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.
92 articles found
“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
A Collaborative Study of Development in Psychotherapy Trainees
In an era when many in our field are preoccupied with defining the nature of empirically supported psychotherapies (e.g., American Psychological Association, 2006) and empirically supported therapy relationships (e.g., Norcross, 2011), it was only a matter of time until those responsible for training therapists began to ask whether there are yet any empirically supported methods […]
David E. Orlinsky, Ph.D. + 8 more
August 19, 2016
Developing Inner Confidence While in Training
On an unremarkable day, I walked out to the waiting room to meet a new client for an intake session. Right away, I saw that Eileen was pretty much a carbon copy of me. Same height, hair color, eye color, and even body type. During our interview, I realized that beyond our physical similarities, Eileen and […]
Victoria Schlaudt, M.S. + 1 more
April 24, 2016
Ten Ways to Feel Connected on Your Doctoral Internship
Has reality set in? You are preparing to start your internship. A lot of changes will occur when students leave for internship. It is an exciting time, but also a time of great transition. This transition impacts students who are moving across the country and students staying put. Routines to which students were once accustomed […]
Christopher Leonard, Psy.D.
May 25, 2015