“I had been working for six years as a financial analyst, and I was beginning to think, have I made a mistake?”
Vicki Carter had finished her MBA in marketing and finance and was working for a Fortune 100 corporation. A friend asked her to participate in a volunteer event working with at-risk kids.
“I did it and I loved it,” she says.
She began to gain a lot of volunteer experience, working in women's shelters and doing domestic violence counseling. As the idea of going for her psychology degree coalesced, she knew she had to make the break from her job in finance.
“It was time to transition out of business, so I got a job working with adolescents with ADHD. I knew I had to transfer into the field to position myself to get accepted for a residency,” she said. “I knew I wanted to be a psychologist, and I took the steps necessary to get to that dream.”
Dr. Carter started her Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) degree program at Capella in 2004 and graduated in 2008.
Contributing to the field
Her mentor told her to enjoy being a student, “Because when I finished, he said, I would be sought out to do more in the field, and that has happened,” said Carter.
Carter is currently a clinician at the Community Health Center in New London, Connecticut, and is doing post-doctoral work. She also consults with the state of Connecticut's Department of Children and Families on the highly sensitive issue of reunification for families who have had children removed from the home. In addition, she teaches online courses in multicultural psychology.
It's a whole new life for Carter, but there are still some common threads. “Both finance and psychology involve analysis, and that's what I like. When I was a financial analyst, I was interpreting a company's behavior through numbers. As a counselor, I'm analyzing my clients' situations and looking for solutions.”
Carter is preparing to seek licensure as a clinical psychologist. Her next steps include a state exam and one year of supervised counseling.
“When I did the volunteer work, it was like a door opening, and I saw what it could be like. I feel like I've found my rhythm. I'm able to help people, which is what I've always wanted.”