Talking about personal/family history of mental illness in PsyD SOP appropriate?

[limemoose]

Hi, I'm new to this board, though I've been reading it endlessly for the past few days.

I'm a senior undergraduate psychology major and I'm currently in the process of applying to several PsyD programs for clinical.

Right now, I'm kind of stuck with my personal statement/statement of purpose. Much of my interest in going into therapy comes from my own personal and family experiences with mental illness, so I want to write about that. However, I've read that places don't necessarily want to see that sort of information. Is it okay to include my own experiences or should I leave them out?

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[erg923]

Generally, no, I wouldnt recommend that. To me, this would lead me to beliove that you are pursuing psychology to continue to try to fix yourself (or supplemating and trying to continue to fix your family). Also, some would wonder, if your are willing to tell this intimate experience to total strangers, what kind of stuff would you be disclosing to patients once you get close to them? Moreover, because of your history of "mental illness" (whatever it was) it would make me question whether you have the mental stability to complete a rigorous doctoral program.

 

[Ollie123]

While there may be rare exceptions, that is generally an application no-no. Talk about relevant experiences you have (research experience, clinical experience, coursework, volunteering, etc.). Talk about where you see your career going. "My mom/brother/self is/was bipolar and I want to help others with the same affliction" is probably going to be viewed as naive. There are always exceptions, but every faculty member I have spoken to has said it is at best neutral, and at worst a negative.

 

[limemoose]

Thanks for the quick feedback.

I guess one of the reasons I'm struggling is because I don't actually have a lot of experience at this point. I've done some work as an undergraduate research assistant, but that's about it. I know that puts me at a big disadvantage, especially as top-tier PsyD programs want to see clinical experience. Since I don't have much of that to talk about, I wanted to try to find something that sets me apart. Any suggestions on how I can present myself as a good candidate, even without the relevant experience thus far?

I am planning on talking about research interests that I have and about what I would like to do with my degree career-wise, but all of that sort of relates back to why I am interested (which is honestly because of my own experiences with bipolar depression). I don't want to go with the generic "I want to go into therapy to help people" answer, so I can't really figure out how else to explain why exactly I want to do this, without bringing in personal information.

Any advice is greatly appreciated, thanks!

 

[erg923]

Thanks for the quick feedback.

I guess one of the reasons I'm struggling is because I don't actually have a lot of experience at this point. I've done some work as an undergraduate research assistant, but that's about it. I know that puts me at a big disadvantage, especially as top-tier PsyD programs want to see clinical experience. Since I don't have much of that to talk about, I wanted to try to find something that sets me apart. Any suggestions on how I can present myself as a good candidate, even without the relevant experience thus far?

I am planning on talking about research interests that I have and about what I would like to do with my degree career-wise, but all of that sort of relates back to why I am interested (which is honestly because of my own experiences with bipolar depression). I don't want to go with the generic "I want to go into therapy to help people" answer, so I can't really figure out how else to explain why exactly I want to do this, without bringing in personal information.

Any advice is greatly appreciated, thanks!

This is really something you will have to do on your own, as all personal statements are different.. There no template to use. However, there is no reason to do the "I want to help people" thing and frankly, no one really does that. In a sense, that is a given. Who doesn't want to help people? Every person's job helps someone else (at least to some extend and in some way) so it's really a lame reason. However, you can make brief mention about what you like about helping people. Is it the interaction, the reward after the fact, the actual process of exploration and discovery? Yes, helping people is one aspect of why psychology appeals to me (it's one of the rewards after the fact), but frankly, it was NOT the reason I chose to pursue a PhD. Those reasons had much more narcissistic drive behind them...

 

[Ollie123]

Well, what about it interests you?

I think this is the main reason programs view it as a sort of red flag. It is very easy to be "interested" in something you have in a very vague, non-specific way but not in a way that is conducive to training at the doctoral level. I've had kidney stones, as has almost everyone in my family. If an interesting article comes up on the causes/consequences/treatment/etc. I find it cool to learn about. However, that wouldn't sustain me through spending years learning about the chemistry involved in understanding precisely how the body handles excess calcium (I'm bored just thinking about it), which is why I didn't pursue medical school to study renal physiology. I think the biggest concern is that people who are interested in things because of their own experiences may be highly motivated, but are frequently not approaching it with a very sophisticated view. There are many successful psychologists who suffered from one disorder or another at some point in their life, I don't think anyone would feel a well-controlled disorder should preclude someone from being a psychologist. However, there is a world of difference between someone with the academic experience and background to be successful studying a topic who is also highly motivated for personal reasons, and someone who is highly motivated for personal reasons but lacks the background for it.

I guess what I'm saying is:
1) Make sure you know what you are getting into. That you really know what psychologists do, what psychology programs are about, and are not just doing this because a particular topic is important to you.
2) Consider getting additional experience so that you DO have something more to talk about...what you are telling me sounds like a sign that you may not be ready or competitive at this point, at least for the better programs.
3) It may be easier to think specifically about what interests you about bipolar disorder. Not just "Hey, this is bad and I should help others who feel that way" but WHY is it bad? What specific aspects are worst? How are those elements not currently accounted for? How could people help more? Those are the critical elements that separate an interested layperson from a professional, and you want to come across as the latter. Personal experience can definitely help shape those ideas, but it isn't a substitute for professional experience and knowledge.

 

[zzzz2]

but all of that sort of relates back to why I am interested (which is honestly because of my own experiences with bipolar depression). I don't want to go with the generic "I want to go into therapy to help people" answer, so I can't really figure out how else to explain why exactly I want to do this, without bringing in personal information.

You might also want to be wary of advertising to schools that you want to pursue graduate studies to help yourself because of your experience with bipolar depression. Even if that's your goal, you can consider describing your research/clinical interests in a more attractive way rather than saying "Because I had it, I want to study it."

 

[cheeze]

Delete

 

[limemoose]

Thanks for all the responses. I can definitely see how it might give the admissions committee a negative perception of my ability to succeed in a rigorous program and lead them to question whether or not my interests are merely due to personal motivations.

While personal experience was what initially led me to take AP psychology in high school, after taking that class I knew that psychology was what I wanted to do, for more than just personal reasons. I have no illusions about being able to "fix myself" and actually have a very good therapist who I feel has already helped me accomplish that. The more psychology classes I've taken and the deeper I get into the field, the more interested I become in different aspects, though abnormal has always been the most interesting to me. Is just detailing and expanding on these interests, even though I don't have clinical experience with any of them, a good way to go?

One thing I forgot to mention in my original post, and one of the reasons why I thought that I should possibly bring my disorder: during my freshman year, my disorder was at a high and I did terribly in school, even failing a class. My GPA was barely above a 2.0. I took off the first semester of sophomore year, spent time in therapy, got on a new medication, and came back the following spring. Since then, I've had a 4.0, but overall it is only a 3.3, it should be about a 3.4 when I apply to most schools (except the early December due dates) and about a 3.5 when I graduate. I wanted to address the fact that I've had a perfect GPA since my freshman year, so that the low score doesn't look quite so bad. Should I be vague and simply state that I had a rough adjustment but worked hard to pull my grades after that, or should I mention that after proper diagnosis and therapy my grades improved?

Thanks again for all the help!

 

[erg923]

What exactly is the rush? If you dont have experience and dont feel competitive in comparison with your peer applicants, then take a year (even 2) and get some experience. Try to find a paid position of course so you can stock up some money as well. You'll need it in grad school, especially if you doing the Psy.D thing. Your a young man/woman, live life, get some experiences, and have some fun.

 

[limemoose]

What exactly is the rush? If you dont have experience and dont feel competitive in comparison with your peer applicants, then take a year (even 2) and get some experience. Try to find a paid position of course so you can stock up some money as well. You'll need in grad school, espeically if you doing the Psy.D thing. Your a young man/woman, live life, get some experiences, and have some fun.

There's a lot of pressure from my family to go straight into it, and I do feel like it would be harder to come back after taking a year or two off. I figured I'd give it a shot this year, if I don't get in anywhere/any programs that I'm interested in, then I'll take the year and try to make myself a more competitive applicant.

 

[erg923]

Why are you letting your family guide a decision that affects your professional and financial well-being for the rest of your life?

 

[limemoose]

Why are you letting your family guide a decision that affects your professional and financial well-being for the rest of your life?

Like I said, I agree with them... that if I take a year off, find a job/some volunteer work, it will be easy to get comfortable doing that and harder to go back to school. I may not be the most competitive candidate right now, but I'd like to at least give it a shot. If it doesn't work out, then I'll try again next year.

I'd rather start sooner than later, as I don't want to be over 30 by the time I'm done with post-doc. I would like to start a family at some point, and don't think I could juggle having kids while in school.

 

[erg923]

I would think that if you have been reading over this board for the past few days you should know the less than stellar earning potential of psychologists these days and how much of a drag massive debt can be on quality of life and personal freedom. The rule is that you never borrow more money than your starting salary. Unless you don't care about the financial state of your future or family that is. I probably didn't care that much at your age (although im always surprised at just how ignorant alot of young people are about this sort of thing), but now that im married and will get my ph.d this year and wanna start a family...It is VERY important to me. To be honest, your GPA is marginal and you have limited experience. Frankly you will need more experience if you want to get into a respectable university based psyd. I'm sure you could probably make the cut at some professional schools (Argosy and alike), and if you wanna take on the massive debt that your salary won't justify, that is your choice. But frankly, many feel that this is hurting the profession. Moreover, the stress of grad school is not something to jump into because someone else is pressuring you. No one is going to do that work, but YOU.

 

[limemoose]

Pressure was probably the wrong word to use. It was MY decision, and my family supported it. After doing some more reading in the past few days, the thought of waiting a year did start to cross my mind, but after speaking with my parents about it, we ALL feel that it would be best to at least try right now.

I know I'm don't have a chance at Rutgers or Baylor or any of the top schools, but there are some university-based PsyD's that based on admissions criteria, I feel that I do have a shot at. University of Hartford, Pacific University, Nova, and a few others. Maybe I'm deluding myself, I guess I'll find out around April. I do know for a fact that I will have three excellent letters of recommendation, so hopefully that will be a mitigating factor in my favor.

Finances aren't a big issue for me. I know how expensive many of these programs are; obviously I would prefer to get into a funded program, which I'm sure I won't be able to do at this point, but even if I don't, it's not a huge issue.

 

[cheeze]

Actually thinking about your concerns, I have second thoughts. I read a research paper on an intervention that used therapists who were also patients and found that it was more effective. What I'm getting at is if you make a good argument about how your past makes you more suitable or better than everyone else, then it might work in your favor. Or it might not... it sometimes is just a matter of faculty preference too.

 

[Sendtrees]

limemoose, you don't have to defend your decision to apply this year. While I would caution you against going to a professional shool with a bad match rate just to go somewhere, if you're using this year as a "practice run" and are willing to try again for a better school next year, go for it.

Regarding the question you came here to ask, I agree with everyone else--keep yourself and your family out of it. I might have missed it, but I don't think anybody advised you to disclose. Listen to the crowd of people who are in clinical psychology programs. It's not a good idea. Your reasoning is fine--you could argue that it should be acceptable to reference it--but it will probably backfire. Find another way to talk about your interests.

 

[clinicalpsyapp]

If you are cool with the idea of possibly not getting accepted this year based on your credentials and plan on applying anyway...

I really wouldn't worry about explaining your GPA. It's pretty typical for students to have a rough first year and the very fact that you came back and were able to get 4.0's every semester afterwards is testament enough. I certainly wouldn't disclose your mental health history just to explain your freshman grades. As a small anecdote, there is a girl in my program who is studying family and patient coping in childhood cancer who had lymphoma when she was a child--she was just telling me that she has not yet disclosed this to her mentor because she wasn't sure what her mentor would think. I think you are opening up a can of worms by disclosing this information right off the bat, but you may be able to share this with your mentor once accepted and once you know their feelings on the subject. Particularly because you mentioned that your history was the reason you first took psychology, but you have developed other reasons since then--I would stick with those for now.

 

[deleted176373]

Thanks for the quick feedback.

I don't want to go with the generic "I want to go into therapy to help people" answer, so I can't really figure out how else to explain why exactly I want to do this, without bringing in personal information.

Any advice is greatly appreciated, thanks!

Talk about how you want YOUR future to look and how having a doctoral degree is important to living the life you want to live. It's ok to be a little selfish, but in the right context.

In my application to programs, I stated what my career goals were and how my doctoral training was a stepping stone to realizing those aspirations. There is nothing wrong with that.

Stating you're in it for the money, that would be wrong. Stating that you are "looking for a career that offers financial stability coupled with rewarding work..." sounds much more professional than "I want to help people and make money." Even though both statements potentially carry the same meaning essentially.

You need to have a vision for you future and how your training fits into that future.

Mark

 

[hellosunnydays]

I'm in a similar position but after reading all the great advice and reasoning behind it, I decided to not disclose my story with mental health. In my personal statements I strived to show my interest in depression in a positive way, such as that my clinical experiences with anxious and depressed clients further cemented my resolve in becoming a clinician. In addition, I have a strong interest in the area of depression as there is still much to discover about its causal factors in minorities and how different minority groups display depressive symptoms (my research area of interest).

In my area clinical experiences are limited for undergraduates, so I am volunteering at a crisis center as a phone therapist. Your area may have something similar. If I don't get in this year to PsyD programs, I will apply to work as a case manager at local mental health centers for a year or two (they accept BAs). Someone in another thread recommended to contact your local APA office to see if they have anything available (which I will also do 🙂)

Good luck!

 

[thefall]

Whatever the issue is in your SOP, from the more complex of "is this too personal?" to the more practical "is this grammatically correct?", absolutely have others read your statement. Ideally, a professor who knows what to look for in an SOP, perhaps because they serve(d) on faculty admissions committees. When you post on SDN, you're relying on responses from people you've never met, who don't know you either. This is an excellent forum for support, with some excellent advice, but ultimately you need to have people who know you and know the process best review your writing.

 

[O Gurl]

is this too personal of a story? Too disturbing/shocking? Appreciating your feedback ...

Your motivation is what it is. It is all a matter of how you sell it. I would definitely suggest being sparse on the details. You do not have to identify that it was your bf, the nature of his passing, or anything that personalizes it too much for a professional context. The point that is most relevant for the application purpose it that you experienced a loss (sad, but universal experience) that inspired you to research. The research gave rise to an deeper interest in psychology, grief processing in particular... so I think you have the makings of a strong statement. Just think critically about it. Good luck.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

I think there are far more drawbacks than advantages to bringing personal/family history of mental illness into the fray. I am sure some people do, but there is a real possibility that you will come off as a "wounded healer" and you don't want that.

 

[lifesanillusion]

But, is this too personal of a story? Too disturbing/shocking? Appreciating your feedback ...

Yep, too personal, too disturbing and a 'red flag' to most programs. You would be much better off simply describing your interests in a focused way (and of course applying to programs where profs are interested in these issues). You can even state that you think there is a gap in the research or literature in exploring grief issues in same sex relationships, since this is such a well-studied topic in hetero pairings. But I think sharing your own sexuality in a frank way or sharing your grief story may be seen as a negative. I think that given the competitiveness of admissions, you want to avoid ANYTHING that gives an admission committee pause. Best wishes...it sounds like you have great motivation and strong interests and I hope you get a chance to pursue them.

 

[Hopefulhokie]

I also have a question about this. Although I'm applying to primarily PhD programs, I am applying to a few university-based PsyDs as well. In addition to a Statement of Purpose (I feel mine is very strong), Baylor wants an "Autobiography statement." Here is the prompt:

PsyD: Autobiography*
Please include the following in your autobiography: (a) your personal and family background and how these are related to your career choice; (b) other factors that have led you to pursue a career in professional psychology; (c) the strengths and weaknesses you bring to a career in professional psychology; and (d) what professional activities you would like to pursue after graduation. Please note: your autobiography and other application materials will be kept strictly confidential and will only be seen by those personnel directly involved with admissions.

I'm not sure how to respond to this; it seems like they are literally asking for people to self-disclose! I have already said everything I wanted to say in my SOP, and I'm not sure how to address this without talking about my own familial/personal issues.. Any thoughts???

 

[thefall]

First, thank you to those who took the time to respond to my question. I appreciate it. To anyone else: if you are disclosing something, you must be clear that your issue is resolved. Submit a statement that reads as though it is written by someone already a clinician. Focus on the variables of the issue that interest you. Possess an intelligent, commanding grasp of the existing research. If you do, you should be able to offer original ideas, not simply regurgitate pursuit of something that already has been around. Personal experience may have given you enlightenment to factors worthy of focus. Do also keep in mind your audience, and what reaction you would have if someone were disclosing to you. There are ways it can be done. What separates the professional from the non-professional is that their focus is on treatment of others, not themselves. And in fact, you must have your own "house" in order before you can successfully treat others. For an idea of how it is done, go to the Charlie Rose show archives. This year he had Kay Jamison and Elyn Saks. Jamison is particularly strong -- but she's been on this talk show route for much longer than Saks, an attorney by training. Whatever it is that you write must be well thought out, and be worth including such that it makes sense within the narrative of your statement and you aren't simply wasting readers' time.

 

[deleted176373]

I also have a question about this. Although I'm applying to primarily PhD programs, I am applying to a few university-based PsyDs as well. In addition to a Statement of Purpose (I feel mine is very strong), Baylor wants an "Autobiography statement." Here is the prompt:

I'm not sure how to respond to this; it seems like they are literally asking for people to self-disclose! I have already said everything I wanted to say in my SOP, and I'm not sure how to address this without talking about my own familial/personal issues.. Any thoughts???

Let's consider A and C below. These are questions akin to "When did you begin beating your wife?" with the exception that they are open ended. Who said that your personal and family background are related to your career choice at all? Well, it has to be, right? Sorta...

There is a big difference between finding oneself in undergrad and "realizing that you have a love for psychology and in particular are fascinated by schizoaffective disorder."; now contrast this with the following alternative, "my dad and uncle ned are schizoaffective and I want to work with schizoaffective people because I understand them".

Same thing goes for answer C., answering that you're sometimes willing to forgo self care to accomplish goals is a weakness or that you sometimes don't know when to quit when pursuing goals is a weakness, but a relatively minor weakness that could double as a strength. Answering that you have an alcohol problem that occasionally interferes with your studies or suffer from untreated bipolar disorder, is not.

PsyD: Autobiography*
Please include the following in your autobiography:
(a) your personal and family background and how these are related to your career choice; <- IT'S A TRAP!

(b) other factors that have led you to pursue a career in professional psychology;

(c) the strengths and weaknesses you bring to a career in professional psychology; <- IT'S A TRAP

(d) what professional activities you would like to pursue after graduation.