Meet Kodee Walls, PhD, ABPP, a board-certified Counseling Psychologist and the Director of Counseling and Psychological Services at Indiana University – Bloomington.
Kodee Walls, PhD, ABPP
Board Certified in Counseling Psychology
Correspondence: kodeewalls05@gmail.com
- Tell us about your current professional roles and activities.
My current role is Director of Counseling and Psychological Services at Indiana University, Bloomington. I also serve as the Vice President of Professional Practice for APA’s Society for Counseling Psychology (Division 17) and as the ECP Representative on the ABPP specialty board for Counseling Psychology.
- What do you enjoy most about your job?
I love the opportunity to support my campus community through our premier and thriving counseling center! While we are working to expand services to meet the increased demands, we are also challenging our campus community to engage in holistic well-being to decrease the negative impacts of setbacks for students. College is challenging and is meant to be! Therefore, we must be prepared to enhance the natural strength and resilience of the human experience to increase self-efficacy. Our students can do hard things because they’ve done hard things in the past.
- What motivated you to seek board certification as an early career psychologist (ECP)?
While completing my graduate degree, one of my academic advisors shared her experience of going through Board Certification. This time, for her, was also around when I completed my comprehensive exams, or “Prelims,” as we hauntingly referred to them. She is a woman who has been a Counseling Psychologist for decades. I admire and respect her, and I readily humbled myself before her. She said something to the effect of: “I haven’t experienced that much nervousness since my prelims.” At the time, that was almost a deterrent! However, once I obtained my independent license, I found myself uninspired and sought additional opportunities. Becoming board-certified was the natural next step, and it graciously challenged me to examine my identity as a professional and deepened my roots in Counseling Psychology. I feel and remain more closely connected to the field than I would have been otherwise. It’s also an interesting conversation starter with our late-career colleagues who note my “ABPP” and then share, “I thought about doing it…” to which I reply, “Why don’t you!?”
- How has board certification contributed to your professional activities?
Being board certified has contributed to my professional activities by keeping me grounded in the work. Because I have amazing opportunities to mentor other professionals beginning the certification process, review applications, and serve as an examiner during oral exams, I have ready-made opportunities to learn from my peers. While I provide therapy and supervision, my primary role is as an administrator. Without these opportunities to connect, it would be easy for key parts of my professional identity to atrophy.
- What advice would you give to psychologists or trainees interested in pursuing board certification?
Do it! Especially if you’ve recently completed your degree. You may believe that the last thing you want to do is more work, particularly if you are studying for the EPPP. But think of this process as a love letter to your past self who got you where you are today. It wasn’t without reason you chose to become a Counseling Psychologist. The field spoke to you; it aligned with your values, mores, and beliefs. Speak back to it, and be part of the ever-growing and diversified community of ABCoP.