Matthew Rouse
Boston Consortium in Clinical Psychology
Doctoral candidate, Emory University
(Clinical Science Vol. 15 (3): Fall, 2012)
Applying to and securing a predoctoral clinical internship is a stressful process, not helped by the statistics of nearly a quarter of applicants failing to match to an internship site this last application cycle. The hysteria around the “crisis” is enough to engender attitudes of “going wherever I can match,” without much consideration of the training model and orientation of the site. I know I myself succumbed and submitted an additional flurry of applications after applying to my top sites. Needless to say, I didn’t end up matching at any of those sites and I probably would have been better off, certainly financially, if I hadn’t submitted those applications. Having come out of the process with an internship that feels like a great fit, I believe now more than ever that the internship “match” is appropriately named, and that it really comes down to the fit between the internship site and the applicant. Therefore, for students coming from clinical science programs or subscribing to the tenets of clinical science, it is important to apply to clinical science-oriented programs, as those programs will provide training that is consistent with their prior experiences. Following is a list of some tips that I used in helping to figure out which sites were consistent with clinical science and that valued research, and were therefore a good fit for me.
• Go to the Academy for Psychological Clinical Science website. They publish a list of clinical science internship programs http://acadpsychclinicalscience.org/members/. This is a great starting place (and where I first got information on my internship site). However, as there are currently only 11 sites on the list, it will probably not constitute the end of your internship search. Even so, reading the descriptions of the programs on this list gave me a frame of reference against which I could compare other sites and assess their degree of clinical science orientation.
• Read the program descriptions thoroughly. Somewhere in the materials, typically towards the beginning, there will be an identification of their training model and orientation. A few will actually identify as clinical science programs, making things easier. However, I also learned that not all clinical science-oriented programs actually use the term “clinical science” and others use terms like scientist-practitioner or Boulder model, so those were key terms I also looked for. Others I ran across, including practioner-scholar, Vail model, developmental training model, and local clinical scientist model, seemed to emphasize the training of clinicians rather than clinical scientists.
• Look for protected research time. This became the most important criterion for me in selecting sites. Even if it is only a couple of hours per week, the fact that a site allots time for research endeavors at all speaks to the values of the program.
• Think about research match. At those sites where they request that you identify a potential research mentor, this is obviously important. However, considering that many interns transition to post-doctoral fellows at their sites, thinking about where you might fit in at a site could benefit you down the road. Plus, I have found that having someone who shares your research interests, or even just your enthusiasm for clinical science research, serves as a welcome touchstone during the internship year.
• Divorce yourself of the idea of “safety” sites. It’s hard to let go of the notion that some sites are better or more prestigious or more competitive than others. The more you can think about a site in terms of the fit for you, the better the whole process will be. One interviewer at a site for which I was not a good match said to me, “We hardly ever invite candidates with your background to interview here because you never match here.” So true! I had gone against my better judgment in applying to the site, and they had broken their own rule for whom to invite to interview. The result was that we essentially wasted each other’s time. Set your goals for internship and don’t let anxiety deter you from sticking to them.
• Ask lots of questions during the interview. It’s important to determine how the actual experience of the internship lives up to what is described in the materials. From my experiences interviewing, current interns were the most valuable sources of information, reporting that the protected research time was nonexistent or that the emphasis on an evidence base was not as strong as it could have been. This is important information that will help determine where you rank the site, or maybe if you will even rank the site at all.
In sum, I think if your goal is to match at a clinical science-oriented internship site, and your “story” is one of clinical science, then get an internship you shall. If you put the effort into selecting sites that make sense for you and your goals, all while resisting the sway of anxiety, you’ll be pleased with the end result.
Showing posts with label STUDENT ARTICLES. Show all posts
Showing posts with label STUDENT ARTICLES. Show all posts
August 28, 2013
Tips and Tricks from SSCP Student Members to Create a Healthy Work-Life Balance
Set a Schedule for Yourself – and Stick to It!
One student shared how they use scheduling to maintain work-life balance on a regular basis:
“Setting a schedule for myself and protecting all of my time equally is crucial. In grad school, I had my classes, TA slots, therapy sessions, meetings, etc. all blocked in to my calendar, but I also added in writing time (so crucial!) and times I planned to attend a yoga class, go jogging, meet friends for a drink... whatever. Once it was in my calendar, barring something emergent or incredibly important coming up, I protected it. That really helped me to budget my time and to find specific times in my day to accomplish my work and to make time to have a life.”
Another student described balancing longer work days with work-free weekends:
“My trick for maintaining work/life balance is to work 12-14 hour days Monday - Friday. This allows me to have at least one weekend day clear to enjoy time with family and friends. I’d rather have one or two full days free than, say, every day after 5pm. Having the weekend clear allows me to … spend quality time with important people without feeling rushed. Although it can be grueling to work nonstop from 9am to 11pm Monday through Friday, it allows me to cross a lot off my To Do list so when the weekend rolls around, I’m able to maximize my time and maintain a healthy social life.”
Prioritize Self-Care!
Several students suggested that making sure self-care is #1 on the to-do list is crucial to ensuring a healthy balance.
“The most important part of balancing life in graduate school has been to set aside at least an hour every evening for self-care (e.g., running) except in the most dire of circumstances. I also try to set aside the better part of a full day on the weekend for fun non-school-related activities. Doing this makes me feel more whole, keeps me healthy (and therefore more productive in school), and forces me to use my time on work-related projects more efficiently.”
Another student sent this suggestion for graduate students:
“My advice would be to prioritize self-care at specified periods throughout the week. By “self-care” I mean engaging in activities that you find fun, relaxing/rejuvenating, and that serve as a good distraction from work. My approach this semester has been to set aside (at least) two nights in the week where I schedule in enjoyable activity time and then I honor that time just as much as I’d honor an important work meeting. It’s easy to justify doing work instead of a fun activity, but do everything in your power to set your foot down and give yourself permission to have that free time. … I find that after one of these relaxing nights, I feel refueled and ready to take on my to-do list for the next day.”
Being a parent while in graduate school has its own set of unique challenges. Several of you wrote in to share what works for you in balancing the roles of graduate student and parent.
Katrina Ostmeyer, a student at Viriginia Tech writes: “As a mother of a 1 year old, I’ve learned a lot about this subject in the past. What I’ve done that is helpful is write down my short-term and long-term professional and personal goals. I then develop a schedule taking both into account (i.e. I need to write 2 pages/day and I need to pick my son up from daycare at a certain time). I then work on that plan for a couple of weeks and re-evaluate. The key is re-evaluation. I have to decide whether my goals are feasible or not and whether they are worth it. For example, I may be meeting my goals but am miserable because I am trying to be super-mom and super-student. I then have to decide what changes need to be made to benefit my career and family while maintaining my sanity and I start the process over again.”
Another SSCP student member shared the following: “The biggest thing that has helped me maintain work/life balance is setting strict boundaries. For the most part, I don’t work once my day is over and on the weekends (not possible all of the time, but overall it’s possible). The tradeoff is that I strictly adhere to a consistent work schedule, otherwise I would fall way behind. No more procrastinating like in college! Actually I’ve found that having a family has helped me stick to deadlines and goals better. I know that I have a set amount of time in which to work, and there is no room for procrastination.”
Anne Zhang, from the University of Iowa, discussed approaching work-life balance from an acceptance and commitment perspective: “Over the years, I’ve become a bit more adept at recognizing the “felt sense” that comes with “I have to’s.” For example, if I’m pushing myself to the limit with research, I may begin to feel like it’s no longer meaningful/enjoyable and I get this sense that work is dull/deadened. Or if I’m seeing too many clients and I don’t feel connected, I may begin to blame my clients or resent my clients or just get bored listening to my clients. Or sometimes I’ll even be spending time with my significant other, and I’ll begin to resent them for taking time away from important work that I need to be doing, just a little bit. These are all little flags that my behavior is rule-governed. That’s when I really have to stop and ask myself what’s most important right now. Because obviously, both work and life are important, but right now I have to choose which to act on, realizing that there will be opportunities in the future to act on the other value. I will put a time limit on how long I’ll work, how much time I’ll allot to socializing, how much time I’ll allot to time alone, etc. I try to keep in mind that old adage about fitting stones into a jar. A smart person will put the big stones in first, and then pour the little ones in to fill the spaces. But if you put in the little ones first, the big ones will never fit. So it really is an exercise in prioritizing… If I value my friends/partner/work, I’ll make time for them. If I don’t make time for my friends, then I’m not really valuing them. I guess it’s figuring out what my big stones are, what my medium stones are, and what the little stones are… which is tough in and of itself!”
One student shared how they use scheduling to maintain work-life balance on a regular basis:
“Setting a schedule for myself and protecting all of my time equally is crucial. In grad school, I had my classes, TA slots, therapy sessions, meetings, etc. all blocked in to my calendar, but I also added in writing time (so crucial!) and times I planned to attend a yoga class, go jogging, meet friends for a drink... whatever. Once it was in my calendar, barring something emergent or incredibly important coming up, I protected it. That really helped me to budget my time and to find specific times in my day to accomplish my work and to make time to have a life.”
Another student described balancing longer work days with work-free weekends:
“My trick for maintaining work/life balance is to work 12-14 hour days Monday - Friday. This allows me to have at least one weekend day clear to enjoy time with family and friends. I’d rather have one or two full days free than, say, every day after 5pm. Having the weekend clear allows me to … spend quality time with important people without feeling rushed. Although it can be grueling to work nonstop from 9am to 11pm Monday through Friday, it allows me to cross a lot off my To Do list so when the weekend rolls around, I’m able to maximize my time and maintain a healthy social life.”
Prioritize Self-Care!
Several students suggested that making sure self-care is #1 on the to-do list is crucial to ensuring a healthy balance.
“The most important part of balancing life in graduate school has been to set aside at least an hour every evening for self-care (e.g., running) except in the most dire of circumstances. I also try to set aside the better part of a full day on the weekend for fun non-school-related activities. Doing this makes me feel more whole, keeps me healthy (and therefore more productive in school), and forces me to use my time on work-related projects more efficiently.”
Another student sent this suggestion for graduate students:
“My advice would be to prioritize self-care at specified periods throughout the week. By “self-care” I mean engaging in activities that you find fun, relaxing/rejuvenating, and that serve as a good distraction from work. My approach this semester has been to set aside (at least) two nights in the week where I schedule in enjoyable activity time and then I honor that time just as much as I’d honor an important work meeting. It’s easy to justify doing work instead of a fun activity, but do everything in your power to set your foot down and give yourself permission to have that free time. … I find that after one of these relaxing nights, I feel refueled and ready to take on my to-do list for the next day.”
Being a parent while in graduate school has its own set of unique challenges. Several of you wrote in to share what works for you in balancing the roles of graduate student and parent.
Katrina Ostmeyer, a student at Viriginia Tech writes: “As a mother of a 1 year old, I’ve learned a lot about this subject in the past. What I’ve done that is helpful is write down my short-term and long-term professional and personal goals. I then develop a schedule taking both into account (i.e. I need to write 2 pages/day and I need to pick my son up from daycare at a certain time). I then work on that plan for a couple of weeks and re-evaluate. The key is re-evaluation. I have to decide whether my goals are feasible or not and whether they are worth it. For example, I may be meeting my goals but am miserable because I am trying to be super-mom and super-student. I then have to decide what changes need to be made to benefit my career and family while maintaining my sanity and I start the process over again.”
Another SSCP student member shared the following: “The biggest thing that has helped me maintain work/life balance is setting strict boundaries. For the most part, I don’t work once my day is over and on the weekends (not possible all of the time, but overall it’s possible). The tradeoff is that I strictly adhere to a consistent work schedule, otherwise I would fall way behind. No more procrastinating like in college! Actually I’ve found that having a family has helped me stick to deadlines and goals better. I know that I have a set amount of time in which to work, and there is no room for procrastination.”
Anne Zhang, from the University of Iowa, discussed approaching work-life balance from an acceptance and commitment perspective: “Over the years, I’ve become a bit more adept at recognizing the “felt sense” that comes with “I have to’s.” For example, if I’m pushing myself to the limit with research, I may begin to feel like it’s no longer meaningful/enjoyable and I get this sense that work is dull/deadened. Or if I’m seeing too many clients and I don’t feel connected, I may begin to blame my clients or resent my clients or just get bored listening to my clients. Or sometimes I’ll even be spending time with my significant other, and I’ll begin to resent them for taking time away from important work that I need to be doing, just a little bit. These are all little flags that my behavior is rule-governed. That’s when I really have to stop and ask myself what’s most important right now. Because obviously, both work and life are important, but right now I have to choose which to act on, realizing that there will be opportunities in the future to act on the other value. I will put a time limit on how long I’ll work, how much time I’ll allot to socializing, how much time I’ll allot to time alone, etc. I try to keep in mind that old adage about fitting stones into a jar. A smart person will put the big stones in first, and then pour the little ones in to fill the spaces. But if you put in the little ones first, the big ones will never fit. So it really is an exercise in prioritizing… If I value my friends/partner/work, I’ll make time for them. If I don’t make time for my friends, then I’m not really valuing them. I guess it’s figuring out what my big stones are, what my medium stones are, and what the little stones are… which is tough in and of itself!”
Work-Life Balance Online Resources
Student Doctor Network – a nonprofit organization comprised of students in pre-health and health professions, including clinical psychology. This web-based forum allows students to initiate and participate in discussions in their field. Within the Psychology forum, topics such as internship, dissertation, finding a post-doc, and even balancing school and home life have been discussed. Joining is free: http://studentdoctor.net/
Lifehack – an online weblog of “life hacks” – or easy tips for productivity and other important areas of life. Each “hack” is a short blog about a topic. Topic categories include productivity, lifestyle, and communication, among others. http://www.lifehack.org/
Getting Things Done by David Allen – in this book, David Allen introduces a “work-life management system” that is very intuitive and easy to implement and maintain. This system targets the management of commitments, information, and communication, and allows you greater focus in each area of your life.
Look locally – are there faculty members, practicum supervisors, professionals, or even other graduate students that you admire or who look like they “have it all together”? Consider approaching them to discuss how they manage to achieve success while maintaining a healthy balance with other aspects of their lives. Creating a panel of such individuals who are willing to share their experiences and advice could be an invaluable resource to graduate students.
Mother in Science – 64 Ways to Have It All – this unique document produced in the UK shows that there is no one path to achieving work-life balance when it comes to being a scientist and a mother. Each page consists of a timeline showing the scientist’s research career on one side and important events in her family life on the other. http://royalsociety.org/uploadedFiles/Royal_Society_Content/about-us/equality/2011-06-15-Mothers-in-Science.pdf
How to Survive and Thrive in the Mother-Mentor Marathon – this article contains excellent tips on how to balance motherhood and academia, but the principles are applicable to anyone seeking work-life balance. http://www.cell.com/molecular-cell/fulltext/S1097-2765(10)00374-6
Landing a Family-Friendly Post –for those on the market for post-docs and faculty jobs, this article discusses how to assess the work-life balance culture at the institutions at which you interview. There are also tips on how to prepare in advance for taking leave after having a baby. http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/29557
Negotiating for the Job You Want – most people don’t think of job negotiations as a work-life balance issue, but if you’re able to negotiate for teaching/clinical/service responsibilities, lab space, and start-up money that will allow you to more easily be successful in your new job, your personal life will benefit immensely. Some great NIH tips: https://www.training.nih.gov/assets/Slides_1_14_10.pdf
Lifehack – an online weblog of “life hacks” – or easy tips for productivity and other important areas of life. Each “hack” is a short blog about a topic. Topic categories include productivity, lifestyle, and communication, among others. http://www.lifehack.org/
Getting Things Done by David Allen – in this book, David Allen introduces a “work-life management system” that is very intuitive and easy to implement and maintain. This system targets the management of commitments, information, and communication, and allows you greater focus in each area of your life.
Look locally – are there faculty members, practicum supervisors, professionals, or even other graduate students that you admire or who look like they “have it all together”? Consider approaching them to discuss how they manage to achieve success while maintaining a healthy balance with other aspects of their lives. Creating a panel of such individuals who are willing to share their experiences and advice could be an invaluable resource to graduate students.
Mother in Science – 64 Ways to Have It All – this unique document produced in the UK shows that there is no one path to achieving work-life balance when it comes to being a scientist and a mother. Each page consists of a timeline showing the scientist’s research career on one side and important events in her family life on the other. http://royalsociety.org/uploadedFiles/Royal_Society_Content/about-us/equality/2011-06-15-Mothers-in-Science.pdf
How to Survive and Thrive in the Mother-Mentor Marathon – this article contains excellent tips on how to balance motherhood and academia, but the principles are applicable to anyone seeking work-life balance. http://www.cell.com/molecular-cell/fulltext/S1097-2765(10)00374-6
Landing a Family-Friendly Post –for those on the market for post-docs and faculty jobs, this article discusses how to assess the work-life balance culture at the institutions at which you interview. There are also tips on how to prepare in advance for taking leave after having a baby. http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/29557
Negotiating for the Job You Want – most people don’t think of job negotiations as a work-life balance issue, but if you’re able to negotiate for teaching/clinical/service responsibilities, lab space, and start-up money that will allow you to more easily be successful in your new job, your personal life will benefit immensely. Some great NIH tips: https://www.training.nih.gov/assets/Slides_1_14_10.pdf
The Ever-Sought, Seemingly Elusive Work-Life Balance
The Ever-Sought, Seemingly Elusive Work-Life Balance
Sara Stasik, University of Notre Dame
Kristy Benoit, Virginia Tech
(Clinical Science Vol. 15 (3): Fall, 2012)
Perhaps like many of you, I entered graduate school with a somewhat naïve excitement and intense motivation to get started on this academic adventure. Admittedly, I did not spend much a priori time thinking about how I would balance my school commitments and my personal life – in fact, at the time, I probably viewed them as one and the same. Quite quickly, however, I found myself amidst a sea of requirements and deadlines – proposals, defenses, clinical work, writing commitments – and it seemed the line between “work” and “life” became even more blurred, while the need for a distinction had never been more important. Over the past few years, it has been my experience that, the better I am able to balance my work and my personal life, the happier and more effective I am in each. There was a time when I would feel guilty engaging in social activities because I wasn’t working, or would have trouble concentrating on my work because I felt I was neglecting family and friends. Several things have been helpful to me in learning to balance each of these aspects of my life, at both the conceptual and behavioral level. First, I try to schedule several blocks of personal or social time each week and I commit to preserving that time only for the scheduled activity. This allows me to be fully present, without thoughts of the work I “should” be doing. Second, talking to faculty members about their journeys into their careers has been eye-opening and informative. I was encouraged to learn that professionals whom I admire also face similar work-life challenges and were not afraid to insist on balance in their own lives. Finally, as I did when I entered graduate school, I often do come back to conceptualizing my professional and my personal life as one entity. Indeed, I use both to define myself and enjoy my role in each of these domains. Of course, it is important to delineate time to dedicate to each, but I find that the more fluidity there is between how I think about myself within each domain, the easier it is to define the ways in which I can achieve an acceptable balance for myself. Certainly this is an ongoing challenge for each of us and I wish you all the best in finding your personal balance! ~Sara
I had a difficult time writing this article because they truth is, I feel that work-life balance is an ongoing struggle for me and there are many times when I feel I have it completely wrong. That being said, when I reflect back on graduate school and now the first few months of internship, I have learned a thing or two about this topic (even if I don’t always practice what I know is best!). I took an amazing grad.
class on “Work-life Balance in Academia” and one of the first things the professor talked about was the “myth” of work-life balance. The idea is that any given snapshot of your life is likely not going to show a perfect balance between the two. When internship applications are due, “work” is going to feel like it’s taking over your existence; when you are in the midst of plan-ning a wedding, “life” is going to figure more prominently in the equation. So don’t be too hard on yourself when things feel out of sync, the idea is that over time you should be work-ing to even out a balance that is constantly changing. The next thing I learned in this class was the “good enough” principle. With every-thing we have to juggle in graduate school, it is literally impossible to put as much as you would like into every endeavor. So instead of spending 6 hours prepping a lecture when I taught a class the first time, I had to set a limit of 3 hours, tell myself that it was “good enough,” and go to bed so that I was not totally exhausted the next day. The perfectionism that likely helped the major-ity of us get into graduate school, can actually become the bane of your existence in graduate school. The class also pushed me to think about how I define success in my career AND my per-sonal life. It was a sad realization that I found it very easy to delineate what career success looks like (publications, grants, etc.), but I struggled with the personal side. Once I had given both sides equal attention, I worked on goal set-ting: listing goals in both my professional and personal life for the semester, year, and next 5 years. Then I learned to create links across these categories, with the idea being that the majority of my work and personal time should be dedi-cated to short-term goals that will eventually lead to achieving my long-term goals. Finally, I would advise to keep this important issue in mind as you apply for and interview for intern-ships. Ask faculty and current interns how long a typical work week is. Can you write notes and reports from home? Do interns get together for happy hours? Best of luck in your own work-life balance journey! ~ Kristy
Sara Stasik, University of Notre Dame
Kristy Benoit, Virginia Tech
(Clinical Science Vol. 15 (3): Fall, 2012)
Perhaps like many of you, I entered graduate school with a somewhat naïve excitement and intense motivation to get started on this academic adventure. Admittedly, I did not spend much a priori time thinking about how I would balance my school commitments and my personal life – in fact, at the time, I probably viewed them as one and the same. Quite quickly, however, I found myself amidst a sea of requirements and deadlines – proposals, defenses, clinical work, writing commitments – and it seemed the line between “work” and “life” became even more blurred, while the need for a distinction had never been more important. Over the past few years, it has been my experience that, the better I am able to balance my work and my personal life, the happier and more effective I am in each. There was a time when I would feel guilty engaging in social activities because I wasn’t working, or would have trouble concentrating on my work because I felt I was neglecting family and friends. Several things have been helpful to me in learning to balance each of these aspects of my life, at both the conceptual and behavioral level. First, I try to schedule several blocks of personal or social time each week and I commit to preserving that time only for the scheduled activity. This allows me to be fully present, without thoughts of the work I “should” be doing. Second, talking to faculty members about their journeys into their careers has been eye-opening and informative. I was encouraged to learn that professionals whom I admire also face similar work-life challenges and were not afraid to insist on balance in their own lives. Finally, as I did when I entered graduate school, I often do come back to conceptualizing my professional and my personal life as one entity. Indeed, I use both to define myself and enjoy my role in each of these domains. Of course, it is important to delineate time to dedicate to each, but I find that the more fluidity there is between how I think about myself within each domain, the easier it is to define the ways in which I can achieve an acceptable balance for myself. Certainly this is an ongoing challenge for each of us and I wish you all the best in finding your personal balance! ~Sara
I had a difficult time writing this article because they truth is, I feel that work-life balance is an ongoing struggle for me and there are many times when I feel I have it completely wrong. That being said, when I reflect back on graduate school and now the first few months of internship, I have learned a thing or two about this topic (even if I don’t always practice what I know is best!). I took an amazing grad.
class on “Work-life Balance in Academia” and one of the first things the professor talked about was the “myth” of work-life balance. The idea is that any given snapshot of your life is likely not going to show a perfect balance between the two. When internship applications are due, “work” is going to feel like it’s taking over your existence; when you are in the midst of plan-ning a wedding, “life” is going to figure more prominently in the equation. So don’t be too hard on yourself when things feel out of sync, the idea is that over time you should be work-ing to even out a balance that is constantly changing. The next thing I learned in this class was the “good enough” principle. With every-thing we have to juggle in graduate school, it is literally impossible to put as much as you would like into every endeavor. So instead of spending 6 hours prepping a lecture when I taught a class the first time, I had to set a limit of 3 hours, tell myself that it was “good enough,” and go to bed so that I was not totally exhausted the next day. The perfectionism that likely helped the major-ity of us get into graduate school, can actually become the bane of your existence in graduate school. The class also pushed me to think about how I define success in my career AND my per-sonal life. It was a sad realization that I found it very easy to delineate what career success looks like (publications, grants, etc.), but I struggled with the personal side. Once I had given both sides equal attention, I worked on goal set-ting: listing goals in both my professional and personal life for the semester, year, and next 5 years. Then I learned to create links across these categories, with the idea being that the majority of my work and personal time should be dedi-cated to short-term goals that will eventually lead to achieving my long-term goals. Finally, I would advise to keep this important issue in mind as you apply for and interview for intern-ships. Ask faculty and current interns how long a typical work week is. Can you write notes and reports from home? Do interns get together for happy hours? Best of luck in your own work-life balance journey! ~ Kristy
August 20, 2013
Self-Efficacy: The Foundation for Work-Life Balance
Self-Efficacy: The Foundation for Work-Life Balance
Andrew J. Smith, MA & Claire Blevins, BA
Doctoral Students in Clinical Psychology, Psychology Department, Virginia Tech
Originally published in the SSCP Newsletter (Clinical Science Vol. 15 (3): Fall, 2012 12)
Self-Efficacy Enables Resource Conservation
Life for graduate students is accompanied by an endless string of stress-inducing obstacles—when we finish overcoming one (Master’s thesis), another appears in its place (comprehensive examinations, dissertation, internship, post-doc, finding a job, etc.). With each completed step, expectations, complexity, and stress levels increase, all the while we must balance our own expectations with the expectations of others (e.g., significant others, advisors, the scientific community, family members, our dogs) with sobering implications for our future happiness.
Andrew J. Smith, MA & Claire Blevins, BA
Doctoral Students in Clinical Psychology, Psychology Department, Virginia Tech
Originally published in the SSCP Newsletter (Clinical Science Vol. 15 (3): Fall, 2012 12)
Self-Efficacy Enables Resource Conservation
Life for graduate students is accompanied by an endless string of stress-inducing obstacles—when we finish overcoming one (Master’s thesis), another appears in its place (comprehensive examinations, dissertation, internship, post-doc, finding a job, etc.). With each completed step, expectations, complexity, and stress levels increase, all the while we must balance our own expectations with the expectations of others (e.g., significant others, advisors, the scientific community, family members, our dogs) with sobering implications for our future happiness.
Doctoral training in clinical psychology
Doctoral training in clinical psychology
Brian A. Feinstein
Clinical Psychology Doctoral Student at Stony Brook University
Note: This article was originally published in Clinical Science Vol. 16 (1): Winter, 2013
Whether you have just begun your doctoral training or it is nothing more than a distant memory, you can likely attest to the challenge of a graduate education in clinical psychology.
Brian A. Feinstein
Clinical Psychology Doctoral Student at Stony Brook University
Note: This article was originally published in Clinical Science Vol. 16 (1): Winter, 2013
Whether you have just begun your doctoral training or it is nothing more than a distant memory, you can likely attest to the challenge of a graduate education in clinical psychology.
Dissertations and Grant-Writing: Lessons Learned.
Note: The article below was originally published in the SSCP Newsletter (Clinical Science Vol. 16 (2): Spring, 2013)
Dissertations and Grant-Writing: Lessons Learned
Amanda S. Morrison, Temple University
When I started graduate school, I was thrilled for the opportunity to develop study ideas and work on my own projects. However, the idea of a dissertation felt different. I attached greater significance to it, like it needed to be particularly exemplary of my research interests and the research direction I would like to take for the rest of my career. Although I tried to keep in mind the sage advice that “the best dissertation is a done dissertation,” it was important to me that I value the hours I would eventually dedicate to the dissertation. Now being able to look back on my experiences, I would, without a doubt, recommend applying for a grant or fellowship. The perks of being awarded funding for your dissertation are obvious, but perhaps less obvious are the perks that come with the actual preparation of the application. Writing a grant application requires you to start thinking about your dissertation early and with a critical eye, both of which, at least for me, relieved unnecessary stress down the road.
Dissertations and Grant-Writing: Lessons Learned
Amanda S. Morrison, Temple University
When I started graduate school, I was thrilled for the opportunity to develop study ideas and work on my own projects. However, the idea of a dissertation felt different. I attached greater significance to it, like it needed to be particularly exemplary of my research interests and the research direction I would like to take for the rest of my career. Although I tried to keep in mind the sage advice that “the best dissertation is a done dissertation,” it was important to me that I value the hours I would eventually dedicate to the dissertation. Now being able to look back on my experiences, I would, without a doubt, recommend applying for a grant or fellowship. The perks of being awarded funding for your dissertation are obvious, but perhaps less obvious are the perks that come with the actual preparation of the application. Writing a grant application requires you to start thinking about your dissertation early and with a critical eye, both of which, at least for me, relieved unnecessary stress down the road.
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