Overview of the Psy D Program, Featuring 2nd Year Student

0:03I do wanna take, a moment and officially welcome all of you, to the DeDine University, webinar on the PsyD program that we have at the university. My name is Tammy Spitzko Heffner. I'm a part of the admissions team at DMU, and I'm actually going to be sharing with you this evening, more on the PsyD program. I do wanna let you know that we also are are very honored to have a special guest with us this evening. Isaiah Lamb is a student, a current student. There's Isaiah. Hi, Isaiah. He's a current student in this IB program. He's a second year. So he's gonna be joining us this evening as well, sharing, just more personally on the program from his perspective. We are going to have, and really be open to q and a during the time that, Isaiah is, you know, sharing as a part of this webinar.

0:51So do feel free, to ask questions and prepare questions really for Isaiah as well as potentially for me. So it's really great to have a student here. So, Isaiah, I just wanna say thank you. I really appreciate having you here, and we look forward to, to hearing more from you a little bit later on in the webinar. So thank you. So what we're gonna do, as far as the schedule in this webinar, we are gonna spend the first twenty minutes or so, maybe thirty at the most, going through this, official presentation. And then what we're going to do from there is then bring Isaiah on. So we are going to cover a lot of details in that short amount of time. Try to get some questions in there but I really do want to make sure that we take advantage for your benefit of having a student with us this evening.

1:36So that's the plan. So we're going to go ahead and get started with just sharing about the program and then again a little bit later about maybe twenty thirty minutes in, have Isaiah join us more officially and open up to discussion directly with him about his experience in the program from the student student perspective. So again, thank you all so much for being here. I really do, look forward to sharing more with you, this evening. So just gonna do a couple of cross checks here for recording. Again, make sure that you do feel free to use that q and a feature, the chat feature. We'll try to take some breaks here and there, check that, and then respond as we can to any questions that you might have.

2:11And for those of you that are going to be watching this as a recording, unfortunately, while you won't be able to directly ask questions, hopefully, the use of that chat feature from the folks with us tonight will also answer some of those questions as well post, webinar just when the recording is up and available. Alright. So let's go ahead and and get started. So as I mentioned, my name is Tammy Spitzkeleffner. What is important to take away from this slide in front of you, is really just the email. Our email address and our contact information. I know I've I've had the pleasure actually of already interacting with some of you here, this evening. I definitely encourage an outreach to our office and one of us will definitely be very happy to help you, you know, answering anything about the program, that you weren't able to find out, this evening.

2:56So the, the email that we use specifically for those interested in the PsyD program, we do ask you to use the admissions email that's admissions.PsyD@divinemercy.edu. That just gets you right to PsyD folks to help you out with any questions that you have. So again, if you wanna take note of that email, admissions.PsyD@divinemercy.edu. I'm gonna begin with a little bit about the university itself. Some of you may be familiar with Divine Mercy University, prior to it actually being named Divine Mercy University. We actually began in 1999 as the Institute for the Psychological Sciences. During that time, we had a PsyD program as well as a master's in clinical psychology, and we had that for a number of years until we decided to expand our program offerings, with the in 2014 by offering an online MS in general psychology that was a non practitioner, non clinical degree.

3:55So basically for the helping professions. That program has been really successful for the university. We know that it's, provided, you know, a really unique educational perspective for those individuals who aren't able to come and study with us on-site but also further who don't actually need a full, you know, background or a degree if you will, in a counseling or clinical field but rather more just for triaging and using it in their already established careers that are maybe related to mental health. But, again, they're not looking to be practitioners. So that program was launched in 2014 again as a part of, IPS. That was so successful. We decided to continue with that expansion. And in 2015, we actually renamed the university from IPS to Divine Mercy University and we added a school of counseling.

4:44So just to kind of lay this out for you here a little bit further, we actually then, when we became Divine Mercy University, we actually kind of broke up into two schools or or you could say added. You made the made the university, an overarching university with two schools within it. The school of, counseling was added as we noted just a moment ago. And with that school, we actually began a counseling program that's online. So some of that some of you may be interested in that as well and and learning more about that, or have family members or friends who could be interested as well in our counseling program. Fantastic program. It's an online hybrid program that, again, is housed under our school of counseling.

5:23Then we go back to IPS or the Institute for the Psychological Sciences. And within that school, we have, two programs. The online MS in psychology program that we mentioned was added in 2014, and then, of course, the program that we're speaking about tonight, which is the PsyD program. The PsyD program really is, in in many ways just the birth of the concept of our university, which really is truly, truly, unique, which we'll talk more about this evening as well. So the PsyD in clinical psychology really was, the initiator for the whole concept for Divine Mercy University. So a little bit about our history there, for you. As we've shared, you can you all can read this slide here. As we've shared, as many of you already know, we do have a very, very unique, mission and vision at Divine Mercy University.

6:08We do something, really very different, something that, really is completely unique to us. We actually offer, the Catholic Christian meta metaphysical perspective, combined with clinical psychology and counseling. So those are two things that come together. So it's going to be, again, the Catholic Christian anthropology of the person, marriage, and family combined with the sciences of psychology and counseling. We're really blending those together. And at DMU, we call that integration and we have a whole model built around that concept which we'll also speak a little bit more about this evening. What's really unique, about our university and that model of integration is that we really do view, you know, wholeheartedly the validity of the science of psychology and counseling, but we also acknowledge and believe that that, that science is fulfilled through the holistic understanding of the person.

7:02You're really using again that that Catholic Christian, meta model. The idea of where both, philosophy and theology come together in combination with the sciences of psychology and counseling. That is, again, very much you know, that is central to our identity. That is something that, to date, I haven't found really anywhere else. I do think we do that very, very specifically, very uniquely, and it is the foundation of how our university began was this acknowledgment and then that is how the whole university, you know, evolved was was recognizing the science is valid, but so is this, philosophical and theological understanding. And we needed to bring the two together to really have a holistic view of the human person.

7:44And so that's it really is, again, central to who we are and really, how we we shape and model our programs to prepare our students, for vocations as mental health professionals. The university, is accredited, as is the program of clinical psychology. So important to understand a little bit about that. We actually are first, accredited by, for our region. Every every institution, not every but most institutions are first regionally accredited. And then from there, you could seek out additional accreditations as would be appropriate to your programs. So in The United States, we do accreditation by region and then again, we specify, you know, as would be appropriate. For us, it would be with, the side view of the APA.

8:25So we do have SACS accreditation to operate, you know, in regionally. We actually have an acknowledgment, by SHEV, an organization called SHEV, which gives us the ability to also further operate in the state of Virginia, which is where we are based out of, which is also where the PsyD program does live. I mean, it is an on-site program in Sterling, Virginia. So we operate through, the permissions of Cheve to to be in Virginia. And then something that I'm sure everyone here really cares a lot about is understanding that the PsyD and clinical psychology program is further accredited by APA, the American Psychological Association. We're very proud of that fact. We did, we were awarded that accreditation in 2016.

9:08It's really, very important that PsyD programs do have that accreditation. Again, and DMU is certainly very proud that this, program is is accredited by the American Psychological, Association. We've had again since 2016. If you have any questions about accreditation, do let me know that. We're happy to to visit a little bit more about that. What I'd like to do, as we kind of segue into, you know, moving away from really the foundation of the university accreditation and into the program itself. So I do wanna view for a moment what it means to be a clinical psychologist and what is clinical psychology. So we have a couple of things here. First we have the definition by APA that clinical psychology is the psychological specialty that provides continuing and comprehensive mental health and behavioral health care for individuals and families.

9:58Further, clinical psychologists also do consultation to agencies and communities. They provide training, education, supervision, and everything is based, you know, on research. So it's research based practice. So that's again kind of an official snapshot from APA. Further, what I've learned helps folks to even, you gain a deeper understanding of clinical psychology is to understand that one of the hallmarks of clinical psychology, really the hallmark is a better way to phrase that, the clinical psychology, is the ability to conduct and administer psychological tests and assessment so as to determine, if there's a diagnosis or other things that could be happening with a client. This is a professional skill.

10:36It is reserved specifically for the psychologists. It It requires specialized highly skilled training and implementation. So that's something to really understand that I think really separates clinical psychology from other licensable mental health professions such as counseling or social work or similar. Is that clinical psychologists have this unique and distinct ability, to to conduct psychological testing and assessment again with the the, you know, the goal of determining if a diagnosis is present or, again, other pathologies. I wanna be clear. Psychology is not trying to seek out a diagnosis. It's it's their ability to determine if there is one. Again, much like a medical doctor. Medical doctor examines you and determines what's going on here, is there a diagnosis, and makes their assessment do that.

11:18Very, very similar, and be kinda parallel to the work of a clinical psychologist, but also being obviously very different. So, again, if you have questions about that differentiation between clinical psychology and other licensable mental health professions, go ahead and pop those in the chat or the q and a, and we'll we'll try to address those as well. So again continuing on to discuss how our program works, talked a little bit again what is clinical psychology. Now we're going to talk about what is this program. Our program at DMU is a very wonderful intensive program. It's academically very strong. It's built, you know, with rigorous concepts in mind, things that really do have excellent training available to you as a prospective student.

11:58I think that's really, again, something to really note about our program is we do go above and beyond really what is required for training as a clinical psychologist. Our program specifically is one hundred and twenty two hours, one hundred and twenty two credit hours of graduate studies. It includes, it's what they call a direct admit program. So when you're admitted to our program, you're admitted for the whole program which is a total of five years. You earn a master's along the way to earning your PsyD. Okay. Again, if you have questions about that, let me know. I do wanted to share that the master's that you earn is a a more academic master's. It's not a clinical master's. So the clinical practice does come through the earning of the PsyD degree versus earning it through the master's along the way.

12:40So if if you are thinking, oh, I'm gonna come in maybe do my master's and then stop there and then become a clinician at the master's level, that actually does not work in in a study program like this. The program is structured, with its degree completion to be that of the PsyD. That is the goal that this program has in mind for its student is to become a clinical psychologist via the PsyD degree. So, again, that's a five year program, and it does prepare you to become a clinical psychologist. Prepares specifically as well for licensure, of course, as a clinical psychologist. We'll talk a little bit more about licensure too later on. So here's a breakdown of the five years that you can see in front of you.

13:16The first four years do take place on-site at our campus in Sterling, Virginia. And you can see the breakdowns there for years one through four. In the fifth year, every student again in these in study programs again across the nation, including of course DMU, you would engage ideally in your fifth year, you would be engaging in your pre doc internship program. And that internship could take you anywhere in in the nation. It's I would say that just for, again, for relational, comparisons, I would say it's kind of similar if you think about medical doctors and you've probably heard of them having residencies. You know, it's again, it's an official part of the program, but it is the the doctor going out and kind of really putting to practice what they've learned to date.

13:57It's a very similar concept to the internship in a PsyD program. It's taking everything that you've learned in the previous four years, all of your clinical experience up to that point, and you're putting it to test in a pre doc internship under supervision. And you are going through a process to select a site. It's a nationwide selection process. It's you know it is it's a big deal. It's in and the students really do look forward to it. It's really the pivotal point in the program is getting that pre doc internship because once that pre doc internship is completed and successful, you know, successfully completed, that is when you're eligible for graduation. So it's a really big deal. So in that fifth year, it would be, I would say, very probable to actually be moving out of the state of Virginia, you know, away from BMU's campus, to, you know, anywhere else in the nation.

14:43You you do as a student know ultimately where you're going, of course, it's not a surprise, but you are applying to different sites, throughout the country and a selection process takes place. And there's something called match day where you learn, where you are matched at for that fifth year. So, again, just the takeaway here is understanding that four years are spent with us in the general area, of DMU's campus in Sterling, Virginia. But that fifth year then, in your predoc internship someplace in The United States, you're at an approved site. And, again, lots more on that, to come as you consider, applying to and learning about the PsyD program. I do want to take a quick moment and just break down years one through four.

15:23Year one is completely, an academically based year. You do start your research, for your dissertation in our program right away. We start getting you talking about and thinking about your dissertation. And the dissertation is a phenomenal thing for you as a PsyD student. It really is your opportunity, to put your ideas and your work out there for, you know, in a dissertation form. So we really do set you up for success in that area by starting you out right away year one thinking about that. Year two, you continue in coursework, you're on-site in the program, and you're also beginning your first externship experience, which means you're seeing clients in a clinical setting in an externship capacity.

16:00You're actually doing that with us at our clinic. We have a clinic in the university. So your first year, if you will, we're kinda training you up in your externship before we send you out to a local, externship site. And year three, you would continue with your coursework. Again, year three, you do take a dip down in coursework. You you're not taking quite as much as you did the two previous years, but you're engaging, on more serious externship opportunity with more hours that is outside of DMU's clinic, would be in an external clinic in in the general community in our Sterling, Virginia area including could include DC, even parts of Maryland perhaps. It just depends again on on where you end up going for your your externship.

16:39And basically year three, that same pattern is continued in year four. Year four, you're finishing up your coursework. You're really ramping up on your dissertation. A lot of students are even finishing their dissertation. In year four, the writing of it and they're preparing for their defense in the fifth year. Again, in that fourth year, they're doing another externship locally with more hours, ideally more responsibility, a little more intensity there, really preparing you well, to become an excellent clinician and really gearing you up for that fifth year where you're finishing your dissertation and defending and engaging in that pre doctoral, internship. Okay? We do wanna share here as well in this slide, we're actually very fortunate in our program.

17:19We work very, very hard to ensure that in that fifth year, that pre doc internship, that we have a 100% placement. So we've currently, we've continued to maintain that step. We do get a 100% placement, you know, across the board. You know, again, everybody is at an APIC site at minimum, and we do have an annual placement of somewhere between 7580% of of those students doing a pre doc internship will place at an APA accredited site, which is a big deal. So we've got some pretty good data there, with the, internship placement. Alright. I am gonna take a quick moment. I do wanna check the chat and the q and a, make sure that we've, you if anybody has questions that we are, we are gonna go ahead and make sure to address those.

18:01And I don't see any in there right now, but, again, if you have, if you have questions, do ahead and feel free, to put them in the chat or into the q and a box, and we will, we'll definitely make sure that those get answered. And, again, I do wanna take a quick moment and pause as well. For the for the attendees, you should all be able to see, again, myself and Isaiah kinda off in the corner, and then the main screen is the PowerPoint. If that's not the case, let me know. I can try to do some adjusting here. I think we're set, but I always like to check-in. It would be kind of a bummer to have to sit here and listen to this and not have at least some reference in slides. I wanna make sure you're all set there.

18:42So, if you, if you can let me know that that would be, great. Okay. Sounds like we're doing right there, you guys. I appreciate the feedback. Very helpful, by the way. Alright. Thanks, everyone. Okay. So we're gonna go ahead and get through, these next few slides. These are the six kind of key areas of competency achieved for our program. I'm gonna go through them quickly. Again we've kind of shortened some of these things down just because we do want to make time for Isaiah. We know that it's really great to have that perspective from a student. So I'm pushing a little bit here to get through this so we can move on to Isaiah here shortly. So here are the six, areas of competency that we, do achieve through through our program.

19:25Of course foundations in psychological science and research, integrity and practice. That's just huge. That should be a given, but it really is something that we pride ourselves in is is turning out amazing psychologists who really understand what it means to, to have integrity and practice. Now part of that I wanna share, it's not just a concept that we just kind of say. It really goes right back to our model of integration. It comes back to us implementing that Catholic Christian philosophical and anthropological view of the person, which believes that each person is created with an inherent dignity and inherent integrity. So we acknowledge that right from the start when seeing our clients that is automatically built in.

20:05It's what it means to be human automatically is to have inherent dignity and inherent integrity. And so we really do value that, and that's a key concept that we make sure that you understand coming out of our program. Further, of course, the hallmark that I mentioned before, assessment and diagnosis. A big, you know, place to put a pin in would be right here for those of you that are pretty familiar with programs, with ID programs. I wanna note here and highlight, if you will, that our program has additional credit hours, you know, more than a couple of classes extra, if you will, extra in assessment and testing. That is a huge attribute of our program. And our students turn out very very well and have great competency in their ability to conduct assessment and determine diagnosis.

20:50And that again that's the real hallmark of our program is this extra training that we again, this is our faculty who created our curriculum or determining, you know what, students would do better if they had a little extra work in this area of assessment testing or in that area of assessment testing. That then has become an official part of our program. We have additional coursework in this area which adds significantly to your competency and really does prepare you very very well than in those externship and internship experiences. It's and it's actually feedback that even myself in admissions, I hear all the time about how well trained, our students are. And that really does come from this third point right here of assessment and diagnosis, testing, and adding that extra coursework in there for our students.

21:36Therapeutic intervention, again, key component of this, but it is important to understand that clinical psychology, we have that assessment and testing piece, but we also have the therapeutic intervention piece. That's what makes, clinical psychology so comprehensive is that we really go from a to z from, you you know, getting that initial understanding deeply of our client through testing and assessment all the way through understanding them, you know, and and implementing you know, creating a treatment plan, implementing that treatment treatment plan, and and that's comes directly through that therapeutic intervention. So we go from testing and assessment and diagnosis potentially all the way through to implementing a thorough comprehensive treatment plan.

22:16Okay? Further, we do talk a lot about in the program and we this again, key component is professional roles. As you might have noticed in that apa.org definition of psychology clinical psychology, there are multiple roles that a clinical psychologist takes on in their work and that's actually important for us to to, share with, you know, and teach in our program is really what are all those different roles and preparing you for those. So not just the idea of therapists. It's like, you know, it's a lot more than that. There's a lot of professional, areas which you can be involved in as a psychologist. So we teach those, and again, it's a high valued component of our program. And then of course kind of tying in with the second bullet is clinical practice from a Catholic integrated perspective.

22:59Again, the hallmark, another hallmark of our program. Again completely unique to us is that full integration. I do want to take a minute. Here's a little bit, from a few students that are in our program right now and it's just it's kind of fun to just take a moment and and read a little bit about why they like our program. We're getting we're not gonna focus too much on this slide tonight because we have Isaiah with us. So it's like we have the ability, you know, to have him here. So we're gonna kind of move quickly through this. But I did wanna just acknowledge this and give you guys a chance to read through that. Okay? In the meantime, I'm going to, answer two questions while you guys look at this slide, and I'm also gonna go ahead and move to the next slide, which is about our faculty.

23:37We have got a couple of questions here that I'll answer, while you guys look through those slides. One is do students receive a stipend for extern and predoctoral internships? Let me answer that very briefly. Externships are not paid. That's that's universal typically in the in study programs that externships are not able to be paid. It's considered like basically coursework and that's the reason for that. But however, predoctoral internships, based because of their level and the skills that they're requiring and again it's different. That's a whole other stage, if you will, of the program. You really do have to understand that an externship and internship, while sounding similar, are very different.

24:14When you hit that internship, you know, that's you're there. I mean, you should be at a at a really high level in your program, and you should be very, you know, really ready, for that next step of engaging that internship, fine tuning your skills so that you can graduate, very competently, you know, as as a clinical psychologist. So the pre doc internships are paid. They are they do receive a stipend. I will share that the stipends vary significantly. As you can imagine, it's based a little bit on, like, region, maybe responsibility levels, organizations that you work for. So for example, an internship, a pre doc internship, even an APA accredited one in the Midwest may not pay as much as an APA accredited internship, you know, on a coast.

24:57You know, again it's living expenses that are involved in those determinations. What our students offer us as feedback is, that the internships typically across the board they are able to, to pay for your living expenses, while you're, you know, living there for that year. So that's a good thing is that it does offer you that ability to cover your expenses while you're engaged in that internship. So that final year you are receiving a stipend there. The next question that came up is is transfer of credits possible for students who already have a master's degree or courses or credits in a related field? Yes. In short, transfer credits are possible. It's important to note that across these programs, not just DMU, but across PsyD programs in general, we're speaking again about AP accredited programs, These programs are are comprehensive.

25:45They're built to be comprehensive from a to z. So these institutions do want and they need you to have their full education. So do expect, some pretty tight limits on the number of credits that you can transfer in. Right now I think DUU is kind of right in the middle. They're eighteen credit hours. Some are less, some are twelve or fifteen. The maximum I've ever seen is maybe twenty four and that's actually quite rare. So eighteen credit hours is what you could bring into our program. Again, do know that this is a part of the accreditation. This is actually a part of what and how, you know, what creates a good study program is having a comprehensive program. So just note that that's that's not even a DMU thing.

26:26That is almost a universal thing across, accredited PsyD programs. Okay? That there's gonna be a limit there to what you can transfer in, and it's gonna be around that eighteen hour mark. That's a pretty pretty common number that you'll see there. So I hope that that answers, those couple of questions that that you had. Thank you for those, by the way. I do wanna touch on licensing. Again, I'm trying to push through this. I'm gonna I'm gonna go quickly through this. The important thing to understand about licensing is that licensing is something that happens after you graduate. Again, That is a part of the PsyD field, not a DMU attribute that is universal in the field. Licensing does not begin until you've, completed a program.

27:04Okay? And that's even the case with other mental health professions as well. It's a post graduation activity, which the student or the new graduate engages themselves. So you as a student who's finished your degree or you can start it a little bit before graduation and the faculty at DMU actually help you with that. We do train you and and actually give you understanding of what licensure is, what you need to know, how to prepare for it for your state that you're hoping to be licensed. And again, we don't you're not going to be, you know, you know, in the dark on that one. We're definitely going to be sharing with you how to pursue that process. Man, remember, the university wants you licensed.

27:41We want you to be successful. We want you to walk out knowing how to navigate this process. And do keep in mind that everybody who, is graduating from a mental health professional like this is pursuing the same thing as you are. So you're all in it together, if you will. So it's something that you do initiate. It's student initiated. It happens after graduation and it takes about one year of supervised clinical experience, to achieve licensure. Okay, So those are again a few little, hallmarks there regarding licensure. Okay. That's a great question. Someone asked, I kind of I knew this would pop up. Someone asked since CMUs in Virginia will students be prepared for licensure specifically in Virginia or other states?

28:22Now granted our program does of course, I mean we're going to meet those Virginia standards. So certainly the thing that's important to understand is that it is state dependent but there is some some universality with the APA accreditation. So our program is is built to that APA accreditation standard. We're very fortunate we actually go past that as I mentioned with those extra courses, in testing and assessment. And also we've I didn't even mention that we have additional courses, of course, because of integration where we teach integration. So you've got a little bit above and beyond. So within this ID program, you're gonna find that there's more consistency from state to state. So in short, yes of course our program is going to be be licensed in the state of Virginia, but because there is more universality with the PsyD degree in general, it is a lot of students find that, they're prepared for many, many states.

29:12Okay? Again, I'm not gonna say blanket across the board every that's something we can't say as a university. But again, you're going to find that across the board, there's consistency there, with state's requirements. Okay? With the PsyD program counseling, social work does vary a little bit more, but PsyD, thankfully is is a little more consistent. So I hope that answers the question. I know a couple of you have that question. Okay? I hope that that answers that for you. Alright? Let me check on everything else. Okay. Oops. I'm so sorry, guys. I'm going I'm kind of going a little I think I skipped ahead there a couple. Alright. So so this one is I know the slide I had it before, but I can't I'm not having a difficult time going backwards.

29:58We'll go ahead and talk about this. One of the things we want you to keep in mind, we're gonna talk here about, like, making, making the tuition affordable, and how does you know, how much the program costs, those kind of details. The the thing I want you to keep in mind that this is an investment. So, we talked with this. There's a slide a couple back that talks about, like, if you purchase a car, it's not really an investment. An investment depreciates. Remember that? And I've said this in other webinars. My dad always taught me, can be a car is never an investment. It's a liability because it depreciates in value. Certainly, it's useful. Certainly, you need it, but it's very clear that it does not increase in value.

30:33It doesn't offer financial value, in and of itself. It's it's a liability. Education, I think, is something that we really, we really wanna acknowledge that it is an investment. It does appreciate. It does bring a a value. Obviously, there's the value of the field and what it does for just personal edification. The fact that you're able to be in a helping profession, serving other people, really being really bringing authentic holistic deep deep flourishing, to families and to individuals. And that's right there. I mean, it's it's a pretty beautiful career. And the fact that that's also something that can be monetized for you, that in a sense that you are able to earn a living doing that really does, I guess, you could say it not only truly is a financial investment, but it's also a deep personal investment.

31:19So we really try to acknowledge both of those within the university that there's personal part and then there's also the professional part. We understand that our students are doing this as a profession. One of the things I didn't mention, earlier, I mean I don't always mention it in every webinar, but the the program even encourages, you know, students learning how to tithe through their talent as a clinical psychologist, something that's encouraged in our program is, you know, is tithing of this talent, and as well as, of course, being it being your profession. But this being an investment, you do actually see an increase. You know, so you are investing initially in the education, but you're getting a return off of that.

31:55This program is, a hundred and twenty two credit hours. It's a it's a thousand 95 per credit hour, so it comes out at around a 133,000 for the entire program. That's all five years. It's a little different in pricing from undergrad. Undergrad, some folks might be more used to paying, like, this is how much it is each year to go to university. In graduate school, you're gonna find that it's priced by the credit hour. So, like, all inclusive, you're gonna be talking around a 140,000, that's tuition and fees. Okay? For all five years. Okay? That's we're talking about there. So a 122 credit hours over five years around the $140,000 mark. Wanna be very clear. We acknowledge that, you know, that that's, you know, that's the number that's without aid.

32:36Okay. That's without any kind of aid offering of any kind. That's the wrong number. And then you do have to account further your living expenses as, you know, a part of your educational, endeavor as well and how you do, you know, compensate for those expenses for living. And a lot of folks do that, and there's just many, many ways, that you can come to, take care of your living expenses. What I wanted to do on this slide is highlight a little bit of the scholarship opportunities we have. We have a lot of different scholarships. Some of these, they can be combined. One of the things about our program is we try very, very hard to ensure that all of our students receive some kind of aid if they qualify.

33:14You do have to qualify. You fill out the FAFSA. We do ask that you apply for scholarships. I did put the website for financial aid down there so you can, learn more through the financial aid website. But we do take pride in our ability, and our efforts to, to offer scholarships to qualifying students. We also have a 50% scholarship. We do one per cohort. So each year, we are offering 50% off of tuition, to to one member coming into the cohort. Our cohorts average between ten and twenty. So, again if you're a well qualified student it's actually a pretty good, a pretty good number in your favor, to receive a 50% off. Again that would be for a well qualified student, but I definitely want to talk about that because that's a really big deal for us is to have that scholarship.

34:02That is the maximum scholarship that that we do offer and it is academically based. Beyond that, we do have a PsyD transfer scholarship in there. We've got international student scholarships, public servant scholarships, patriot scholarships, faith and hope stocks. And, again, you can combine some of these, and our financial aid will help you, to be able to learn how to do that and just how to apply. Admissions will also, be able to assist you further with applying for aid. But the takeaway here is to understand that we really do take aid very seriously, and we do really want to help you to cover the cost of your tuition through a combination of student loans, scholarships, some students even do external scholarships help as well.

34:45There's lots of ways in which we can, assist you with this with, you know, covering, the expenses related to the program. And do know that it's doable. Before I kind of move on this one side, I think it's important to to share with you that you need to remember that every student that comes to DMU has faced the same questions that you face, you know, about even, you know, the move, if you're moving from far away, you know, getting into the university and into the program, understanding clinical psychology, and and understanding financial aid and how to make this financially work. And the answer is it is very doable. And so we encourage you not to get discouraged, but rather to seek out our support and our help.

35:22And and we're really, glad to show you, you know, how that can be made possible for you. Okay. Again, if you have any questions on that, do, feel free to let me know on anything related to finances. Quickly gonna try to push this entrance requirements. We do require a baccalaureate degree. Minimum three point o on a four point o scale, is required for consideration. You do have to also, we do prefer a background in psychology, although it's not required. We do ask that you consider the whole process here of filling out the application, submitting supporting documents like your letters of recommendations via our form, GRE scores, begin the financial aid process, transcripts, all that good stuff.

36:02We are actually this year, we are actually I do wanna share there. I do see that there's, like, a an error on bullet five that we weren't able I didn't catch earlier. We are not doing Zoom interviews this year. We're very pleased to share that we are are going to make every effort to offer all of our interview days in person. We really value that in person interaction. We understand what it brings to you as a prospective applicant to actually come to our campus to meet our faculty, meet our staff, meet our students, and just have that experience. So this year, we're you know, again, unless something changes with the pandemic, we are going to be offering all of our interview days, associated with, of course, you know, the application deadlines, in person in Sterling.

36:44Okay? And then the last step, of course, is we just note that we do begin our terms begin each August just once per year. Alright? There are a couple of things here. This is kind of a recap of the previous slide. I did wanna just take note on this slide of the GRE code. It's 5639 under Divine Mercy University. That's something I really wanted you to take away. We also do have, a $55 application fee, that we you all should have an email too that gives you the code. If you wanna do we are doing an app waiver code. If you wanna have that $55 fee, waived, you can do that. And, again, even as a part of attending this webinar, you get that, the application fee waived. Okay? I do wanna share with international applicants.

37:28I'm not going to go through all of this. But if you do, if you do have, a first language that is other than English, you would be required to take the TOEFL or the IELTS test. Further, if you have an international transcript from a university out of The United States, you would also need to do a course by course evaluation. And, again, our admissions team can help you with all of those details. I did want to share here. I know I'm pushing guys. I hope I'm not going too fast for you. You will get all of this, in an email to you as well. So you can always review that. And everything I've shared here is also available, throughout the website. And I'm again happy to answer questions, after this through email as well.

38:05We have three application deadlines. You as an applicant can choose any of these three that works for you. You might say, okay, well, why three? And the reason for three is we acknowledge that not everybody is able to all be ready to apply it like one particular deadline. We acknowledge it takes time for the GRE, maybe you're discerning, you know, all different kinds of factors can play into your application process. So we do have three options available to you. I do want to share here with you that if you are an academically well qualified student, I do want to share that the October 29 deadline is the deadline that you're going to want to shoot for. That deadline will offer you the most consideration for the 50% scholarship.

38:49And again remember that the 50% scholarship is by application only meaning you do have to actually apply for it and it is for those who have a 3.5 undergraduate GPA or higher. Okay? If you're in that category, you're gonna wanna take note of the October 29 deadline. Further, I do wanna share that you're gonna see, like, the deadline, you're gonna see an interview date. Very important to note what this means. I do really hope hope this, all makes sense to everyone. But we at DMU, we have an interview, we have a deadline, and then we have an interview date that's required. So if you're planning on making that October 29, deadline for your application, that means all materials, everything has to be in by that October 29 deadline.

39:33Further, it means you should be prepared to interview on November 12. Interviews are not guaranteed, but if you are going if you are invited to interview, that interview date would be November 12. And you can see the other two deadlines below December 31, interview date January 14, final deadline February 18, Interview would be March 4. Now that's a pretty short timeline between when everything's due and when your interview is, and you don't know if you're invited to interview until everything's in. We review it and then issue you an invitation. So one of the things I really encourage, applicants to do is try very hard to get things in even two to three weeks before that deadline because basically as soon as your entire application package is complete, we will review it as quickly as possible and then issue you, an invitation to interview if you qualify.

40:23You want as much time as possible for planning especially if you're having to fly or travel a long distance or take a day off of work or school. You wanna know that well in advance. So I actually encourage folks to look at the date here and back it up three weeks and make that your deadline. So you just have plenty of time to get things in and and plan, you know, God willing, that you're interviewed. And we really do try to interview everyone who's qualified. Again, we don't guarantee it, but we make every effort to interview, everyone who's qualified. Okay? If you have questions about that, let me know. I do wanna take a moment and, as well, kind of in line with the idea of visiting campus and interviewing, we do have an open house coming up on September 24.

41:05It's about nine a. M to five p. M. It's a full day. This is actually great because it's a no pressure day. There's no interviews this day. This is just a come and see kind of day where you can actually come to the interview or to come to the campus for this this visit day. Again, no interviews. There's a faculty roundtable and we really do cover and this day we cover in detail so much about the program. We have a panel with students. It really is a great great day. So I really encourage all of you if you are serious about the university, again, we recognize it's a huge endeavor. It's five years of your life. It's a lot of personal investment, financial investment, a lot of discernment goes into this.

41:39It's definitely worth your time and your investment in coming here to visit us on September twenty first twenty fourth. So if you're interested in that, let us know. Again, you should already have an invitation in your email. If you don't reach out, I'm gonna get you one. But do go ahead and mark, that date, okay, as as an option just to visit. No pressure. Again, this does bring us to the end of the webinar here. Finally, Isaiah has been so patient. Again, takeaway here my email and our phone number for our office. Without further ado, what I'd like to do right now is go ahead and ask Isaiah to unmute, turn on his camera, and I wanna just open this up for q and a with everybody here and for Isaiah to to share a little bit, anything that I've missed or any thoughts.

42:23So while you guys are thinking about questions that you might have and again I encourage you here you have a student in front of you, I definitely, we want to encourage you to ask questions. What I'd like to do, Isaiah, is just ask if you wanna start with a little introduction about yourself. Just share some things that you would like folks here to know about you and maybe how it's relative to the program and just kinda take it from there. I I'm originally from the the state of South Dakota, And so I grew up there most of my life, went to school at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. Was I studied psychology there, but I kind of intended to go into the the medical field. And then after kind of in the midst of my undergraduate, I, discerned that I wanted to go to the seminary, the Catholic seminary, and just study to be a priest.

43:11So 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 do the things that they do. And then I found myself in seminary learning all these philosophical truths about humans. One of the first courses I took was, philosophy of the human person, learning person body and soul, and that there's this profound dignity attached to to being human. Later discerned out of the seminary, returned to Nebraska to finish up my degree, and, deciding at this point, well, I don't really wanna go into, medicine, but I do, like, have this desire to care for people. And I also have learned, again, like, this philosophy about humans and and their goodness.

44:01So I took a year off. I built pipe organs for a year. I always love telling people that. I it's a pretty unique job. It was fun. But, ultimately, that led me I decided to then do a year of service with the homeless in Denver with an organization called Christ in the City. And there, I like to say that all the things I had been, learning about and dreaming about about psychology, philosophy. It was this incarnational experience of of encountering people on the street in this profound suffering, mental anguish, I mean, substance abuse, what have you. And just actually experiencing that firsthand made everything kinda click for me. Like, okay. I have the ability to, affect change and bring hope to people in the worst moments of their life.

44:52And so for me, at that point, it was just very clear. Everything was starting to converge, and I, felt more so that I wanted to pursue psychology. And so DMU was kinda my first choice because everything that I had been learning about kinda just, again, converged here. Right? The the psychology, the philosophy, the theology, and it just seemed like the perfect fit. So I applied, and long story short, I got in. And in my second year now, and it's been absolutely more than I could've, hoped for. I I, like, have so much I've had so much knowledge shoved in my brain the last year. I, like, don't even know how it's possible, but it's just been a beautiful and awesome journey. So That's pretty awesome.

45:35I know. And I've I've had the privilege of hearing Isaiah's story, more than once, and it it's still it's always great to hear it every time because it's just, it really speaks to the heart of the mission and why one would want to potentially pursue this kind of work. I mean, it really is. It just shows it's so much more than a profession. You know? It really is a calling. What I'd like to do, I wanna take a moment and just see if there's any again, if anyone has questions here, There is a unique again, it's a unique opportunity to, like, dive into kind of the world perspective from a student. Right? You know, the DMU world perspective, you know, from from a from a student's lens, if you will.

46:14I do wanna give a chance to see if we have any questions that that pop up. But while we're waiting for questions to come up, I did wanna ask you, Isaiah, if you if you think anything that I've covered, especially I mean, I know the big hot buttons for prospective students are going to be like finances and understanding integration and kind of like what is clinical psychology? How do you know if you're a fit? Yeah. I don't know if there's any of those you feel like you'd like to address. I know those are kind of the three that I hear a lot. If I have to just put things into into buckets, those would be like the three buckets that I hear a lot from prospective students. So I don't know if you could talk pick one of those and talk a little bit about it.

46:50I think that could be helpful to some of the folks here. Sure. Sure. What was the second one? You said finances. So it would be, finances and integration. Yeah. That was Okay. And then, clinical psychology. And, yeah, I'm understanding clinical psych. We compare contrast of Sure. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. So, that's kind of a tricky one. Counseling and psychology have so much overlap in the mental health field, and I think it can be kinda tough to, like, parse out the differences. I think you covered a bit, as in the realm of clinical psychology, especially looking at being a a psychologist, assessment is a huge part of that. So the ability to give and administer IQ tests, personality tests. Like, maybe you've heard of the Rorschach test.

47:36Like, that's, an ability you have as a clinical psychologist to make these determinations, to make diagnoses, and also to be a therapist. Right? So if if you have this desire to sit with people and they're suffering, You have that as as part of clinical psychology. And then kind of, yeah, the assessment being unique to psychologists. You can also teach. That's not necessarily unique to psychologists, but it definitely you can teach at a higher level if if that's something you wanted to adjunct at a university later on. You have that ability. Counseling, and I've had a lot of friends start to get into the field of counseling. It's usually a master's degree, and you're doing a lot of those same things.

48:22Right? Like, sitting with people and they're suffering, but it's you're not necessarily diving in as deep to, let's say, the biological. So as as psychologists, we're looking at brain and how that affects things, if it if it highlights things at all. So this is a five year program, and you're taking, you know, five your first couple years, you take five classes a semester. I have friends that are doing a master's program. It's three years of taking one to two classes per semester. So I think that just speaks to how much more information you're learning. You're covering more theories in-depth, that type of thing. So it's just a much, much deeper look at everything. Happy to answer more questions on that.

49:05I feel like that's a general kind of look at that. So we do have a couple questions here. This is kind of getting into sort of these are some good ones. Brass tacks. You know? So let's see. Like, here's one of them. It's like, what type of career backgrounds do people have when they come into the program? And then so then the rest are yeah. So we'll start with that one. So what kind of career backgrounds do people have when they come into the program? Sure. You see all sorts of things. That's kinda one of the beautiful things. You don't necessarily have to have a psychology degree to to do this program. We have a wide variety. There's, several priests and religious who are a part of the program and being sent by their diocese or by their order to study, so that they can minister to, other priests or seminarians.

49:57I know there's been people that have studied law in the past. Mhmm. You do have some people who, have have been in the mental health field. So counselors, who who have done counseling for a while and decided they wanted that something more, that deeper dive into things, so they come to study. I know people that have been in business, just in my cohort alone, business people. I'm trying to remember. A lot of missionaries. Yeah. I was saying mission I was thinking that too. Missionaries and service, I'd say, as a broad category is, like, service oriented fields. I know that's, like, that covers them all. I mean, because we've even had some folks who've done, like, human resources who've come into our program.

50:38And that is I mean, that can be arguably, like, it's it's, again, kinda human contact, human services. That that's been few of those, individuals who are working, like, as you mentioned, I would say, in ministry, I would say, again, a part of that would be, like, ministry of some kind. So So maybe not missionary, but, like, ministry, could be it. And like you said, then we have people who come out of the blue. I think the law is a great example. Business is a great example where they're they're just like, okay. I really feel called to this. Like, a second almost like a second career or second vocation. Yeah. So I'm gonna keep going through these questions. There's some good ones here. So what would you say are the average hours a week spent in class stead and then studying?

51:17So, like, how many, like, hours in class and then how much studying, like, in hours per week? Yeah. So the first couple years, it's a lot more academic heavy. And as you go through the program, you shift to more of a clinical focus. So I would say the first couple years, you're doing somewhere between fifteen and seventeen credit hours per per week. So that's just in class time. And then what's the there there's the technical rule of, I think it's three hours for every hour spent in class. So multiply that. You're looking somewhere forty, fifty. I'm not math. This is not my degree, so I'm not sure exactly what that number is. But you're you'll find that there's, like, always plenty and plenty to do and and something to be reading.

52:05I I would say you can expect it to be, like, pretty much a full time type of thing. Like, you forty hours a week, you could definitely expect to be doing that. I think it depends, like, anything. It depends on the week. It depends on what the professors have assigned. But I think you can pretty much if you think of it kind of like a job, that's helpful. And then when it's, like, not as intense as a job, you have those rare moments. It it's kind of a pleasant surprise. I would say too, that as you ramp up further into the program, the pace does change. I mean, I would say I just I feel like, again, I just wanna add to what Isaiah is saying. I kinda wanna emphasize it more that, like, that our experience from, again, feedback from students is really like Isaiah said, it really is forty hours a week plus.

52:56When you start putting internships and dissertation work or excuse me. Excuse me. I misspoke externships. Dissertation work and coursework went altogether. It really is very intensive. I mean I think that's fair. I mean but it's again a good kind of intensive in the sense that you want to be doing it is what I've heard some students. Like it's not a bad thing it's just it's it's you're really busy. You know you're kind of juggling three distinct things. So each one of those things on their own is an endeavor, but you're putting them all together at the same time. So I think it can really it can really ramp up. That kind of leads to one of the questions. Isaiah, would you would you feel like that's pretty accurate, like, kind of between the two of us?

53:33The pretty Yeah. Yeah. Great. That kinda ties into, someone asked about part time jobs and TAs. I'm happy to have you talk about that one if you want to just, again, kinda knowing the the weight of it. You know, can you you know, can people do part time jobs? Do they? What's what do you hear as a student? TAs, that kind of thing. Sure. Yeah. So that's always a big question is can I work while doing this? And, the university is very generous in offering a, an an assistantship program, for the four years you're on campus, and you can work, ten hours a week. And usually your first couple years, you're doing administrative work, just because, you don't, like, quite have the the the knowledge and the skills to be, like, in a TA position.

54:22So but those are offered later in your third and fourth years. You can work, for professors helping out for classes as assistants teaching assistants. So that is by far the most common, work that I see people do is is is for the university for tuition reduction. Anything outside of that is just very it's very difficult to pull off because you have to find a schedule that is, like, flexible. And I I don't really know of anyone who does that. It's just very yeah. Your schedule can it it's kinda all over the place. So, it's hard to find work outside the university. But the but the assistantship is something that a lot of people do, take part in, and it's very helpful for reducing tuition. And it's on campus, so you don't have to go as far for it.

55:12That's a good answer. A very good answer to that. One of the, questions that came along kinda with the finances a little bit is is how do students support themselves financially? I am gonna kinda backtrack a little bit after this one. This, but I think that's a good one to talk about. It gets back into my, investment piece. And I again, I apologize that we're having to kinda push through some of this a little bit, but I think it's worth hearing your perspective of, like, how do students pay for this? Is it what's the value on it? Is someone who is making the investment you chose? Yes. And so I don't know if you're comfortable sharing a little bit about that. Sure. Love to hear. Sure. Yeah. So, I mean, the large part of the of your financial burden falls on onto student loans unless you have, enough accumulated wealth from a previous career or something like that.

56:03Almost everyone here is is utilizing student loans for their day to day living, and that is that's that is certainly something that you have to take into account. Right? Like, you're going into debt, and that's a reality. But I think what Tammy is saying as, of it being an investment is so important. Right? Like, it it absolutely pays off. Like, down the road, it's it's takes a lot of work to get here, to go through the program. But in the end, I think you can feel comfortable knowing that, the mental health field is not going away anytime soon, and I think the pandemic has made that very clear, that mental the mental health field, if anything, is going to be increasing. That's, I guess, that's not necessarily a great thing.

56:50We don't want that to be the case, but it seems like it is the case. And so as as a psychologist, you're always gonna have, job security, and you're gonna make enough to, like, take care of your loans. So I I feel like that's something that's very comforting to know. And then also just talking about investment and the payoff of, like, bringing hope to people's lives and and bringing healing, I think that's something far beyond, what the reward of money could ever give you. So I think that's something to keep in mind. It's like, it is an investment. You can't think of it in, one year chunks. Like, like yeah. You have to be thinking long term about things and taking a bit of a hit in some ways to prepare yourself to go to this next level.

57:38I think I really think that's well said, and I always like it when you talk about that because you own you own the reality. And I do wanna share that PsyD programs, it is an area that that you're not going to find. I I I do I'm actually very comfortable talking about finances because I know where DMU is in the scheme of other PsyD programs. You know? We're not the least expensive. We're not the most expensive, but I also know very well our value. I know how well our students do. I know how, desired they are in externships and and internships, how when they walk out of DMU, even postdocs, I mean, we're that's something that Isaiah has been learning about is postdocs. I've been talking a bit more about it, even in office chatting about it.

58:15We've got, you know, students and postdocs at Georgetown and at Princeton, and we we do well. You know? So the investment really the investment in this program specifically does pay off. As you mentioned, you know, it it's hard to think about that a little bit that, you know, mental health needs are increasing. But I would say that that's something that, having that spiritual perspective is the world is broken. You know, we all have our own brokenness with us as well. And and the reality is it it's it's a good it is a good in our world to to have this kind of training available and to be able to be a part of answering that. So, you know, yes, it's certainly disheartening to see that the mental health need, is rising.

58:58And at the same time, I would say all the more beauty that we're able to be there to answer to that. And along with that where it comes back into finances is understanding that now more than ever with the awareness and the acknowledgment and the additional acceptance of of mental health being a real area that that we need to care about, frankly, as as humans, like, in our own lives and taking care of ourselves. And and just acknowledging, like, mental health challenges are part of the even the normal human experience. You're seeing things like insurance companies covering mental health more widely. You're seeing, organizations investing more deeply in in providing mental health services, you know, to, like, you know, students, employees, etcetera.

59:39So that's increasing. What that means as well for us on a financial capacity is just all of that does trickle down to, the mental health professional. Even things like, one of the things we haven't talked about really specifically in this webinar is just there are postgraduate opportunities that can help you to to pay that student loan debt. And And we haven't really talked about that. There's actually a lot of programs out there. They do vary a lot, you know, even from year to year. But there are, opportunities that you can seek out, that help pay student loans post graduation. And I I don't want that to be to be lost because that certainly is is a possibility. And, again, I kind of go back to that.

1:00:19I think, I think about the beauty, and I mean, I'm talking to somebody who was a missionary here. Isaiah was a missionary. He knows that he sacrificed that time and gave so freely, you know, to do, to those that he worked with, how beautiful it is that you can actually continue that ministry. You can continue that gift. You continue using that talent, and still tithe with that talent, you know, serving, you know, in a in a in a pro bono capacity, you know, and things like that. But at the same time, that's gonna be something where you can actually continue using that gift and that burning desire and yet still be able to provide for yourself in your future. I think that's something that I I mean, that it I I really think is is just, it's the longer I've been at DMU, the more that's been imparted me is because I just see so many people loving their work.

1:01:02And I think that's really beautiful. They're loving their work. I mean, this is their work is is being able to serve and to help. You know? So I know that's a long spiel for me sharing on that, but, again, you can kinda tell I'm I'm pretty passionate about that. But, I wanna get to some more questions here. There's some good ones. Let's see. What this is a good one. I like this one a lot. What have students said they wish they knew since starting graduate school? That's a good that's a totally an Isaiah question. Oh my gosh. I gotta think about that one. The students wish they knew since starting in God's field. Gosh. I don't know. You know, I I have to say that I feel like I came in very much I I don't think you can ever have no expectations, but I think I came in kinda close to that of just open to whatever the experience would be knowing that I don't know everything and excited for that journey.

1:02:03I think, yeah, I I think that's a huge thing. It's just, like, that openness, like, coming in with that and knowing, I guess, that, you might come in with one plan, and almost surely, you'll be doing something, like, different. Like, you might come in thinking, oh, I'm I would definitely wanna work with kids. And then you'll be exposed to a population that you didn't know you had a heart for, in your work, and then all of a sudden, it changes everything. So I think that's a huge thing. It's just, like, having an openness to, what you uncovering what you actually desire, like, things that you didn't even know you wanted and, like, uncovering what what, frankly, like, what the Lord wants for you and what he wants to do, with you as a professional, as as a person.

1:02:51So I don't know. I feel I get an answer to that question well. But No. But I think that's a good one. I mean, I think that's helpful. It's being, like, kind of the expectations of what you're setting up for yourself, to offer something a little more practical because, again, I'm not a student. Yeah. I've heard students share things like, I mean, one one of the big ones is that they wish they hadn't delayed. I was actually visiting with somebody about that today. You know, just wishing that they had not delayed. Like, they've thought about it for a while, thought about it for a while, and that once they're in it I mean, the time you you're like life is short, you know. Certainly, if God calls you to something at a certain time, that's life and it's how it works out, but just they're acknowledging their own delay that they wish they'd said yes sooner because it's like you can't you just can't know anything.

1:03:30Like, you can't know certain things you can't know without trying. You know, and so diving in their their thing was, oh, I wish I would have just started earlier. You know? And so that that I was interested. I remember thinking I'm gonna share that tonight. You know, that was somebody's kind of, you know, wish they had. I do wanna see there's a few more questions that are popping up. I like it. Everybody's getting a little more brave, asking some more questions. A few things that we can cover quickly, is, how's the first smell the first semester, work challenges, most challenging classes, things like that. We kinda covered it by thought, a little more it was a little more detailed question, but, like, what's that first semester like?

1:04:07What are some challenges, you know, that you're experiencing? You know, like, things you're having to navigate in that area? Sure. I feel like in some ways, my first semester was, just so unique. I moved out here, during a pandemic, and so my very first semester was hybrid and wearing a mask and, just I couldn't meet anyone because everything was shut down. So it was definitely a very difficult experience for me, and I think the biggest part of that was just making the adjustment to a totally different lifestyle in some ways. Obviously, I'd been a student in the past, but this is a very different feel to it. It's just you're diving into something that you that you're very passionate about, and it's all that.

1:04:54It's all psychology, which is good, but it's an adjustment. So that was that was definitely a big thing is is just adjusting to it, getting to know your professors, getting to feel comfortable with where you're at, with what you know, and accepting that you don't know everything, and that's great. And you're gonna learn more. So I think those are just the big challenges, figuring out your time, commitment, your schedule, how to fit all these pieces of your life together. As far as most challenging classes, granted, I'm only starting my second year, so there are some I haven't experienced. But from what I have heard, the assessment classes can be fairly difficult because, again, they're they are a hallmark of the psychology field.

1:05:45And so it's something that we wanna be doing well, and we want to, they they're they're rigorous and and thorough and just making sure that we understand what we're testing and making sure that we're doing it well. So a lot of those personality assessment classes can be the more difficult ones, making sure that you're getting everything that you need to get from these tests. So I think that covered every part of that question. Good one. That's very good. There's another one here. Two people asked I think we should talk about this one. Two people asked, almost exactly what has been the most rewarding part of of studying, or, you know, most rewarding experience so far of being a deep mute spiritually, emotionally, etcetera?

1:06:25Yeah. I would say I I'm not sure I could point to one specific experience, but I can point to multiple. And, right away, when you start out, you take a basic it's called, like, a basic interview in class, and you're role playing with your classmates, just pretending to do therapy with your classmates. And it's very basic at this point. You're not, you know, diving too terribly deep into, you know, different modalities. And I just remember almost every time I've done this throughout my time here, every time I've role played, there's kind of these nerves leading up to it. Like, like, it's just so unknown. And I remember every single time after I've done one of those, I just feel, like, amazing.

1:07:12I feel so, like, light. I feel, very fulfilled. Even if you're, like, role playing someone in a very depressed state, I just remember feeling like, yes. This is it. Like, this is for me, I guess, maybe more, like, on a deep level. It's like, this is what I was created to do. This is something I love so deeply. And I think I think that has been the most rewarding thing. It's just even the year I've been here, it's just this fire that, like, continues to grow, and I just grow more and more in conviction as I see, as I learn, as I apply all these things, and as I start in the clinic this year seeing, patients and and clients. It's like, no. This is it. This is what I want to do with the rest of my life, and, that's just, like, been so cool to grow in that in that love and and passion.

1:08:06That's awesome. Thanks, Isaiah. I'm I'm really glad that question was asked because that was a really, just some really beautiful insight. I think this is a good way. I don't wanna just go to, like, a really hard brass tacked question because that was such a nice a nice answer. I wanna just, you know, enjoy that moment for a second. Someone just wants to share their thanks for, being here and your experience sharing your experiences. You know, we we talked a little bit about what it was like starting out for you a new student, but just like they were asking, like, what was your first day like? You know, what was it like being a student? You shared a little bit, so just anything else to kind of, you know, add on that, kind of student experience.

1:08:45Yeah. Or any I would even say turn this one into, like, tips, advice. Like, you know, what what should people know about it, you know, as they prepare? Again, you mentioned the expectations, but anything else on that or that? Yeah. Gosh. I I my my first day was just so interesting and so atypical that I don't like, I it was, gosh. I'm trying to remember exactly. So I guess outside of school, it was just such a chaotic transition for me moving entirely across the country in the midst of a pandemic and, like, hoping I could meet people. But I do remember my first day of class was, like, child psychotherapy and just going in. And, I actually yeah. I I felt very comforted because right away, like, we're diving into child therapy.

1:09:35Like, by the end of my first semester, I, like, theoretically knew how to, do like, give therapy to children through play therapy. And I think that's just a very profound thing. Like, day one, like, you are becoming that therapist that, like, you're dreaming of becoming, and and you're doing it, like, day one. And so I remember thinking, like, yeah, that was a very satisfying experience of, like, I had all this chaos around me. But even in the midst of that, it was like, yes. Okay. You're doing what you're what you're what you're doing. You're you're getting into the field. And, yeah, so that was a great thing. As far as tips oh, gosh. Trying to think if I could sharpen your pencils. Like, I'm trying to think of practical tips.

1:10:21I'm gonna throw one out there. Just again, I'm and when I'm sharing something with you guys too, things like this, it's coming from things that students have told me. I think I don't know that we've said this quite so clearly, but, like, malleability, I think, is really important is coming in. I actually think the students who do the best, I almost wanna say it more profoundly, like, the students who do the best, but I will I'll leave it with that. I think, just from what I'm hearing, that students who do the best are those who come in really being malleable, being open to being taught, open to being formed, open to accepting, and, and maybe even, like, you know, accepting slash, you know, hearing.

1:10:58You know, again, I I do think and I think Isaiah can, you know, maybe speak on this a little more. But I do think there's of course, you're going to encounter things you may not totally agree with or understand, maybe new perspectives. You're like, okay. That's interesting. Well, I don't know how to think about that. But the idea of again, you don't have to accept everything in a sense of, like, oh, that's gospel. But the idea of understanding that they're you that malleability is really essential. I and I will say that I really am I'm really convict you know, convicted in in this thought that the malleability, aids students in their success. That's something I've learned over the years just by speaking with students, just surely through speaking with students that those that are like, yeah.

1:11:37I shouldn't have been so bullheaded when I came in or I didn't realize how many walls I had up or, you know, things like that that really being malleable, being open to being taught, and even just understanding that someone's experience has shaped them. You know? And that because that's that's just the key part of being an excellent therapist is understanding the the impact of someone's ex you know, self experiences. So I think that I don't know. I just wanna add that in there. Is that malleability? I've just seen that as, like, a key trait to successful students is malleability. Yeah. And maybe maybe just to add on to that a little bit, I I think anytime that you are seeking, like, truth or seeking to, yeah, know something.

1:12:16It's always, like, a wrestling match. Right? Like, you have to be in it and, like, willing to, like I guess, yeah, going with the wrestling analogy of, like, willing to, like, put yourself out there and and, like, get hurt. Not, like, physically get hurt. Like, you're not gonna get hurt in this program. But, like, putting yourself in there and willing to risk being wrong and to, like, wrestle with that as you come to understand what the human person is, who you are to grow as a person so that, like, knowing that therapy is two people in a room. It's not just one person, like, talking at the other person. It's two people forming a relationship. And so coming in, being willing to form yourself as a person to to take the truth that you learn, to integrate it within yourself and to grow, so that you can, like, walk with someone else as they wrestle with the truth, like, the truth of who they are, the truth of who they're meant to be, how they relate to others, like, all that sort of thing.

1:13:19So being willing to just, like, put yourself out there in that way. That's really good. That's very true. I do wanna just take a little moment here and just acknowledge that it is we are, sitting at, like, 09:15 eastern time for this webinar, so we are past time. So I do wanna acknowledge that we are I definitely wanna honor people's time. What I'm thinking we'll do, we got a couple more questions. I'm thinking we'll spend maybe, like, another ten minutes at the most answering these last two, and then close out from there. So if you need to hop off, I understand that, but I did wanna at least give you, just give you the, the little time stamp that we're thinking about here, give you a closing time to kind of to think about.

1:13:58So we'll go about another, you know, ten minutes or so, and then and then we'll wrap up and be and be done with this webinar. For those that do have to hop off, I wanted to say thank you. I'll thank you again, and I'll do more formally a couple of closing announcements. But I do wanna just thank everybody for being here. Your time is valuable to us, and and we know this is a big endeavor. I really do hope that this this has been helpful. So if you have to hop off, we understand. For those of you that wanna stay, we'll try to keep it under another ten minutes or so. That sounds okay with everyone. I'll kinda wrap up. The last two questions here are, more brass tacks. And I I actually have one I wanna talk about that I'll close with you, Isaiah, and related to integration.

1:14:38So I'll give you a little heads up there. I do want to ask him to speak on integration a little bit before he before we close out, before we leave the webinar. This question, is really about, about cost of living. I do wanna answer this as well and just share this is what is the cost of living for out of state residents and really just for anybody, I mean, in state, it depends on where you are. We are in the Northern Virginia area. The allotment just for housing, and what the government says like from student loans is around the cost of living is somewhere around like 27,000, I believe it is. It's a little over 25. 25 to 27,000 is like an estimated cost of living. I don't know, Isaiah. I don't we don't have to make this into a big old question.

1:15:19If you have anything to add to it, feel free. But I find that some students some students, you know, it really depends on you. Some students, you know, really wanna live alone and you're gonna pay for that, right, because you're living in an apartment. Some folks, are open to living with housemates, and, you know, you know and again, housemates might mean, like, a house or a townhouse with, like, three, four, five, you know, living people roommates. Maybe an apartment or condo means, like, two or three, which again shifts your cost. So I do think a big part of it the number one thing attributing to the cost of living is housing. So and and there can be a huge variation in that. You know, if you're talking living on your own, let's say your minimum is, like, 1,500 a month for an apartment.

1:16:00And I think that's probably not including all the utilities. If you're living with housemates, I think that job can be done all in somewhere between seven to 900, maybe even less. Right? Am I right? What do you think, guys? Is there anything on that? Yeah. No. I think that's pretty accurate. The the number you said of, like, 27,000, I think, at least for a single person coming into the program Right. You you're probably living in in luxury at that point. I don't know of anyone who is is spending, that amount. Of course, if you're coming, you know, with a family and and that sort of thing, that those cost gets higher. But I think, yeah, your numbers as far as, like, apartments, I think 700 to 1,000 is pretty reasonable per month if you're living with roommates.

1:16:43And then food, that's kinda just hopefully, most people kinda have a sense of what they what they, pay for food every month. And I don't think food is horribly, like, much more expensive out here than it was, say, living in the Midwest. So I agree. With that, by the way. I actually I've actually found sometimes there's certain things that are cheaper. You have access to things that you may not someplace else, but I don't find that food is, like, at all more expensive here than anywhere else. Right. Exactly. So I think how into the heart of the city like Washington, DC, you might see a difference, but not where we are. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Of course, the closer you move to DC, things get much more expensive much quicker.

1:17:20So, you know, I think for me, I could reasonably say, yeah, I I got some decent rent, so I think I'm closer to, you know, $1,213,000 per year for living expenses. I think I got some really great deals with that, and people can do even better than that, I think. So I feel like that's a fair I obviously, not guaranteeing anything. But No. That's true. From my perspective, that's a lot closer to where I am for yearly costs. Yeah. And, again, there's lots of things too that, if you're eating it, like, the food truck outside every day, $10.12 bucks a pop every day, that adds up versus we do a lot A lot of students do, and we encourage carry and carry out for lunches and snacks and things, you know, just helping you to be budget friendly.

1:18:05So I hope that helps with that question. Strong qualities, this is a good one. What are the qualities of a strong candidate to be accepted into the program? First of all, I I definitely think, and I really welcome your feedback too, Isaiah. I just I mean, number one is there's two it's hard to kind of put numbers to these, but, like, academic aptitude, but, again, those minimums need to be met. The higher, the better. And then the other thing is harder to put a number two is is interpersonal aptitude, is really, balance of person, balance of character, understanding clinical psychology. I really I don't know, Isaiah. Like, I think that one's actually huge is is we understand that you're not, you know, that you don't have a master's degree in psychology yet maybe as you're applying, but we do expect that you've done a lot of what I would call lay research, you know, nonprofessional research on what clinical psychology is.

1:18:57You've done the work comparing and contrasting other professions. You know, you spent some time exploring some theories, things like that. I mean, we really do want you to be able to articulate why you wanna do this in a in a fairly high level capacity. I don't wanna make that sound too daunting. I don't know, Isaiah, if you have any thoughts about, you know, balancing that back out. But I do think that's a big one that is, you know, important to take note of. Anything else you've seen from your experiences? No. I would say you covered that well. I I think that, this is not just something you mosey into, that you just kinda walk into. There is a level of, you don't have to know everything about the field.

1:19:40Obviously, that's why you learn. But you have to be ready to commit. Right? Like, when you're stepping into this five year program, it's really like you're stepping into a lifetime of something. Like, the learning does not stop after five years. Not even close. So just beginning, if anything. It's just beginning. Yeah. Seriously, that's one thing I've learned is that I thought, you know, five years, and then it's like, oh, school's done, but it's just like, nope. Like, you have continuing credits, but, also, you get that desire to learn more. So if that if that desire and that drive desire to learn more. So if that if that desire and that drive is not there to begin with and you're you're not feeling, like, really strongly, doesn't mean you can't have, you know, questions or even small doubts about things.

1:20:22But I think that's a huge part is, like, knowing what you're getting into, doing some of that research, wanting to do it, the, obviously, the academic aptitude, knowing that you'd be able to handle these courses. And then also because you're gonna be working with people, you have to kinda like people and be okay at talking to people. I think that's something that's important. And I think And that all I think all this kind of comes out in the interview. I think that's something too is this is the interview. I mean, so they all of the, kind of paper components of the application, they I wanna be clear. We absolutely use them as, you know, a first entry, if you will. It's like, okay. We've gotta have something here, you know, to know a little bit about you to make sure that the, academic aptitude is there, that interpersonal aptitude is initially there.

1:21:12And the question that just came up is, like, how heavily do you consider the GRE? We do use that. It's not a box to check at DMU. We really do look at it very seriously. You know, it's not we don't use it to necessarily rule you out, but it does help us to understand where you are academically, with that that that aptitude piece academically speaking. So we use a lot of those paper documents. Okay. What do we have here, you know, just on paper from this person? Alright. How are we looking so far? And then if all of that, again, checks out, like, meets those minimums, then we invite you to that personal interview. And that is really where I would say the next big step is is really, you know, basically putting forth in person what we see on paper.

1:21:54You know? Showing us that you understand the field, that you have that sense of balance, you know how to present yourself professionally, that you've really thought deeply about the field and about what the profession means to you, that you can articulate, you know, complex thoughts, you know, responding to questions, you know, about your desire and what kind of work you'd like to do, those kind of things. I mean, those are all things I think that make a great a great candidate. You know, somebody who's, you know, self directed as, you know, a self initiator who can work through that process independently and and has done the homework. You know? And, again, moving through it's okay to have questions about the process.

1:22:29That's not what I'm saying. But being able to, you know, on your own, go, okay. I'm I know how to, you know, navigate and and research and find these answers out for myself, and then, you know, being able to work with admissions further. I think those are all signs of a strong a strong applicant. You know, again, it's it's really we're looking for folks who understand what they're getting into and, and show, you know, show that forth through the application process. So I hope that answers those questions. We it's good. We're kind of, you know, running around right about ten minutes. You know, marker that I had mentioned a moment ago is we're getting really close to the end here. What I wanted to do is just one more time before I wanna close out.

1:23:08I do wanna give a couple quick announcements. Isaiah, I do wanna end with you. But, I do wanna share again that we'll be sending a recording of this webinar out. You'll you have our email address. We certainly invite you to reach out with any follow-up questions. We really want you to apply. I mean, genuinely, if you feel like this is interest interested you, if you're, you know, curious, if you'd like to learn more, certainly reach out. But really wanna take this time and if is invite you to go ahead and apply. Really, that's the next step. I think that's one of the big pieces I see is it's like, don't contemplate something that hasn't been you know, don't don't contemplate a door that hasn't been built yet.

1:23:42Right? I mean, like, build the door. Right? And let's let's get it going is kind of the thought on that one so you can walk through it. So, really, the application part is is doing that. It's it's it's giving yourself that opportunity to walk through, you know, your future as a clinical psychologist. If you don't apply, you won't know. And I do think that actually applying is a part of discerning. I really believe that. I think it's getting yourself in that idea of, like, okay. I'm gonna apply. Like, okay. I'm gonna envision myself possibly in Sterling, Virginia next year. I'm gonna envision myself as a clinical psychologist. I actually think those are very big mental steps that help you with discerning if this is for you.

1:24:15So I just wanna encourage that. You know, if you're if you're him pawing, like, go ahead and try it out. Go ahead and apply. How do you feel about that? How does it feel about thinking about the things that Isaiah shared tonight? How does it feel thinking about moving to Virginia? How does it feel, you know, thinking about a future, as a clinical psychologist and the work, that this would entail and the beauty of that profession? So I think all of that does come with getting started, you know, and that's with the application process. And, again, I wanna I just wanna thank everybody for being here. And I wanted just to close with Isaiah just sharing a little bit, if you don't mind, on integration.

1:24:48You know, why DMU, Isaiah? Why integration? Like, where's the beauty in that? Like, just talking to us a little bit about about that piece. I feel like we did a little bit earlier, but I really wanna capture more of that, because it's the DMU difference. So I just thought if we can kinda close out with you sharing for, you know, a little bit on your thoughts on that. Sure. Yeah. So, I mean, I think just, the human person is just this profound and beautifully complex creation of God. And it it it is just it's something that I think throughout history, people have tried to capture and to understand. And that's kinda where the field of psychology started with. It was just, well, how do we look at behavior?

1:25:32And and what does that mean just watching and observing? But as it's, like, deepened, we've realized that humans are so much more than just animals that react to, their environment and that sort of thing. And so as the Catholic tradition has done philosophically, like, uncovering what does this mean that we're human, that we're made in the image and likeness of god. We found we find, like, this, again, this, like, beautiful and deep complexity, that in some ways can't, like, fully be captured in this lifetime. But what but as as as Catholics and as psychologists, we come to, like, dive into these things and to and to ask these questions. Okay. Why? Why is a person this way? And and that's what DMU does very well is okay.

1:26:28A person is a body and a soul. They're not just a physical like I said, they're not just an animal that reacts to their environment. It's created by God, and that sets us apart. Right? Just acknowledging that we have a soul sets us apart from so much of psychology. We're made in the image and likeness of god, and we are subject to the effects of sin because of the fall. But yet at the same time, we're offered, like, hope in all of that, right, that god knows us, he loves us, and he, like, awaits us in our return to him. So knowing that that is, like, our foundation is, like, we are created in god's image. And then when you look at a person, with that lens, it changes everything. Like, instead of just this human that may or may not annoy me or is you know?

1:27:17Like, it's it's no. This is, like, God's creation. He thought and loved this person before the foundation of the world. And from there, we can ask, okay. That's our foundation. This is how we look at the person. But then what are all these other things that contribute to them? They have a vocation. They, are fulfilled by being with other people. They're like, we're made for a relationship. Taking all these things into account that many other other, people don't necessarily consider, like a vocation, a supernatural vocation to marriage or the priesthood, is an important part in becoming who you're meant to be and finding hope and flourishing as a as a human person. So that's what that is. Like, that's what makes DMU different is that we can take these truths of, yeah, we have brains, and they have chemicals, and there's balances of chemicals.

1:28:09But what are the external, you know, like, their family, their relationships? Like, all of this comes together to give you this full picture of the human person. And DMU does that better than anyone else. Like, this is the human person in its fullness. And how can we, address these obstacles to this flourishing and help a person to become who god created them to be, and and for them to find happiness, in this life and happiness forever in the next. So That's great. Well, wow. Thanks, Isaiah. I mean, really, that and that's why I I really wanted you to close on that as I just think you did such a great job of sharing that and the why part. You know, and and I think, again, it's really authentically why DMU.

1:28:56It's not just like, oh, we're the best. It's like this it's like, no. This is so much bigger than all of that. You know, it's so much bigger, you know, than a conceptualized, you know, you know, flip it over the best. It's like, no. No. It's actually something very deep, very intricate to the identity of, you know, of a human person and and really what what God intended when he made all of us. Like, what did he intended us to be, you know, and we're also discovering that every day, you know. So I just wanna thank you, Isaiah, for being here. I know you spent extra time. I mean, Isaiah is a full time student. As soon as student assistantship is busy guy, so I really appreciate you, in the clinic now as well seeing clients.

1:29:33So, it really, really takes, time to be here, and I really appreciate it and and thank you for that. And I really just wanna, you know, thank everyone for being here. If I didn't get to your question, I'd definitely ask you to please go ahead and email us at admissions.PsyD@divinemercy.edu. If you have questions as you you follow-up after this, webinar, feel free. Again, I just wanna say thanks to all of you, and, again, we'll be following up over email, and I wish you all a great night, and, hopefully, we'll all be in touch soon. So I'll close out with that. So thank you, everyone. Take care. Bye, Isaiah. Thanks. Thank you.