Psychologist by Training, Bureaucrat by Practice

Communication with Congress; state and local officials; and numerous professional, advocacy, scientific, and public interest groups is essential to working on mental health and substance abuse issues at the federal policy level. The public administrator's work is diverse and fast-paced, involving issue analysis, proposal development and justification, public speaking, and dialogue with advocacy and policy analysis groups. Making decisions that will serve the public good in the long run is the core of the job. As the competition for resources escalates, the perspectives' of consumers of services and their families are important to guide decisions. In a career that is based on interactions, relationships, judgments, and evaluation of multifaceted issues, success is measured by a reputation for fairness and by accomplishments that are based on numerous individual decisions.