Avia Collinder, Outlook Writer
Dr Kai Morgan is mother of two children, daughter Xiahn and son Xanik.
Dr. Kai Morgan with life partner Chalik and daughter Xiahn and son Xanik.- Contributed
Although she is only 32, clinical psychologist Dr. Kai Morgan has borne the titles of clinical psychologist, employed by the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI), president of the Jamaican Psychology Society and industrial psychologist in the Morgan Group of Companies, which is run by her family.
The effervescent psychologist is also the mother of two children.
Dr. Morgan, who also lectures at the University of the West Indies, is very laid-back behind her learned façade.
The young woman is a sports fanatic who adores basketball, tennis and football, and lists among her hobbies kick-boxing and the gentle art of making glass mosaics.
"I have been told that I am quite good," she boasts with a smile.
A daughter of the accomplished Jamaican Morgan family, whose group of companies include Therapedic, Therapedic Caribbean, Polyflex Foam and Jumbolon Jamaica, Kai first had her mind set on joining the family business with mom Joyceline Morgan, dad Kenneth Morgan and siblings Nayo and Aswad.
smitten
But, as she describes it, "I bucked upon psychology and was smitten."
At Huntingdon College in Alabama in the United States, where she went to do her first degree, Kai settled on a double major in business administration and psychology.
She came home for a year to do guidance and counselling at her alma mater, Immaculate Conception High School, but then returned to the United States, this time to Miami where she attended the Miami Institute of Psychology.
Between 1997 and 2001, Kai completed the clinical degree, doctor of psychology. Her family, she notes, was very supportive her dad, Kenneth Morgan, who strongly supports the concept of the 'black family' moving business from generation to generation, might have been a little disappointed at her chosen direction.
"He told us that we need to build dynasties, just like the Matalons and the Issas," Dr. Morgan explains.
Along with sister Nayo and brother Aswad, they grew up with this theme ringing in their ears.
But dad eventually extended his appreciation to her work. Today, his patience has been rewarded. At age 25, his daughter was employed at the hospital as a clinical psychologist. Seven years later, she is showing a strong desire to play her role in the family business as industrial psychologist and human resources consultant.
Set to thrive
Dr. Kai Morgan (extreme right) with daughter Xiahn and (from left) mother Joyceline Morgan and sister Nayo. To the back is brother Aswad holding Kai's son Xanik, and Kenneth Morgan, her dad.
This new role, Dr. Kai Morgan admits, is slow in evolving, but is definitely set to thrive now that she is completely comfortable with the direction her career at UHWI is taking.
Her seven-year stint at the University Hospital, she admits, has been very challenging.
Kai is the only clinical psychologist employed in the Department of Psychiatry at the hospital. Currently, there are two part-timers and there are plans in place to bring consultants on-board. The other psychologist is a child psychologist employed to Child Health.
At the University Hospital, Kai fills a dual role, working as a consultant for the hospital and carrying out lecturing duties for the University of the West Indies.
"It is not easy. We are looking at training more master's and Ph.D. students in clinical psychology," she states.
In her role as consultant to the hospital, she sees patients once each month for 40 to 50 minutes, working with them over time until their issues are resolved. Consequently, the waiting list for her services at the hospital is a very long one.
"Along with Dr. Wendel Abel, head of psychiatry at the UHWI, we are trying to find a solution."
critical integration
Dr. Morgan notes, "Mental heath in Jamaica has been about the psychiatrists, the nurse and to some extent the social worker. The psychologist has been largely missing from the team. Now, the integration of the psychologist into the mental health team is seen as critical.
"The psychiatrist is focused on medical treatment, on biology and medicine. The clinical psychologist, who has also been trained to the doctoral level, is focused on psychotherapy and assessment training with mental therapy. Psychology is the study of the mind and the way we behave."
While she waits for a miracle at the hospital, she has been working with the Jamaica Psychology Association to improve the profession in general.
A past president of the association, she notes that the body has been concerned with the proliferation of people calling themselves mental health professionals without the proper certification and training.
The association, she reveals, has been assiduously trying to get those in the field registered. The organisation has also been working on a code of ethics which, already submitted to the Ministry of Health, was approved this year and is set to go to Parliament in the near future.
"We have had some very serious unethical practices and nothing (legally) can be done," explains Dr. Morgan, noting that such practices include practitioners who sleep with their clients.
Dr. Morgan is also a committed researcher with a special interest in sexuality and sexual abuse. Included among her projects is a paper done in collaboration with Antoneal Swaby on childhood sexual abuse and adult sexual dysfunction, which will be published in an international journal soon.
explosion in demand
It is her belief that the field will continue to be an exploding one in the island, in terms of the demand for qualified practitioners.
"Everyone has the potential or need to be better. Even if you do not have a full-blown diagnosis, you need to have a greater understanding of yourself, your community and the people in your life."
She expresses dismay that very often, only when individuals reach 'rock bottom' do they decide to get the help they need form a psychologist or other mental health worker.
In spite of her hectic schedule, Dr. Morgan finds plenty of time for family and relaxation. She is mother of daughter Xiahn and son Xanik, and has found her life partner in accomplished artist Chalik Campbell.
Ties with the extended family remain quite close. Kai states, "I am a Rasta from a family of Rastafarians, but even larger is my belief in black consciousness. We are a family who believe in self-development. We work the better health of all."
All who work in the field of mental health should be correctly trained and certified, says Dr. Kai Morgan, a former president of the Jamaica Psychology Society. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer
Dr. Kai Morgan is showing a strong desire to play her role in the family business as industrial psychologist and human resources consultant. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer
