Time2Track Blog
Real-Life Resources for Students & Early Career Professionals
Are You Ready for a Leadership Role in Clinical Psychology?
Imagine yourself in this scenario: You finally made it! After much hard work, you are now licensed and you recently accepted a job as a staff psychologist at a clinic in a great location. Your job description? You will provide therapy and assessment, maintain appropriate documentation, collaborate with other health providers, yada, yada, yada. That’s easy – you’ve done all this stuff before in your practica, internship, and fellowship – you’ve got this.
You will also have to supervise trainees. You had a small taste of that in your training. You fumble around a little as you figure it out, but you know enough about supervision to get by. After you get settled and feel like you have a good handle on things, you notice there are some other kinds of positions open to psychologists. These positions have additional responsibilities and they pay more money. They have titles like “Coordinator,“ “Director,” “Division Manager,” and “Chief Mental Health Officer.” You have heard these titles before and have known lots of people who have held them. Perhaps now you are ready to level up.
Your Guide to Organizing Life as a Grad Student in Behavioral Health
Hurry Up and Read This!
Many of us look back on our week and feel astonished that we made it out in one piece. Client work, case management, consultation, assessment, report writing, faculty meetings, student group meetings. Oh, and also class. And life, I suppose.
As grad students, we are in a bit of a bind. Although we need to practice good self-care and make time for rest, we recognize the importance of this period of development. We have infinite opportunities to learn more, do more, and truly maximize our training.
In the spirit of finding and maintaining a healthy work-life balance, I recommend leaning into some time management and organization techniques. The key is to make your schedule as efficient as possible by prioritizing, streamlining, and eliminating certain activities. But first, you need to take a good look at your schedule.
Finding a Mentor as a Behavioral Health Trainee
Being a psychologist- or counselor-in-training can be isolating. Sure, you are surrounded by supervisors, professors, patients, and peers, but their focus is often on “the now.” These individuals are teaching, testing, and training you on a daily basis, but what about your next steps? What about your professional career, and the specific field you hope to enter?
For pressing questions such as these, it’s helpful to consult a mentor.
Research Conferences are Big Opportunities – Here’s Why
Have you ever read a research article and thought, “I wish I could meet these authors one day” or “I wish I could be like them”? One way of reaching that dream is by attending research conferences.
With research conferences, students are not only provided with the opportunity to meet with prominent researchers in the field, but also the prospect of learning about information they truly value.
Whether you’re a research conference pro or are contemplating attending your first conference, this article will offer tips on how to prepare and how to get the most out of your conference.
The #1 Secret to Surviving Your Psychology Dissertation
The Psychology Dissertation: It’s the looming, black cloud over all of our graduate school careers. It’s the one thing we all want to get off of our plates, but also the one thing we do everything in our power to avoid. But there is an underrated, sometimes-forgotten way to prevent a lot of dissertation pain.
Do Therapists-in-Training Need Therapy, Too?
“We have to push ourselves beyond what we think we’re capable of.”
“I have three ‘bosses’ who all expect 100% from me, but I can’t physically give 300%. I feel like I can’t accomplish enough. It’s never enough.”
“I’m scared out of my wits. I live in panic mode all of the time. I just want more stability.”
“I’m just waiting for someone to figure out that I have no idea what I’m doing.”
“I spend so much time working, and thinking about working, that I have no time for enjoyment.”
These statements were not made by clients. They were not spoken in a counseling session, or at a support group. These are statements made by doctoral students during group supervision, after being prompted to speak about their successes of the semester. These statements certainly don’t highlight successes. Rather, they speak to feelings of stress, anxiety, hopelessness, imposter syndrome, and fear. These statements speak to mental health concerns.
Time2Track Tips: Custom Activity Types
Have you ever wanted to add notes or comments to an activity in Time2Track to be more specific about what you did?
Have you ever tried to choose an activity type, only to find that the one you need isn’t there?
Have you ever wanted to keep track of “no-shows” without just deleting the activity?
If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then you’re going to love Time2Track’s Custom Activity Types.
Working in Behavioral Health as a Military Spouse
Many military spouses, particularly women, often struggle to answer the question, “So, what do you do?” Personally, I tend to find myself floundering and muttering some long-winded explanation that usually starts with something like, “Well, right now I’m doing XYZ, but my degree is in LMNOP…” followed by some nervous chuckling and the explanation that I am married to a member of the United States Marine Corps.
The challenges of being a military spouse are not limited to those working in the field of behavioral health – they can affect people across all industries and backgrounds.
The spouses of active duty service members, or MilSpouses, are chronically unemployed, underemployed, or working in fields very different from the ones in which we’ve trained.
Throughout this article, you will see excerpts from conversations with MilSpouses like myself who struggle with balancing their chosen careers and their marriages to military members. Many of us are educated, driven, and career-minded women, but we struggle due to the unique circumstances of military life – not the least of which is the frequent relocating.
First, I will talk about the challenges that MilSpouses of all backgrounds and careers may face. Then I will share my own personal story of working in behavioral health while also being a MilSpouse.
6 Ways to Prep for the EPPP that Don’t Involve Studying
One of the final hurdles in obtaining your psychology license is prepping for and passing the EPPP.
This process is often extremely anxiety provoking – the last thing you want to do after completing the exhaustive undertaking of earning your doctorate degree is study for an all-inclusive exam of what you should have learned over the past several years of education, right?
The anxiety factor alone is enough for many people to put off preparing for the exam.
How to Choose an Activity Type in Time2Track
One of the questions that we hear most often from Time2Track users is, “Which activity type do I choose?” It can be stressful trying to choose just one activity type from a long list, especially if your experience could fit more than one.
In this article, I’ll provide some helpful tips and guidelines for tackling the task of choosing the right activity type, including how to add custom activity types. I’ll also include descriptions for some of the activity types you might see in Time2Track.
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