Student Development
Aimed at psychology students, this section provides essential tools, resources, and guidance to help you navigate your academic journey and prepare for a successful career in psychotherapy.
95 articles found
Incorporating Self-Care into Early Career Practice
I remember sitting in an ethics course during my fourth year of my doctoral program and listening to the professor reminding us that the self-care practices we establish in graduate school are the ones we maintain for our careers. I wondered how on earth I was supposed to live a healthy and balanced lifestyle while […]
Julie K. Garson, Psy.D.
October 22, 2017
Key Factors of Internship Burnout and Possible Solutions
Psychology predoctoral interns face many challenges, as difficult roles and competing expectations may lead to burnout. Edelwich (1980) defined burnout as “a progressive loss of idealism, energy, and purpose by people in the helping professions as a result of the conditions of their work” (p. 14). Common factors contributing to burnout include difficult cases, feeling […]
Christina Burg, M.A. + 10 more
October 22, 2017
The Perils of Denial
After reading the recent Hoffman report (Hoffman et al., 2015), I found myself wondering how respected individuals in my field could participate (even indirectly) in such horrific acts. As an intern who is soon to be an early career psychologist, I considered that, while there are many complex factors at the heart of any man-made […]
Mariya Dvoskina, Psy.D.
September 3, 2017
“Two Versions of Me”
Since the mid-1900s, the United States has been the destination of choice for international students, and each year almost half a million international students enroll in American universities (Haynie, 2014). These students typically arrive with clear academic and professional goals, but they may not have considered what it will be like to be functioning in […]
Yu-ting Ching + 2 more
August 6, 2017
Where Do We Fit?
Considerable literature exists on the value of supporting first-generation college students (FGCS) since Billson and Terry (1982) coined the term, “first-generation college student” to describe students whose parents did not attend college. However, there is limited research on first-generation graduate students (FGGS), especially those in health service psychology programs. Motivated in part by the American […]
Amy C. King, M.A.
August 6, 2017
Advocating to Support Graduate Student Education
From October 17th through the 20th I had the opportunity to represent Division 29 at the American Psychological Association Education Leadership Conference in Washington, DC. The focus of the conference this year was Translating Psychological Science to Educational Practice, Policy, and the Public. There were many wonderful speakers who talked about using psychological principles as […]
Joshua K. Swift, Ph.D.
April 7, 2017
An Unexpected Lesson About Difficult Dialogues From the Internship Year
It was the night before one of my doctoral interviews and the current students of my program had organized a welcome event for us interviewees. Some of the advanced students talked about anxiously awaiting to hear whether they matched for internship the next morning. Doctoral interviews are always scheduled on the same Friday as internship […]
Pauline Venieris, M.A., MMFT
April 7, 2017
Learning like a Lion Instead of a Lemming
When I began graduate school, as a child of the 90s, I thought I was punked into a game of competitive Minesweeper, the classic computer game won by avoiding bombs. I was taking risks, questioning the status quo and, in my mind, attempting to obtain a quality education, which includes feedback from my peers. By […]
Amanda R. Simmons, B.S.
April 2, 2017
Student Experience of Partially Affiliated Internship Consortia
Introduction To complete a doctoral degree in Clinical or Counseling Psychology, a year-long internship during the final year is required (American Psychological Association [APA], n.d.). Yet, the process to obtain an internship accredited by the APA is competitive, with many students needing to relocate to other states across the country due to historical imbalances between […]
Liliana Almeida, M.A. + 10 more
December 31, 2016
This Time It’s for Real
My first session with a real, live psychotherapy patient[1] was at a university counseling center in New England. I was in my second year of graduate school. My only previous experience that even resembled doing therapy was limited to interviewing my classmates as pretend patients. In those role-plays, everyone was agreeable and talkative. They gave […]
Michael Hendery, Psy.D.
October 17, 2016
How to Beat the Stress
Introduction No matter the perceived preparedness, there is no way to predict the transitional stress that ensues when beginning a postbaccalaureate education. As third-year graduate students in a doctoral level program, it was not long ago that we first encountered the multiple stressors of managing school responsibilities and financial obligations while ensuring time for social […]
Hannah Kersting, B.A. + 2 more
October 8, 2016
From Airman to Student
2,969 days…just shy of eight years. This is how long I spent as an active duty Airman, or more specifically, as an officer in the United States Air Force. If you count the four years in the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) throughout college, it totals almost 12 years responding to the call of duty. […]
Megan Houk, M.A.
August 21, 2016