By Michelle Moran, Spring 2011 - Online Exclusive
Why are we getting a Ph.D or Psy.D in clinical psychology? What got us here? What were some of the ideas we had as we contemplated pursuing a doctorate in this field? A popular humorous video on YouTube titled “So you want a Ph.D in clinical psychology?” provides theories behind these questions – debunked. According to the video, which is a video of an eager undergraduate student who is talking to her amazingly encouraging professor (or not!) about why she wants a Ph.D in clinical psychology, identifies reasons students pursue a doctorate in clinical psychology such as, wanting to give others “advice,” earning “a lot” of money, and wanting to be called “doctor.” However, in the midst of providing all the wonderful reasons to pursue a doctorate, the professor provides a brief overview of the reality of the hoops and hurdles involved in the process of becoming a clinical psychologist.
So let’s begin by talking about wanting to give advice. It’s always easier to give advice to others and tell them what they’re doing wrong than to come up for advice for ourselves. Besides, I’m sure many of us had the reaffirming comments from others like “you’re a great listener,” or “you’re really good at giving advice!” and we think “Bam! I’m totally good at this! I should totally become a doctor and get paid to listen and tell people what to do!” Oooppss! I meant, “To help” people live a “better” life. Now, let’s fast forward to our lives once in the program and our reactions: “What?! You mean we don’t really know what’s best for others at all times? I’m a little confused…you mean my personal thoughts, opinions, values, and biases are not what determine treatment?” What about the excitement we felt in our first abnormal psychology course when we asked ourselves how all the abnormality fits into our lives, and we discovered that we’re a little bipolar and that our best friend may have borderline personality disorder. Yea, that’s not something that gets us through our day once in the program.
Okay…well we still get to be called “doctor” when we graduate! Super exciting! Fast forward to life in program: Not every psychologist I know gets called doctor, some people with their master’s degree are called doctor by their clients because their clients have no idea what credentials they have anyway, and some clients get confused because psychologists are doctors who can’t prescribe psychiatric medication? What? AND our friends and family will not call us doctor?! Okay…well we still get to make a lot of money once we graduate and meet our future partner along the way. Fast forward to life in program: umm…I think I may be well over $100, 000 in debt once I graduate and I’m just hoping I make enough money to repay my loans after graduation. Oh, and the whole thing about finding a partner along the way, let’s just say the only date recorded in my blackberry calendar at this point is the date I have to meet with my client to administer the Rorschach (for your information, it was very difficult for me to find time to schedule that date!) Oh…the reality of being a Ph.D/Psy.D clinical psychology student.
Other thoughts that stuck with me after watching this video: When it comes to supervision, how much of our improvement is the implementation of feedback we receive from our supervisors and how much is it from learning throughout time, as well as getting to know our clients? Also, after 8+ years of studying psychology and jumping through all the hoops, do we really look forward to having people with mental illnesses wanting to date us? And do we look forward to meeting people who’s reaction and perception of us entails one of the following three: A) We’re psychologist therefore we’re “crazy”, hence, they are afraid of us. B) We’re analyzing and diagnosing people at all times, and C) People find us awesome and want free therapy.
So after thinking about our initial reasons to pursue a Ph.D or Psy.D in clinical psychology in comparison to our life in the program, do we still feel the same way or are we having second thoughts? Well, if you’re having second thoughts the video on provides some alternatives in case we decide to take a slightly different route.
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