This is the second of a special two-part Member Spotlight featuring the father/daughter psychologist team of Lee Kimzey, PhD and Sarah Kimzey Schaffer, PhD practicing in North Platte. May highlighted Dr. Lee Kimzey, and June features Dr. Sarah Schaffer.
Do you volunteer for another organization? What do you enjoy most about volunteering?
I currently serve on the Board of Directors for the MidNebraska Community Foundation. In the past, I also served on the Board of a Health for the West Central District Health Department, The Bridge of Hope Child Advocacy Center, as the former Vice President of the Rape and Domestic Abuse Program, and on the Board of Directors for Community Connections. I have presented to numerous public interest groups, schools, Veterans groups, hospitals, and medical programs. On a personal level, I have volunteered in my children’s schools and in church. My husband and I also have served as directors of the NebraskaLand Days Junior Rodeo and the Lincoln County Fair Ranch Rodeo. I enjoy service and the sense of camaraderie and purpose. I also hope that volunteering in rural arenas beyond the office encourages acceptability of mental health by reducing stigma and enhancing accessibility of services in the agricultural sector.
Who inspires you? If you could choose anyone to be your Mentor-who and why?
Father’s Day is later this month, and it seems like a fitting time to celebrate mine! He leads with humble integrity, honesty, self-discipline, and caring respect for everyone he sees. He presents with a calm, quiet sense of humor, a thoughtful and creative problem-solving approach, and a positive spirit of service and commitment to improving mental health care delivery in our community. These qualities inform and encourage my work in the office (and in life). I am sometimes asked if he is considering retirement, which honestly humors and baffles me. He continues to enjoy practice, works to be technology-savvy, is forward-thinking in both clinical and business practices, keeps apprised of advances in our field, and encourages me to keep learning. Like most ranchers in my world, I think his work has evolved into “who he is” and not “what he does“ for a living. That said, he sure does a lot! He is first to work every day, tackling each aspect of our business with billing, coding, navigating insurance/payment issues, electronic health records, and building/business ownership/maintenance…not to mention the busy life he leads outside of the office undertaking renovation/construction home/garden projects with my Mom, working with his horses, and spending great time with my kids. And still, amid all of this, he has supported and promoted my efforts to divide commitments to our practice with being a Mom and a rancher/rancher’s wife, which would have never been otherwise possible. He once told me: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.” -Aristotle. He was not referring to himself, but I would say that he has, therefore, been a most excellent mentor and I am so pleased to have the opportunity to work with him and to share this.
Interesting/Fun Fact:
During the pandemic, we scrambled to convert our private practice to a telehealth platform, like so many other practices. However, my work-from-home experience was different than most in that my office was remote in theory and distance and my work multiplied with the coinciding calving season. Instead of hiring extra help, my husband, children, two nephews from Oklahoma, and I calved 850 head that spring. I began documenting our adventures with pictures and put together video footage to share the experience with friends and family. Ironically, I don’t have social media, but The Cowboy Channel and RFD-TV picked up our story, which was featured with photos/video on their social media feeds in the US and Canada over fifty times throughout the pandemic. It was such an honor and neat experience to reach people who were either sheltering at home or were also working extra hard in their own capacities. Although I appreciated the positive feedback for the pictures, it was really not about photography at all, but instead about the psychology of capturing “the feels” and sharing goodwill through promoting a rural lifestyle based on hard-work and the valuable contributions of all generations.
Here are links to videos that I put together that were also shared on media:
"Cowboy Quarantine" – parody about aspects of the pandemic that were different on the ranch. My nephew narrated the script, who is now in graduate school and serves as “Pistol Pete” the Cowboy Mascot for Oklahoma State University
"Cowboy Cross Training"– a little positive satire script about the physical demands of agriculture. The kids missed sports during the pandemic, and we joked with them about staying in shape by working.The video is narrated by my sister-in-law, who is Head Volleyball Coach at McCook Community College and also has a strong background in rodeo and ranch life.
Click HERE for additional photos!
Download Member Spotlight PDF: Sarah Schaffer
