Advancing Clinical Science: The PCSAS Blog
- Accreditation Updates for Clinical Psychology Programs (4)
- Building Trust in Research Practices (1)
- Clinical Psychology Education Structure (1)
- Clinical Psychology Training (4)
- Community Engagement in Psychology Research (1)
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Psychology Training (2)
- Ethics in Psychological Research (2)
- Financial Challenges in Psychology Training (1)
- Graduate Student Well-Being (3)
- Mental Health and Therapy Insights (3)
- Mentorship and Career Guidance (4)
- Mentorship and Communication (3)
- Navigating Graduate School (5)
- Newsletter (71)
- Open Science in Psychology (1)
- Predoctoral Internship Preparation (3)
- Professional Development for Therapists (6)
- Psychology Graduate Student Resources (8)
- Psychology Services (1)
- Psychology Training Reform and Policy (1)
- Sleep Health and Academic Life (1)
- Stress Management for Students (2)
- Work-Life Balance in Academia (2)
Child Development (5) Clinical Psychology (32) Clinical Science (14) Clinical Science Education (4) Clinical Science Program (4) Clinical Training (6) Data Collection (3) Diversity in Psychology (5) Gabriela Memba (4) Graduate Education (4) Graduate Student Resources (6) Graduate Training (5) Internship Preparation (4) Mental Health (10) Mental Health Disparities (7) Mentorship in Psychology (4) PCSAS (9) PCSAS Accreditation (4) Physiological Reactivity (3) Professional Development (8) Professional Standards in Psychology (4) Psychological Research (5) Psychology Education (9) Psychology Training (8) Psychology Training Programs (5) Skin Conductance (3) Social Justice (4) Social Justice in Psychology (5) Stress Management (3) Work-Life Balance (4)
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APS and PCSAS: Bringing Science to Clinical Training A Brief Overview of a Powerful Partnership
by Sarah Brookhart When I say “accreditation” to just about anyone, there’s a good chance their eyes will start to glaze over. In fact, your eyes are looking a little glossy reading this. Accreditation, however, has been at the forefront of an important and exciting new movement centered around the clinical science model of training embodied […]
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Using a Trauma-Informed Lens for Understanding Experiences of Discrimination
by Keisha D. Novak, Adilene Osnaya, Allycen R. Kurup, & Kelly L. LeMaire, Purdue University Racism, sexism, heterosexism, and other prejudicial attitudes pervade health and mental health care (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2001; Carter, 1995, 2005). For example, racial disparities have persisted for decades such that Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) face myriad […]
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Student Spotlight: Tina Gupta
by Julia Case, Temple University Tina Gupta, M.A., is a 5th year graduate student at Northwestern University, working with Dr. Vijay Mittal in the Adolescent Development and Preventive Treatment Program (ADAPT). Tina was nominated for our Student Spotlight by a peer, Hollen Reischer. Here’s what Hollen said about why she nominated Tina: “I nominated Tina […]
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Student Wellness Initiatives in PCSAS Programs
by Molly Bowdring, University of Pittsburgh Graduate students are at significant risk for mental health issues. One estimate suggests that compared to the general population, graduate students are more than six times as likely to experience depression and anxiety (Evans et al., 2018). Clinical psychology trainees are, unfortunately, not immune to this problem (El-Ghoroury et al., […]
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Post-doc Spotlight: Shannon Blakey, PhD
by Samantha Hellberg, UNC Chapel Hill Dr. Shannon Blakey is a postdoctoral fellow at the VA Mid-Atlantic Mental Illness, Research, Education and Clinical Center, a translational research center at the Durham VA Health Care System. She received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) after completing her clinical […]
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Promoting Diversity and Inclusion in Clinical Psychology: One Program’s Early Initiatives
by Allycen R. Kurup, Adilene Osnaya, Keisha D. Novak, & Kelly L. LeMaire, Purdue University In response to racial unrest, clinical psychology departments are likely beginning to implement myriad initiatives to advance diversity and inclusion (D&I) within their graduate training programs and may be seeking examples from other programs. This article details initiatives implemented in […]
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Translating Neuroscientific Methods into the Psychology Clinic
by Brett Schneider, University of Wisconsin-Madison Researchers investigating the neural underpinnings of mental illness have been developing tasks designed to capture transdiagnostic symptomology for decades. However, little to none of this work has improved the diagnosis or treatment of mental health disorders (Rogers, 2017). In this article, I will describe how clinicians and researchers can utilize […]
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Understanding the Role of a Research Consultant: An Interview with Dr. Sarah Kleiman
by Kathryn Coniglio, M.S., Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey Doctoral students likely give considerable thought to future career goals. Some pursue tenure-track faculty positions while others opt for clinical practice. Unlike many other pre-professional graduate programs that expose their students to a wide range of potential career trajectories, however, clinical psychology PhD programs appear to […]
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Meeting Requirements for Diversity, Ethics, and History
by Kathleen W. Reardon, Ph.D, The Family Institute at Northwestern University Recent events, drawing renewed attention to racial inequities in our society, have prompted much-needed conversations about diversity and inclusion initiatives in clinical psychology training programs. Clinical Psychology programs that are accredited by the Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System (PCSAS) or the American Psychological Association […]
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Meaningful #Activism: How Psychologists and Trainees Can Use Online Platforms and Social Media to Fight Racial Injustice
by Eve Rosenfeld, M.A., University at Buffalo, SUNY In light of recent instances of police brutality against Black Americans, many outraged psychologists and trainees are faced with a dilemma. Do we speak up against police brutality and potentially face professional repercussions? Or do we protect our careers by staying silent about racial injustice? Traditional wisdom says that […]
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What is the APA? A Brief History
by Julia S. Yarrington, M.A., University of California, Los Angeles The American Psychological Association (APA) has become an increasingly contentious body in the field of psychology. Although the APA holds a number of responsibilities, the organization is perhaps most salient to students and faculty through its role in establishing professional standards for psychologists. In keeping […]
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Selflessly Selfish: Barriers and Recommendations for Self-Care
by Tyler McFayden, M.S., Virginia Tech The day to day of a graduate student is, overall, markedly selfless– we care for our lab, conduct work for our mentor, provide mentorship to undergraduate students, counsel our cohort, and primarily provide clinical services to those in need in our communities. Graduate studies are full of pressures to […]
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Current and Anticipated Mental Health Effects of COVID-19
by Stephanie L. Haft, B.A., University of California, Berkeley Previous research has demonstrated that pandemics carry a heavy psychological toll. Consistent with these findings, in the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic clinical scientists are witnessing an escalation in mental health issues. This increase in both the severity and prevalence of mental health concerns is […]
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What Does it Take to be a Competitive Internship Applicant?
by Iony D. Ezawa, M.A., The Ohio State University Applying to and making it through graduate school takes a lot of work, but before you reach the end, there is the internship application process. While graduate school is focused on preparing you to be a researcher, a clinician, a teacher, and more, you may still […]
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Student Spotlight: Alayna Park
by Molly Bowdring, M.S., University of Pittsburgh The PCSAS Newsletter will regularly feature “Spotlights,” which aim to highlight students and early career researchers from different PCSAS programs and the excellent work they are doing. The present article focuses on Dr. Alayna Park, a recent graduate from the UCLA Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program. Dr. Park has just […]
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How the Cost of Internship Contributes to Inequities in Clinical Psychology
by Brett Schneider, University of Wisconsin-Madison There is a glaring and alarming lack of diversity within the clinical psychology community. While most academic fields suffer from a lack of diversity, the clinical internship training model poses a unique difficulty for attracting and retaining diverse students. I passionately believe in the importance of the internship process in […]
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Culturally Competent Psychotherapy: How We Can Do Better
by Amanda R. Arulpragasam, Emory University The recent murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and Rayshard Brooks highlight the continued racism and discrimination experienced by Black Americans. Racist events have been linked to increased mental health risks and poor clinical course (Loeb et al., 2018; Sibrava et al., 2019). Incidents of police brutality and […]
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Antiracism Requires Accomplices
by Effua E. Sosoo, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Donte L. Bernard, Medical University of South Carolina, and Carrington C. Merritt, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill “The opposite of ‘racist’ isn’t ‘not racist.’ It is ‘anti-racist’” (Kendi, 2019, p. 9) The recent trifecta of shooting deaths that claimed the lives of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, […]
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Do Clinical Science Programs Need GRE Scores in Admissions this Year, or Ever?
by Isabelle Lanser & Alexandra S. Tanner, University of California, Los Angeles As the field of psychology and the clinical science community in particular examine the ways our field has historically been complicit in the discrimination and oppression of marginalized groups, it is important to re-examine the structure of our current training programs to identify […]
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Assessing the Integration of Sociocultural Considerations in Clinical Science Programs
by Isabelle Lanser & Alexandra S. Tanner, University of California, Los AngelesAs the field of psychology and the clinical science community in particular examine the ways our field has historically been complicit in the discrimination and oppression of marginalized groups, it is important to re-examine the structure of our current training programs to identify opportunities […]
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Racism in Clinical Science and Academia Today and Ways to Enact Change
by Yehsong Kim, University of Southern California There is a social movement afoot to root out anti-Black racism in our society. Racism—the belief that someone is less than because of the color of their skin and the subsequent oppression, exclusion, limitation, or discrimination of non-dominant racial groups that occurs—has been a part of the history […]
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Student Perspectives on Culturally Informed Case Formulation
by Jennifer Pearlstein & Alice Hua, University of California, Berkeley Given recent mobilization in response to police killings of Black people, we as clinical scientists are reminded again of the extensive evidence documenting the detrimental effects of racism on mental health (Carter et al., 2019; Paradies et al., 2015; Pieterse et al., 2012). We are trained […]
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The Minority Student Experience and a Call for Latinx Solidaridad with BLM
by Eve Rosenfeld, University at Buffalo Across the board, psychology graduate students of color face significant barriers compared to White students. For example, students of color rarely see themselves represented in their mentors, supervisors, and institutional leadership. This lack of representation makes it difficult for students of color to identify with professional role models and […]