Hopkins-is reputation of psychotherapy valid?

[Jspev]

Hi,

Just wanted some opinions/impressions of Hopkins. I know the "word on the street" is that there is very little psychotherapy training. Do you think this is accurate? I know they schedule time for learning therapy during didactics etc, but I've been told that therapy is not really emphasized in the program. Any comments or thoughts are appreciated. Thanks.

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[JMD]

I'm interested to hear any additional opinions about Hopkins, too. I really liked the program and plan to rank it highly. My main concern is that whenever I mention Hopkins to someone they say DO NOT move to Baltimore... so, opinions on B-more welcomed as well (I have browsed through the other threads about this).

 

[maranatha]

I interviewed there a few months ago...Here is my perspective:

I think the short answer is, yes, the reputation that Hopkins doesn't emphasize psychotherapy is correct. The PD told me that he thinks psychotherapy is really just an elaborate way to get someone to think with some common sense. (Maybe he's right!) He does believe that psychotherapy is important in that a psychiatrist needs to help a patient get their thoughts and ideas in order to help them get think straight. However, he doesn't think much of the different types of formal therapy. So, yes, they do teach psychotherapy, but I certainly don't think it is emphasized and that you will get much less then a lot of other programs. I also spoke with a practicing psychiatrist off-the-record who trained at Hopkins recently. This psychiatrist told me that although the training was excellent, that he did not learn enough psychotherapy to feel comfortable practicing it. However, I have spoken with other graduates that insist that they learned enough to use it in practice.

 

[RustNeverSleeps]

When I interviewed there, the PD basically mocked people who use psychotherapy training as a criterion for evaluating programs. In Hopkins' medical frame of reference, it is silly to be concerned about learning about treatments -- they (or at least the PD) feels that it is more important to learn diagnosis. I definitely got the impression that psychotherapy was not a high priority.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

I lived in b'more for 6-7 years and loved it. There is great local food, nice neighborhoods* and is centrally located to DC, Philly, etc.

*Hopkins is in a hit and miss area. The one thing to keep in mind about b'more is that there are some areas that are gorgeous, but if you go 2 blocks the wrong way, you can be in a bad area. If you plan on living near Hopkins...DEFINITELY ask around about your block location. I'd suggest living in a place like Charles Village / Mt. Vernon / (downtown bmore) and taking the short drive over to hopkins...mostly because the village (and surrounding area) are a great place for the 20-30 somethings.

-p