WHY - Dr Craig Walker.

Allow me to introduce myself.

Howdy there! Rather than blather when we meet, I thought it would be helpful to discuss my background, training, and methods.

I have had several complete careers in addition to mental health, including lecturing at the college level and three command tours with the United States Army Guard and Reserves. My love of the arts to include writing and performing music, sustains me in my free time, as does parenting and husbanding.

My path to Psychology and Psychotherapy was slightly unconventional, as I had previously completed degrees in English on a PhD track in Literature. Coincidentally, I spent a summer reading the collected works of Carl Jung (a Swiss Psychologist, who studied under and eventually broke with Sigmund Freud) and become fascinated with the confluence of Arts and Psychology. My first real teaching involved individual tutoring in Special Education and English Composition, where I would frequently encounter learning disabilities and emotional frustration—I was essentially doing psychotherapy, and really enjoyed it.

Subsequent to publications and degrees (BA and MA) in Literature, I completed a post-baccalaureate BA in Pre-Professional Psychology with research emphasis, and was accepted to a demanding APA PhD Clinical Psychology program in California. I selected this program because of Jungian Psychologist Ron Teague (1948-2019), who interviewed and helped with my acceptance. Our relationship afforded challenges, made me think about what I really wanted to accomplish, and as a result, I developed competencies in Psychopharmacology, Cross-Cultural, Industrial Organizational, Forensic, and (particularly) Ecosystemic Family Therapies. I also studied with revolutionary Bay Area think tanks like the Mental Research Institute, the epicenter of Solution Focused Brief Therapy and Family Systems methods.

I do not (generally) rely on testing and psychological assessments in treatment. That said, I am qualified in all aspects—I simply learn more in 6-10 hours of therapy than any test battery will tell you, and can provided authoritative diagnoses, treatment plans, and legal recommendations with therapy-based differential diagnosis. This way, you can see a single clinician for assessment and therapy.

Having matured post-HMO, resources for insurance-paid therapy were generally limited to 6 to 10 sessions; this means a therapist has to hit the ground running. My typical treatment course will include two thorough diagnostic interview sessions, with recommendations and homework from the outset. If you are in need of or maintaining effective psychiatric medication, I speak Psychiatry and will consult with your Primary Pare or psychiatric Physician/NP. Family therapy with your support system is essential to getting medication type and dosage right, so expect your support network to participate in therapy to maximize your care. I really think therapy, change, and even life challenges are fun opportunities, despite the pain and struggle. Life is funny and stupid, and it’s okay to laugh at it and ourselves.

If I help you with nothing else, you will leave therapy with your own “ this is me list,” with which you can hold yourself accountable and warn the others in your life about. We cannot control other people, but we can manage how much of our own paint spills onto other people’s carpets. If you are single, you will leave with safety protocols for dating and intimacy. If you are partnered, you will learn to replace blame with accountability and grace.

For those who care, I’m a military man. I spent my early career years in the Montana Army National Guard becoming an Armor/Infantry Lieutenant through University of Montana, ROTC. I paused my Military career as a first lieutenant to focus on teaching, graduate studies, and focusing on being around for my kids in their infancy. I did return to service from 1998 to 2008 as a Captain, officially retiring in 2019. I maintain my lifetime Army Commission from the US Senate. Although I punched my command tickets and could have attained Colonel or General, I have never regretted placing family in front of career. On the contrary, I encourage fathers to take their turn as primary parents when it’s time for mom to go back to work. Men learn from fathering and husbanding—easily as important for our development as our ladies. It is a dangerous thing to be absent from your family when your children are developing, and I was most fortunate to never be deployed, and thank my many officer and enlisted military colleagues for their sacrifice and service overseas.

My background in community mental health and private practice includes an effective Family Therapy pilot program with the Montana Department of Corrections from 1999-2002 in the Flathead, where we reduced out-of-home placement costs by a factor of 3:1. I followed this with 17 years of private practice in the Bigfork Area. I remain grateful to Family Physicians in the Flathead for team efforts in caring for patients.

Dr. Kelly Walker DNP, FNP-C and I continue this tradition at Walker Wellness, managing family mental health as an essential component of your comprehensive primary care.

Welcome to Walker Wellness, we are so excited you are here!

Craig