Brian Beaumund

About Brian: It's been eight years since Brian Beaumund graduated from the PsyD program at GSPP and his ongoing participation as a professional in the department is a testament to the passion, relationships, and respect that he developed as a student. As a familiar face to the GSPP community, Dr. Brian Beaumund is in his seventh year of co-teaching the integrative seminar with Dr. Jenny Cornish, has partnered with the IDP program and the Colorado African Organization, offers field placement opportunities for GSPP students, and has taught as an adjunct faculty in the department for seven years. His active contributions to GSPP, post-graduation, have inspired many of us and added tremendous value to our programs, partnerships, and courses.

As a licensed clinical psychologist, Brian wears many hats within the field of psychology. In his primary role, he is the director and founder of Front Range Psychological Services, a private practice in Denver that provides psychotherapy and assessment services for adults, adolescents, and children. Additionally, Brian has remained active in the Colorado Psychological Association and was recently appointed as President Elect (2021-22) for the association and will transition into the president role next year. Brian activates his love of teaching, engaging in intellectual discussion and working with the next generation by serving as an Adjunct Professor at GSPP and most recently, being named the Assessment Director of the PPC.

Proud Professional Moments: When thinking where his career has taken him thus far, Brian names a few proud moments and standout accomplishments. In 2018, he worked on a partnership program, bringing together the IDP program at GSPP and the Colorado African Organization to provide mental health support to refugees in Southeast Denver. The program also focused on delivering support to community navigators who connected clients with resources around asylum, citizenship, and psychological services, as individuals in these roles are often exposed to secondary trauma. Over the two-year partnership, Brian supervised and mentored IDP students as they gave this community support around coping skills, self-care best practices, boundary-setting and more.

Brian also has a palpable joy and affinity for teaching. Having taught as an adjunct for nearly seven years at GSPP, Brian is "constantly impressed" by the GSPP students and their bright minds. When comparing his experience teaching as an adjunct at GSPP to other levels, Brian explains, "At the graduate level, this creates a conducive environment for great, thought-provoking discussions vs. filling in knowledge gaps". We applaud Brian's desire and willingness to share his expertise and enhance the experiences of those around him, from refugees, community navigators, industry peers, students, mentees, and beyond.

How GSPP Prepared Him for His Career Today: Reflecting on his time at GSPP, Brian highlights the industry-wide pressure to specialize early on. His path, however, was quite the opposite. Brian recalls that his experience in GSPP classrooms and clinics equipped him to be a generalist, or a 'jack of all trades' in the clinical sense. He fondly refers to his academic journey as a 'sample platter' approach, "I took neuro-psych, trauma, forensic and a range of other classes and field placements in my time at GSPP". The diverse academic foundation back then allows him to serve a wide array of communities, ages, and needs today.

Furthermore, various GSPP faculty along the way modeled that there is space to "engage in tough intellectual conversations and disagree with others in a respectful and professional way." This culture of respect has stuck with Brian and remained a memorable part of his GSPP experience that he attributes to his own success and style today as a professional.

What Brian wants currents students or young professionals in the field to know:

1) Early specialization is not a bad thing. Equally, if you're unsure what type of specialization you want to pursue, "It's okay!" Let Brian's academic and professional journey demonstrate that generalist training can provide you a lot of options to do a lot of different things.

2) There is often a narrative around the private practice market in Denver being "over saturated" - Brian disagrees! He would encourage you to find your niche and know that there is space for you in the Denver private practice market.

3) Brian wants to encourage recent graduates to stay active and involved in the department, local projects, or professional organizations. "Your learning doesn't stop once you graduate, and it’s our responsibility as psychologists to serve our community beyond our clinical roles", he says.