Beating the Odds

After 30 years of paralegal work, Grace Witt discovered her true calling: forensic psychology

“Growing up my mom always told me, ‘You're going to be an attorney,’” says Grace Witt, a PsyD student at George Fox. “So I figured, ‘Well, let me see if that’s even for me.’”

After she graduated high school in 1988, Witt got a job as a legal assistant at a family law practice. She stuck with it, and soon enough she had worked her way up to a paralegal position.

“As a paralegal, I saw a lot of divorce cases,” she says. “I saw kids being affected by the conflict between their parents, and it broke my heart. I thought to myself, ‘I want to work with these parents. I want to teach them better ways to communicate and co-parent.’”

Witt herself went through a divorce when her two children were very little, and she had a lot of empathy for the struggling families she encountered as a paralegal. Eventually she realized she enjoyed counseling her clients more than her litigation work. 

“I’ve been fascinated by psychology since I was a little girl,” Witt says. “My mom had some undiagnosed mental health struggles. When I tried to tell people about it, they would say ‘Oh, you don’t know what you’re talking about – you’re just a kid.’ So I've always been interested in psychology because of that.”

As Witt continued in her paralegal role, her passion for psychology only grew. She didn’t just want to work in the aftermath of brokenness; she wanted to work directly with people to counteract it. When her oldest daughter started applying to colleges her senior year of high school, Witt started applying as well.

“I sat there thinking, ‘My daughter's starting college. My son is starting high school. That frees up some time for me. I can go to school at night,’” she says.

In 2014, Witt enrolled in Portland State University and took night classes so she could continue working. She routinely stayed up late and woke up early, giving her all to her schoolwork and job. Her resilience and dedication paid off, and in 2018 she graduated with dual majors in psychology and business management and leadership.

Then, in 2020, she enrolled in George Fox’s Master of Arts in Mental Health Counseling program, all while still working as a paralegal. She was hired at her internship site just before she graduated with her master’s degree in 2022, and she finally left her job as a paralegal. 

Now Witt is pursuing her PsyD degree at George Fox and practicing forensic psychology. She works for NW Family Psychology alongside Landon Poppleton, JD, PsyD, one of the top custody evaluators in Oregon. As a forensic psychologist, Witt aids the court system with parental evaluations, psychological assessments, reunification counseling, and more. She specializes in working with divorced couples.  

“I think divorce brings out the worst in people,” Witt says. “They only see each other negatively based on the animosity and conflict they’ve been through. They forget that at one point they loved each other. They forget that their children are a product of that love.”

Witt is still working alongside lawyers and attorneys, but now she gets to counsel clients and walk alongside them without the extra litigation paperwork. Her work can look very different from day to day, but she is especially passionate about performing custody evaluations and parenting coordination. 

“I get to look out for what’s best for the child and what that might look like,” she says. “I’m  making recommendations to the court about questions like, ‘Who has custody, who has authority for decision-making? What does parenting time look like for the non-custodial parent?’”

Witt loves her work, but it’s often quite difficult. She recalls one particularly challenging case when she was personally appointed by the court to be the custody evaluator. Up until that point, she had been strictly working under Poppleton. This time she was in charge, while still under his supervision.

“I had to make the right decision for the kids, even though it was incredibly painful for one of the parents,” she says. “But my parting words to him were, ‘I think you’re a great dad and you have it in you, but you need some support in some areas. .’”

It was Witt’s responsibility to think about the kids first and foremost, but that didn’t stop her from taking the time to encourage their father, one parent to another.

“As an evaluator, you can’t get emotionally involved and you have to stay objective,” she says. “But at the same time you can’t lose sight of the fact that you’re working with people.”

Witt’s experience in the PsyD program has given her insight into the field of psychology and her place in it as she connects with the faculty and her peers.

“The cohort model has been really helpful in that you don’t feel like you have to just be out there by yourself,” Witt says. “You have peers who are going through the same thing you’re going through, and we really lean heavily on each other. The professors always also make themselves available to you when you have questions or concerns or need help. They never turn a student away.”

Witt has found her place within the program, and she values the connections she’s made. 

“I really like the sense of community,” she says. “I have met some really incredible classmates – people I hope to know for the rest of my life.”

When things get hard with school, in court, at the office, or even at the 24/7 crisis response agency Witt volunteers for, she knows God is always there to refill her cup. 

“I lean very heavily on my faith,” Witt says. “I’ve always prayed that God would use me as he sees fit, and this is it.”

Witt has raised two children on her own, worked late nights as a paralegal, enrolled in a university as a nontraditional undergraduate, and put herself through multiple degrees while working full time. 

“I grew up with a lot of adversity,” Witt says. “When I learned about the ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) score, I realized we all have it. We all have to beat the odds. As a therapist, I think we get the opportunity to show people that they have the tools within them to beat those odds.”

Witt is so grateful for the people, programs and opportunities that have helped her beat the odds. 

“I realize that this opportunity is a privilege, and I feel very lucky to have been given it,” she says. “I feel like I’m in an incredible position to be able to help others.”