Jane Davis and Steve Walters may have changed the location of their offices but the philosophy remains the same. Both licensed psychologists want to make quality, affordable mental-health services available to the community.
Davis and Walters share office space at Psychological Services and Consultation, which has moved into Suite One at 1910 18th St. in Great Bend. Their former location was Lizzie’s Cottage, 1315 Stone St.
Crystal Cross of Great Bend is sharing the office space, while providing tutoring services.
“Great Bend needs and deserves quality mental-health services,” said Davis, Psy.D. “I have been focusing my efforts on this since 2003.”
Prior to that time, Davis provided services in other underserved areas in the Ozarks of Missouri, metropolitan Kansas City and central Kansas.
Davis accepts new patients on a limited basis but is available for consulting and making referrals.
“One of my specialties is children with learning disabilities,” she said. “I raised two sons with this problem, which is now more easily diagnosed and remediated by specialists. This allows children to become more productive members of the community.”
Last year Davis created a not-for-profit organization in memory of her son, Webster Davis, to fund diagnosis and remediation for children whose families cannot afford the cost of treatment.
“The sudden death of my son in 2005 at age 42 certainly brought me a greater awareness of parents who go through the same thing,” she said.
In addition, Davis is involved in more marital work now than in the past. And technology is partly responsible.
“With the use of cell phones, people are struggling with issues related to texting with others outside the marriage,” she explained. “This is new in our society.”
Adoption issues have been a significant part of Davis’ practice over the years. “The problems these individuals have with their lives and relationships are not widely known except by those who treat them and those who experience the difficulties associated with adoption at any age,” she commented.
Davis realizes some people don’t want to seek a psychologist’s advice because of a perceived stigma. “People need to understand that therapy is not about being mentally ill,” she commented. “It is about finding solutions to problems with living.
“Depression and anxiety are generally related to a certain situation in life,” she elaborated. “We need to process it with someone who has insight on how to better manage this situation.”
Walters is accepting new patients and indicates he can typically see patients quickly for an initial session.
“I offer value-added service in that I allow flexibility in the length of sessions too,” Walters said. “Also, I offer psychological evaluations and some psychological testing. Psychological Services and Consultation is important to Great Bend; we truly care about our clients.”
Cross’ service offers one-on-one tutoring for children, adolescents and adults.
“This includes reading comprehension, writing and/or grammar,” Cross explained, noting classroom success improves self-esteem. “Sometimes poor performance results from an inability to imagine what has been read, or poor study skills, or the lack of someone to reinforce strengths and bolster successes.”
Cross has a master’s in English and taught secondary English for 43 years.
Davis earned: an undergraduate degree from Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge in 1972; a master’s in clinical psychology in 1975 at the University of Southwestern Louisiana in Lafayette; and her Psy.D in 1994 at Forest Institute of Professional Psychology in Springfield, Mo. Her volunteer activities include psychotherapist at the Kansas City Free Health Clinic, group facilitator at the Parenting Life Skills Center in Kansas City, Mo., coordinator and group facilitator for the Family Support Network at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Shawnee and volunteer at The Saint Francis Academy in Salina.
Walters earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1998 at Wichita State University and his master’s in clinical psychology at Emporia State University in 2003. He completed his internship/practicum in outpatient services at High Plains Mental Health Center in Hays, also in 2003. Walters’ private practice in Great Bend opened in 2010. His background includes many awards, presentations and research.