. In her retirement she wants to raise
Tennessee Walking Horses.
The profile above was written in 2007.
Update
2010
Barcus, who now is in semiretirement, reports:
We
were able to find a Native person to take my academic
position. Gayle Morse is Mohawk from New York. She is
great. Her main line of research is looking at the effects
of environmental toxins on mental health and mental
functioning. So far, semiretirement looks a lot like
work as usual, but that is fine with me. I love my
job and am very excited to have a second Native
psychologist here.”
Regarding her multi-year trek by horseback, Barcus says:
“We
are still working our way north on our ride to Canada,
which borders the North side of the Blackfeet Reservation
and the ranch where I grew up. We made it
across Yellowstone Park, skipping the “bad bear” section,
and have made it into Montana. There is no trail that
takes one across Montana that is horse friendly so we will
be piecing a route together as we
go.”