Reasons for becoming clinical psychology being helpful to
others. fascinated by human behavior. interface between psychology
and biology as manifested in health issues. sensitive to human
suffering and the nuances of human relationships. contributing to
improvements in society. to help resolve personal or family
conflicts or problems.
Slide 5
The APA recognizes the doctorate as the minimum educational
requirement for entry into professional practice as a
psychologist.
Slide 6
A career as a clinical psychologist is full of both negative
and positive aspects. The road to becoming a clinical psychologist
is a long way divided by stages that include college, graduate
school, clinical internship, postdoctoral fellowship, licensure,
and finally employment and advanced certification.
Slide 7
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College To become clinical psychologist, most college students
will decide to major in psychology. However, the other student from
english, biology, math, or sociology might be accepted into
graduate school in psychology. For them, prerequisite courses are
General Psy, Statistics, Research Methods, Personality, Biopsy,
Learning/Cognition, and Abnormal Psy. Students interested in
clinical psychology must take their college experience very
seriously.
Slide 9
Important Goals during the College Experience High grade point
average (GPA) High graduate record examination scores (GRE) ???
Quality research experience Quality clinical experience Excellent
verbal skills Excellent interpersonal skills Reliability and
dependability Excellent productivity Excellent letters of
recommendation High motivation
Slide 10
Grade Point Average There are no certain cutoffs, a 3.0 GPA
should be generally viewed as a minimum. The mean GPA score for all
clinical psychology graduate programs is about 3.5. It serves as an
index of motivation and discipline. A high degree of motivation and
determination are qualities found in successful graduate students.
In the other hand, expected GPA score varies from program to
program.
Slide 11
Graduate Record Exam Students interested in applying to
graduate school in psychology take the GRE during the fall term of
their senior year. About 90% of all doctoral graduate programs
require that GRE. The GRE gives four scores: Verbal, Quantitative,
Analytic, and Psychology. GRE is required by most doctoral
programs.
Slide 12
Research Experience Most high-quality graduate programs expect
applicants to have some research experience prior to admission to
graduate school. A survey has indicated that quality research
experience was the top-rated factor listed by professors. Often,
college students working as research assistants may score
questionnaires, run subjects through laboratory procedures, and
review literature.
Slide 13
Closely associated with research experience, computer, data
analysis, and statistical skills are also important to obtain
during the college years. Although many candidate of clinical
psychology may be uninterested in computer, mathematic, and
statistic, these skills are important among all clinical
psychologists.
Slide 14
Clinical Experience Most undergraduate psychology departments
offer externships or field placements in clinical settings where
students can gain exposure to the signs, symptoms, and language of
clinical problems.
Slide 15
Clinical Experience Typical examples of volunteer placements
include local hospitals, drug and alcohol rehabilitation half-way
houses, schools for disabled children, homeless or battered womens
shelters, and crisis or suicide hotlines. These experiences help
students obtain experience with clinical populations and provide
some important beginning skills and knowledge about clinical
problems and interventions.
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Slide 18
What is a quality clinical experience? Answering this question
is difficult. Generally, a clinical experience that allows the
student to observe a wide range of activities with a number of
patients and allows the student to talk about his or her
experiences with a professional in the clinical setting is more
likely to be a quality experience.
Slide 19
Verbal Skills Verbal skills include writing ability and public
speaking ability. Writing and speaking skills are important
elements of the college experience.
Slide 20
Interpersonal Skills Good interpersonal and social skills,
empathy, and effective communication are critical to becoming an
effective clinical psychologist. The ability to deal directly,
sensitively, and in a reassuring manner is critical to success with
both colleagues and clients.
Slide 21
Interpersonal Skills A well-kept secret Good interpersonal
skills contribute to therapeutic alliance therapeutic effectiveness
and appreciated among coworkers and supervisors.
Slide 22
Reliability and Dependability Clinical psychology requires
consistency and reliability. Unreliable people are manifested in
lateness, tardy reports, inefficiency, and sloppiness. Clinical,
teaching, and research duties require an unselfish focus and
conscientious levels of effort and dedication. Clinical
psychologists and traniees must be able to finish what they say
they will finish. A psychologist must earn the trust of others as
someone capable of fulfilling a responsible, professional
role.
Slide 23
Productivity Research productivity is the most apparent in ones
list of publications and presentations. A lot of quality work is
even more impressive!
Slide 24
Letters of Recommendation A strong support from a professor can
go a long and indefinable way. Not only this involves quality work
and positive relationships, but involves establishing a mentor
relationship with professors. The better a professor knows and
likes the student whom writing about, the better able professor
will be to strike professional and personal tone in a letter of
recommendation.
Slide 25
Letters of Recommendation
Slide 26
Motivation is the key ingredient to a successful undergraduate
record. Motivation helps to overcome the many obstacles such as
exams, papers, applications. Many highly motivated students have
become successful psychologists despite significant weaknesses in
academic or interpersonal realms.
Slide 27
Applying to Graduate Programs in Clinical Psychology Quality
graduate programs can be highly competitive, it is helpful to hold
over a wide range by applying to large number of programs.
Generally, university based programs are more competitive and tend
to be less expensive than free- standing professional schools.
Slide 28
Firstly, each applicant must decide to which programs he or she
will apply. Then, the application forms must be completed
correctly, without typographical or grammatical errors. Most
programs request applicants to write a personal statement and
submit a curriculum vita (CV). Disclosing family secrets and
personal problems is not advised. The focus of the statement should
be more professional than personal. In the statement, the applicant
should discuss why s/he is interested in graduate school in
clinical psy.
Slide 29
The CV is an academic resume. The CV outlines the applicants
addresses and phone numbers, educational experiences, work
experiences, and professional presentations and publications (if
any). Asking a professor and friends to review the completed
personal statement and CV is beneficial. Transcripts and GRE scores
are needed in the application deadlines.
Slide 30
Once applications have been mailed, the applicant must wait for
responses. If you are fortunate, you are invited for an interview.
During the interview, applicants should dress in a professional
style and maintain a high level of interest, energy, and enthusiasm
for the program.
Slide 31
Graduate School in Clinical Psychology Graduate training
involves coursework, clinical training, research experience, and
often teaching experience. Graduate school is designed to take five
years to complete including the required one year clinical
internship. However, the average is closer to about six to eight
years. This additional length of time is due to complete doctoral
dissertations.
Slide 32
The doctoral dissertation is a comprehensive and high-quality
original research study. It is supervised by a faculty committee of
three to five professors with one professor acting as
chairperson.
Slide 33
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PhD or PsyD A student interested can choose between two types
of doctorates: the traditional PhD (or Doctor of Philosophy) or the
newer PsyD (Doctor of Psychology). The PhD was awarded to graduate
students training in psychology at the doctoral level. It is the
scientist- practitioner model, namely Boulder Model. It encourages
equal and integrated training emphases on both research and
clinical practice.
Slide 35
The PsyD degree was proposed as a alternative to the
traditional PhD. The new PsyD model sought to train students in the
scholar-practitioner model, namely Vail model, with much more
emphasis on clinical practice and minimal emphasis on research
skills. PhD program acceptance rates average about 10%, while PsyD
programs accept about 40% of their applicants.
Slide 36
University versus Free-Standing Professional Schools
Free-standing professional schools are not university based.
Approximately 50% of all doctorates in clinical psychology are
awarded by these schools. The free-standing schools have extremely
large classes, older students, and tend to be less competitive
regarding admission relative to university-based programs. Many of
these schools admit older students who may look at psychology as
being a second career.
Slide 37
University versus Free-Standing Professional Schools Students
attending these schools generally do not have the opportunity to be
exposed to the entire field of psychology. Because nonclinical
areas such as cognitive, developmental, social, learning,
physiological, and others are not represented at these
schools.
Slide 38
Accreditation Since 1948, the APA has accredited graduate
training programs. The APA lists specific criteria for
accreditation. Any program accredited by APA would offer a
high-quality graduate training experience. However, not all
graduate programs are accredited by the APA. Obtaining training
from an APA accredited program is a requirement for
employment.
Slide 39
Training Curriculum Some programs emphasize research skills,
others may emphasize clinical training. Other programs balance
between research and clinical training. Some programs focus on
certain theoretical orientations such as CBT, psychodynamic,
humanistic or family systems models, while many programs emphasize
eclectic training. Graduate training programs offer the same core
curriculum suggested by the APA.
Slide 40
Training Curriculum In addition to course work, graduate
training includes practicum or field placements. These placements
allow graduate students to work with clinical populations providing
individual, couple, family, and group psychotherapy with a variety
of patient populations (e.g., adults, children, inpatient,
outpatient). They provide opportunities to acquire experience with
psychological testing.
Slide 41
Training Curriculum The masters thesis is completed by the end
of the second year of graduate study while the dissertation is
completed by the end of the fourth or fifth year. The student
defends the project in an oral examination among a group of faculty
members. Finally, most graduate training programs require
comprehensive examinations to determine the competence of their
students in academic psychology, research, and clinical work prior
to being allowed to complete their internships and doctoral
degree.
Slide 42
Clinical Internship Almost all graduate training programs
require that students complete a one year full-time clinical
internship prior to being awarded the doctorate. This training
occurs outside of the graduate training program in hospitals,
clinics, and various clinical settings. Activities during the
clinical internship focus on clinical training such as
psychotherapy, psychological testing, and consultation with a
variety of patient populations. After the successful completion of
the clinical internship and all of the requirements of the graduate
training program (including the doctoral dissertation), the
doctorate is awarded.
Slide 43
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Postdoctoral Fellowship Being awarded the doctorate is not the
end. Anyone wishing to practice must obtain a license to practice
from their state licensing board. Almost all states require one to
two years of postdoctoral training before taking the license.
Postdoctoral training occurs in hospitals, clinics, counseling
centers, universities, and even private practices. Postdoctoral
training can include psychotherapy, psychological testing, and
consultation and research, teaching, and many other professional
activities.
Slide 45
Four years of college + at least four years of graduate school
+ a year of clinical internship + one or more years of postdoctoral
training have been completed before licensing is possible.
Slide 46
Certification and/or Licensure Certification and licensure
procedures are defined and regulated at the state level by state
boards of psychology. The role of the psychology board is to set
minimum standards for admission to the profession, conduct
licensing examinations, and regulate the practice of psychology in
order to protect the public from professional misconduct.
Slide 47
Certification and/or Licensure Certification laws control the
use word psychologist and protect the title psychologist from being
misused. Certification laws do not impact the practice of
psychological services. Licensing laws provide guidelines and
restrictions the practice of psychological services. Since the
certification and licensing processes are conducted at the state
level, each state develops its own laws and procedures.
Slide 48
Certification and/or Licensure The Written Examination : All
states administer the same biannual national written examination
for licensing Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology
[EPPP]. This exam consists of 200 multiple choice items. Questions
are about test construction, statistics, social psychology,
experimental psychology, industrial/organizational psychology,
developmental psychology.
Slide 49
Certification and/or Licensure The Oral Examination: After
successful completion of the written examination, many states then
require an oral examination (or essay) before obtaining the
license. Typically, questions about ethical issues such as limits
on confidentiality, treatment of minors, child abuse reporting
laws, involuntary commitment and clinical questions regarding
diagnosis and treatment of hypothetical patients are
discussed.
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Once an applicant successfully passes the state licensing
requirements, he or she can represent him/herself to the public as
a psychologist capable of independent practice.
Slide 52
Employment The transition from student/trainee to an
independent professional can be both exciting and challenging. I
will easily master the varied demands of my job I will never be an
apprentice again. There are a wide variety of employment settings.
Many professionals wish to combine academic work with clinical
practice. Mean salaries vary depending on specialty area and
location. Private practitioners and consultants can earn much
more.
Slide 53
Academic Positions Tenure-track academic positions in
university settings prefer the PhD rather than the PsyD degree.
Tenure- track academic positions are very competitive and can be
hard to find. After completing the application procedure (typically
mailing a Curriculum Vitae, list of published articles, a cover
letter, and having three letters of recommendation), the applicant
must wait for an interview. Academic departments invite a small
number of top applicants for job interviews. Applicants may be
asked to give a guest lecture.
Slide 54
The American Board of Professional Psychology Diploma (ABPP)
After being awarded the doctorate, a clinical psychologist is
eligible to become a diplomate, an advanced level of certification.
ABPP diploma is a post-licensing certification and reflects
advanced competency in a subspecialty of psychology. The ABPP
diploma is becoming more strongly suggested and even required in
some employment settings.
Slide 55
Is Clinical Psychology Right for Me? lengthy training process A
natural curiosity and interest in human behavior and a desire to
improve the quality of life for others are important. 80% to 82% of
clinical psychologists report high degrees of job
satisfaction.