Central Iowa Psychological Services

Donald M. Kaesser, Ph.D.

PRIMARY SKILLS

Therapist: Individual, group, family and crisis counseling with patients from hospital, university
and general population.

Manager: Development and clinical management of partial hospitalization program and private practice groups. Hiring, evaluation, promotion and supervision of clinical and clerical staff.

Teacher: Experience teaching broad array of undergraduate psychology courses to students with wide variety of ability levels.

Workshop Facilitator: Experience in design, delivery and evaluation of Stress Management, Values Clarification and Personal Development workshops for educational, governmental and private organizations.

EDUCATION

Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology, Iowa State University, 1986. Dissertation on process dimensions in therapy.

M.S. in General Experimental Psychology, Central Missouri State University, 1972. Thesis on verbal learning.

B.S. in Chemistry, University of Missouri at St. Louis, 1967.

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PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCES: FULL TIME

1990-NOW CENTRAL IOWA PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICES, West Des Moines, Iowa.
Licensed Psychologist and Founder of CIPS responsible for prior 20 year Development and Clinical/Administrative management of 23 employees in a private practice group setting located in two locations. Now full time Psychotherapy with individuals, couples, families and groups. Psychological assessment, evaluation, supervision and training.
.

1988 - 1990 SOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICE ASSOCIATES, Des Moines, Iowa.
Licensed Psychologist. Clinical responsibilities for seven-person private practice group. Psychotherapy with individuals, couples, families and groups. Psychological assessment, evaluation and supervision.  

1986 - 1988 MERCY HOSPITAL MEDICAL CENTER, Des Moines, Iowa.
Psychologist and Clinical Director. Intensive Psychotherapy Program. Responsible for development, management, staffing and clinical aspects of three-week partial hospitalization program.  Hire, evaluate, promote and supervise clinical staff. Provide intake, assessment, group and individual therapy for Mercy Psychological Services.   Psychological evaluations and treatment/referrals for HMO subscribers.

1985 - 1986 VETERANS ADMINISTRATION MEDICAL CENTER, Knoxville, Iowa.
Psychology Intern. Major rotations in Behavioral Health Clinic, Inpatient Psychiatry, Alcohol-Drug Treatment Program and Iowa Methodist Medical Center’s Powell III.  Minor rotations in Logotherapy, Administration, Outpatient Individual and Family Clinic, and Rehabilitation Therapy.  Provided clinical services including intake, assessment and individual, group and family therapy. Facilitated inpatient group. Developed stress management program and an introductory booklet for staff use of main frame computer system.  Taught part-time in DMACC.

1972 - 1986 DES MOINES AREA COMMUNITY COLLEGE, Ankeny, Iowa.
Psychology Instructor. Senior member of six-person multi-campus psychology staff. Planned and coordinated purchase of micro-computers for psychology department. Developed item analysis of improved test construction. Active in the co-formulation of "Iowa Great Teachers Workshop." Coordinated design and delivery of Human Relations/Personal Development offering. Developed and delivered workshops. Served on numerous institutional committees in addition to 15-hour per week teaching load.

1968 - 1969 LEVER BROTHERS CORPORATION, St. Louis, Missouri.
Control Chemist. Chemical analysis of all incoming raw materials and of finished products.

1966 - 1968 PLAS-CHEM CORPORATION, St. Louis, Missouri. Research and Development Chemist. Tested paint/coating formulations. Initiated research program in polyurethane coatings. Quality control duties.

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PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCES: PART TIME

1988 - NOW WAYNE COUNTY HOSPITAL, Corydon, Iowa.
Consulting Psychologist. Diagnosis and treatment of individuals and families in rural outpatient specialty clinic.

1992 - 1994 DES MOINES MEDICAL GROUP, Des Moines, Iowa.
Consulting Psychologist. Diagnosis and treatment of individuals in nine person medical practice.

1990 -1993 MONROE COUNTY HOSPITAL, Albia, Iowa.
Consulting Psychologist. Diagnosis and treatment of individuals in rural outpatient mental health clinic.

1990 - 1992 NEW GENERATION YOUTH CENTER, Des Moines, Iowa.
Consulting Psychologist. Testing interviewing and diagnosis of all (dual diagnosis) patients age 12-19. Attend staffings and provide supervision of individual and group treatment.

1990 - 1992 WEST CENTRAL MENTAL HEALTH CENTER, Adel, Iowa.
Consulting Psychologist. Consultations with 18-person staff for testing, diagnosis and treatment/management of rural mental health center patients. Serve on Quality Assurance Committee.

1988 - 1990 DECATUR COUNTY HOSPITAL, Leon, Iowa.
Clinical Psychologist. Member of multi-disciplinary treatment team. Responsible for diagnostic intakes with children and families in FOCUS unit. Provide inpatient consultation and outpatient therapy to severely emotionally disturbed children and parents. Provide clinical supervision as needed.

1989 - 1990 IOWA METHODIST MEDICAL CENTER, Des Moines, Iowa.
Clinical Psychologist. Member of five-person multi-disciplinary diagnostic/referral team with ACES consortium. Testing, interviewing and clinical diagnosis of children.

1989 - 1990 MANNING GENERAL HOSPITAL, Manning, Iowa.
Consulting Clinical Psychologist. Testing and interview with all inpatients of Substance Abuse Treatment Unit (SAT). Provide clinical consultation to SAT and Employee Assistance Programs. Outpatient psychotherapy.

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1974 - 1981 COMMUNITY TELEPHONE COUNSELING, INC., Des Moines, Iowa.
Senior Trainer. Assisted in design and delivery of on-going training experiences for all CTC counselors. Facilitated large and small groups, did library research, served on Clinical Services Committee, telephone counselor, supervisor, feedback-group leader, workshop leader and orientation trainer.

1981 - 1982 DES MOINES CHILD GUIDANCE CENTER, Des Moines, Iowa.
Practicum Counseling Psychologist. Intake, assessment and treatment of children, adults and families. Family systems orientation. Presented Burn-Out seminar to staff. 250 hours. (Dr. Sandra Nett, Supervisor)

1978 - 1979 COMMUNITY TELEPHONE COUNSELING, INC., Des Moines, Iowa.
Practicum Trainer. Facilitated training and therapy groups. On-call responsibilities. Participated in decision making for clinical direction of agency. Designed and co-led workshops. 240 hours. (Dr. Herbert Roth, Supervisor)

1978 CENTRAL IOWA MENTAL HEALTH CENTER, Ames, Iowa.
Practicum Counseling Psychologist. Individual counseling with clientele from diverse Iowa population. Brief psychotherapy with adults having marital, sexual and general coping concerns. 80 hours. (Dr. Jan Dale, Supervisor)

1978 IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY STUDENT COUNSELING SERVICE, Ames, Iowa
Practicum Counseling Psychologist. Individual career and personal counseling with university population. Intake and treatment of 18-35 year olds with vocational and personal development concerns. 75 hours. (Walden Baskerville and Dr. Fred Borgen, Supervisors)

1979 - 1981 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES, Des Moines, Iowa.
Instructor/Workshop Facilitator. Member of interdepartmental team that negotiated a contract for design, delivery and evaluation of training workshops for state Income Maintenance and Social Workers. Contributed to design and testing of copyrighted written and video modules.

1971 - 1972 CENTRAL MISSOURI STATE UNIVERSITY, Warrensburg, Missouri.
Graduate Assistant. Responsible for scoring and statistical analysis of examinations given by instructional staff. Responsible for co-administration and security of standardized and controlled test (GRE, SCAT, Millers’ Analogy, etc.) Supervised three part-time employees.

1967 - 1968 WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, St. Louis, Missouri.
Lab Instructor in Chemistry. Arranged and supervised experiments for undergraduate lab courses. Administered tests, graded papers.

1966 - 1967 UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT ST. LOUIS, St. Louis, Missouri.
Lab Instructor in Chemistry. Taught undergraduate lab courses at freshman and sophomore levels while senior in Chemistry Department.

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PUBLICATIONS

Kaesser, D. M., Invited book review of "A Workbook to Increase your Meaningful and Purposeful Goals (MPGS) by R. R. Hutzell and M. A. Eggert. International Forum for Logotherapy. #13 (2), p. 135, 1990.

Kaesser, D. M., "The use of logotherapy in partial hospitalization program," In The Proceedings of the 7th World Congress of Logotherapy. (Finck, W.C., M. & Larson. L.D., Eds.), p. 122-126, Institute of Logotherapy Press: Berkley, CA, 1989.

Kaesser, D. M., "A view from the outside," Newsletter of the American Academy of Psychotherapists, p. 1, Vol. 34, No. 1, 1989.

Hutzell, R. R. & Kaesser, D. M., "Logotherapy: Suggested Readings," The Iowa Psychologist, Vol. 32, No. 5, 1988.

Hutzell, R. R. & Kaesser, D. M., "Frankl’s Logotheory: Suggested Readings," Nova-Psi, Vol. VI, No. 2, 1988.

Kaesser, D. M., Invited book review of "Meaning and Suffering: Comfort in Crisis through Logotherapy" by Elizabeth Lukas. International Forum for Logotherapy, Fall, 1987.

Kaesser, D. M., "Mentorship and Metamorphosis, "The Iowa Psychologist, p. 24-28, Vol. 32, No. 4, 1987.

Kaesser, D. M., "When Did I First Hear ‘Voices’," Newsletter of the American Academy of Psychotherapists, p. 2, March 1983.

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PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

American Psychological Association (APA)

Iowa Psychological Association (IPA)

Central Iowa Psychological Association (CIPA)

Viktor Frankl Institute of Logotherapy

American Academy of Psychotherapists (AAP)

Psi Beta

HONORS/ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Licensed Psychologist, State of Iowa (#550).

Certified Health Service Provider in Psychology, State of Iowa (#166).

National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology (#35192).

APA-CPP Substance Use Disorders Certificate (# AD002035).

Permanent Professional Teacher’s Certificate for Community College Teaching. (Psychology, Folder #159226).

Twice recipient of Iowa State University Summer Honorarium for Undergraduate Teachers.

State of Iowa Committee for Suicide Prevention (1987).

Committee on Scientific and Ethical Conduct of American Association of Suicidology (1986).

United States Army, 1969 to 1970. Combat Demolition Specialist one and one half years in USA and six months overseas.

Chair of the Medical Assistance Advisory Council (MAAC) for the Iowa Department of Human Services (1989-1990): Iowa Psychological Association Representative (1989-1993).

Allied Health Staff Member with hospital privileges at: Mercy Hospital Medical Center, Des Moines, Iowa Iowa Methodist Medical Center, Des Moines, Iowa Iowa Lutheran Hospital, Des Moines, Iowa Wayne County Hospital, Corydon, Iowa

For more information or to arrange an appointment, please contact us:
Central Iowa Psychological Services