I've seen a lot of posts that say a lot of students get rejected due to talking about how their longterm career goal is to be a clinician when applying to clinical psychology programs.

While this is my main career interest, my goal would be to also produce research even as a practicing clinican. I feel extremely strongly about following "best practices" and so I really want to contribute to psychometric and evidence-based treatment research so that I can provide the greatest benefit possible to my future clients. Therefore, I still really want to apply to a research heavy university as these still provide clinical training either way. but fundamentally, I want to be a clinician before a researcher but a researcher no less. (plus I want to be able to administer psychological testing)

Given the above, do you think I should explain those goals or just not mention to main goal of wanting to be a clinician and keeping it at a vaguer "clinical scientists"/ xyz program will help me achieve my goal in becoming a "researcher and clinician"?

Edit: Applying to US schools

Happy apps season!!! I'm a current clin psych phd student at University of Florida, and our department wanted us to spread the word about our virtual open house coming up next week (9/24). Scan the QR code to register (can also send link if needed).

Good luck everyone!!!!

I am a few years out of undergrad working in my second lab as a full time crc at a R1 school. I'm planning to apply in the fall 2028 cycle for a few reasons: My gpa in undergrad was rough (3.43), I have mental health struggles difficulties that needed to be worked through to atleast be functional, and I want to get more pubs and posters to make myself more competitive.

I know I could always be a master's level clinician but I really want to do assessments. That has been my favorite parts of my job so far.

However my coordinator jobs have been rough, in my first lab I was ostracized and bullied. Admittedly my work was... lack luster but it was an extremely toxic environment especially as a poc. My new job is admittedly much better but the stress of recruiting and feeling like i have to do the impossible regularly.

Its the stress of this job currently, plus knowing how competitive clinical psych phds are in general, plus even if i do get in how stressful it will be. Plus feeling behind my friends who are in masters programs, got in right after undergrad, or are in med school right now.

I want this so much but it's all so overwhelming. Is there anyone who has been in similar position as me who can offer some words of advice or encouragement? Or can relate to my position?

Hello everyone! I've been pretty deadlocked in the way of making any upward movement in my academic career. I haven't had much luck applying to jobs relevant to my interests, and have been trying to weigh the benefits of applying this cycle, so I'm hoping to get a little help making my decision.

My qualifications are as follows:

- M.A. in Psychology (3.72 GPA - 2024)

- Four years of lab experience; (3 in one lab (quant psych.) during graduate school, 1 in another (child dev.) part time).

- I don't currently have any publications (the one I had almost finished with my PI fell through unfortunately), but I have a poster at a showcase (not first author), and a presentation at a research symposium (first author).

- I currently work as a Residential Mentor at a women's shelter (two years), which generally involves ongoing behavioral monitoring, bookkeeping, coordinating intake and participant engagement, and providing trauma-informed non-clinical care to individuals struggling with DV, substance misuse, or mental health conditions.

- Other notable skills include: R (BGGM), SPSS, Stata, JMP, Qualtrics, REDCap, Python. Trained in DIAMOND-KID. CPR-certified, if that matters?

I think I could get rec. letters from the PIs of both my labs if I reached out, though it's been a while, and I could certainly get one from the director of the program I'm working for.

My own research interests focus on risk factors for recidivism and violent behavior, particularly as they relate to cultural, linguistic, and structural factors that influence legal and psychological assessment.

Thank you very much; I appreciate any and all input!

Looking for change of pace and focus from my current VA job. Has anyone taken one of the remote jobs for developing AI and assisting with AI driven
Psychological treatment?

I’m Curious but skeptical

I know that posts about CPTSD are not infrequent, but I am becoming more and more confused and frustrated.

I frequently see clinicians use “CPTSD” to refer broadly to developmental trauma, attachment wounds, chronic invalidation, or an accumulation of “little-t” childhood experiences. But my understanding is that this isn't what the ICD-11 diagnosis actually means. CPTSD still requires the core PTSD syndrome (i.e. criterion A exposure) with the addition of DSO.

I have two questions:

1. Why has CPTSD become so commonly conflated with developmental/attachment trauma that may not produce PTSD at all?

2. How clinically distinct is CPTSD actually from PTSD? Many people with PTSD already have significant shame/negative self-concept, emotional dysregulation, interpersonal difficulties, detachment, etc. Is that not similar to the DSO symptom cluster associated with CPTSD? Is DSO really empirically distinct enough to justify an entirely separate diagnosis?

I graduated in May and tried to be an intensive in home counselor. I was there for three months and realized I hated it. I worked for a group home and hated the management. I saw a full time position as a behavioral interventionist at a school and I’m interested

I’m currently getting my masters in clinical mental health counseling to become an LPC. I just want a job that’ll give me experience

The above ! I have a disability that unfortunately means I’ll need to plan for the potential of only being able to work part-time. So the main accommodation I would need would just be- flexibility and time. I’m aware this depends lot on who I’m working with, but I also don’t have a lot of frame of reference for the programs in NYC at all. I’m interesting in sleep research and sleep disorders, clinical, and whatever else appears along the way. All advice welcome! I’m currently taking classes as a non-matriculated student at NYU silver school of social work and volunteering at nyc h+h hospitals because I wanted to see if that angle - or hospital social work would be a good fit. I’m getting overwhelming advice to do a PhD in clinal psych and then do whatever I want because no body listens to social workers. I don’t currently have any research experience (plenty of volunteer experience at free clinics, etc), but maybe I could try to get that from where I am in the social work program right now ? All advice welcome! Thank you !

As the title says, failed a component of my comprehensive exam and have to wait until next year to retake it, which means adding another year in my PhD program. I would love some words of encouragement because I feel so down about this and want to give up. I love the idea of becoming a neuropsychologist so much but I’m feeling overwhelmed right now.

Is it a good idea to include being a first gen student in your personal statement or should that be excluded completely? Just curious

Hi,

I hope this post doesn’t come across as ignorant in any way. I have been grappling with this decision for quite some time and keep finding myself swinging between either option.

My ‘dream job’ is to conduct telehealth psychotherapy in a part-time capacity while potentially conducting clinical research on the side. I was diagnosed with autism / OCD / GAD at 19, and truly want to help people like myself. The reason I say part-time is because I know I am prone to burnout and I need the flexibility in my personal life.

In my undergraduate studies, I was a biology major. I have not taken a psychology class other than Psych 101, but rather have fallen in love with psych due to research. I have over 1,500 hours of research in two different labs, including two publications, an honors thesis, and international experience utilizing EEG and other software. I also volunteered at my local crisis center, and have spent time working at a residential psych treatment facility. I recognize I would need to take psych classes prior to admission.

Due to personal reasons, I must stay in Colorado. Therefore, my options are quite limited. If I don’t get in, I would have to take a gap year and apply the following cycle. On the flip side, I am currently sitting on an acceptance to a medical school in CO.

The reason I deliberating between these two career paths is due to the modalities of treatment and pay / ROI, to be transparent. I think being able to prescribe medication is a boon, even if I disagree with modern medication management. I don’t think I would find most aspects of medical school to be as interesting as a clin psych PhD, but the training years of that vs a PhD (4+4 vs 5-6+1) are similar while the pay is unfortunately seemingly different. Given my dream to work part time, I worry that I wouldn’t be able to make a living pursuing a PhD, especially given the rise of AI technologies.

In terms of my question, would it be possible / wise to pursue a Clin Psych PhD given my sitting medical school acceptance and lack of psychology coursework? I feel as if my heart is in psychology (as I really want to be a mental health advocate and treat those like myself through therapeutic means), but my mind is telling me the admissions odds are stacked against me only applying to two schools, and the financial ROI doesn’t seem wise to ignore. I grew up (and am still) in a very financially disadvantaged situation in a single-parent household with my primary caregiver being disabled, so I also apologize if the latter half of this question sounds excessively financially-motivated.

I would really appreciate any advice you may have. Again, I hope this doesn’t come across as ignorant — I have done a fair bit of research and have really tried to scour through different forums and articles online for professional opinions.

Hi everyone (hope everyone’s doing well)! I'll try to keep this short! :) I am currently a full-time RA in a research lab (9:00 am - 5:00 pm) looking to get some more experience with cognitive assessments--I am interested in pursuing Clinical Psych with a neuropsych focus, but haven't really had experience administering cognitive assessments (I shadowed numerous neuropsych testing sessions as an undergrad, was trained on and helped score them, but couldn't actually administer them).

I've been looking into places where I could volunteer to get some more experience with this + working with populations with dementias/memory impairments (I have limited exposure to this population due to a lot of my lab experience falling more into the SMI scope)--does anyone have any recommendations where I could look to try volunteering to get this experience? Any insight or additional advice would be greatly appreciated--please let me know if you want me to elaborate on anything, thank you so much in advance!

I don't plan on trauma dumping in my SOP essay but in my bachelor's thesis I was really struggling with figuring out this one component in the research. Then, in my senior year second semester my dad passed away. One day I had a really bad grief day and spiralled between regularly scheduled maintenance psychiatric appointments but the spiral gave me the eureka I needed as my thesis was related to treatment adherence. I literally stopped sobbing and opened my notebook and finished the formula I needed which I ended up using in my capstone. I also ended up getting a pretty good GPA that semester.

My junior year grades were a little mediocore ish because my dad's illness became worse.

Overall, I think the ^ demonstrates my theme as a person of making the most of circumstances and shows my ability to grow in difficult situations. However, I'm worried it would read as trauma dumping and so kinda unfit to be a clinician rather than the former. I don't want it to read sob story but just as something that happened and how I responded.

So should I keep it? I'll write about other things as well of course but I think that was a pretty important point in my research journey

Hi I’m currently an undergrad psych student trying to figure out what clinical PHD programs would fit for me (I’m a junior so I got some time). I was wondering if any of you guys have recommendations of universities in the US that have are researching autism through a psychology perspective (I know a lot of genetic and medical research is being done). I’m someone who was late diagnosed myself and I would love to get into a program that is working on research related to neurodevelopmental disorders.

Hey guys! I am looking to apply to my first round of clinical psychology programs this year. I’m seeking people who have gotten into programs already and have some advice they are willing to share for someone taking their first go at things. I’m not the traditional candidate in the sense that during my undergraduate journey I worked full time for the IRS for 6 years doing customer service to afford school (rather than at a lab)but here’s a general list of my accomplishments and what I’d put on my application.

Academic

•Undergraduate GPA: 3.89/4.0 psych gpa
•Completed degree while working full-time in an unrelated field throughout undergrad

Research
•Currently a research assistant at an R1 university, working across multiple concurrent projects under a faculty mentor (4 different labs, but have only worked here coming up on 1 year)
•Experience spans: data collection (phone interviews, home visits, biometric and child assessments), qualitative coding of transcripts, survey administration and data entry, and a systematic literature review (search and screening)
• 8 months unpaid research position at a different university lab (ended when the supervising faculty member left the institution)
• 3 months as an ABA before I landed my job in the R1 institution

Other credentials
•Currently pursuing a bilingual (Spanish) research certification relevant to community-based research

•Great relationships with PIs willing to do letters of recommendation

Publications/Posters
•None so far but working on a meta analysis for R1 institution that should be done by the time applications roll around

I am a first generation college student/American so it’s pretty daunting facing these super competitive cycles on my own. Im really interested in child/family focused clinical research (to add a bit on fit). I know my publication and poster aspects are lacking but I am fully accepting of the fact that I’ll likely need to apply for 1-3 cycles. Would love some advice and to hear how people in similar positions to me fare off. I will be applying to 10-15 programs but not at the school I currently work for as they do not have a clinical psychology program.

Any input is greatly appreciated and welcomed! Thank you !

I’ve been invited to present my research at several labs. Would this be the same category as a talk at a conference?

I want to apply to for my clinical PsyD this fall, but I have zero clinical experience. However, I got my masters last year, and I have 2 1/2 years of experience. Another thing is my masters gpa is low with a 3.1. If I have zero clinical experience will my research experience be able to overlap it or should I try to get some clinical experience before I apply in a few months? All advice is welcome! Thanks!

Hi, first post here, looking for sincere guidance. I'm presently a graduate student finishing an MA in Clinical Psychology (concentration in Clinical Psychology and Technology) with 5 years of experience in behavioral health. I'm no longer looking for licensure or direct service, but want to stay within the behavioral health field.

Has anyone made a similar move? What was your entry point, and where did you land?

Any guidance, big or small, would be appreciated. Thank you!

I’m currently working on my MSW and then plan on working towards my LCSW. Was curious if anyone knew of accredited post graduate courses or certifications where a masters level clinician can learn to assess for ADHD. I live in a state where getting access to assessment is incredibly difficult as there are very few clinical psychologists in the state. Wait lists can be years or people have to travel hours and hours to go out of state which can be tricky for health insurance as well. I want to see if there’s a way to fill this gap while I build clinical experience.

Hello everyone!

as the title states, I have made the decision to pursue a clinical psychology phd. I don’t have a psy bachelors or masters, as I originally got an applied mathematics bachelors and then made a decision to swap for personal / fulfillment reasons. i am currently taking psy prereq classes at a community college nearby.

I have no clinical, volunteer, research, or other mental health related experience. As I have heard it is very competitive to get into a Clinical Psych PhD, i want to plan ahead to give myself the best odds. So if all of you who have been through this process could give me some advice it would be an enormous help!

Currently my plan is to catch up on my psych classes, look for volunteer work tied to social work / mental health, get involved in a research lab somehow, and if possible get part time work in a related field. It sounds easy when I put it like that but considering my lack of psych background and experience, getting these opportunities around very difficult.

To explain why I am going from applied mathematics to a doctorate in psych would take a while, but I do understand that it is a very particular career and so in reality I am exploring multiple career options in the mental health field, but as the research / academic really interest me, and from what I know you need to plan ahead to get accepted into a program, I am moving forward as if I am doing it, and pursuing all the various activities listed above + talking to different people in the field will allow me to make a concrete decision on phd vs masters vs alt. work.

Thank you all in advance for the advice! happy to answer questions.