Cardinal Success Program director named Psychologist of the Year

Patrick Pössel, professor in the College of Education and Human Development and director of the Cardinal Success Program, has been awarded the Kentucky Psychological Association’s 2021 Psychologist of the Year.

The recognition was given for Pössel’s dedication to the field of psychology and demonstrating extraordinary care toward clients and students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The award means a lot to me,” Pössel said. “It is not something I could have accomplished alone, and my team at the Cardinal Success Program has gotten us here.”

As the COVID-19 pandemic struck in March 2020, Pössel and the Cardinal Success Program, including post-doctoral associate Brooke Rappaport, moved the operation entirely to telehealth services within just one month.

This shift, and the massive effort on behalf of the program to provide counseling services through a telehealth format, allowed counseling services to continue when the community needed them most.

“Patrick managed teaching, administrative tasks, mentorship and the other rigors of academics, and found a way to continue care for a client population that needed stability,” said KPA President Steve Katsikas. “During these wildly unpredictable months, the Cardinal Success Program has found a way to get care to individuals who face multiple barriers to health.”

Pössel, who has been with the University of Louisville for 14 years, accepted the award from the Cardinal Success Program’s location in the Nia Center – a multi-service center located in West Louisville.

“I would like to thank KPA, which has been my professional home since the day I came to Kentucky almost 15 years ago,” Pössel said. “I would also like to thank all of the masters and doctoral level psychologists in Kentucky who do their jobs day in and day out despite difficult conditions. Thank you for getting up every day and doing this work with and for our clients.”

Prior to joining the ranks at UofL in 2007, Pössel served as a visiting assistant professor at Vanderbilt University, an assistant professor at the University of Tübingen in Germany, and an associate lecturer at Frankfurt am Main, also in Germany.

Learn more about the Cardinal Success Program.