December Psy.D. Webinar

0:01Welcome to the PsyD webinar. I'm Bradley Cypher, and I'm the admissions adviser for the doctoral program here at Divine Mercy University. The format of today's webinar is straightforward. I'm going to first move through a PowerPoint presentation, where I'm going to highlight some of the most salient aspects of the doctoral program, and then we'll finish with some q and a. So if you have any questions at any time during the interview or the presentation, please place it in the chat box, and I'll field your questions at the end of the presentation. Also note that I have listed, my email and my Calendly as well as other resources in the chat box. So please send me an email, get a, time in my Calendly, and I will happily look forward to meeting with you and speaking with you about the program.

0:46Okay. So without any further ado, a little bit about me. I actually, not too long ago, completed my, doctorate PhD in theology at Albury University. So I wrote my doctoral dissertation on addiction. I'm very interested in the intersection between philosophy theology on the one hand and, psychology on the other, which is, of course, the the very raison d'etre of Divine Mercy University. And my so my mission right now is getting people like you into the the career of your dreams, as clinical psychologists. So if you look at our school's history, where we are right now, we are have we're one university overall, Divine Mercy University. We have two distinct schools, the school of counseling and the institute for the psychological sciences.

1:31The counseling school has a master's program that's chiefly online, and then the IPS center houses both the residential doctoral program and the master's in psychology, and that's a totally, online program. So our mission is to heal and honor the totality of what means to be human, by integrating psychological science with a robust, thoroughgoing Catholic anthropology and in so doing for mental health professionals with the highest caliber through rigorous academic and clinical training. We are located just out of Wash outside of Washington DC in the Sterling area. So if you enjoy city life, especially in a place like our nation's capital, easy access to that. By contrast, if you enjoy nature, things like that, we also have wonderful, sort of natural beauty to the west, especially, you know, Western Part of Northern Virginia, etcetera.

2:25So it's just a really great place to be and to live and work and study Yeah. To be a doctoral student in the Washington DC area. Now our school, has a number of accreditation agencies that have spoken to our commitment to high academic and clinical standards, as follows the State Council of Higher Education in Virginia, the Association of State and Provisional Psychology Boards, the APA, probably the most significant accreditation as the APA, grants, licenses to clinical psychologists as well as accrediting, schools of psychology. The, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and National Council for state authorization of Suprocy agreement. So all that said, all this is really just speaking to our, again, our commitments to high academic standards that will benefit you in the long run.

3:17Sometimes people ask me, what's the difference between getting a master's degree and getting a doctorate, say, like, a master's in counseling versus society in psychology? Well, there are a number of differences and similarities. There are three main differences as far as I can tell. The first is the much more extensive, overview that you get in psychological evaluation testing, things like, conducting cognitive tests and IQ tests or personality tests, things like, you know, the Rorschach test or or, the big five personality tests, things like that. Though those are things that you might say are often the bread and butter of the clinical psychologist. Very often, this is not something that master's level clinicians do unless they get specialized training to do so, because testing is really, yeah, that I guess that's like bread and butter, the wheelhouse of the clinical psychologist.

4:11The second major difference is the raw volume, the time that you will, get training at the doctoral level versus the master's level. Thirty five hundred clinical hours are required for our own side versus seven hundred at the master's level. That's five times as much, and that's that's that's a huge difference. And, of course, you know, your your patients will benefit from from your added training, because, you know, you're just really going to be that much more prepared to to help those in need. The last, difference is, of course, the dissertation. The dissertation, we would distinguish broadly between two types of dissertation, the empirical and theoretical. The theoreticals tend to be much more idea driven.

4:52So if you are interested in how ideas are impacting clinical practice, that can be a great sort of option for you. By contrast, if you are more interested in data and gathering data and analyzing data, For example, maybe collecting data by disseminating a survey and then running a statistical analysis on the results of that survey and then drawing conclusions. That's a classic kind of, empirical, style dissertation. Historically, we've had about probably a lot more students doing, theoretical dissertations. But in recent years, given more faculty hires in this area and a greater diversity of students, we've have around the balance between people that do theoretical and people that do, the empirical dissertation.

5:39It is a five year program all told. You will receive both a, master's of psych of psychology and and and SID. So the master's of psych is given after the successful completion of year two, and then the doctorates at the end of year five. This is a good overall look at our curriculum. The first two years, as you can see, are rather, dense with courses. In some sense, you might liken this or to something like medical school. Right? It's why do I say that? Well, there's much more focus on the science and and the and the sort of, like, the head knowledge in the first couple of years. Then as soon as through the program, it becomes much more clinically focused. Right? The focus becomes on seeing your patients and conducting a plan making sure that your clinical hours are are being taken care of so that by the time you get to the fifth year, there's really no course requirement whatsoever.

6:36In fact, the fifth year is the internship year. Okay? So much as a medical student would go to a residency, whether it's whatever dermatology, pediatrics, radiology, whatever it might be, the psychology student goes to an internship, and this depends on their specialty. Whether it's, say, you're interested in a certain demographic. So you're interested in, geriatric populations or adolescents or or or children or young adults, whatever that might be, or you're interested in a certain pathology. Like, you really wanna work with, the psychotics psychotic groups of people or, maybe you want to do addiction or maybe you wanna do bipolar or schizophrenia, whatever it might be, chances are there's probably a, internship out there for you.

7:24Now, these are some overall kind of broad discernment questions. You know, do you wanna help people flourish? Are you interested in the science behind human behavior? Do you want to become an instrument of healing through the psychological sciences? Are you interested in performing psychological tests and assessments to diagnose your clients and create treatment plan? Are you looking to start a career as a licensed mental health professional, but specifically as a clinical psychologist? And do you have the ability desire to work with all types of clients from more acute care to more challenging kind of long term client cases? So if you're hearing this, this may very well be, a good fit for you.

8:02Sometimes, another question I'll get is, how does Divine Mercy compare to other APA accredited programs? Well, there are, a number of ways in which we're quite similar. In fact, that we are APA accredited means that we have to abide by a number of standards regulated by the APA. So things like foundations in psychological science and research, integrity and practice, assessments, therapeutic intervention, and professional roles. And despite that similarity, we also are distinct in this one particular way that is our Catholic faith. You know? The way that we understand the human person is decidedly, informed by a thoroughgoing Catholic understanding of the person, informed by revelation and tradition.

8:52So with this ID, where might you find yourself? Well, there's so many places. The wonderful thing about psychology is there's so many different very settings in which you might be able to work. So these are just a few of them. It's like being in a psychiatric hospital, a military establishment, working in private practice. Private practice is probably the most common one, I would say. I think that it tends to attract people that, are they want more freedom in their schedule. They want to be able to have maybe their own business. They're okay and might even enjoy, you know, marketing themselves, selling themselves, things like that. Whereas if that's not your thing, if the whole business side of it is not appealing to you, you could certainly work in any number of other settings.

9:35Like I was saying, military, psychiatric hospitals, and then, like, an institutional kind of thing would be maybe a better fit, that type of person. Diocesan consultation is also very popular because, given our the religious nature of our institution, we've cultivated a very good reputation among, Catholic diocese across the country, really. And so many of our doctoral alumni will be hired by a diocese to, say, conduct psychological evaluations for a young man applying to the seminary, for example, Catholic seminary. And that, of course, can really only be done by a a clinical psychologist because there's there there are a bunch of tests to, evaluate one's emotional fittingness for ministry.

10:23Okay. These are a few of our doctoral alumni, and they are speaking here to their experience with us. This is James Paulovich. She says, in our clinical psychology program, the training is focused on healing the whole person. Kristen Long, I was drawn to this ID program in order to serve others in a more profound way than my previous positions offered. Timothy well, Timothy White says, the school is not afraid, to teach what it means to be human at every level philosophically, psychologically, and theologically. That's why I like it. Kirsten Curtis, I'm so thankful for DMU. The faculty members are very supportive, and I've received a lot of hands on clinical experience. Okay. This is the story of William Johnson, who is a current doctoral student with us now.

11:04He's almost done with the program. He's in this, I think, his very last year. And he's done a lot of work with combat and, veterans and peace people who suffer from PTSD. He came from a military family, so let's hear his story. My name is William Johnston, and I'm a PsyD student at Divine Mercy University. Currently approaching the end of my third year in the program. Filters those folks in my family, and, and so both my grandparents served my parents both served This door, the study program at Divine Mercy University are both the the opportunity for me to continue to get back enough research and hopefully implement a more robust program to see PTSD as it relates to combat veterans. CMU has certainly provided the integration that I saw in terms of my formation, both the philosophy and theology for in addition to the psychology curriculum, has provided me growth in terms of my faith, and my role as a husband and father, and, of course, the psychological condition.

12:23So in essence, the Catholic's mission of meta model to give a person is why I'm here, both from my own state as well as the simplified future clients. Okay. This is another testimonial. This is from a recently graduated alumna. I would say that being a student at university or tenth is one of the best thing that happens to me. I really appreciate a great support from faculty members and also classmates. I have gained a great deal of knowledge in all aspect of clinical practice, research, and also professional development. DMU not only provides student with strong academic skills, but also prepares them for a career in psychology. I personally benefit from mentorship with academic adviser and clinical supervisors.

13:26As a person, what I most appreciate from TMU is that its mission help broaden my perspectives in understanding a human person through the lens of Calvinism. Catholic principle, especially in hope, love, and faith are very valuable and certainly helped me become a better clinician. Alright. I have one more of these. This is the story of Isaiah Lamb. Isaiah was a Catholic seminarian, prior to joining us at Divine Mercy University, and now he's almost finished. He's in his last year. He is a, intern at, I think, University of Saint Thomas in, I wanna say Minnesota, and he's doing college counseling. So he's almost done. He's almost doctor Isaiah Lamb. I'm originally from the state of South Dakota.

14:29And so I lived there most of my wife's. Went to school. I'm going to Nebraska Lincoln. Was I studied psychology there, but I kind of attended to go into the medical field. And then after kind of in the midst of my undergraduate, I, just and I wanted to go to the seminary. I was seminary to study for the priest. So I had this love for psychology that was kind of there. I think from an early age, just wanting to know how people function, why they to go do it. And then I found myself at seminary, learning all these philosophical truths about humans. One of the first course things that was, philosophy of the person's body and soul, and that there's this profound to be in living. Later, just turned out to seminary, returning to Nebraska.

15:21And, deciding at this point, well, I don't really wanna go into, medicine, but I do like have this. And I also have learned, again, like, a spouse without students. So I took a year off. I built pipe organs for a year. But I always went to that. I mean, job is fun. But, ultimately, that led me, I decided to then do your service with the homeless and deaf birthing for an organization called. And there, I like to say that all the things I've been learning about and about psychology is the loss. It was this incarnation experience of of encountering people on the street in this profound suffering. Mental anguish and substance abuse, what have you. And just actually experiencing that firsthand made everything kinda quick for me.

16:19I know that I have the ability to, affect change and bring hope to people in the worst moments of their lives. And so for me at that point, it was just very clear everything was still merged, and I felt more so that I wanted to pursue psychology. Cynthia knew it was kinda my first choice because everything that I learned about kinda just, again, converge to it. Right? The psychology, the philosophy, the knowledge. And it's just in all the perfect fit. So I applied. I'm sorry for that. And then my second now, And it's been absolutely more than I would've hoped for. I've had so much knowledge stuck in my head in the last year. I, like, don't even know how it's possible, but it's just gonna be a full and awesome journey.

17:08Right. This is a word about our faculty. To the left here is doctor Lisa Kloecky. She's our dean. She's a specialist in assessment and therapy. In the middle is doctor Diane Graves. She is our assistant program director specializing in child and developmental psychology. This is, doctor Helena Ariana. She's our, director of the clinic. And these guys were actually among the founding, members of our school dating back to the late nineties, early two thousands era. This is doctor Stefani specializing in CBT and group therapy, doctor Nordling in child marriage and family. And then doctor Vitz, doctor Vitz was his his whole life in conversion is kind of at the center, of our school. He actually used to be an atheist.

17:53He converted to Catholicism, and his early writing and and Catholic conversion really kind of was what got this whole school started. Anyway, he recently retired, and he really kind of was the expert at integrating, you know, philosophy and theology with psychology. Alright. Now to get licensed as a psychologist in The United States, of course, requires a doctoral degree. After you finish it, there's about a nine to twelve month period of supervision thereafter, and then you finally take your license exams. And then we have an imperfect but very strong, overwhelmingly strong license rate of ninety five percent from the past decade of data. So if you have a PsyD for this, there's very, very likely that you'll get a license.

18:42The other thing is that psychology is in demand. The the modern world is is is sort of completely beset by any number of mental illnesses. And, you know, the here it says, like, you know, this is this is indicate the average profession, projected the next ten years is growing at 3%, but psychology is growing at 6%. I mean, that's that's double. The other thing, of course, is you look at it from a supplies perspective. Like, again, like, from a purely economic perspective, there are very few people with doctoral degrees that are that are practicing psychologists compared to the master's level holders, in counseling. So when you couple a lot of demand for something with limited supply, especially with services, or we talked about testing before, this is a formula for for making a great income, as a psychologist.

19:29Now in terms of funding this education, it's $1,001.70 per credit for a 122 credits. It's a $142.07 40 over five years. That does not include, you know, indirect expenses like housing, gas, food, that kind of thing. American applicants are, of course, able to get federal aid, through the FAFSA form, and then we also offer on campus work study for for students. That's basically part time work that accommodates your your otherwise very busy doctoral study schedule. And we also have a whole slew of scholarships that that certainly you could take advantage of. I think the most, you know, important of them would be this one, the merit scholarship, which ranges between 50 to 25% off of tuition. These scholarships are given out to a few, of the most promising applicants, and this is done by the evaluation of the faculty, on the basis of your sort of academic record and also how well you do on the interview itself.

20:27Okay? The other scholarships are those to which you would apply on the individual basis. Usually, a little essay is required. But I would not recommend working on that until after you are notified of admission, because I wouldn't want you to, you know, spend time on on something that, you know, you couldn't you couldn't get. Okay. There are a couple, major requirements to apply. First is a a baccalaureate degree that's, like, from a regionally accredited school. We do prefer that you have studied psychology, but in no way is that necessary. We've had successful applicants apply to our school from across the academic, curriculum, everything from, you know, math and hard science and engineering to arts and humanities, and everything in between, the social sciences for for instance.

21:18We also require at least a three o GPA on a four o scale. If yours is a little bit shy of that, let's say you have an, you know, a two seven eight nine, something like that. In some cases, we do allow exceptions provided that you offer a letter of explanation, you know, just describing, you know, what went wrong. And then we can hopefully get you into an interview. Good. Okay. So if this is all making sense to you, the first step, the first next step that is was to be able to apply online. We the online application is on our website. So if you just go to divinemarsh.edu, there's a big red button at the top that says apply. If you click that, then it will unveil the different applicants excuse me, the different applications for the different programs.

22:03And you wanna hit the one that says PsyD, and then it will unveil the doctoral application. So, that's a pretty easy thing to do. It's mostly done well, it's entirely done online, and it's a lot of data entry about, where you live, where you went to school, couple basic financial questions. At the end, it will ask you about people who might potentially recommend you. There, you want to put names of either professors that you've had or work supervisors, or some combination of the two. Either is is totally fine. But what we don't want, however, are anything personal, like, no friends, family, significant others, like, none of that. Just keep it, you know, academic and professional. Another common question that people ask about this is, you know, whether or not I need to get permission from these people.

22:54Strictly speaking, you you don't because they're not going to get notified when you submit the application. It remains between us. The thing to do is after you submit the online application, you would reach out to your recommenders and ask them for permission. Say, hey. Listen. I'm applying to, the doctoral program at Divine Mercy. Would you mind recommending me? And then they can say yes or no at that point. So if you have any questions about that, the, you know, the the how to proceed with recommenders and such, let me know, and I'd be happy to discuss that with you. Okay. So once the online app is in, then you wanna turn your attention to the other elements of the application, which will, eventually need to be received.

23:35So things like the, admissions essays. There are a couple of essays we do have you write about why you want to be a psychologist, why you wanna study a divine mercy, and, what area of research would you pursue as a doctoral student. And there, we're not looking for bibliographies or or, anything like that. We just want a paragraph, describing what, you know, your research might look like. You know? Just an idea. Because not at this point, nothing is set in stone. It's way too early in the game for that. But we do want evidence that you are thinking about, you know, your academic future here with us and what that might potentially look like. Do send your resume that's updated, and then I I just mentioned the procedure with the recommendations.

24:19The official transcripts, of course, will need to be sent to us, and that can be that has to be everything as post secondary. So whether you went to college or graduate school or both, all that needs to be sent in. We do require the GRE. Okay? So, the GRE, however, is is in no way, you know, the most important elements of the of the admissions process. You know, obviously, for some schools, many elite schools, you know, the the the testing, the scores need to be very high. For our school, it's it's we're because we're a school of psychology, we're much more interested in you as a person. And that might sound sort of, you know, hacking it and cheesy, but it's just true that, when faculty evaluate people, they're much more interested in whether or not the overall person is capable of becoming or has a promise to become a excellent clinician, an excellent psychologist.

25:20So if you do well in GRE, more power to you. That can help you sort of separate you from the crowd in a way. But, to get in, you really have to have that kind of interpersonal, abilities, at least in and it's it's sort of like an even in an in coed and kind of, beginning stages. So if you have questions about the GRE and the role plays, again, get in contact with me, and I can help you with that. Okay. Let's talk about international students. So if you are applying, and you have done your degrees from outside of America, and especially if they don't have a GPA, like an American style, GPA, those transcripts will have to be evaluated. So I highly recommend them be evaluated by educationalperspectives.org.

26:11It's a great service. You just, you know, you send them their your transcript, and then they will distill your foreign transcript into an American style GPA. If English is not your primary language, okay, you would need also need to take the TOEFL test. Alright? So if you have questions about, well, what do you mean by primary language, get in touch with me, and we can talk about it. But in short, yeah, if you don't converse in English in your professional life for the most part or personal life or both on a day to day basis, then you're gonna have to take the TOEFL. Okay? So, but if that's still unclear, let me know, and we can we can chat. Okay. The last thing to discuss is the interview itself.

26:59So once the entire application is finished, you know, we have all of your materials, the online app, and everything else, then you can be invited to an interview. Now we only have two interviews left this year, and this one is coming up the January 24. I mean, this is a little over a month away. This is a very popular interview. It's also the last chance to take advantage of the I just mentioned earlier here these, yeah, the merit scholarship, this 15% to 25 off. The January interview is the last chance to be considered for that. So if you want to be considered for that, then I highly recommend you start, you know, moving forward on your application because if you wait and you don't get in till March, then it's too late to be considered for the merit scholarship.

27:50I mean, you can still get into the school, of course, at that point, but not you you know, you wouldn't be eligible for the top scholarships. So give yourself an opportunity. Again, it's a popular interview. The seats are filling up. There's a limited you know, I we just don't have, you know, endless seating available for everybody, unfortunately. So, yeah, do if you're serious, I would definitely take those steps to, you know, move forward, to get into that, January 24 interview. Okay. That's basically all I have for you guys. Let's see. I think there is at least a couple questions here. Let's see what we got. Okay. One question. How are we supposed to send the transcript if we are from a country another country?

28:46Is there any specific way to do that? Yeah. So that's a great question. This would be the kind of thing that we should probably talk about, you know, individually because it just depends on the on the country and it depends on their procedures. So email me, get into my Calendly, and we'll talk about the specific procedure for getting transferred from from other countries. Robert, what can we expect in the interview day? Ah, okay. So in short, the interview is an entire day long affair. It is you're going to start at, I think, it's 08:45 in the morning, and you'll be here until 6PM. Okay? So the morning hours are spent, talking about the, you know, the nature of the program. So it's sort of like what we talked about today, but the faculty will expand and and a little bit more detail.

29:42There's a little bit there's also a, a q and a for parents and significant others like so so when you come, you're, more than welcome to bring, loved ones, friends, family members, things like this. And the faculty will have a different kinda like q and a for them. In the late in the early afternoon and the late afternoon is that sort of excuse me. The late morning, early afternoon, that's the kind of, like, the heart of the interview. And there are two different interviews by two different sets of faculty members. Right? So that's kind of, like, where you wanna show your stuff. And then at the end, there's an on campus, interview, and that excuse me. An on campus sort of tour of the program tour of the program and the cam the campus, and then that's kinda ends the day.

30:31So it's sort of like meetings in the morning, interview in the middle, and then a campus tour, and that basically is the entire day. Alright. Another word, super person asking, do we have to choose a faculty member before applying? No. That's a great question. What you can do, though, is when you write your admissions essays, you can say, I, you know, I can see myself, working with, you know, doctor Graves or doctor Ariana or doctor Chloe or or whomever. And that but they understand when you do that, it's a totally tentative thing. Like, you can say, well, I'm interested in, a child in developmental psychology, so I can see myself working with doctor Graves on this particular topic, for my research.

31:20However, it is, at this point, premature to, you know, send them emails and ask them about collaboration just because it's not it's just not how it's just not done. It's just not how it works at in this kind of a program. You know, obviously, if you were working out trying to get into a PhD at Oxford, that's a different different can of worms. Right? But this is it just doesn't work that way. The research is part of the education, but it's not really at its centerpiece in the way that PhD programs operate. Okay. Robert, history of past students matching at local VA clinics. I'm not exactly sure what you're getting after, Robert. I mean, there's a couple ways you I could go with that. I think that well, for one thing, I mean, in the third and the fourth year, you will be assigned a clinic, you know, to to work with in in the area.

32:24Oh, for the internship. Right. So the internship, right, you will be applying to internships basically all over, the country, but there are also local ones, I think, if that's what you're getting at. We certainly have had people attend local clinics, and they don't have to, you know, relocate yet again in their fifth year. So it just depends on on your priorities, on whether or not you're open to further relocation, or or you rather kind of, like, you know, stay in the area or what or whatnot. So, that's a little bit about that. Alright. Yeah. So, Denny, get in touch with me, and we can talk more about, you know, your situation with with the visa and international applicants. And then we can just kinda go from there.

33:10Apart from that, will there be any limit to the essay, and what are the things that needs to be emphasized in the essay? Great question. There is a limit to the essay. So there's two different essay questions, and each of them are 500 words apiece. So I can send that to you, the essay questions and kinda with their instructions, the prompts. And it it'll ask you, like, the like, it's pretty clear, you know, what they're asking for. And, again, you know, once I send that to you, there's still questions. I'd be happy to talk to you then. Alright. Good. Okay, everyone. Listen. It's been good. I thank you for joining me today, and I look forward to hearing from you, and helping you move forward, if this program makes sense.

33:57Take care, and God bless.