At Modern Psychiatry and Wellness, we’re proud to have such a dedicated, compassionate team of professionals to support our patients with the quality treatment they deserve. This month, we shine the spotlight on one of our Intake Assessment Specialists, Scott Halcomb. We sat down with Scott to learn about his story and experience since joining our company at the start of 2022.
What is your career and educational background?
My career path prior to Modern Psych has been rewarding. Initially, I never planned to go to college and was content with making roughly $20 per hour at a papermill I joined in 1983. However, I was laid-off within two months of starting, so from there I worked a couple of jobs until I ended up doing something I never wanted to do – working in a restaurant. At that point, I decided to go to college and started taking classes at Miami University in the Pre-Physical Therapy Program at the time. During a Sociology class, the Department Chair asked if I would be interested in working with teenage boys who were “one step” away from being remanded to the Ohio Department of Youth Services. I really didn’t think it would become a lifelong career. Yet, I was able to obtain my Licensed Social Worker (LSW) and have since worked as everything from a childcare worker to the Director of Foster Care and Adoptions/Acting Executive Director of Residential Services for a childhood associate’s agency.
What inspired you to pursue the career you have today?
Simply put, I have a passion to help others improve their lives for the better. I see it not as a career but as a way to live my life. Having had the opportunity to work with many pioneers in the field in my earlier years, I have been blessed with seeing the mental health system change greatly for the better.
How long have you been with Modern Psych?
I have been fortunate to be part of this amazing agency for the last 18 months starting in early January 2022. I see this as the tail end of a career that I literally started when I was 18 or so, when I was in my freshman year of college to become a physical therapist.
What is the most unique part about working for Modern Psych?
The innate compassion that the team holds for those that we serve is indescribable, yet it plays a great part in the core of what we are all about.
What is your favorite part of your job?
The people we serve, the ones that come in when they are at their lowest point in their life their “rock bottom.” The fear of change that they all have is so surreal; even the toughest have broken down and cried as they described the demons that have tormented them for their entire life. Being given the opportunity to be the first clinician they see is really being given the chance to open a person’s eyes to the fact that there is a future that is much, much better for them.
Tell us something about yourself that most people don’t know about.
I owned a firearm shop for over 15 years that I closed in 2018. I now only train people to do firearm training to help others gain their Concealed Carry Weapons Permit (CCW) or just to learn the proper safety of handling a firearm. I am and will always be an entrepreneur. I have had the chance to participate in or own numerous businesses through the years. When I see something that “perks” my interest I go for it fully. I am currently involved in a few other businesses from graphic art/content creation to the outdoors industry and website development. I have always said, “You can dream but why not just live it.”
