The Unprofessional Look

[JackD]

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First off, lets keep in mind, I really don't have an interest in fashion. I don't want anyone getting the wrong idea. With that said, I do wonder about something. Many of the clinical psychologists I have met, as well as those in training videos, and on TV, seem to have a rather unprofessional look to them. I know, we should all do what makes us happy and as geeks, our natural fashion sense is a bit weak to begin with but I sometimes find it odd how some of these therapists choose to look from day to day. I've seen many clinical psychologists who wear sweatpants nearly everyday, or 50 year old men with ponytails, or those who look unshaved and unkempt, or mullets, or who constantly wear novelty ties, or only dress in flannel shirts everyday. There really seems to be a rather hippie kind of look to this field. Now this isn't everyone in the field certainly but it does seem like a significant portion do look like they just came from Woodstock.

Now I don't bring this up to be mean or make fun, it seems like such things would be a detriment to the general credibility of the field. If I was having some sort of psychological problem and every psychologist I found looked like they just rolled out of bed, how easy would it be to trust that these people are going to get me through it? If you went to a medical doctor who wore sweatpants and t-shirts to the office or who had a chin beard with disheveled hair, would you really want to go back? If they told you that you needed surgery, would trust them?

It all seems rather bizarre to me.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

With patients. . . always dress shirt, tie, and nice slacks, sometimes sport-coat. Looking unprofessional in that environment is disrespectful in my opinion.

+1

I always wear a collared shirt, slacks, etc. I actually prefer this look to the sloppier and less-fashion friendly attempts that were described above.

JS: Do you ever wear a bow-tie? I think you should give it a shot. 😀

 

[thewesternsky]

Can I ask where you're seeing this (in what kind of environment?)... I'm honestly confused. All the psychologists I've ever seen dress at least business-casual when interacting in a professional capacity. My graduate program even has a dress code for clinical grad students when we're interacting with the public.

I've seen people holed up in their offices on weekends wearing sweatpants and t-shirts (and am guilty of same), but on those days they're generally working on research or updating files... never interacting with the public!

 

[erg923]

I agree. Not sure where you're seeing this. Im pretty GQ looking most of the time......

 

[JackD]

Can I ask where you're seeing this

Range from many of my professors (i do know this is how they present themselves when not teaching or doing research), those I have seen in the school clinics, the training tapes we watch for classes, some of the ones on documentaries that involve people in treatment. Certainly not every psychologist, or even a majority, but enough for me to take notice and not just at school, where professors have a tendency to dress odd no matter what department they are in.

Really I think it would be difficult to take a psychologist seriously if they weren't dressed in a professional manner and from what I have seen, many go ultra-casual, nearly everyday. No one expects anyone to wear a $1500 suit or anything but at least look more presentable than most vagrants.

I blame this all on the humanists.

 

[cara susanna]

Someone in my program advises female therapists not to wear high heels. That made many of us girls very sad. 🙁

 

[psychmama]

I blame this all on the humanists.

huh😕

 

[Shatani]

Can I ask where you're seeing this (in what kind of environment?)... I'm honestly confused. All the psychologists I've ever seen dress at least business-casual when interacting in a professional capacity. My graduate program even has a dress code for clinical grad students when we're interacting with the public.

I've seen people holed up in their offices on weekends wearing sweatpants and t-shirts (and am guilty of same), but on those days they're generally working on research or updating files... never interacting with the public!

I agree. Not sure where you're seeing this. Im pretty GQ looking most of the time......

really?? i see it a lot out in the field. especially in private practice. most of those psychologists, although smart as a whip, were definitely uber liberal hippie types. im okay with that. i dont choose it, but their clients dont seem to be too bothered.

i have a professor who is bald on top and wears a ponytail...and he has those tweed jackets with the suede elbows. HOT!! i cant deny though, he is a brilliant clinician and one of the best supervisors in the program!

 

[erg923]

Carl Rogers was fashionable my friend....

I think he was reffering to the tendency for humanistic-oriented clinicians to purposely avoid things that create or exacerbate the percieved power differential between therapist and client and who and try to make the therapy hour a little less formal. However, im not sure there is much evidence that this manifests via sloppy and/or overly formal dress.

 

[erg923]

i have a professor who is bald on top and wears a ponytail...and he has those tweed jackets with the suede elbows. HOT!! i cant deny though, he is a brilliant clinician and one of the best supervisors in the program!

My wife would never allow such things. 😀

 

[psychmama]

Someone in my program advises female therapists not to wear high heels. That made many of us girls very sad. 🙁

I don't know about the high heel thing, but I can tell you that I've seen female therapists on the psych ward dress like they were going to a cocktail party, and I just think this is plain dumb, especially given how many patients are sexually preoccupied.

 

[Ollie123]

Not sure I understand the issue with heels. With the obvious exception of certain situations (e.g. conduct disordered youth, inpatient units with frequent violence) where I think you'd have to be insane to wear anything that limits mobility, though I'm sure many people still do.

If I have a day where I'm only in class or otherwise on my own, I'll wear jeans and a t-shirt. Otherwise I do a collared shirt and slacks every day regardless of my schedule, and a tie anytime I'm interacting with anyone outside of the program. Faculty vary in their dress with some folks more casual than others, but at my current institution I've never seen anything too bad. My undergrad school had one faculty member who was frequently mistaken for a homeless person by people who didn't know him (NOT JOKING).

I am continually appalled by how many undergrads dress and not to sound sexist or prudish, but especially the female ones. Don't come to work dressed like a hooker. Period. What you wear on your own time is your business, but at the lab, no low necklines, and no skirts above the knee. I don't care if this is summer and its hot. I've had to wear a wool suit when its 95 degrees and it sucked, but I did it. This goes double when you are doing psychophys hook-ups and will frequently be bending over, leaning over directly in their line of vision two inches from their face, and we are measuring things like skin conductance and heart rate that just assess arousal state and really don't care what the source of that arousal is. Why this even needs to be said I will never understand, but how some people can continually not get it is beyond me.

 

[JockNerd]

This goes double when you are doing psychophys hook-ups and will frequently be bending over, leaning over directly in their line of vision two inches from their face, and we are measuring things like skin conductance and heart rate that just assess arousal state and really don't care what the source of that arousal is.

hehehe.

 

[PrisonPsych]

Someone in my program advises female therapists not to wear high heels. That made many of us girls very sad. 🙁

Makes sense to me. How are you going to consider someone's advice sensible if they're wearing non-sensible shoes?

 

[JackD]

Someone in my program advises female therapists not to wear high heels

I have always wondered if you are warned against wearing ties in certain situations. At least ones that aren't clip on.

But even in cases where it is dangerous to wear certain, formal clothing, it hardly excuses looking like an unemployed lumberjack or a member of a 1960's jam band.

How are clients supposed to feel if they are talking about emotionally painful subjects, while their therapist is wearing a tie with mickey mouse on it or if a disheveled looking psychologist is explaining that there is something seriously wrong with a family member. Jon is right, it seems disrespectful and it just isn't the kind of situation where you want to go casual, all the time. There is a lot of serious business here, why not at least look like you are taking it seriously. And as we now know, I am not the only one who has noticed this phenomenon, however, it is a bit of a relief to find that this isn't universally seen.

 

[zenman]

Makes sense to me. How are you going to consider someone's advice sensible if they're wearing non-sensible shoes?

👍 They ruin your feet and your back, but your legs look really great!

I've been in therapy twice, once with my preceptor who wore shirt and tie. The other wore shorts and sandals half the time and even called me an a**hole. The second guy was much more effective.

Responses to this post will not change my experience.

 

[cara susanna]

It's advised not because they're painful but because high heels are like one of the top fetish objects.

 

[Shatani]

Makes sense to me. How are you going to consider someone's advice sensible if they're wearing non-sensible shoes?

word! lmao....

 

[Shatani]

👍 They ruin your feet and your back, but your legs look really great!

I've been in therapy twice, once with my preceptor who wore shirt and tie. The other wore shorts and sandals half the time and even called me an a**hole. The second guy was much more effective.

Responses to this post will not change my experience.

i dont know why, but i love this post!

 

[Shatani]

It's advised not because they're painful but because high heels are like one of the top fetish objects.

indeed....i work in sex addiction and we have one therapist on staff who i swear shops at fetishshoes.com! her attire is unacceptable too....

 

[BellaPsyD]

i wear high heels everyday.

along with a full suit......

just throwing it out there........

 

[Psy01]

I am continually appalled by how many undergrads dress and not to sound sexist or prudish, but especially the female ones. Don't come to work dressed like a hooker. Period. What you wear on your own time is your business, but at the lab, no low necklines

This made me think of something last week. I finished my BA in May, but I still work as an RA, and last week I was doing some interviews of participants for a project I'm involved on. Anyway, this very well-endowed undergrad comes in for me to interview, and being a 23 year old male, I immediately noticed not only that was she well endowed, but had a very low neckline. Little bit of a distraction there. I did, however, maintain eye contact.😀

I do confess, however, that I was not appalled by how she was dressed.

 

[Shatani]

This made me think of something last week. I finished my BA in May, but I still work as an RA, and last week I was doing some interviews of participants for a project I'm involved on. Anyway, this very well-endowed undergrad comes in for me to interview, and being a 23 year old male, I immediately noticed not only that was she well endowed, but had a very low neckline. Little bit of a distraction there. I did, however, maintain eye contact.😀

I do confess, however, that I was not appalled by how she was dressed.

i applaud your honesty. lol

 

[deleted176373]

indeed....i work in sex addiction and we have one therapist on staff who i swear shops at fetishshoes.com! her attire is unacceptable too....

LOL, This thread really needs pictures.... In the military, it's easy, wear the damn uniform. It looks equally professional in all circumstances.

Mark

 

[zenman]

i dont know why, but i love this post!

Dive deep into your selfconsciousness...I mean unconscious....er..subconscious...

 

[sunlioness]

I once knew a psychiatrist who routinely saw patients in her pajamas. She lived in an apartment above the practice she owned and apparently some days she just didn't see the need in getting dressed. Bad case of bed head too. Made me feel better about the couple times I wore jeans. 😉

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

I once knew a psychiatrist who routinely saw patients in her pajamas. She lived in an apartment above the practice she owned and apparently some days she just didn't see the need in getting dressed. Bad case of bed head too. Made me feel better about the couple times I wore jeans. 😉

It is a shame that some people don't see a problem with presenting like that. It is one thing if they get dragged in for an emergency in the middle of the night and the person throws on some jeans and doesn't have time for makeup or whatever....but to just not feel like changing, that I'd have a problem with if she was my provider.

 

[JackD]

It is a shame that some people don't see a problem with presenting like that. It is one thing if they get dragged in for an emergency in the middle of the night and the person throws on some jeans and doesn't have time for makeup or whatever....but to just not feel like changing, that I'd have a problem with if she was my provider.

If I was in that situation, I would probably believe that the therapist was thinking "the sooner I can get this guy out of here, the sooner I can go back to bed." It really is like putting your own comfort ahead of the comfort of your clients.

 

[Professor Xero]

I typically wear slacks, a (usually button-down) shirt with a collar, and a sports jacket. I don't feel a strong need to wear a tie in order to present myself as "professional", however it has been something I have considered.

I do agree, however, that psychologists should be mindful of their appearances, and dress at least in a business casual manner. Aside from our relationship with our patients (or clients, if you prefer), how can we expect to garner the requisite respect from other professional groups (attorneys, MDs, etc.), if we're dressed liked shmucks who don't own a mirror?

 

[Wildcat06]

I would argue this depends a lot on your population. I work mainly with conduct disordered adolescents. When I started my RA job, I dressed to the nines my first day and the moment I showed up at the family's home to do an assessment I wanted to crawl into a hole and hide. Here I was in heels and a Coach purse walking into their small unadorned home to a family in sweat pants.

Now I haven't started seeing clients yet and I almost certainly won't be working in their homes but when working with an underprivileged population, I would say a step below business casual is more the norm/acceptable.

But I wholeheartedly agree about the cleavage....

 

[krisrox]

I was worried about what to wear for my interviews, but after reading this thread I'm beginning to realize that even my most casual option for an interview may not be half as bad as what my interviewer could be wearing...

Actually, now that I'm reading back a bit, I'm not totally opposed to the PJ's idea.... : )

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Living in S. FL wasn't bad as I could wear linen pants, a light cotton collared shirt, and moccasins.....which was like wearing pajamas....but more stylish!

 

[sunlioness]

If I was in that situation, I would probably believe that the therapist was thinking "the sooner I can get this guy out of here, the sooner I can go back to bed." It really is like putting your own comfort ahead of the comfort of your clients.

I would think the same. It really didn't look good and I told her so. But . . . well, we didn't see eye to eye on a lot of things.

 

[KTpsych]

No skirts above the knee, Ollie? Seriously? I wear them all the time when I'm just researching (without working with subjects--then I dress as I do for clients). Still miles (professional attire speaking) ahead of the other RAs in ragged t-shirts and holey jeans.

 

[Ollie123]

I don't really care what they wear when entering data or making phone calls(though I think hospital policy is knee-length skirts and every male has to wear a tie, but we tend to ignore that when we're only dealing with internal folks). You show up in a t-shirt or jeans in our lab you are sent home. They learn that one pretty quick and its rarely an issue.

Psychophys hook-ups are another matter. You are VERY much in the subjects personal space, bending over in front of them to manipulate objects on the floor, leaning across them when they are sitting in a chair. Potentially asking them to lift their shirt up to their bottom rib depending on the protocol (we didn't in the past, but may for the next study). If someone becomes...interested in this... it can directly affect the data, potentially washing out any effects. Its over-conservative and as I said, what people wear on their own time is their business. Obviously, this always has the potential to happen regardless of what anyone is wearing, but when it comes to the integrity of the data, I'm not inclined to take chances.

 

[psychmama]

I was worried about what to wear for my interviews, but after reading this thread I'm beginning to realize that even my most casual option for an interview may not be half as bad as what my interviewer could be wearing...

Actually, now that I'm reading back a bit, I'm not totally opposed to the PJ's idea.... : )

Careful. My experiences were that grad school interviews and internship interviews are perhaps the only times where most of the applicants wear a suit or something suit-like. Unless you know the culture of the school you're interviewing at in advance, dress up. You won't regret it.🙂

 

[CatoftheCanals]

Careful. My experiences were that grad school interviews and internship interviews are perhaps the only times where most of the applicants wear a suit or something suit-like. Unless you know the culture of the school you're interviewing at in advance, dress up. You won't regret it.🙂

+1

Also, I found that most of the professors I interviewed with were dressed at least business casual.

Being overdressed (unless you're in a cocktail dress or tux) probably won't hurt as much as being underdressed.

 

[Wildcat06]

Oooh yeah. I am certainly not advocating for dressing down during interviews. Suits all the way.

 

[twilson]

I don't really care what they wear when entering data or making phone calls(though I think hospital policy is knee-length skirts and every male has to wear a tie, but we tend to ignore that when we're only dealing with internal folks). You show up in a t-shirt or jeans in our lab you are sent home. They learn that one pretty quick and its rarely an issue.

Is your lab solely in a medical clinic? Because there are no dress rules in EITHER of the labs I am a research assistant in. I wear jeans or sweatpants and a sweatshirt. I actually hate the frilly stuff and dresses and don't wear them outside of special occasions. The only time I ever dress up and am required to is when I collect data and thats because its at a clinic.

I guess I am just mystified why someone would need to dress up while doing stuff solely in the lab😕

 

[Ollie123]

Not a clinic per se (research-only) but its in a medical setting, not the psychology building.

I think its just a matter of looking professional - whether you yourself are collecting data or not, chances are good you will see and be seen by participants when you are in our lab, be seen by administrative staff walking by, etc. There is some clinical work that goes on as part of the research studies, and some of our studies are a good bit more invasive (collecting various bodily fluids, DNA, etc.) than a "Fill out these forms, see you in an hour" type of research so we err on the side of looking professional. I'm not sure I see the harm...even our requirements are WAY less strict than pretty much any professional job outside of academia.

 

[futureapppsy2]

Someone in my program advises female therapists not to wear high heels. That made many of us girls very sad. 🙁

Maybe it's just because I quite literally cannot wear/walk in heels, but why would you want to wear them all day? From everything I've heard, they sound awfully uncomfortable!

A few of the female clinical students here have absolutely beautiful "indoor" coats that they wear to class (and presumably to see clients as well) that always make me think for a minute that a grad student stipend can't be that bad!

Most of students seem pretty low key in terms of dress--but then again, people here have to "dress for warmth" nine months out of the year, so I wouldn't be surprised if that plays a role somewhat with regard to dress code and expectations of staff/faculty/clients.

 

[Shatani]

Oooh yeah. I am certainly not advocating for dressing down during interviews. Suits all the way.

same goes for dissertation defense. wear a suit. its tradition!

 

[erg923]

Some of the professors i know desperatley need to go on that TLC show "What not to Wear".....seriously....

 

[Cosmo75]

Some of the professors i know desperatley need to go on that TLC show "What not to Wear".....seriously....

Indeed.

I went to a staff meeting that included people from a few local VAs and CBOCs once and a woman showed up with rainbow colored hockey hair. Complete with hair-tail. Didn't those go out of style in 1992?

 

[twilson]

Not a clinic per se (research-only) but its in a medical setting, not the psychology building.

Alright that makes more sense. I have to dress up when interactiing with participants but they aren't ever in the psychology building (where all the labs are), so we can dress down.

 

[psybee]

I would argue this depends a lot on your population. I work mainly with conduct disordered adolescents. When I started my RA job, I dressed to the nines my first day and the moment I showed up at the family's home to do an assessment I wanted to crawl into a hole and hide. Here I was in heels and a Coach purse walking into their small unadorned home to a family in sweat pants.

Now I haven't started seeing clients yet and I almost certainly won't be working in their homes but when working with an underprivileged population, I would say a step below business casual is more the norm/acceptable.

But I wholeheartedly agree about the cleavage....

Totally agree--it does depend on context. With clients it a minimum business casual but usually more formal, but when giving QoL surveys in clinics w/an underprivileged pop that's already distrustful of Dr.s, I also may go a step below biz caz.

It does give you an appreciation for the incredible comfort of slouchy jeans and an old t-shirt. That feels like heaven come the weekend!

 

[erg923]

Indeed.

I went to a staff meeting that included people from a few local VAs and CBOCs once and a woman showed up with rainbow colored hockey hair. Complete with hair-tail. Didn't those go out of style in 1992?

One of my more causal superviors in our research clinic regularly wheres her "mom jeans" and these god awful old lady looking flats with brown socks. Its sad cause this lady is in her early 30s. I know it sounds bad to say but im so glad my wife is not some fashionless academic type....

 

[cara susanna]

I think WhatNot to Wear would have a field day with a psychologist. Think of all the "crazy" jokes Stacy and Clinton could make.

 

[Shatani]

I think WhatNot to Wear would have a field day with a psychologist. Think of all the "crazy" jokes Stacy and Clinton could make.

i cherish a (not so) secret ambition to be on that show!

 

[krisrox]

i cherish a (not so) secret ambition to be on that show!

As do I, but, sadly, it's the people who WANT to be on it that don't NEED to be on it.

Plus, think about it... 5 grand for clothes would be like adding on another third to our grad stipends (!!!)