Nine days before my first internship application was due, I learned that an ex-patient of mine, Theodore (name changed for confidentiality), died by suicide. I know receiving this kind of news can never come at a good time, but this was a particularly vulnerable time for me. I was feeling insecure, questioning myself, scared about […]
In March of 2020, therapists faced an unprecedented challenge and, in many ways, a glorious opportunity. COVID-19 and lockdowns meant that it was no longer possible or safe to provide psychotherapy in a “business as usual” way. Video psychotherapy, or telemental health, which had been considered by many as the lesser cousin of in-person therapy, […]
In the last issue of the Bulletin, we began exploring the very timely issue of the use of letters of recommendation (LORs) by clinical and counseling graduate programs as a tool to select students with high potential to be effective therapists. Not only do programs use LORs routinely for this process, but LORs have received […]
Student loan debt in the United States has been approaching crisis proportions since at least the early 2000s, but it is relatively recent that we in psychology have started to recognize the scope of the crisis in our own ranks. My research (Lantz [Wilcox] & Davis, 2017; Wilcox et al., 2021a, 2021b) has demonstrated that […]
“You are growing into consciousness, and my wish for you is that you feel no need to constrict yourself to make other people comfortable.” -Ta-Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me This quote from the text Between the World and Me by accomplished American Author, Ta-Nehisi Coates, describes the experience of being Black in the United […]
Five years ago, at the 2016 State Leadership Conference, Expanding the Practice Spectrum, Governor Ted Strickland was the APAPO-PAC Honoree, and if I recall correctly, Representative Tim Murphy also attended. Katherine Nordal, Executive Director for Professional Practice, enthusiastically welcomed the attendees to the 33rd annual conference: “It’s been quite a year for APA. I know […]
For my Presidential Initiative, I have chosen a topic dear to my heart, that of what therapists DO in sessions that help clients change. I assert that while client factors (e.g., personality, diagnoses, motivation), therapist factors (e.g., personality, training, theoretical orientation) and the therapeutic relationship (e.g., working alliance) are incredibly important, what therapists do is […]
Visionary Leadership One of the surprisingly positive aspects of the COVID-19 experience has been society’s growing awareness of the importance of quality mental health services and the adverse consequences of our traditionally reactive, individual-oriented approach. On a personal level, we have been very pleased with the recent increase in media attention to this critical aspect […]
I recently had the honor and pleasure of attending a Zoom gathering of many Division 29 past presidents, thanks to the effort of our current president, Dr. Clara Hill, to bring them together. As the past chair of two different Committees including Membership and the current Membership Domain Representative, I am aware of the amazing […]
According to the American Psychological Association’s 2019 report on Admissions, Applications, and Acceptances, over 40,000 individuals applied to clinical psychology programs in the 2016-2017 academic year, with acceptance rates of 12-30% (Michalski et al., 2019). Due to an increasing interest in clinical and counseling psychology (Norcross & Sayette, 2014) and a limited amount of space […]