Article archive / October 1, 2015
Originally published: . Volume 6, No. 10. Source pages: 2, 3.
Letter to the Editor
TRIBUTE FOR DAVID BURKART/LETTER TO EDITOR
As The Psychology Times noted in the September 2015 issue, David Burkart, psychologist at the VA in Shreveport, passed away unexpectedly on August 19, 2015, at the age of 58. With his passing, the Veterans and the VA here lost a compassionate and hard-working psychologist, I lost a trusted and loyal friend, and the world lost a unique and caring man.
David started at the VA here in 1991 and served in many different roles at various times, including Chief of Psychology and Chief of the Substance Use Disorders Program. He also worked on the inpatient psychiatric ward, provided emergency on-call evaluation services, did individual and group therapy, did disability evaluations, and was director of training for both doctoral and masters-level psychology students for almost 20 years. But regardless of the job at the time, David always gave the maximum effort to the Veterans he served. His case-load was consistently one of the highest in volume. But more importantly, he gave his best effort to all, through his care, dedication, and hard work.
I knew David for 24 years, including 22 years we shared at the VA together. In fact, he is one of the few people that I came to know before we ever formally met. David started his professional career here as a psychologist on the inpatient psychiatric ward. I was active duty in the Air Force at the Mental Health Clinic at Barksdale, and at the time in 1991 and 1992, almost all of the initial psychiatric hospitalizations of active duty members from our base came to the VA psychiatric ward in Shreveport. One of my duties was to consult with David about the status of those hospitalized. From the very beginning, I learned that David did excellent evaluations, but more importantly, I first began to see the professional and personal characteristics of David that make him special, especially his genuine compassion and concern. It was also clear that he understood that the nature of those initial meetings he had with those on the inpatient unit would often determine whether a person would continue to trust and risk to continue the often painful process of therapy after they left the hospital. Over the years at the VA, he and I frequently consulted each other about Veterans under our treatment.
Psychology has gone through many transitions and changes at the Shreveport VA since 1991. Some of these have been positive; others have not, including the dissolution of Psychology from a “Service” and later a “Section” and unilateral changes of Psychology positions into positions for Psychiatry and Social Workers.
But none of this ever affected David’s work, nor his efforts at meeting whatever needed to be done to help. He worked hard, regardless of what was going on administratively.
He was one of the most respected people I have known, personally and professionally. To my knowledge, he never once turned down a request to see a Veteran. And when I became Chief of Psychology in 2000, David was the first person to whom I’d turn to be Acting Chief in my absence. And he was also a person to whom I turned with concerns about a Veteran or an ethical issue.
Many of the Veterans whom we see at the VA have significant trust issues, especially those with the emotional scars from combat trauma, and especially those from the Vietnam and Korean Wars, many of whom did not experience a welcoming back to society. Many are wary of trusting because of their experiences. But I saw David earn their trust by his actions, and by the person he showed himself to be. David was the same person with all of us, as he was with Veterans. At a time of change and debate within the VA about treatment issues, David’s professional life was evidence of the primary importance of the therapeutic relationship in any treatment. He was also an example of the fact that “some therapists do better than others.”
A number of Veterans have come up to me since David passed away to tell me how much David’s care meant in their lives. And more than one has said that they are still here today because of him. His impact was far-reaching, and will continue to be.
Personally and professionally, I never knew David to say anything but the truth as he knew it. He was one of the most intelligent and well-read persons I have known. I think he loved well, and loved much. His wife Laura was his life companion since the early 1980’s. They shared many years together, along with some cats, a lot of books, and friends who recognized how special he was.
For anyone who met David for the first time, it was impossible not to notice the wheelchair. But for those fortunate to know him, David was a person of ability, not disability. And except for “walking,” David did everything that other psychologists did at the VA. And he usually did it better. He regularly took the “extra time” that it takes to do things well. And he was one of the very few staff members who wrote extra summary reports and letters for Veterans.
At a retirement ceremony at the VA in 2003 for a much-loved and respected psychologist, David said of her that she always did “the right thing” every day in her work with Veterans by her actions, and not just by words. The same can be said of David. He tried to do the right thing for everyone he knew. A photograph of David that was included at a recent Memorial Service shows David with a big smile, and that might be another of the testaments to David—that in spite of physical limitations, a wheelchair, and stressors of work, David is remembered for his smile and his deep laugh and kind humor.
Recently, another colleague wrote me about the value of David’s life to others and making the world a better place. There is no doubt that Dave did all of that. And if the value of a life is a positive impact on others, David set a high standard. I have been fortunate to have called him colleague, mentor, and best of all, a good friend.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.