Psychology PhD in Clinical Psych Application - Best Prep for Round 2?

[Mr.Smile12]

I applied for 11 PhD in Clinical Psychology programs for Fall 2020 admission. Although I have not received official word from all the schools yet, it is not looking good for getting in this year. Since my pathway to Clinical Psychology is not exactly traditional, I would appreciate any insight you could give into what would be the best areas to focus on for the next round of applications. My goal is to be further equipped to conduct trauma research and to oversee the therapeutic programs of nonprofit organizations providing aftercare services to survivors.

GRE:
Verbal: 166 (97%)
Quant: 157 (64%)
Writing: 4.0 (57%)

Psych GRE: N/A [I plan to take it April of this year.]

Education:
AA Degree, General (2010): 3.24 GPA
BA Degree, Biblical Studies (2016): 3.89 GPA
Community College Psych Classes (2019): 4.0 GPA [Courses: Intro to Psych, Biological Psych, Social Psych, Life-Span Psych, Abnormal Psych, Intro to Statistics]
Degree, Religious Studies (2019 anticipated): Merit (approx. 3.7 GPA equivalent)

I am currently completing my Masters via distance learning from a university in the United Kingdom. My studies have emphasized the intersection of spirituality and trauma and I will complete my dissertation project by Sept 2020. It is a qualitative, interview-based study of human trafficking survivors' experiences with specific forms of trauma. I have received IRB approval and plan to conduct 8-10 interviews. Throughout my program, I've received training in literature reviews, qualitative methods, and research design.

Work Experience:
Licensed pastor since 2017 (various training and staff positions at churches since 2011)

Assistant Director for Non-Profit Residential Program for Survivors of Human Trafficking (Jan 2019 - Present)
Working at same Non-Profit (2016 - Present)

My role with the non-profit has included designing and implementing a case management system, leading groups and providing individual guidance to survivors, overseeing staff and volunteers, public speaking and training on human trafficking aftercare for community members and other professionals, collaborating with law enforcement and government representatives, grant writing, and more.

Limitations:
Research Experience - Outside of my dissertation and small independent research project that I conducted for a conference study course, I do not have any formal research experience. I have no publications, articles, posters, etc.

Letters of Recommendation - Because of my educational background, I did not have any psychology professors who could write recommendations. My letters were written by 2 of my Master's professors and 1 from my Bachelor's program. They would be best suited to speak to my research training and academic ability (I am in the top 5% of my class), although not from a psychology perspective.

Schools Applied to for Fall 2020:
I sought out professors that had research interests relating to interpersonal and complex trauma and its sequelea. Depending on the school, this included emotion dysregulation, mechanisms that support or inhibit healing, comorbid disorders, and/or moral injury and moral emotions. I would apply to many of the same schools again next year.

Idaho State University
Miami U of Ohio
Northern Illinois University
Saint Louis University (Missouri)
U of Colorado at College Springs
U of Kentucky
U of North Texas
U of Rhode Island
U of Toledo (Ohio)
U of Tulsa (Oklahoma)
University of Wyoming

Plans for 2021:
1) Take Psychology GRE
2) Gain experience in a Psychology Lab - there are several in Los Angeles that I plan to reach out to. Any insight on how to approach professors, the best type of experiences, expectations for commitment, or length of experience PhD programs are looking for would be helpful.
3) Complete Masters dissertation and degree (September)
4) Letters of Recommendation - hopefully I will be able to gain experience in a Psychology Lab that will lead to at least one recommendation from a psychology professor. Would that plus two from my Masters speak substantially to my research experience or do I need to seek out more than one psychology recommendation in some way?
5) I would love to get some type of poster or publication, but I don't know if I will be able to accomplish that before submissions are due for this round.
6) Reach out to PIs prior to turning in applications. I was not able to do that for this past round since I narrowed my application list rather late in the cycle.

I have given you a lot of information and I deeply appreciate your time and effort in replying. One of the most difficult parts of this process has been that I have not had an expert in the field to provide insight into the process. While there are many fantastic resources and communities online, my situation is somewhat unusual and it's been difficult to know what my chances are or how different aspects of my a pplication will be perceived. Therefore, I am very grateful for you and the resources provided by the Student Doctor Network.

I'm not sure if we have an expert on the specific process for applying to the PhD programs you are applying to. You are making a turn from getting a Ph.D. in religious studies to one in clinical psychology. We don't know what you wrote in your personal statement or what feedback or support you got from your recommenders. Getting into graduate school is challenging, but I don't think your lack of research aside from your doctoral work is a big problem. I don't know about the importance of the psychology GRE in applying to those programs, but you should have had that done BEFORE submitting an application if any of those schools deems it important or necessary.

I would say reaching out to the departments BEFORE applying is an important step for graduate applications, especially if you are making quite a sharp turn from one field to another.

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[AcronymAllergy]

In your situation, I would say getting research experience should be your single most important goal. If you're able to get two letters of recommendation out of that, it would be an added bonus. Doubly so if you're also able to be involved in a poster or (probably less likely) publication.

RE: reaching out to PIs, I would just let them know that you're very interested in obtaining experience and are willing to help in whatever ways they need. If you let them know from the beginning that you'd also be interested in being involved with a poster or some other type of research product, that can be helpful for them to know.

RE: #6 above, while reaching out to PIs seems intuitive, it generally doesn't help very much. If you check the Psychology forum here, you'll see a thread or two on that very topic, with input from active lab PIs.