Best Universities for OCD Research

[JJV001]

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Hello everyone - I'm hoping this is the proper place for my question.

I realize that this is pretty idealistic, but I am strongly considering changing my life plans in an effort to research and combat OCD, both for myself (I'm a lifelong sufferer of the disorder), and so that others may realize that there is hope. With this in mind, I was looking for information on the best graduate programs for OCD research/counseling. I couldn't find anything after perusing a number of websites, so I thought I would try out this forum. Again, my apologies if this is the wrong place.

If it helps, I am currently an undergraduate (senior) majoring in both philosophy and psychology. I have a publication in philosophy, as well as a conference presentation, administrative involvement with an international research group, a community teaching internship, and a 3.8 GPA (overall). I had a long-term interest in teaching philosophy (and devoted much effort to that endeavor) until I underwent a recent bout of OCD, which has encouraged me to switch my career focus to psychology. With all this information in mind, I was wondering if:

a) my credentials in philosophy would be at all beneficial for theoretical/research work in psychology,
b) my lack of credentials in psychology (good GPA, but no extracurriculars) will hinder my pursuit, and
c) if so, what I can do about it.

I'm sorry to be asking so many questions, but, in terms of my current ignorance, I feel as if I'm just starting school again - so I'm looking for help wherever I can. Lastly, could anyone offer some advice on the relevance of the GRE? I've taken it and scored abysmally in quantitative reasoning (40th percentile), but I scored in the 97th percentile for both qualitative reasoning and the writing sample.

Alright, that's enough of my rambling. Thanks again for the help; it is so greatly appreciated.

 

[psycguy85]

First off, while certainly many people in psychology conduct "mesearch," I would strongly discourage you from disclosing your struggle with OCD in future personal statements to prospective graduate programs and mentors, as disclosing psychopathology is almost always a kiss of death. Also, I would encourage you to give more reflection about why you want to go into OCD research and receive clinical training. While mental health problems do not necessarily prevent one from becoming a good clinician, you need to be careful to check your own issues at the door before treating others. Also, you need to think more scientifically about what interests you about OCD, not simply that you suffer from it, in order to guide your research pursuits.

As a clinician, I feel ethically obligated to say this: if you have not received treatment for OCD, please seek out a therapist who will conduct exposure with response prevention (ERP), as this approach has by far the greatest empirical support behind it.

Now on to answering your query more directly. If you want a career in research, you need to be aiming for top-level PhD programs. In order to be competitive for these programs, you will need much more extensive research experience in psychology, preferably within the area of OCD. I could be wrong, but I don't think programs will give much thought at all to your background in philosophy, as these really are two very different disciplines, both in content as well as their methodological approaches. Also, I think you need to boost your quantitative reasoning score, as these programs will want to see that you have the quantitative skills needed for research.

I hope this is helpful. I do not mean to come across as harsh. I am simply trying to give you a realistic picture.

 

[JJV001]

Absolutely. No need to worry about harshness: I should have clarified that I have received treatment for OCD (ERP and CBT) and that I have effectively brought it to an extremely manageable level (it was actually never too significant in the first place, just somewhat bothersome). Therapy is what got me interested in the neuropsychology of OCD, but consciousness and cognition are what keeps me interested in psychology and philosophy alike. I do indeed have substantial interest in the psychology of anxiety and OCD, and my interest in pursuing it is founded more strongly in a desire to help those as I have been helped. I didn't mean for it to come off as "I want to study psychology so that I can cure myself." The disorder is merely what motivated me to become more interested in the first place, if that makes sense.

Anyway, thank you for your response. If you wouldn't mind me asking another question: obviously, conducting legitimate research at the undergrad level is going to be somewhat difficult. I have an upcoming senior research project which can indeed be directed toward studying anxiety. But I'm curious as to the best alternative means of pursuing research. Do you have any ideas or suggestions for finding research opportunities? Thanks again!

 

[LETSGONYR]

Hello everyone - I'm hoping this is the proper place for my question.

I realize that this is pretty idealistic, but I am strongly considering changing my life plans in an effort to research and combat OCD, both for myself (I'm a lifelong sufferer of the disorder), and so that others may realize that there is hope. With this in mind, I was looking for information on the best graduate programs for OCD research/counseling. I couldn't find anything after perusing a number of websites, so I thought I would try out this forum. Again, my apologies if this is the wrong place.

If it helps, I am currently an undergraduate (senior) majoring in both philosophy and psychology. I have a publication in philosophy, as well as a conference presentation, administrative involvement with an international research group, a community teaching internship, and a 3.8 GPA (overall). I had a long-term interest in teaching philosophy (and devoted much effort to that endeavor) until I underwent a recent bout of OCD, which has encouraged me to switch my career focus to psychology. With all this information in mind, I was wondering if:

a) my credentials in philosophy would be at all beneficial for theoretical/research work in psychology,
b) my lack of credentials in psychology (good GPA, but no extracurriculars) will hinder my pursuit, and
c) if so, what I can do about it.

I'm sorry to be asking so many questions, but, in terms of my current ignorance, I feel as if I'm just starting school again - so I'm looking for help wherever I can. Lastly, could anyone offer some advice on the relevance of the GRE? I've taken it and scored abysmally in quantitative reasoning (40th percentile), but I scored in the 97th percentile for both qualitative reasoning and the writing sample.

Alright, that's enough of my rambling. Thanks again for the help; it is so greatly appreciated.

I tend to be less apocalyptic than others on this board, so I'll say... you're on the right track! 🙂

Re: Will philosophy experience and publications help? Honestly, I think absolutely anything can help, if you sell it right. You can be like... Oh, I've always been interested in the intersections of philosophy psychology. After publishing in philosophy and reading psychology journals, I noticed these similarities... also I have experience writing professional-level manuscripts. You can find ways to sell that experience, for sure.

I'm not clear exactly what path you're looking for. If you're only looking to conduct research, then perhaps an experimental psychology program would be a better fit for you? If you want to do counseling or clinical work as well, a clinical degree is necessary.

I'd say to look for some interesting articles in the anxiety/OCD field, and contact the authors. See if they're accepting students.

Additionally, I'd recommend trying to get some more experience in the field, to really see if it's the right fit for you... a Ph.D. is a long journey, and if you're not 100% dedicated, you won't be happy. You can try to work in a research lab for a year, to gain more experience in the field, as well as getting your feet wet to see if that's really something you'd like.

 

[paramour]

Absolutely. No need to worry about harshness: I should have clarified that I have received treatment for OCD (ERP and CBT) and that I have effectively brought it to an extremely manageable level (it was actually never too significant in the first place, just somewhat bothersome). Therapy is what got me interested in the neuropsychology of OCD, but consciousness and cognition are what keeps me interested in psychology and philosophy alike. I do indeed have substantial interest in the psychology of anxiety and OCD, and my interest in pursuing it is founded more strongly in a desire to help those as I have been helped. I didn't mean for it to come off as "I want to study psychology so that I can cure myself." The disorder is merely what motivated me to become more interested in the first place, if that makes sense.

Anyway, thank you for your response. If you wouldn't mind me asking another question: obviously, conducting legitimate research at the undergrad level is going to be somewhat difficult. I have an upcoming senior research project which can indeed be directed toward studying anxiety. But I'm curious as to the best alternative means of pursuing research. Do you have any ideas or suggestions for finding research opportunities? Thanks again!

Quite simple really. Find a prof/lab at your university conducting research and ask to join. Help out in absolutely any way possible and learn anything that they are willing to throw at you in the process (e.g., recruiting and running participants, data collection and analysis, lit reviews, etc.). This also will help you out when you're trying to determine who to request recommendation letters from during the application process.

G'luck!