by Paige Blankenship | Jan 22, 2018 | Lifehacks, Tips & Advice, Student & Intern Resources
Students within a graduate program will share research interests, goals, and dreams. By nature, graduate students share the qualities of motivation, diligence, persistence, and focus. We share accomplishments as well as setbacks. We also share supervisors, textbooks, friends, and Netflix accounts. Yet, despite these commonalities, graduate students within one program can be vastly different.
Remember The Breakfast Club? The Brain, the Athlete, the Basket Case, the Princess, and the Criminal had nothing in common other than the fact that they were in detention. Yet by the end of the movie they learned to connect with one another and bonded despite their differences. Graduate school is a lot like The Breakfast Club; it is full of unique personalities that come together for survival, but often results in strong personal and professional relationships that last a lifetime.
Conflict is common when a group of individuals is working toward a shared goal while simultaneously trying to meet their own needs. Needless to say, graduate school is full of conflict. It’s an environment where you willingly compete with those you are closest to, allow yourself to be vulnerable with those who evaluate you, all while trying to develop and maintain your identity as a professional.
Although conflict is often viewed negatively, it is not always a bad thing. When managed appropriately, conflict helps us to achieve our goals, express our opinions, learn new ideas and points of view, and strengthen our relationships. Essentially, conflict can help us to grow both personally and professionally.
Although conflict can often be beneficial, many people remain uncomfortable with the mere idea of it. Due to the inevitable conflict of graduate school and the common discomfort surrounding it, students are often left wondering, “How do I best navigate this diplomatic environment, achieve personal and professional goals, all while building and maintaining professional and personal relationships?”
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by Rachel Aaron, PhD | Jan 15, 2018 | Student & Intern Resources
Preparing your dissertation for publication can feel overwhelming. The dissertation represents the pinnacle of many challenging years in graduate school.
By the time its defended, you have no doubt poured countless hours into its design, implementation, and writing. It has likely been formally proposed, heavily critiqued and reformatted, and “defended” to an expert audience.
After this effort, repacking the dissertation into a concise, academic-journal worthy manuscript is time consuming, but completely doable. Here are 8 steps to help you succeed:
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by Audrey Davidheiser, PhD | Jan 8, 2018 | Professional Resources, Student & Intern Resources
The #MeToo movement has exposed powerful men who leverage their positions to abuse and manipulate. The courage these women and men exhibit as they step forward to confront this behavior is inspiring.
May it continue to motivate other survivors to come forward, because as statistics show, roughly 2 out of 3 sexual assaults go unreported [1]. What a jarring reality, especially since nearly 1 in 5 women and 1 in 71 men reported experiencing rape at some time in their lives [2].
Survivors may have many reasons not to publicize their story. But if and when they do, are we as mental health providers prepared to help? A thorough manual on how therapists can propel them toward recovery is beyond the scope of this article [3], so what follows are 5 concepts to remember when working with survivors of sexual abuse.
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by Jon Reeves, PhD | Jan 1, 2018 | Self-Care, Student & Intern Resources
When I was working on my PhD, I wore myself out like a pair of cheap socks. After a few years of reflection, self-care, and therapy, I can look through the ol’ retrospect-o-scope and give you some ideas about how to avoid the same outcome.
Here are four ways to burn out, followed by tips for self-renewal.
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by Traci W. Olivier, Psy.D. | Dec 4, 2017 | Lifehacks, Tips & Advice, Professional Resources, Student & Intern Resources
The concept of resilience has become quite a popular one lately. There are countless articles, workshops, lectures, and even centers that focus on resilience.
But what exactly is it? And from where does it come?
Is it an inherited personality trait predetermined by genetics? Or is it something that can be taught, fostered, and developed? Perhaps more importantly, why do some people seem so much better at it than others?
These are exactly the kinds of questions that have inspired my colleague, Dr. Darlyne Nemeth, and me to probe deeper into the concept of resilience. Our research and experiences eventually transpired into a book, which was recently published.
We described the hallmark of resilient people as being grounded in today, learning how to benefit from yesterday, and imagining themselves in tomorrow. Resilience is not just about surviving, but also about thriving in the midst of challenge.
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by Audrey Davidheiser, PhD | Nov 27, 2017 | Student & Intern Resources
What kind of a therapist will you be? Which theoretical orientation should you adopt? Will you work within a certain framework only, or are you eclectic?
Alongside concerns about comprehensive tests, serving your clients, and doubts about your competency, questions about your identity will also compete for mental space during grad school.
Fielding these questions may seem like walking into the slew of options at a scrumptious buffet. Where to even begin?
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by Ilana S. Berman | Nov 6, 2017 | Student & Intern Resources
Between your practicum and academic courses, if you’re in graduate school, you probably have a heavy workload. We all have a lot we need to accomplish in a relatively short amount of time.
But most of us would also like to enjoy a life outside of our professional career. So when there are multiple deadlines, projects without firm deadlines, and not always a clear line between “working hours” and “personal time,” how do we balance our priorities?
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by Jennifer Fowler, MA | Oct 31, 2017 | Student & Intern Resources
During my second year in grad school and after a lot of thought, I had finally chosen to specialize in geriatric psychology. During one of our bi-weekly check-ins, my mentor asked, “Why don’t you apply to the VA?” I’m glad he asked the question.
I knew the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) was massive. As a respected training site, I also knew there could be many applications for a limited number of openings.
That said, I decided to apply, and I’m glad I did.
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by Margherita Gaulte, MA, MS | Oct 2, 2017 | Lifehacks, Tips & Advice, Student & Intern Resources
Many couples must separate physically for a variety of reasons, including career and academic advancement, military deployment, immigration restrictions, or familial obligations. Long distance relationships are becoming increasingly common [1] and graduate students and early careers professionals have even more reasons why they might need to live apart from their partners.
Being prepared by knowing the challenges ahead can help to ensure that your relationship and career are actually strengthened by the time apart.
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by Reina Remigio, PhD | Sep 25, 2017 | Professional Resources, Student & Intern Resources
Ending a session on time and doing so gracefully can be tricky. There are a plethora of ideas out there of how to end a session on time, such as setting a timer or providing a nonverbal cue, and many of those suggestions may be effective in ending a session on time.
However, very few, if any, address implementation of those techniques fluidly and in a manner that is natural and least disruptive to the client’s process. Why does this matter?
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