Biography

Forest Pavel, MS, Psy.D., LP, HSP is the Director of Counseling Services at UMKC and is a licensed clinical psychologist in Missouri, Kansas, and Virginia. He completed his terminal master’s in counseling and human development at Radford University in Virginia, and his doctoral training in clinical psychology with the Graduate School of Professional Psychology at the University of Denver. His pre-doctoral internship and postdoctoral residency were completed at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center at Fort Eisenhower (formerly Fort Gordon), GA, while on active duty with the U.S. Army. He served as an active duty commissioned officer and clinical psychologist with the U.S. Army for over a decade and remains an officer in the U.S. Army Reserves. He has clinical interests in working with service members/veterans, psychological assessment, career-personality psychology, treatment of trauma, and aerospace/aeromedical psychology.

Dr. Pavel works from a practitioner-scientist perspective, utilizing solution-focused treatment modalities such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Reality Therapy, in conjunction with psychometric testing for diagnostic clarification, to assist his clients with psychotherapeutic change. In addition to his duties as clinic director, Dr. Pavel is the assessment coordinator for Counseling Services, providing testing for UMKC students seeking evaluation, and supervising pre-doctoral interns performing assessment services. He lives in the Kansas City area with his spouse and their Siberian Husky, Draco. He enjoys a plethora of hobbies, including tabletop role-playing, miniature wargaming, military history, amateur radio, gardening, and collecting sci-fi/fantasy novels and comic books.