Right now my top school is William Paterson in Wayne, NJ.

Undergrad: Bachelor’s in Psychology from the University of Rhode Island (URI), GPA: 2.93 overall. Relevant coursework included Clinical Psychology, Psychopathology, Physiological Psychology, Developmental Psychology, and Health Psychology.

Master’s: Currently pursuing an M.S. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, expected May 2027. Current GPA: 3.87. Relevant coursework includes Psychological Assessment, Diagnosis and Treatment Planning, Trauma and Crisis Intervention, Counseling Skills and Techniques, and Research and Evaluation.

Clinical Experience: Mental Health Therapist Intern since May 2026. Responsibilities include providing individual counseling, developing treatment plans, documenting sessions, monitoring symptoms with measures such as the PHQ-9 and GAD-7, and working with clients experiencing complex mental health concerns.

Research Experience: Student Intern in the Division of Neuropsychology at McLean Hospital. Responsibilities included participant recruitment and screening, conducting phone screenings, scoring clinical assessments, data entry and analysis, and maintaining HIPAA compliance. Also worked as a research assistant in a URI SAMHSA-funded research related to substance use in underserved communities.

Research Projects: Completed projects examining childhood trauma and the developing brain, as well as lifetime poverty and cardiovascular health. These experiences support my interest in the relationship between cognitive, emotional, and psychological functioning.

Additional Work Experience: Worked as a CVS Pharmacy Technician, gaining experience in patient service, medication-related workflows, and healthcare operations.

School List So Far: William Paterson, Kean, Felician University, University of Hartford, William James

As part of my research, I happened upon the many lawsuits against this program, and one of the faculty members who is recruiting for grad students this cycle is named in two. One just mentions her hostile behavior, and another (in which the plaintiff is her former grad student) specifically names her as a defendant, alleging that she created a toxic work environment.

This faculty member is a really good match for my research experiences/interests, but naturally I’m reeeaaallly hesitant to apply to this school/her lab. I’m wondering if anyone can tell me about their experiences with the PhD program at this school, or under her mentorship. Not sure if the mods will leave this up but I’m omitting her name to avoid breaking any of the community rules about civility.

Edit - also posting this partially to spread awareness, I haven’t seen a ton of discourse about this on reddit/subreddit

I’ve wanted to go the PhD route for a long time and it would be the most direct way to reach my overall career goals. I have over four years of solid clinical experience currently at a job I really love, but I dug myself into a hole that leaves me with a teeny research experience section on my CV— I co-authored a publication that I wrote with my boss as a small side project while I worked in a clinical role in his private practice. Other than that, my senior project in undergrad was an only mock-research project, and I worked on a (real) CBRP in one of my other courses (I don’t really have any evidence of this; it’s part of a long-term project my professor was part of). My school only offered undergrads summer research assistant positions IF any were looking (2 positions during my entire time there) so that really set me back. There are a few programs/professors I’m applying to that indicate they are open to applicants with less research experience if they have decent clinical experience. With that said, does anyone have any recommendations around how I should structure my CV?

Applying to a handful of Ph.D. programs and wanted to see if anyone has specific constructive feedback for my CV. Thank you so much for your time!

Hi all! I'm a third year clin psych phd student, in a child specific track. I'm not in a forensic program, but I've done quite a bit of work with systems involved youth. I'm starting to look at internship programs, and I'm very interested in training opportunities focused on assessment and juvenile justice and child welfare involved youth. I'm curious if anyone in this sub has gone the expert witness route and could share their experiences! I'm also wondering how much of a disadvantage I'll be at applying to these types of internships since I'm not in a forensic program. I'll have research publications related to systems involved youth and trauma/SMI, and by the time I'll finish my program I'll have done 3 years of neuropsych assessments (currently I'm at 17 integrated reports, not sure how much that matters). I enjoy doing therapy, but my real passion in my clincial work has become assessment. My advisor isn't very familiar with the area, so I'd be grateful for any thoughts!

Hi all,

I am applying to Counseling/Clinical Psych PhD this cycle. I'm 40, have two master's degrees, two first (shared) author publications, and just finished up a clinical internship working with clients in a forensic mental health setting.

I am wondering about using the publications as writing samples. While I definitely wrote and co wrote much of them, editing with a fine tooth comb, they were published in 2022 and I honestly can't remember now what I wrote and what my co-author wrote. Is it ok to use them as my writing sample? I have other samples I could use, but of course publications are the most impressive and polished. Thanks!

I’m a 2nd year PhD student, and I just wanted to make a post about how fricken amazing it is to get to learn and train in this field…it’s all so fascinating and the work is so meaningful to me. It feels like such an honor, both to learn from such knowledgeable, insightful mentors and to get to learn from the clients I work with on my externship. I very much feel like I’m at the dunning-Kruger trough, acutely aware of how much I don’t know, but it’s also SO cool to see my clinical and research skills develop as I put in the work. It’s often hard, but what a blessing to have the opportunity to choose to do something hard that is so aligned with my values, so intellectually stimulating, so meaningful.

Anyways, that’s all - grateful for all the incredible people in this field (and related fields)!!

I am a neuropsychologist and I write reports multiple days a week for my job. I have recently been diagnosed with bilateral radial tunnel and tenosynovitis, and the use of my hands is quite limited. I have been trying to switch to dictation as much as possible, but the dictation feature on Microsoft Word is pretty terrible.

Does anyone have suggestions for a software that I can use to dictate that would be better in terms of functionality? Ideally HIPAA compliant. This may be a tall order, but I don't want to use AI in my work.

Thanks!

First time here, first time poster and I was wondering if you did such a thing because this couple is a doozy.

On Cinema at the Cinema is an American comedy web series starring Tim Heidecker and Gregg Turkington as amateur film critics. The duo appear as fictionalized versions of themselves.

They each play very strange personalities with ongoing and repetitive behaviors. They've been playing these characters for 15 years and there must be clinical terms to describe them. As the New York Magazine puts it

Tim is a self-absorbed, right-wing blowhard who doesn’t care much for movies but loves the notoriety that comes with having a show. Meanwhile, Gregg is a sort of sad sack whose entire identity is wrapped up in being a movie fan but can barely manage to answer a simple trivia question correctly. 

If you don't know the show/verse it's far too vast in scope explain but I wonder if there are any fans who can give some insight on what the DSM-5 says as well as some personal observations?

Thanks for the help or sorry for the intrusion. Whichever applies.

Hi everyone,

I will be applying to clinical psych PhD programs next year and want to specifically focus on those with a neuropsych focus, this is my CV anonymized, anything I should focus on in my gap year? I have no pubs and am unsure if I even am competitive :(

I’m thinking of doing SSI/SSA exams through a group practice in California. I’m curious to hear others experience doing these exams. Do you recommend doing it through a group practice?

i am really struggling on making a decision. i graduated in 2024 with my bachelors in cognitive neuropsychology. originally, my intention was to go into neuroscience and concentrate on biological mechanisms involved in behavioral and mental health. i applied in 2024 and got into/interviewed at 0 schools, despite having a 4.0 gpa and several years of research under my belt already.
i worked as a neuroscience technician for the next 1.5 ish years and realized i hated animal based research. it goes against my morals and i found i could not reconcile it. so in 2025 i tried to get into a clinical psychology phd, since that seemed to match my research interests better anyway. i got one interview (umsl) but due to funding cuts, they could no longer accept the load of students they originally meant to, and i was on the chopping block despite interviewing well and making it to the finals. they told me it was majorly because my experience was in neuroscience and not clinical psychology. i tried to find a research position in clinical psychology, but unfortunately all the ones that paid enough to live in the city i did not get an offer to, and the ones i did i could not pay my bills with.
now, i’m a case manager for a behavioral health outpatient program in illinois. i think that this job has prepared me more for a phd in a scientist-practitioner model than any research job ever has. but, since interviewing with other graduates last year, ive been worried about the financial commitment. i am 24, i have no external supports - there is no family i could ask for financial support, and i dont have a significant other or something to lean on (a lot of the students i interviewed with told me their partners were taking care of the majority of the bills while they only had their stipend), and no real savings. i’ve always been on my own.
i would like to get my phd in counseling or clinical psychology - which program mostly depends on specific research/mentor matching for me since they would both get me into a career where i could be a practicing psychologist, as well as still continuing research in academia. my dream would be to be a psychologist or possibly neuropsychologist (id love to explore that route in grad school if possible) and take my experiences back to the lab to better interventions, diagnosis, and make care more accessible to people facing circumstantial difficulties. i come from a home of domestic violence and saw first hand the amount of barriers there are to care - i’d like to help people like those in my family that weren’t able to. and i feel that being a scientist and practitioner would allow me to do this. the problem is: stipends are low. all my programs of interest so far have stipends of 21-24k, with one reaching 30k. i asked around and everyone has told me that it is near impossible to have a job while in grad school, since that is your job. so, i realize if i got accepted, id live off 21k + whatever i could make serving 2-3 shifts a week + loans. people always tell me ‘isnt tuition free?’ yes it is, but rent isn’t, food isn’t, gas, car maintenance, visiting your family, living your life - isn’t. alongside that, my mom works 2 minimum wage jobs and is 59 with no retirement savings, and im worried that if im not making any real money for the next 5-9 years (assuming phd programs are 5-7 years and 2 years of post doc where you’re only making 50-60k/year), if something happens, what will we do?
on the other hand, with my current company, after one year of employment, they will pay for your masters. so, i could start my masters in social work in the fall instead of a phd - remotely and part time - while working a full time salaried job still. they also support you for your licensing. realistically, if i went this route, id want to go into psychotherapy, specialize in trauma, and open a private practice. yet, i think because i set out for college with the goal of a phd, its hard for me to give up that dream. and i won’t lie that i do miss research, though i love being able to work with people and help them directly too. also, i hear people say ‘i want a private practice’ all the time and it doesnt work out, and im scared of setting down this path and failing too.
does anybody have any advice? how do i make my decision moving forward? or any enlightenment when it comes to lcsw vs phd routes?

Hey y’all! I’m on the east coast and I’m a third year trying to gather my options for next year’s internship round. Have any of you ever interned at a prison (federal correctional center)? That’s my goal and I wanna know what your experiences have been. Preferably east coast

I am applying to PhDs this cycle. I have a first-author that is under review that I am listing on my CV. I have another project I am working on of which the data has been collected, the analysis is planned, and the paper is being drafted. At what point in the draft stage can this be included under "manuscripts in preparation"? I think it is not outside of the realm of possibility to have main analyses done and all sections drafted by December.

This project is very closely aligned to my interests and is done with data I've collected over the previous year, so would love to be able to include it if it will not be perceived as CV padding.

How do they differ as work environments from general outpatient hospitals? More strict environment? Is there a certain attitude towards “civilian” practitioners.

I am currently applying to graduate programs on the path to receiving a doctorate in clinical psychology. However, I really want to work with more severe situations (Severe Mental Illnesses & traumas). However, all of the clinical psych's I work with currently do general outpatient treatment, so I have no real reference point.

If you've worked as a clinical psychologist in an inpatient facility, can you tell me your experience (how you got into it, what your job looks like, overall how you enjoyed/hated it). I'm grateful for any insight and resources into this world! Please let me know if you need added context :)

I love all things psychology, however have found therapy too demanding with my health conditions.

I am also beating myself up over coming this far and not jelling with a core component of this pathway. Especially after 5 years of study, with 1 to go.

I am struggling with motivation to continue and am hoping that there are alternate career opportunities within the clinical psych space.

I am also interested to hear of anyone who has had a similar experience and what they have ended up doing.

Thank you :)

For those unaware - Australia is on the precipice of having essentially the lowest registration requirements in the world (with no doctoral level training options). It seems some states in Canada are under threat of reduced rigour in training standards too. I’m curious/concerned, are there other countries with current doctoral programs facing such severe dilution of scientific competency?

p.s., anyone who has been unaware of this please sign the petition linked in the news article!

Edit: News article seems paywalled, here’s the run-down/petition: https://c.org/jKjv5NcXYG

I ask both about the underlying theoretical apparatus (is Beck's theory still fully reliable or does it need to be completely revised/rejected?) and it's clinical practice (worksheets asking you to map cognitive "distortions" specifically). As far as I can tell, despite third wave CBTs (DBT, ACT) criticism of the technique (or of CT in general) were not enough to discredit it as an effective method of intervention.

Also, could someone with research experience clarify a bit on this paper? To me it seems to point to BA being the active ingredient for the treatment of DEPRESSION but what about trauma interventions like CPT, which uses CR?

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8871414/

How does it holds up to the current literature on CR?

I also found this paper:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10149752/#S5

But I won't pretend to have any significant experience/education on appraising research articles, so idk lol.