Question about life after getting your Clinical Psychology PhD

[freudpsych45t]

Hello!

I'm currently a psychology student and I am interested in pursuing a PhD in clinical psychology. I want to go for a Phd for the pursuit of knowledge, to help others and myself, for the professional job opportunities, and to be a college professor. I guess you can say I like research because I like to analyze, discuss, explain, and determine the origins of things. Right now I'm doing really cool research with a professor but its not so much my interest. I'm just doing the opportunities I'm given. I have a question regarding life after Clinical Psychology PhD After you attain the PhD in clinical psychology do you have to keep doing research for the rest of your life? Can you just treat and teach as a professor at a univeristy. In order to get licensed do you need to do a certain amount of research projects a year? Basically my question is would I have to keep doing research in order to maintain the PhD degree or after you finish your PhD studies you can do whatever you want with the degree.I would definately like to do some research but I'm more interested in treating and teaching. Any comments are greatly appreciated!

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[AcronymAllergy]

Hello!

I'm currently a psychology student and I am interested in pursuing a PhD in clinical psychology. I want to go for a Phd for the pursuit of knowledge, to help others and myself, for the professional job opportunities, and to be a college professor. I guess you can say I like research because I like to analyze, discuss, explain, and determine the origins of things. Right now I'm doing really cool research with a professor but its not so much my interest. I'm just doing the opportunities I'm given. I have a question regarding life after Clinical Psychology PhD After you attain the PhD in clinical psychology do you have to keep doing research for the rest of your life? Can you just treat and teach as a professor at a univeristy. In order to get licensed do you need to do a certain amount of research projects a year? Basically my question is would I have to keep doing research in order to maintain the PhD degree or after you finish your PhD studies you can do whatever you want with the degree.I would definately like to do some research but I'm more interested in treating and teaching. Any comments are greatly appreciated!

To secure and maintain a tenure-track position in most larger universities, you would need a solid background of research experience along with continued research productivity (e.g., regularly publishing, securing grants, etc.). These positions are often highly competitive, and the first 5-7 years can be particularly busy as you work to establish your lab, develop your mentoring style, and secure tenure. However, if all you were interested in was teaching, you could possibly find a position as an instructor at a community college, four-year liberal arts college, or the like that may have no research requirements in exchange for significantly heightened teaching responsibilities. Additionally, universities will occasionally hire adjunct faculty on a part-time basis to teach classes; depending on the class in question, some positions will value current and previous clinical experiences, while others will place more emphasis on research background.

As for clinical practice, it's possible to focus entirely on clinical work, to consult and/or maintain a private practice in addition to your teaching or research position, or to do absolutely no clinical work at all.

 

[roubs]

If you want to do teaching and clinical work with no research, that teaching will likely have to be at the junior college level or maybe at a Psy.D. granting institution. A traditional psychology department at a university will have no interest in you if you do not want to pursue research. Maybe you could teach as an adjunct/lecturer but I don't believe there would be any hope of a tenure track position.

This has nothing to do with maintaining a degree or license, but has everything to do with how employable you will be in an academic setting.

 

[CharmedDiamond]

I'd definitely look at a PsyD from a university (as opposed to a professional school). Perhaps also look into Counseling Psychology. Those two fields are MUCH less competitive than clinical, and focus much more on therapy than research.

I've also had professors that don't perform research. 4 year smaller colleges that don't generally have PhD programs aren't as pushy about research, but also don't offer tenure as much. I also had a professor who had the title "full time instructor." He explained that he taught 2x as many classes as the average professor (for a total of 4 per semester) because he didn't spend the time on research, and he did private practice part time. He seemed quite comfortable financially and seemed to like his arrangement.

Also, if you decide on clinical, do NOT, I repeat, DO NOT mention that you want to go into the field to help people or even for practice. I've been told by multiple sources that it's the kiss of death. I had a friend score 7 interviews and get denied admission to ANY of them for that reason.

 

[erg923]

Also, if you decide on clinical, do NOT, I repeat, DO NOT mention that you want to go into the field to help people or even for practice. I've been told by multiple sources that it's the kiss of death. I had a friend score 7 interviews and get denied admission to ANY of them for that reason.

Might wanna take a chill pill on that one...

Certainly there are quite a few research-oriented Ph.D. programs where this would not go over well (a kiss of death), but there are some programs, particularly most Psy.D. programs, where this wouldn't be a problem as long as it was brought up appropriately and discussed in the context of other factors that have driven you toward the field. Clinical programs are clinical programs, they are well aware that not everyone they train is going to be a complete research hound and that many will be interested in the professional practice of psychology.

And no, I wouldn't recommend the phraseology "I want to help people"....but it would certainly be acceptable to express your passion for working as a mental health professional with people with mental illness. We all got into clinical psych to help people in some way, thats a given. You dont have to hide that, its just not necessary to discuss it indepth, because, as I said, its kinda a given.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

Might wanna take a chill pill on that one...

Certainly there are quite a few research-oriented Ph.D. programs where this would not go over well (a kiss of death), but there are some programs, particularly most Psy.D. programs, where this wouldn't be a problem as long as it was brought up appropriately and discussed in the context of other factors that have driven you toward the field. Clinical programs are clinical programs, they are well aware that not everyone they train is going to be a complete research hound and that many will be interested in the professional practice of psychology.

And no, I wouldn't recommend the phraseology "I want to help people"....but it would certainly be acceptable to express your passion for working as a mental health professional with people with mental illness. We all got into clinical psych to help people in some way, thats a given. You dont have to hide that, its just not necessary to discuss it indepth, because, as I said, its kinda a given.

Agreed. As has been mentioned elsewhere on this forum, the majority of Ph.D. graduates go on to focus mainly on clinical work just as do the majority of Psy.D. graduates. Thus, expressing an interest in clinical work isn't necessarily the "kiss of death." What you don't want to do, though, is apply to Ph.D. programs if you're certain that you have absolutely no interest in performing any research during and after graduate school. If that's the case, then a Psy.D. truly is better suited for you.

 

[cara susanna]

I wouldn't count on wanting to teach until you've tried it. So many people in my program wanted to teach, then had TAing stints and thought again.

 

[AgapeBlue]

I'd definitely look at a PsyD from a university (as opposed to a professional school). Perhaps also look into Counseling Psychology. Those two fields are MUCH less competitive than clinical, and focus much more on therapy than research.

While it might be accurate to say that there are fewer applicants for Counseling Psych PhD programs, the competition is still very high with acceptance rates just above Clinical rates for many of the top programs. Counseling psych has an emphasis on social advocacy, community and diversity/multicultural issues rather than on the deeper MH challenges people face, (e.g., maladaptive eating behavior in first generation minority women vs. early onset dementia in veterans), but counseling also has a large emphasis on research with any tenure-track position, just as in clinical. Evidenced-based therapies are important after all

If clinical is your thang, then that is where you should go. Counseling psychologists do go on to become licensed clinicians and work in many of the same settings as clinical psychologists (hospitals, private practice, academia, community organizations, VA facilities, etc.)...depending on their focus.

In order to get licensed do you need to do a certain amount of research projects a year? Basically my question is would I have to keep doing research in order to maintain the PhD degree or after you finish your PhD studies you can do whatever you want with the degree.

I've yet to see a state requirement that says once you're licensed you must publish X number of times. (Publish or perish or we'll yank your license you lazy psychologist!!!)

One of my mentors has his own full-time practice, consults, and teaches full-time, but is not involved in research of any kind.

I would definately like to do some research but I'm more interested in treating and teaching.

Another of my advisors teaches full-time and does research with a colleague from a very large research-oriented university because she does not have her own lab here (this is at a very small school). She manages to publish and do research that is relevant to her interests.

You will have plenty of options, but keep an open mind and remain flexible. The position you want may require you to move, or to take a pay cut. Or your goals may change as your academic career unfolds.

I wish you the best whatever route you choose!

AB

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

I wouldn't count on wanting to teach until you've tried it. So many people in my program wanted to teach, then had TAing stints and thought again.

Very true. The experience can vary based on the type of class you teach and at what level. I love lecturing/teaching in certain environments, but you couldn't pay me enough money to teach in other ones. Lecturing to 300+ undergrads isn't my thing, but teaching an upper-level graduate class with <20 students is far more appealing.

Another of my advisors teaches full-time and does research with a colleague from a very large research-oriented university because she does not have her own lab here (this is at a very small school). She manages to publish and do research that is relevant to her interests.

This is a great option for those who don't want research to be a significant part of their career, and also nice for those who want to stay connected to research, but not necessarily be response for the grant writing, IRB, etc.

 

[stigmata]

Research plays no part in getting or maintaining a state license.

 

[paramour]

While it might be accurate to say that there are fewer applicants for Counseling Psych PhD programs, the competition is still very high with acceptance rates just above Clinical rates for many of the top programs. Counseling psych has an emphasis on social advocacy, community and diversity/multicultural issues rather than on the deeper MH challenges people face, (e.g., maladaptive eating behavior in first generation minority women vs. early onset dementia in veterans), but counseling also has a large emphasis on research with any tenure-track position, just as in clinical. Evidenced-based therapies are important after all

If clinical is your thang, then that is where you should go. Counseling psychologists do go on to become licensed clinicians and work in many of the same settings as clinical psychologists (hospitals, private practice, academia, community organizations, VA facilities, etc.)...depending on their focus.

Agreed. I wouldn't encourage someone to apply for counseling over clinical because "it's less competitive" and requires "less research." Perhaps there are some programs out there where that may be the case, but overall counseling programs can be just as competitive and just as research focused as clinical programs.

As an aside, in general, I tend to find most counseling students a helluva lot more welcoming/genial/nicer and helluva lot less stressed out than most clinical students, too, but perhaps that's because they don't have the belief that so many seem to that they're better than everyone else in every other profession/field/area other than their own (or perhaps I simply have the misfortune of meeting the wrong type o' clinical students). Makes me wonder...

 

[AcronymAllergy]

Agreed. I wouldn't encourage someone to apply for counseling over clinical because "it's less competitive" and requires "less research." Perhaps there are some programs out there where that may be the case, but overall counseling programs can be just as competitive and just as research focused as clinical programs.

As an aside, in general, I tend to find most counseling students a helluva lot more welcoming/genial/nicer and helluva lot less stressed out than most clinical students, too, but perhaps that's because they don't have the belief that so many seem to that they're better than everyone else in every other profession/field/area other than their own (or perhaps I simply have the misfortune of meeting the wrong type o' clinical students). Makes me wonder...

I've heard that in our program, the non-clinical psychology students (predominantly school psych) have voiced the opinion that they think clinical psych students are "stuck up." Personally, I've yet to see any such behavior from the clinical students in my program. They're not all necessarily as warm and fuzzy as the average person might think a psychologist would be, but I've met very, very few who I'd actually classify as conceited.

Funny thing is, the non-clinical psych students hardly ever actually spend any time with the clinical students, so I'm not exactly sure on what basis this opinion was formed.