when do you start seeing clients

[psychdude5469]

When did/do your basic clinic practicums start in your progression through grad school? At my school (PhD) we started seeing therapy clients Fall of the second year. Is this different for PsyDs? I had taken psychopathology, ethics, and principles of psychotherapy classes before practicum and found this to be very beneficial. What classes helped you out the most? What is your case load like? Is your basic practicum through a clinic in the psychology dept. or somewhere else? What is the demographics of your client base like? About half of the clients we get in the clinic are children.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[krisrox]

When did/do your basic clinic practicums start in your progression through grad school? At my school (PhD) we started seeing therapy clients Fall of the second year. Is this different for PsyDs? I had taken psychopathology, ethics, and principles of psychotherapy classes before practicum and found this to be very beneficial. What classes helped you out the most? What is your case load like? Is your basic practicum through a clinic in the psychology dept. or somewhere else? What is the demographics of your client base like? About half of the clients we get in the clinic are children.

That's what it is at my undergrad and at one of the school's I'm applying to. I'm sure there's a slight variation, but it's probably around then for most schools.

 

[erg923]

2nd year. school clinic, but it serves those from the community as well based on sliding scale. started off slow but eventually carried 5-6 clients. Most came consitently. We have children and families that come there as well, but i didn't see any. I did couples therapy with a cotherpais though, and that wws pretty fun.

 

[ilikeeepsycheee]

pm me if you want more info

 

[KillerDiller]

I didn't see clients until second year, after psychopathology, ethics, evidence based practice, and assessment courses. We don't have a school clinic, so all of our practica are externships working with populations ranging from young children to veterans to inpatients depending on the specific setting.

I'm in a PhD program.

 

[Ollie123]

Fall of year 2. Had taken psychopathology, assessment, interventions, ethics, & clinical skills at that point. We start in the school clinic (I actually started in the lab well before then, but that's not true for everyone here). By "school" clinic, its a sliding scale community clinic that is in the psych building...we actually see relatively few university students. We can see adults or children depending on who are supervisor for the year is (some only do one or the other, some do both). Pretty wide demographic range at the clinic. Many low SES folks. We screen out a few populations (active substance abuse, severe ED, active suicidality), basically anything that requires medical oversight and crisis services which we aren't really equipped for.

Our case load is much lower than others...we are only required to carry 2, though many carry more. Especially those of us in multiple supervision groups. For a variety of reasons, attendance isn't great so most people seek outside placements as well.

 

[psychmama]

In my Psyd program, we start seeing them in November of the first year, after we've finished our class on Intro to clinical interviewing. This was sooner than I'd have liked at the time, but now I'm grateful that we got to jump in so early.

 

[futureapppsy2]

Fall of year 2. Had taken psychopathology, assessment, interventions, ethics, & clinical skills at that point. We start in the school clinic (I actually started in the lab well before then, but that's not true for everyone here). By "school" clinic, its a sliding scale community clinic that is in the psych building...we actually see relatively few university students. We can see adults or children depending on who are supervisor for the year is (some only do one or the other, some do both). Pretty wide demographic range at the clinic. Many low SES folks. We screen out a few populations (active substance abuse, severe ED, active suicidality), basically anything that requires medical oversight and crisis services which we aren't really equipped for.

That's roughly the same as how they do it here, though I don't think they screen out active ED. Students start seeing clients in the fall of their second year but are required to sit in on supervision groups and tx team meeting in the spring of their first year.

 

[irish80122]

At my school (West Virginia University) you start everything early. I started teaching my first class my first week of grad school and I saw my first client in week 2. It is a bit scary not having as much coursework behind you, but if you have good supervision (and I did), it ends up not being a big deal and a great experience! Also, it is virtually a must at my program as they get you in and out (to internship) in 4 years.

 

[Ollie123]

That's roughly the same as how they do it here, though I don't think they screen out active ED. Students start seeing clients in the fall of their second year but are required to sit in on supervision groups and tx team meeting in the spring of their first year.

Oh we see active ED (have a supervision group dedicated to it). Just not the more complicated cases that may/do require medical treatment. As in, we'll see early-stages of AN but screen out anyone who needs intense monitoring, renourishment, or other things that really require a medical setting.

 

[Cosmo75]

We started fall of 2nd year doing assessment. Therapy started fall of 3rd year. 1st year was entirely coursework and "professional development." This was a PsyD program.

 

[futureapppsy2]

We started fall of 2nd year doing assessment. Therapy started fall of 3rd year. 1st year was entirely coursework and "professional development." This was a PsyD program.

Interesting. Did you feel that you are adequately prepared for internship (both professionally and in terms of hours)?

 

[psybee]

2nd semester, 1st year we start doing assessments and can take 1 to 2 ongoings from the clinic. 2nd year we add an externship to the mix. Right now I have 8 ongoings and 2 groups.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Fall of year 2. Had taken psychopathology, assessment, interventions, ethics, & clinical skills at that point. We start in the school clinic (I actually started in the lab well before then, but that's not true for everyone here). By "school" clinic, its a sliding scale community clinic that is in the psych building...we actually see relatively few university students.

Same for my program.

There is a pre-prac that happens the spring of the 1st year, which involves shadowing, seminars, team meetings, etc.

 

[Cosmo75]

Interesting. Did you feel that you are adequately prepared for internship (both professionally and in terms of hours)?

Yep. I did 3, 12 month 20-25 hour per week externships at very good training sites. My hours were comparable to the others in my cohort.

 

[psychmama]

Yep. I did 3, 12 month 20-25 hour per week externships at very good training sites. My hours were comparable to the others in my cohort.

Believe it or not, I did 5 externships plus work in our school clinic. This is probably more than many students do before internship, but it's about average in my program, and about average for many clinical Phd/Psyd students in the NYC region. Honestly, I sometimes wonder why that much clinical experience does not almost count as an internship!

 

[futureapppsy2]

Believe it or not, I did 5 externships plus work in our school clinic. This is probably more than many students do before internship, but it's about average in my program, and about average for many clinical Phd/Psyd students in the NYC region. Honestly, I sometimes wonder why that much clinical experience does not almost count as an internship!

Did it meet the "needing to go home and stare at the wall" criterion?

 

[Shatani]

In my Psyd program, we start seeing them in November of the first year, after we've finished our class on Intro to clinical interviewing. This was sooner than I'd have liked at the time, but now I'm grateful that we got to jump in so early.

this was me too...although, i think we started in october. thats the way i wanted it. the schools i applied to did it this way, starting early. being in practice made the classes so much more beneficial, and being in classes made practice so much better. i was scared to death, but i wouldnt change it.

 

[Cosmo75]

Believe it or not, I did 5 externships plus work in our school clinic. This is probably more than many students do before internship, but it's about average in my program, and about average for many clinical Phd/Psyd students in the NYC region. Honestly, I sometimes wonder why that much clinical experience does not almost count as an internship!

Wow! You're at Rutgers, right? I guess you can't have too much clinical experience :-D I'm curious what being on internship is like for you (e.g. do you feel challenged)? I felt pretty well prepared for internship, but I also learned a heck of a lot. I was at a VA, which was quite different than my practicum sites (academic hospital and a private practice).

 

[cara susanna]

At ours you start seeing clients in the second year at our school clinic, then third and fourth year you have outside practicums. You can also get additional clinical experience if you seek it out and your request is approved. First year you sit in on supervision meetings, which also involves practicing interviews.

 

[psychmama]

Wow! You're at Rutgers, right? I guess you can't have too much clinical experience :-D I'm curious what being on internship is like for you (e.g. do you feel challenged)? I felt pretty well prepared for internship, but I also learned a heck of a lot. I was at a VA, which was quite different than my practicum sites (academic hospital and a private practice).

Yes, I'm at Rutgers. I took an extra year, which probably made me slightly "overprepared" for internship in some ways. At my practicum last year (I was the GA, but really still a prac student) I found about half-way through the year feeling like I could have gone on internship already. I waited another year because I wasn't far along on my dissertation proposal, and also I wanted more assessment experience. I think I'm glad I waited, because it made me a more competitive applicant in a highly competitive market (NYC). So far I'm learning a lot on internship, but I do feel like I'm ready to get a real job and be licensed. It's okay though -- I'll get there soon enough.

How's the postdoc Cosmo? I beginning to stress about that... Are you in a good place?

 

[psychmama]

Did it meet the "needing to go home and stare at the wall" criterion?

Oh yeah == at least sometimes...

 

[psychmama]

this was me too...although, i think we started in october. thats the way i wanted it. the schools i applied to did it this way, starting early. being in practice made the classes so much more beneficial, and being in classes made practice so much better. i was scared to death, but i wouldnt change it.

I agree. Doing the clinical work made the course work "come alive" for me.

 

[Cosmo75]

How's the postdoc Cosmo? I beginning to stress about that... Are you in a good place?

Post-doc is good. It's a nice balance of research and clinical work. I'm still building my clinical caseload, so not a lot of patients yet. Majority of my time has been getting up to speed on the grant that pays me and getting a couple other studies up and running. I learned on internship that it'd be really difficult for me to do 100% clinical work. I need a balance between the 2. Though I'm not sure how keen I am on staying in the academic medicine world either. Oh and started studying for the EPPP. It actually looks easier than I thought it would be.

 

[psychmama]

Post-doc is good. It's a nice balance of research and clinical work. I'm still building my clinical caseload, so not a lot of patients yet. Majority of my time has been getting up to speed on the grant that pays me and getting a couple other studies up and running. I learned on internship that it'd be really difficult for me to do 100% clinical work. I need a balance between the 2. Though I'm not sure how keen I am on staying in the academic medicine world either. Oh and started studying for the EPPP. It actually looks easier than I thought it would be.

I'm glad to hear it's going well so far. Any advice for us current interns in the post-doc search?

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

I'm glad to hear it's going well so far. Any advice for us current interns in the post-doc search?

Feel free to post it here: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=662009



`

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Post-doc is good. It's a nice balance of research and clinical work. I'm still building my clinical caseload, so not a lot of patients yet.

I'm really hoping to not have any long-term individual patients, and instead focus on assessment and consultation, teaching, researching, etc.

 

[Shatani]

Post-doc is good. It's a nice balance of research and clinical work. I'm still building my clinical caseload, so not a lot of patients yet. Majority of my time has been getting up to speed on the grant that pays me and getting a couple other studies up and running. I learned on internship that it'd be really difficult for me to do 100% clinical work. I need a balance between the 2. Though I'm not sure how keen I am on staying in the academic medicine world either. Oh and started studying for the EPPP. It actually looks easier than I thought it would be.

ack! that test haunts my dreams! from what i understand though, a good strategy will help you pass pretty well. but i dont want to think about that yet.

 

[Cosmo75]

ack! that test haunts my dreams! from what i understand though, a good strategy will help you pass pretty well. but i dont want to think about that yet.

I have the Academic Review materials from last year. Overall, it doesn't seem that hard. There's just a lot of material. There's a diagnostic test that you can take to determine your strengths and weaknesses, as well as what you might score if you took the test today. The materials state that the average score without any studying on the diagnostic test is around 50%, which I found sort of surprising. I did better than I thought I would, was stronger in areas than I thought I'd be in (Neuro for example), and did worse in areas I know pretty well. So it was certainly very helpful. There are tons of practice questions embedded in the review material. The most consistent feedback I've gotten is to take as many practice tests as possible and not to over-study. I've slotted myself to take it in January with about 15 hours per week devoted to reviewing materials/taking practice tests. Based on my practice score, that's probably overkill. But hey call me paranoid.

 

[Cosmo75]

Feel free to post it here: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=662009

I don't have much more to add than I did already on that thread. I got my post-doc through a previous relationship so I didn't apply for anything. I did look at other postings to get a feel for pay, etc. My DCT for internship was fabulous in sending along postings that he got on listservs or via email from colleagues.

So since my post-doc isn't an APPIC approved one, I didn't deal with any of that either. I really don't believe that doing a non-APPIC post doc is going to hurt me career-wise. I think that standardization is much more crucial at the internship level. If you have people you have good relationships with, you might want to check with them about any possible post-doc opportunities if you haven't already. We spend 5 years building a network. This is a great time to leverage that.

 

[psychmama]

I We spend 5 years building a network. This is a great time to leverage that.

Yeah, I'm not so good at this, but I'm definitely trying. It's amazing how many people in the field I do know.

 

[Shatani]

I have the Academic Review materials from last year. Overall, it doesn't seem that hard. There's just a lot of material. There's a diagnostic test that you can take to determine your strengths and weaknesses, as well as what you might score if you took the test today. The materials state that the average score without any studying on the diagnostic test is around 50%, which I found sort of surprising. I did better than I thought I would, was stronger in areas than I thought I'd be in (Neuro for example), and did worse in areas I know pretty well. So it was certainly very helpful. There are tons of practice questions embedded in the review material. The most consistent feedback I've gotten is to take as many practice tests as possible and not to over-study. I've slotted myself to take it in January with about 15 hours per week devoted to reviewing materials/taking practice tests. Based on my practice score, that's probably overkill. But hey call me paranoid.

that is ambitious! i hope that i am that ambitious when my turn comes along! lol

and yeah, i hear the same thing...take all the practice tests. and since i have little to no study habits, practice will likely be my best bet. my friends (who have been through it and are going through it now) tell me that there are certain areas that are most prevalent on the test and focusing on those areas most is the smartest way to go about it.

 

[Shatani]

I don't have much more to add than I did already on that thread. I got my post-doc through a previous relationship so I didn't apply for anything. I did look at other postings to get a feel for pay, etc. My DCT for internship was fabulous in sending along postings that he got on listservs or via email from colleagues.

So since my post-doc isn't an APPIC approved one, I didn't deal with any of that either. I really don't believe that doing a non-APPIC post doc is going to hurt me career-wise. I think that standardization is much more crucial at the internship level. If you have people you have good relationships with, you might want to check with them about any possible post-doc opportunities if you haven't already. We spend 5 years building a network. This is a great time to leverage that.

that is an excellent point. i actually wasnt aware that there were APIC approved post docs....but ive never had to deal with APIC, so that might have something to do with it. i am in limbo right now, my internship is over but i still have one last thing to do before ive finished the program, so im not technically doing a post doc. but i am going to do my post doc at the place i did my last internship.

 

[erg923]

but ive never had to deal with APIC, so that might have something to do with it.

Hows that? Thought that was the only way to get an internship?

 

[Shatani]

Hows that? Thought that was the only way to get an internship?

nah, my program has captive internships....a blessing and a curse!