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Women's history month
Psychologist devotes life to helping women
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This
is the second in a series of articles honoring MUSC women who have
changed the face, landscape and direction of MUSC and the medical
center. This year's theme is Women Taking the Lead.
by Mary Helen Yarborough
Public Relations
The freezing cold did not deter Connie Best, Ph.D., from spending a
December night on the USS Yorktown with her daughter’s Girl Scout
troop. And none of the many high level meetings around the country has
kept this nationally-acclaimed clinical psychologist from balancing the
personal and professional aspects of her life.
 Dr. Connie Best
Best, a professor in the Department of Psychiatry, recalls the
juxtaposition of the freezing night on Charleston Harbor spent with a
group of enthusiastic girls to the following morning when she traveled
to address an assembly of U.S. attorneys in San Antonio.
“I wouldn’t trade that night on the Yorktown, or any time I have spent
with my family and doing things with my daughter,” said the Gaffney
native. “The enthusiasm of the girls, in spite of the freezing cold, as
they learned about that ship and World War II, was really inspiring.”
Best typifies the extraordinary women in our society who manage a
successful career, a family life and volunteer duties in the community.
An expert on sexual assault and post traumatic stress disorder, Best is
one of the founders of People Against Rape, having volunteered for the
area rape crisis center since it opened in 1974.
Best was raised an Air Force brat but spent most of her childhood in
San Antonio. She graduated from the University of South Carolina and
earned her Ph.D. from the University of North Texas. She then interned
at MUSC, where she also had a fellowship in clinical psychology. Back
then, women who had been victimized by sexual assault didn’t have many
places to turn.
“I was volunteering as a rape crisis counselor in the ER and would see
women whenever they would show up—at all hours of the night or day,”
Best recalled. “Helping these women has been a part of my professional
life, but it also helped form who I am as a person.”
More recently, she has testified before the Veterans’ Affairs Committee
of the U.S. Senate about the severity of sexual assault against women
in the military. Having served in the U.S. Navy Reserves as a
psychologist, Best had long been aware of sexual assault against women
in the military, but the Veterans’ Administration had been slow to deal
with it.
“It is far better than it used to be,” said Best, explaining that the
VA is including better treatment and services for these women returning
from combat and after their discharge from the military.
Best was inspired by her mother who worked and raised a family that
included caring for her father and brother, who both developed and
recovered from polio. “My mother was a great role model,” said Best,
who also is director of the Office of Gender Equity for MUSC. “She
worked her whole life and never complained. Both of my parents were
great in their support of me, saying ‘you can do anything you want to.
You have to make good grades and you just have to keep on trying. You
have to persist.’”
She also has learned from her patients. “Working with my patients over
the years, I’d think a lot about what my patients were dealing with,”
Best said. “I have gained strength from my patients who, despite what
has happened to them, are able to get themselves up and persevere.”
Her persistence has resulted in numerous honors, including the 2000
S.C. Outstanding Lifetime Contribution to Psychology Award and a
special recognition in 1995 by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)
Office of Victims of Crime. But one experience was especially rewarding
to her.
In 1996, President Bill Clinton and U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno
awarded Best with the President’s Award for Outstanding Service on
Behalf of Victims of Crime. “This is what I am most proud of,” she
said, smiling. “The ceremony was in the White House. My mother, brother
and husband were there. Although it was given to me, it was also
recognition of a group of people here at the MUSC National Crime
Victims Center whose effort on behalf of crime victims made that moment
possible.”
The author of many prestigious papers, studies and chapters in books,
Best chuckles at what impresses most people she encounters. “I can
write scientific articles all day long,” she said, “but people tend to
express more surprise when they learned that I’ve been on the Oprah
Show as an expert—twice.”
Oprah Winfrey asked Best to appear in a series of shows that dealt with
women who have experienced sexual assault. “It is important, though,
because the mass media does provide an opportunity for us to share what
we have learned from research with the average person.”
At this point in her career, Best would like to devote more time to
mentoring junior faculty and serving on national task forces, such as
those that deal with psychological trauma from disasters including
Hurricane Katrina and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Relieved for her daughter that the world has opened up for women, Best
hopes she will also be able to pursue her dreams without having to deal
with sexual discrimination or harassment. “I tell her to keep her eye
on the ball, keep going, and be sure
to laugh,” Best said.
Highlights
As a senior faculty member at the National Crime Victims Research and
Treatment Center (NCVC), Best has served as the director of Adult
Services since 1985. Best has been the principal investigator on 10
grants and co-investigator on 16 others from funding sources such as
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), National Institute on Drug
Addiction, Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA), DOJ, and
the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. She has
an extensive list of scientific publications and invited presentations
before national audiences. Among the national advisory committees she
has served include the National Academy of Science’s Institute of
Medicine; the Joint NIMH/Department of Defense/DOJ Mental Health and
Mass Violence Consensus Committee; and the Secretary of Defense
Advisory Committee on Women in the Services; and the International
Association of Chiefs of Police. The focus of her research and clinical
work is in the areas of the effects of criminal victimization,
psychological trauma, and the effects of natural disasters. Best is
actively involved in examining the effects of disasters and terrorism.
She recently concluded her work on a HRSA-funded bio-terrorism grant
and is currently an investigator on an NIMH disaster grant.
Friday, March 13, 2009
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