THE STUDENT BLOG

Diversity is not an adjunct descriptor of the U.S. population, but rather, it is a fundamental construct of our country’s demographics which is predicted only to increase. As stated in our nation’s preamble, it is our duty to “establish justice and promote the general welfare” of American people, which includes the protection of our nation’s most vulnerable identities. Thus, it

I remember entering my first year as graduate student in clinical psychology full of questions: What materials would I need? What would the next six years look like? What did I need to do to be successful? I had found many resources and tips on navigating the graduate school application process but comparatively fewer on how to actually be a

You Can Get In! Tips and Resources for Applying to Graduate Programs in Clinical Psychology When I was applying to PhD programs in clinical psychology, I remember experiencing a mix of emotions – anxiety, excitement, stress. This was enhanced by certain comments that I heard again and again: “The process is beyond competitive,” and “I would never get in if

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), deemed a “well-established” intervention for the treatment of child and adolescent anxiety (Hollon & Beck, 2013), typically addresses anxiety using a two-pronged approach. In the first half of treatment, children and adolescents (referred to throughout as youth) are taught a series of coping skills to “fight the worry monster.” For example, during cognitive restructuring sessions, youth

This is a student blog piece written by Natalie Hong, a rising fourth year doctoral student in the Clinical Science Ph.D. program at Florida International University. The internship application, interview, and match process is arguably one of the most highly anticipated, dreaded, and exciting experiences of graduate school for students studying clinical psychology. As such, many resources are available to

This student blog post by Bridgett R. Boxley from the College of Juvenile Justice and Psychology School, Prairie View A&M University addresses mental health promotion among faith communities.  A variety of health disparities are evident in many communities. This includes general medical and mental health treatment underutilization and disproportionate rates of illness. Some of the variance seen is best explained by

This is a Section 10 Student Blog Post on identifying mechanisms of change in clinical supervision written by Lucas Zullo, a fourth year doctoral student in Clinical Psychology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, and his clinical supervisor, Dr. Mona Robbins. When attending national academic conferences in psychology, it is hard not to hear mention of mechanisms of

This is a student blog piece written by Natalie Hong, a third year doctoral student in the Clinical Science Ph.D. program at Florida International University. Beginning and maintaining my graduate career in clinical psychology has challenged me in countless ways: I moved away from “home” for the first time, to a state where I knew no one; I began to receive

This Section 10 Student Blog piece by Bridgett Boxley discusses the important issue of diversity in mental health treatment. It is a widely accepted concept in social and clinical psychology that self-identification begins with acceptance and exclamation of one’s chosen identity. How an individual arrives at this stage of wholeness is complex for multiple reasons. For example, the individual must

This SCP Student Blog post by Adam Duberstein discusses the role of emotional support animals in clinical psychology. Within days after receiving my master’s-level license to practice psychotherapy in Michigan, two acquaintances asked me to write them letters which they could use in order to obtain an emotional support animal (ESA).  ESAs are quite different from service animals, which perform specific

This SCP Student Blog piece was written by Jessica Cowan, SCP/Section 10 Campus Representative, and Leja Wright from Antioch University in Seattle. Talking to clients about sex and sexuality in psychological interventions has been a sensitive topic throughout the history of our field. However, as we become increasingly aware of the complex interactions of biopsychosocial factors in the lives of

This SCP Student Blog piece by the SCP Section 10 Campus Reps is a useful resource to individuals who are preparing to apply to graduate schools in psychology. Applying to Graduate School? Determine what school, degree, focus you’re applying to based, not on what is interesting to you, but on what schools are most likely to connect you to the

This student blog piece was written and submitted by Amanda R. Simmons, M.A., SCP, Section 10 Campus Representative, University of Denver In finishing up my second year of the doctoral program at the University of Denver’s Graduate School of Professional Psychology, I reflected on the number of times I heard that the success of supervision depends on the “fit” between

This SCP Student blog post written by Lia Smith highlights some excellent pointers for graduate students in psychology. Many of us enter graduate school with the assumption that we are about to embark on a unique period of heavy workloads and extreme stress. We are so excited for the opportunity to pursue our long sought-after goals that we’re prepared to

by Jessica Cowan, SCP/ Section 10 Campus Representative For many of us, when we begin our graduate-program work the concept of clinical supervision is a mysterious concept. We hear about supervision experiences from students further along in their training, and it’s perhaps conceptually and briefly addressed in initial coursework, but other than knowing that we will one day be assigned

by Keri Kirk, SCP/ Section 10 Campus Representative As clinical psychology graduate students, we spend the academic year juggling many hats. We’re researchers, externs, teaching assistants, and so much more. We dedicate ourselves to becoming experts in providing service to others all while balancing our personal lives and individual obligations. By the start of summer, many of us just want

Two months into the second semester of my clinical psychology Psy.D. program I opened my email like I would on any normal day. Only this time, there was an email from the community mental health center based at my university. The email said that after careful consideration, I had been assigned a client. I couldn’t believe it. I was finally

A clinical psychology intern at the Institute of Living shares some helpful tips on the APPIC predoctoral internship application and interview process. By Shari Steinman, intern at the Institute of Living-CBT Track To those of you applying for internship this fall, I thought it might be helpful to share some tips I have about the application and interview process. I found the

An early career psychologist, Dr. Kate Wolitzky-Taylor, offers ten tips to a successful academic career: 1. Carve out research time and treat it like any other appointment you wouldn’t cancel. I am guilty of not doing this enough. It was easier during graduate school and post doc to set aside time to just sit in front of my computer analyzing

Mentors: who needs them? By Saritha Teralandur Graduate school applications: A time of wondering if all those years spent as a research assistant with a 4.0 G.P.A will finally pay off. Then, you get a letter of acceptance from a program that you were holdi ng out on other offers for! Once you start graduate school, you realize that you