Being a clinician and doing research

[mc625510]

Hi all,

I want to be a clinical psychologist and either one day have a private practice (wishful thinking), work for the VA or a hospital. I've done a little of research in the clinical area, specifically anxiety, and I really am not that interested in that area of research. I am really interested neuropsychological and health psychology research, but I am more passionate about the assessing, diagnosing, and treating of mental illnesses that comes with clinical psychology. Is it possible to do research in a separate area of psychology?

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[erg923]

Not sure I understand the question: "Is it possible to do research in a separate area of psychology?"

seperate from...what?

 

[mc625510]

I mean can I do research in a different psychology speciality? (I.e., being a practicing clinical psychologist and be involved in neuropsychological research)

 

[erg923]

yes

 

[WisNeuro]

It would be hard to do neuropsychological research without being a neuropsychollogist. Pertaining to the requisite background needed.

 

[empathiosis]

This web site should be have answers to most of the questions you might have:

http://psychologygradschool.weebly.com/types-of-programs.html

Also take a look at the APA web site for students:

http://www.apa.org/about/students.aspx

 

[AcronymAllergy]

It would be hard to do neuropsychological research without being a neuropsychollogist. Pertaining to the requisite background needed.

I agree with this re: neuropsychology specifically. Although as erg mentioned, you technically can do it, sure. It's mostly just a matter of what you'll be able to contribute to projects, and whether you'll have the foundational knowledge to be able to develop research questions. However, if you potentially just want to participate in research projects being led by someone with a neuropsychology background, go for it. Or if you want to develop your own project and then have a neuropsych person get involved to add their take, you could do that as well. A large part of all this is going to depend on what it is specifically you'd want to research.

As for health psych, that might align a bit more closely with your goals, as you'll more commonly directly assess and treat (via brief interventions) some of the things that seem to have garnered your interest.

 

[researchgirl]

I think most people who do both research and clinical work have some overlap between who they treat and what they study, but that isn't always the case. For example, in graduate school I've worked with a wide range of presenting problems, but my research has been solely in health psychology / behavioral medicine.

 

[cara susanna]

Yeah, they don't have to be related. There's a professor in my department whose clinical interests are completely separate from her research interests.