Forest Institute poised for next phase of growth

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In the past two decades, Forest Institute of Professional Psychology has not grown in small steps, but giant leaps. The first Springfield classes were held in borrowed space. Now, the graduate school of psychology boasts a clinical service building on Campbell Avenue and a 43,000-square-foot facility on 53 acres in southwest Springfield.|ret||ret||tab|

"In 1984, we started with an experimental group," said President Dr. Richard Cox. "Qualified applicants attended our orientation program. We had a total of six sessions and invited Springfield's most prominent psychologists to teach these rigorous classes ... The 60 students took entrance exams, and 42 were admitted to our charter class. This fall, our total student body is projected to exceed 300."|ret||ret||tab|

Forest Institute also had campuses in Hawaii, Illinois and Alabama, but major changes in 1992 consolidated the organization into one school in Springfield.|ret||ret||tab|

According to Marcie Johnson, executive coordinator for the institute, that period in time was "financially bleak, but there was never a need to file for bankruptcy."|ret||ret||tab|

With Forest Institute's reorganization, Cox was promoted from dean of the Springfield campus to president of the school.|ret||ret||tab|

"It takes millions of dollars to restructure and get an organization of this magnitude going, but we were so committed to it that we went without. People worked for a brief time without pay. My wife and I pledged our home. We were putting our lives on the line," he said.|ret||ret||tab|

The community rallied around Forest Institute; bankers, civic leaders, and the school's trustees put up money. Jim Neely volunteered service as the school's financial officer. "Jim helped me get the organization back on its feet financially," Cox said.|ret||ret||tab|

With financial insecurities a distant memory, Forest Institute continues to provide services at free or significantly reduced rates to the general public.|ret||ret||tab|

"Because we are a training facility, we are not out to make money," Johnson said. "We are a non-profit group that wants to provide a service to the community as well as hands-on experience to our students."|ret||ret||tab|

"I don't know how to begin to calculate the hundreds of thousands of dollars in donated services. Many years ago, we estimated over $300,000 in free services for the community," Cox said.|ret||ret||tab|

Through Reaching Out to Rural Ozarks, one of several Forest programs, teams of graduate students, supervised by licensed professionals, supply the area with counseling, testing and assessment services. |ret||ret||tab|

As a result of Forest's practitioner model, graduates leave prepared to practice. |ret||ret||tab|

Their internship placement, a national matching program like medical school admission, has had an almost 100 percent match rate for the past four years. According to Cox, a contributing factor is Forest's clinical experience requirement. Students log 1,500 to 1,800 hours of hands-on, supervised experience. |ret||ret||tab|

"Many of our graduates go out into other religious and community organizations here in the Ozarks," Cox said.|ret||ret||tab|

Dr. Mark Skrade, a member of the charter class and Forest's dean, agreed. "When you look at Forest's impact on Springfield, you literally have to think of thousands of people impacted by its presence."|ret||ret||tab|

Forest has cultivated a national presence. Graduates are at institutions such as Sloan-Kettering, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Harvard and Yale. |ret||ret||tab|

Cox recently received one of his profession's highest honors, the American Psychological Association Presidential Citation. |ret||ret||tab|

"His vision, wisdom and strong leadership have transformed the small campus established in 1983 into a professional school recognized nationally for its quality education and dedication to serving the human need," said Dr. Patrick DeLeon, APA president.|ret||ret||tab|

As Forest's reach broadens, it will also expand its programs in fields such as administration, child care and pastoral care. In addition, the school is in phase one of a physical expansion plan.[[In-content Ad]]