Hometown: St. Paul

When did you join UMRA? 2019

What was your very first job? Together with my brother, I shoveled snow, mowed lawns, and had a paper route. At 13, I went to a cafeteria and asked for a job. The boss said, “How old are you?” When I said I was 13, he said, “Come back next year.” As I turned to leave, I thought, that’s an eternity!

What was your occupation when you retired from FT work? Professor of counseling psychology in the U of M College of Education and Human Development Department of Educational Psychology. Now, I am a part-time psychologist practicing, consulting, writing, and speaking.

Do you have a favorite place on campus? The Knoll, a park-like area between Burton Hall and University Avenue. Magnificent oak trees and green space. 

What sparked your interest in counseling psychology? My mother was my first role model as a helper of others. I had a great father, too, but he was an engineer and had a different focus. I had a psychology course in high school in 1961 and was captivated by the topic.

I really enjoyed teaching undergraduate and graduate students for 46 years. However, my experience is that the counseling and therapy process, not always but sometimes, is a more powerful catalyst for human development. It directly addresses human suffering, helps repair human emotional scars, and increases human well-being. Of course, the process is often slow and sometimes ineffective. But the positive change from the days when psychology, counseling, and psychotherapy were stigmatized until the present has been spectacular. I think of it like the rise of dentistry, from simply pulling teeth to creating strong teeth and beautiful smiles. 

Your work in recent years has focused on resiliency development and burnout prevention in health and helping professionals. What have you learned that could be applied to self-care for older adults? One term I developed from qualitative interviews with therapy experts is “boundaried generosity.” Individuals in the relationship-intense professions are focused on the needs of the other. This is the generosity part. The boundaried part relates to preserving the self. There is a dynamic balance for the individual to maintain. It is a term older adults may apply to their own self-care. 

What is a fun fact about you we might not know? I send a TGIF joke to my grandchildren every Friday. It is fun. I get an occasional five-star review. 

Professor Skovholt won a 2024 Professional Development Grants for Retirees award that enabled him to present his work and conduct a workshop on burnout prevention for health and helping professionals at the University of Stavanger Hospital in Norway. He said, “The grant was like rocket fuel for my ongoing work and collaborations.”