PsyD Program, Application Essay Example

While researching the best program that best fits my educational and career goals, I was torn on the most appropriate route. Essentially, I was unsure of what path to take. However, after thorough internet research and inquiry with the doctorate school, I realized that the PsyD program would be the ideal career to pursue. My decision to settle on this program can be traced back to when I lived and worked in Iowa. During this period, I had the opportunity to provide services to individuals with intellectual and physical disabilities. Unfortunately, residents of this region endured enormous difficulties while seeking critical services needed to enable them to live a better quality of life. The limited number of clinical psychologists meant that unless one lived in the highly populated area of Iowa, it was pretty challenging to obtain essential clinical psychology services.

Serving the Autistic population in this region elicited my desire to work with this particular need. Since then, I have realized that service to humanity has been more than just a career. As a clinical psychologist, I will have an opportunity to apply psychological theories, research, and knowledge to address specific aspects of human functioning. With the training on addressing human problems such as mental disorders, my capacity to respectfully engage and address critical human challenges will be hugely boosted. Clinical Psychology will also boost my capacity to engage in the assessment, prevention, diagnosis, and intervention on diverse needs related to clinical psychology. Pursuing a PsyD program will enable me to understand why specific problems occur, the appropriate treatment for individual specific needs, and how to work with these clients and their caregivers appropriately.

Initially, I was interested in Board-Certified Behavioral Analysis (BCBA) since I was very interested in understanding the reasons behind the occurrence of certain behaviors and the implementation of programs to shape these behaviors. However, the lack of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) services at Iowa prompted me to switch my career path. My service time at Iowa offered a tremendous learning opportunity. I learned a lot from the individuals and community in this region and felt the need to provide the same in return. Thus, I got the motivation to take a step further to become someone who recommends treatment. Besides, being a believer in early intervention, I felt that pursuing a PsyD program would be the best to help me figure out the “problem” and find treatments for children.

Once I become a licensed Clinical Psychologist, I hope to be part of the clinicians that offer ABA services. I aspire to be the first point of contact for children who have not received a diagnosis. After reviewing the referrals, I would then provide diagnosis services. I would then appropriately refer the children diagnosed with Autism to the BCBA, Occupational Therapist, and Speech Therapist within or outside my clinical setting. In case they are not diagnosed with Autism, if need be, I would then refer them to other services that may be beneficial to them.

My approach to offering clinical psychology services will essentially employ client-centered therapy. A client-centered approach calls for the psychologist to remain non-directive, meaning they do not pass judgments and decisions on a client’s treatment. Instead, they seek to create conditions needed for clients to change through self-direction while remaining non-judgmental and empathetic. While I primarily desire to offer early intervention to children, the patient population I will be working with will involve their caregivers. Since my services will include interactions with clients and caregivers from diverse and unique backgrounds, I anticipate enduring a considerable challenge due to cultural differences.

Due to the diversity in cultural backgrounds, I anticipate differences in beliefs on healthcare as a whole. Cultural differences present danger of misinterpretation of specific norms, beliefs, and traditions. Thus, this may interfere with a counselor’s ability to create congruence. Therefore, these call for therapists like me to possess immense cultural expertise and mental flexibility to ensure reasonable tolerance. Besides, diversity in cultures also comes with differences in languages. Thus, I also anticipate the challenge of language barrier challenge.

However, I appreciate my limited cultural competence and so plan to constantly improve cross-cultural expertise to boost my chances of offering culturally-centered treatments. I plan to remain proactive towards promoting a positive environment. Critical approaches to improving my cultural competence include taking diversity training and meeting community resources targeting specific groups I serve. I plan to constantly review my previous work to ensure continuous learning on the past challenges and achievements. Approaches to overcoming language barriers will include checking for a client’s understanding to establish their spoken English proficiency level, body language use, and, most importantly, using interpreters. I plan to embrace reflection as an essential tool to improve my cultural competence. This will aid my overall goal of creating the best treatment plan possible for my clients. I believe that a PsyD from this prestigious institution will help me achieve my career aspirations.