Anxiety?

[fallenangel337]

Is anybody else feeling some anxiety about after school? I'm so worried about getting int grad school, getting a good job, excelling in said job, etc. Does anybody else have this going on a little bit? I mean, I'm sure that I will start to feel a bit better as I get closer to all of that, and as I make my way through undergrad, but it's still a lot to think about.

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[cara susanna]

I think we all felt/feel that at some point or another. The important thing IMO is to take it one step at a time.

 

[twilson]

I can relate..
I worry about how I will do on the GRE (at times I get really depressed while studying); I worry if I will get into grad school( my stats aren't exactly magical);If I get into grad school, I wonder if I will do well; lastly I worry about career opportunities in research, especially since I would like to come back to my home state or town or atleast the area to work because of my population of interest and there doesnt seem to be a whole lot going on around here unless you teach also

worry worry worry

 

[fallenangel337]

I find it almost ironic that as a psychology student, and hopefully a future psychologist, I'm almost overwhelmed with anxiety about something that is probably 10 years in the future.

 

[psychmama]

I find it almost ironic that as a psychology student, and hopefully a future psychologist, I'm almost overwhelmed with anxiety about something that is probably 10 years in the future.

Believe me, I could write a book about the ironies of psychologists (and future ones, such a myself) having just as many "issues" as our clients. Don't worry too much, what you're feeling is normal.

 

[fallenangel337]

Believe me, I could write a book about the ironies of psychologists (and future ones, such a myself) having just as many "issues" as our clients. Don't worry too much, what you're feeling is normal.

Thank you. That is definitely good to hear.

And isn't it a myth or something that many people are led to a career in psychology because of their own psychological problems?

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

It cycles for most people.

Get into grad school.
Do well in grad school
Pass your comps.
Get an internship.
Get a post-doc.
Get a job.
etc.

 

[deleted176373]

Thank you. That is definitely good to hear.

And isn't it a myth or something that many people are led to a career in psychology because of their own psychological problems?

Yep, that's the myth... from looking at the MMPI and PAI scores of my peers the myth may have some truth to it. LOL.

 

[psychmama]

Yep, that's the myth... from looking at the MMPI and PAI scores of my peers the myth may have some truth to it. LOL.

Maybe not such a myth...but then again, who knows? You're familiar with the expression "It takes one to know one"? Well, there you go...

 

[KillerDiller]

Yep, that's the myth... from looking at the MMPI and PAI scores of my peers the myth may have some truth to it. LOL.

Your program lets you look at that kind of data? Was it de-identified?

I'm just surprised because we all had to sit through a lecture about how we should never, ever run assessments on each other or on our family/friends, even just for practice.

 

[Ollie123]

Really?

Or did they mean with people answering for real? We practice with eachother all the time, but we don't take it seriously - when we were learning the SCID we'd all feign some pathology or another to learn the skip out rules, etc.

I think the bigger problem would be running something with possible practice effects (i.e. IQ tests) for "practice" on someone who might legitimately need a real one in the near future. Just practicing with classmates happens all the time.

 

[fallenangel337]

Maybe not such a myth...but then again, who knows? You're familiar with the expression "It takes one to know one"? Well, there you go...

This is true. But honestly, I would rather have a psychologist who has had their history of psychological issues than someone with a clean slate. I'm a firm believer in Jung's wounded healer concept, hence the bias.

I was drawn to psychology out of interest for the subject; however, what finalized my decision to study to be a psychologist is the positive experience that I've had with my therapist, and how much she impacted my life. Given that experience, I would like to impact people's lives in the same way that she has impacted mine. It seems like an extremely fulfilling career that I would love.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

I started an MMPI-2 a few years ago for fun, but I never got around to finishing it. The results wouldn't be valid since I know the assessment, but I wanted to have the experience of taking the assessment. It didn't feel nearly as long as I expected, though I definitely took more time on certain questions, even though I was familiar with them...or maybe because I was familiar with them. All and all a useful experiment, though I never did find out my results.

 

[KillerDiller]

Really?

Or did they mean with people answering for real? We practice with eachother all the time, but we don't take it seriously - when we were learning the SCID we'd all feign some pathology or another to learn the skip out rules, etc.

I think the bigger problem would be running something with possible practice effects (i.e. IQ tests) for "practice" on someone who might legitimately need a real one in the near future. Just practicing with classmates happens all the time.

I don't think it's that much of a problem with the SCID (though we didn't practice on each other with that either). We were told not to do the Rorschach, WAIS, or MMPI on each other. That's some pretty personal information there. I suppose someone could fake bad on the WAIS, but the main principle was basically not to practice on someone you had any involved relationship with.

 

[Ollie123]

I don't think it's that much of a problem with the SCID (though we didn't practice on each other with that either). We were told not to do the Rorschach, WAIS, or MMPI on each other. That's some pretty personal information there. I suppose someone could fake bad on the WAIS, but the main principle was basically not to practice on someone you had any involved relationship with.

I built a tower with the WAIS blocks

I can understand not practicing with people trying to answer legitimately, but I'm not sure I see where the harm could come from practicing with classmates who are not trying to answer honestly. Obviously if one of my classmates asked for a LEGITIMATE assessment, that would be a different story. Though any information would probably be invalid anyways.

I guess you might be able to make the case that the projective tests can't be "faked" but I'm in the camp that believes they don't typically provide valid information anyhow

Out of curiosity (and don't think I'm attacking you or your program) - what is the alternative? Do they bring in outside volunteers? I guess the MMPI doesn't matter since its kind of hard to screw up "Fill in the bubbles, see you in a bit", but something like the SCID or WAIS needs to be practiced before doing it on someone...I'd find it far more ethically questionable to administer the WAIS on a client having never given one before than to do it on a classmate who isn't trying to provide legitimate information.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Out of curiosity (and don't think I'm attacking you or your program) - what is the alternative? Do they bring in outside volunteers? I guess the MMPI doesn't matter since its kind of hard to screw up "Fill in the bubbles, see you in a bit", but something like the SCID or WAIS needs to be practiced before doing it on someone...I'd find it far more ethically questionable to administer the WAIS on a client having never given one before than to do it on a classmate who isn't trying to provide legitimate information.

In regard to the WISC/WAIS....we had to test out with the TA, and then find outside people (I think I had to do 4 each), and then write reports with the findings. None of it was "official" as we were learning, but it was very helpful to do soup to nuts.....and realize I'd never do assessments full-time.

 

[psychmama]

I built a tower with the WAIS blocks

Out of curiosity (and don't think I'm attacking you or your program) - what is the alternative? Do they bring in outside volunteers? I guess the MMPI doesn't matter since its kind of hard to screw up "Fill in the bubbles, see you in a bit", but something like the SCID or WAIS needs to be practiced before doing it on someone...I'd find it far more ethically questionable to administer the WAIS on a client having never given one before than to do it on a classmate who isn't trying to provide legitimate information.

When I did it in my program, we had to find our own volunteers to test. This worked out fairly well, except that we were not supposed to test friends and family members, and most other people are put off when you tell them you are just learning and cannot provide them results. The solution most of us came up with was to test the friends and family of someone else in our cohort.

 

[KillerDiller]

I built a tower with the WAIS blocks

I can understand not practicing with people trying to answer legitimately, but I'm not sure I see where the harm could come from practicing with classmates who are not trying to answer honestly. Obviously if one of my classmates asked for a LEGITIMATE assessment, that would be a different story. Though any information would probably be invalid anyways.

I guess you might be able to make the case that the projective tests can't be "faked" but I'm in the camp that believes they don't typically provide valid information anyhow

Out of curiosity (and don't think I'm attacking you or your program) - what is the alternative? Do they bring in outside volunteers? I guess the MMPI doesn't matter since its kind of hard to screw up "Fill in the bubbles, see you in a bit", but something like the SCID or WAIS needs to be practiced before doing it on someone...I'd find it far more ethically questionable to administer the WAIS on a client having never given one before than to do it on a classmate who isn't trying to provide legitimate information.

We used undergraduates who were compensated by our program for the time it took to sit through a full test battery. Also, like Psychmama, some of our assessment classes asked us to recruit our own volunteers, and because we could not see the scores of our own friends and family members, we practiced on each other's.

 

[Ollie123]

Gotcha. Yeah, we use student volunteers too, but we never dive straight into administering it on a volunteer without practicing with classmates, faculty or SOMEONE else first. Even WITH practice, my first SCID took way too long and that poor undergrad was anxious to get out

Again, I'm really unclear on where any harm could come from roleplaying with classmates, but to each their own I guess.

 

[Wildcat06]

I started an MMPI-2 a few years ago for fun, but I never got around to finishing it. The results wouldn't be valid since I know the assessment, but I wanted to have the experience of taking the assessment. It didn't feel nearly as long as I expected, though I definitely took more time on certain questions, even though I was familiar with them...or maybe because I was familiar with them. All and all a useful experiment, though I never did find out my results.

I self-administered the MMPI-2 when I was new to the test because I was convinced that everyone had elevations (mostly because I was working with a forensic population that always had elevations on something). But I guess I'm more well adjusted than I thought. No clinically significant elevations. I did have slightly elevated hysteria and paranoia scales but according to my manual, that is the average profile for grad students (I think that actually encouraged me to apply ).