Are graduate students funded?
Are you taking on a new student to work in your lab starting in the Fall of 2024?
What do you look for in an application?
What type of research are you currently doing in your lab?
What is the process for evaluating applications and making admissions decisions?
Can I arrange a time to meet with you by telephone or in person?
How else can prospective graduate students learn more about your lab?
What types of outcomes can I expect from your lab?
What courses do you teach?
What is your approach to teaching?
What is your approach to mentoring students?
What are your clinical interests and approach?
What is your approach to clinical supervision?
What is your policy regarding graduate students as co-authors on publications?
Do you expect your graduate students to belong to professional organizations or attend conferences?
Are you taking on a new student to work in your lab starting in the Fall of 2024?
What do you look for in an application?
What type of research are you currently doing in your lab?
What is the process for evaluating applications and making admissions decisions?
Can I arrange a time to meet with you by telephone or in person?
How else can prospective graduate students learn more about your lab?
What types of outcomes can I expect from your lab?
What courses do you teach?
What is your approach to teaching?
What is your approach to mentoring students?
What are your clinical interests and approach?
What is your approach to clinical supervision?
What is your policy regarding graduate students as co-authors on publications?
Do you expect your graduate students to belong to professional organizations or attend conferences?
Are graduate students funded?
Offers to join the doctoral (PhD) program in clinical psychology at NIU have always included a guarantee for funding for the first year (a stipend, plus waiver of tuition but not fees). We do not guarantee funding for all years in the program.
Funding for the second and third three years depends upon the university budget. For many years the university administration has repeatedly said that we are having a budget crisis, but we have been able to maintain the assistantship budget. We are having another budget crisis this year, so funding for next year is (yet again) not guaranteed.
Starting in about the fourth year, most students are funded by their practicum (i.e., externship) site. The university waives tuition for those students. The availability of those placements depends on many factors and often seems unpredictable. In recent years we have had more placements than we have students.
Funding for the first three years is for between 9 and 12 months (10 ½ months is common). Funding for the later years is typically for 12 months.
Some students are funded by grants or through fellowships. For example, about 25% of our students receive at least one year of support on a graduate fellowship through the Center for the Study of Family Violence and Sexual Assault (see http://www.niu.edu/fvsa/training/). Our students are also quite competitive for many university fellowships and awards.
In my 19 years at NIU, all of the clinical graduate students have been fully funded with two exceptions [there were an unusually large number of students and two students who had been in the program for many years were half funded (with full tuition waivers)]. Although there are no guarantees beyond the first year, history and circumstance give a strong basis for optimism. Note that because priority is given to making sure all students have funding and at least one paid externship, decisions are not driven by merit alone. The clinical faculty have worked hard and have been quite fortunate to be able to fund all of our students and meet their training needs.
Related to funding, many students who enter the program are surprised by the low cost of living in DeKalb, particularly if they previously lived in a city. The stipend is somewhat lower than other schools, but the small town living makes a big difference. If you get an offer, be sure to talk with current graduate students about their experience. My impression is that many take out some loans, and that overall they are able to maintain a comfortable lifestyle.
Are you taking on a new student to work in your lab starting in the Fall of 2024?
Yes -- I expect that one student will be admitted to NIU’s PhD program in clinical psychology, to begin in the Fall of 2017, to work in my research lab.
What do you look for in an application?
The characteristics that I look for in an application include overall intelligence (as demonstrated GRE, GPA, undergraduate institution), work ethic, match of interests with me and the program, academic preparation, and social skills. I take notice when the application contains evidence of strong writing, statistical skills, or unusual research experience. Age and practical experience are not important factors, except as it influences the narrative in the statement and letters – the overall cohesiveness that narrative is also important.
What type of research are you currently doing in your lab?
About half of the current research in my lab involves social anxiety disorder, especially shyness mindset interventions. There are several social anxiety disorder projects underway and I am not prepared to detail all of them in an email message. I am also open to working on research related to any of the anxiety disorders. We do have one project related to panic underway. My lab also has projects related to trauma, looking at rumination, reconsolidation, and extinction retention; comorbidity between PTSD and alcohol abuse; application of mindset theory to other psychopathology; and disgust and inhibitory learning; I have a long-standing interest in behavioral and cognitive-behavioral factors associated with anxiety and fear. Neuroscience informs my research. A list of my publications can be found in the publications section of this website.
What is the process for evaluating applications and making admissions decisions?
The application/admission process for the doctoral (PhD) program in clinical psychology at NIU is difficult because many highly qualified and deserving applicants experience terrible outcomes. I and my colleagues try to smooth the way and make the process fair, but there is some hurt (and perhaps some arbitrariness) that seems inevitable. I assume that you have been warned about the process by your faculty advisor(s), but I am including a brief summary of our procedures to give you a realistic view of what to expect.
Each year our program receives ~200-250 applications. We ask each applicant to prepare a personal statement and to identify up to three faculty in our program that he/she are potentially interested in working with. Each professor makes admission recommendations to the full faculty. Those recommendations are almost always accepted. Thus, each professor has a great deal of say about which applicant is admitted to work in their lab.
Usually about 60-70 applicants express interest in working with me. As I find it difficult and time-consuming to review so many applications, I typically start by narrowing the field to ~30-35 applications based on a review of numbers (GPA and GRE) and a cursory reading of other material (mainly personal statements). The applications that make that first cut typically have very strong GPA (≥ 3.5 +/- depending on the school), very strong GRE scores (≥80%ile), or moderately strong GPA and GREs (typically≥ 3.3 +/- depending on the school and 65%ile). They typically also have good research experience (≥ 1 year in an established research lab and ≥ 1 conference presentation), exceptional letters of recommendation, and/or something that catches my eye (atypical applicants, from an under-represented group, overcoming hardship, having interesting cultural or linguistic skills or experiences, etc.).
I then spend quite a bit of time reading and reviewing these applications, reducing the list and rereading applications (mostly letters and statements, and reviewing transcripts), until I identify 5-7 applicants to invite for an interview. Sometimes applicants can't come for an interview – they can arrange for a phone or Skype interview. After the interviews are complete (all must be completed by our Interview Day in February), I then rank the top applicants. In cooperation with the Director of Clinical Training (DCT), I then invite my top ranked applicant to join the program. If an applicant declines the invitation, we move to the next ranked applicant. We follow the APA rules for admissions and allow applicants to hold an offer until mid-April. For the program as a whole, we typically extend 10-15 offers to fill the 6-8 positions. Usually I admit one student to work in my lab, but would consider taking two students when there is an exceptional applicant pool.
The process is fickle and depends upon some factors beyond your (or my) control, including funding issues and what other applicants apply. If you have not already done so, consider using resources to help you develop an application, such as Mitch Prinstein’s web pages.
Can I arrange a time to meet with you by telephone or in person?
Although there have been exceptions in unusual circumstances, I do not usually meet with any applicant until the interview day. I usually also prefer to defer conversations about research topics until after I have a chance to review the applications. One exception to this rule is that sometimes applicants need more information to help them decide whether to apply to the program. If you want to talk to help you decide about applying, then perhaps we can arrange a time to talk by phone. I certainly do not mean to dissuade you from applying, but I also feel that it is necessary to give you accurate information to help you make an informed decision.
How else can prospective graduate students learn more about your lab?
Prospective graduate students are invited to email me or call me in my office. You can also call my research lab (815-753-7016). If you catch one of my graduate students by phone, please introduce yourself and ask them if they can take a few minutes to speak with you. Graduate students are an important source of information about a program, a research lab, and an advisor.
What types of outcomes can I expect from your lab?
I have a strong and active lab. My graduate students are well-trained, publish in peer-reviewed journals, present at national professional conferences, and have good employment outcomes. More information about my former and current students can be found in the former students and current students section of this website. At the very bottom of this page is a document with some additional information about my lab that was handed out at the Clinical Psychology Open House this year.
What courses do you teach?
Most semesters I teach one undergraduate course (usually PSYC 316: Introduction to Psychopathology; PSYC 417: Behavior Modification or PSYC 413: Clinical Psychology Laboratory) and one graduate course (usually PSYC 644: Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy; PSYC 654: Psychotherapy Practicum; PSYC 680C: Multicultural Diversity, Supervision, and Consultation). In the past I have also taught PSYC 642: Personality Assessment and PSYC 641: Advanced Psychopathology at the graduate level.
What is your approach to teaching?
My teaching philosophy is communicated to my students on my course syllabi. On the syllabus for Cognitive Behavioral Theory and Techniques (PSYC 644), one of the course objectives is: “Students will take an active role in their learning and preparation for their professional goals, and actively pursuing improvement in the skills needed for that work through discussion, practice, and reading.” All of my syllabi also include the following description of roles and responsibilities: “The teachers’ role is to teach and evaluate. This includes administration of and communication about the course; providing lectures, class activities, and assignments; grading assignments, participation, and exams; and being available to facilitate students’ learning. The students’ role is to learn. This includes attending and participating in class; completing the readings and assignments in a timely manner; taking the exams; and asking questions to clarify procedures, assignments, and curriculum issues.” I create and facilitate training opportunities that are tailored to students’ needs and abilities. I include activities to engage and motivate students, particularly early in the semester. I work hard at teaching and providing reasonable and appropriate accommodations. I am particularly responsive to those students that are engaged and working hard to learn. I am actively engaged in teaching and in improving my teaching. I continue to work on improving my classroom teaching and staying abreast of developments with the academic and professional practice fields. I also do some research related to teaching effectiveness.
What is your approach to mentoring students?
The clinical program creates a mentorship structure during the first year through a first year apprenticeship. I work with about one new graduate student each year as he or she writes a paper for PSYC 642 (Advanced Psychopathology) in the Fall, and designs a project for PSYC 671D (Clinical Research Methods) in the Spring. I often try to involve new graduate students in my lab by having them be first author on a submission to the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) – the deadline is usually around March 1.
Graduate students are encouraged to work on projects in addition to their thesis and dissertation projects, to collaborate with and support the research of other graduate students, and to participate in a community of colleagues engaged in clinical science. The thesis and dissertation constitute the core of my work with students as they build a coherent professional identity that also includes clinical training and service.
Early on, projects might be conceived largely by me. As students progress through the program, they take on increasing levels of independence. Students are expected to take ownership of their own program of research. By the dissertation stage, my role is one of consultant or senior colleague, and the student plays the primary role in the conception, design, and execution of the dissertation project.
I try to be responsive to students requests for help, such as by returning drafts to students in a timely manner. Students usually meet with me about once a week when working on drafts of manuscripts (thesis, dissertation, and papers for presentation or publication), getting feedback on new material each meeting.
During some periods, such as when students are preparing for candidacy exams, students might meet with me as infrequently as once or twice a semester. During busy times when I am not able to return drafts quickly, I ask students to schedule an hour during which I will dedicate to reading drafts and writing comments, and they will check in on me to keep me on task and get feedback.
Students sometimes like to have a structure and a set of deadlines to keep them on track. I often work with students to break larger projects down into tasks, and to establish a set of deadlines for each task.
I am often not on contract in the summer, but I am usually available to work with students during this time as well. My willingness to help students is greatest for those that are hard working and making appropriate progress. I have been blessed with graduate students that are so able and hard working, which makes my job much easier and more rewarding.
Current and past graduate students are an important source of information about my mentoring. I believe that they will tell you that I am responsive, that I am generous with authorship and support for them and their research, that I work hard and expect them to work hard, that I hold my students to a high standard, and that my students are well-prepared for their orals, internship, and careers. You can contact my former and current students; contact information can be found in the former students and current students sections of this website.
What are your clinical interests and approach?
I believe every client has the right to make their own decisions and to proceed at their own pace, and that the role of the therapist is to provide good information and help clients understand what is likely to help. I work mainly with adults and older adolescents. When working with children, I take a collaborative approach by providing consultation to one of my clinic colleagues that specialize in working with children.
Much of my clinical work is for individuals with one or more of the major anxiety disorders (e.g., obsessive compulsive disorder, panic disorder, social phobia, post-traumatic stress disorder, specific phobia, and generalized anxiety disorders). My approach is cognitive-behavioral, emphasizing fear reduction through exposure and incorporation of corrective information. These approaches include exposure and response prevention for obsessive compulsive disorder, interoceptive exposure for panic disorder, and prolonged exposure or cognitive reprocessing therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder.
What is your approach to clinical supervision?
Many therapists in training need support and opportunity. This includes opportunities to gain experience, to see others providing clinical services, to ask questions and get answers, and to reflect on and process their clinical experiences. Early on, many therapists-in-training prefer and benefit from concrete suggestions, such as the specific exercises and assignments embedded within treatment manuals for anxiety disorders. As many therapists in training progress through their training, they develop a deeper understanding of the theoretical models underlying these treatment approaches and increasingly move away from the scripts of the training manuals to develop and rely upon their own style, including their own language, analogies, and stories.
I often try to have students start with observation and structured clinical work, such as assessment or treatment of relatively circumscribed problems using well-developed and highly scripted protocols. I rely primarily upon behavioral and cognitive approaches for the treatment of anxiety disorders. I try to give new therapists in clinical cases that involve behavioral or cognitive-behavioral treatment of relatively circumscribed anxiety problems. These treatments are relatively easier to learn, have enough complexity to offer opportunities for development of conceptualization skills, and are usually quite effective. As therapists in training progress, my role as supervisor shifts away from that of advisor/teacher to one of consultant/colleague.
As a supervisor, I am responsible for the care and treatment of clients. However, I respect the fact that the clinician that actually meets and works with the client has more information than I do about the client, especially regarding interpersonal style and moment-to-moment processes. From a humanistic (Rogerian) perspective, therapy can be thought of as a process by which the client and therapist attempt to develop a common understanding of the client’s problem. Supervision in turn can be thought of as a process by which the therapist and supervisor develop a common understanding of the client’s problem. This view puts the therapist in the middle of two potentially conflicting view, in which the therapist must ask the client to reconcile what the client knows to be true with the treatment model, and simultaneously must ask the supervisor to reconcile the treatment model with the clients experience, perceptions, feelings, beliefs, and values.
Avoidance is a common and critical feature of anxiety disorders, but clients often do not see their avoidance behavior for what it is. The more effectively the therapist can articulate the treatment model, the better informed the client will be in making decisions about how to live their life, how to proceed with therapy, and whether they will continue avoiding situations that are not truly dangerous. The supervisor can help the therapist to understand and articulate the treatment model. To the degree that the client is ready, the supervisor can help the therapist to understand how to implement the model. Therapists are not responsible for their clients’ decisions, but only for whether the therapist has presented good and relevant information.
Clinical supervision is an opportunity to think more deeply about our clinical cases, about the processes of assessment and treatment, and about our development as clinicians. These opportunities for reflection sometimes require openness and disclosure, and thus are facilitated by a context of acceptance and non-evaluation. As much as the structure of our training program allows, I attempt to deal separately two types of feedback: (1) formative feedback in which I help therapists in training to better understand their weaknesses, limitations, and biases, and (2) summative feedback in which I give an appraisal of how much a therapist in training has progressed. I value growth and development in those I supervise. Clinical skills can be learned. Part of the process of becoming a clinician able to function independently is to become aware of and examine one’s implicit beliefs, to try new things, and to have some humility about one’s worldview.
What is your policy regarding graduate students as co-authors on publications?
Graduate students make substantial contributions to the development of many of the publications that come out of my research lab, and thus are listed as co-authors. Graduate students in my research lab are first authors on most publications from my research lab. All of the graduate students working in my lab are expected to publish.
Do you expect your graduate students to belong to professional organizations or attend conferences?
Yes! Graduate students in my research lab are expected to join ABCT (abct.org) as student members and to attend the ABCT annual conference. Depending on their interests, I also encourage them to consider joining APA (apa.org), APS (psychologicalscience.org), OCF (ocfoundation.org), ADAA (adaa.org), MPA (midwesternpsych.org), and ISTSS (istss.org).
Offers to join the doctoral (PhD) program in clinical psychology at NIU have always included a guarantee for funding for the first year (a stipend, plus waiver of tuition but not fees). We do not guarantee funding for all years in the program.
Funding for the second and third three years depends upon the university budget. For many years the university administration has repeatedly said that we are having a budget crisis, but we have been able to maintain the assistantship budget. We are having another budget crisis this year, so funding for next year is (yet again) not guaranteed.
Starting in about the fourth year, most students are funded by their practicum (i.e., externship) site. The university waives tuition for those students. The availability of those placements depends on many factors and often seems unpredictable. In recent years we have had more placements than we have students.
Funding for the first three years is for between 9 and 12 months (10 ½ months is common). Funding for the later years is typically for 12 months.
Some students are funded by grants or through fellowships. For example, about 25% of our students receive at least one year of support on a graduate fellowship through the Center for the Study of Family Violence and Sexual Assault (see http://www.niu.edu/fvsa/training/). Our students are also quite competitive for many university fellowships and awards.
In my 19 years at NIU, all of the clinical graduate students have been fully funded with two exceptions [there were an unusually large number of students and two students who had been in the program for many years were half funded (with full tuition waivers)]. Although there are no guarantees beyond the first year, history and circumstance give a strong basis for optimism. Note that because priority is given to making sure all students have funding and at least one paid externship, decisions are not driven by merit alone. The clinical faculty have worked hard and have been quite fortunate to be able to fund all of our students and meet their training needs.
Related to funding, many students who enter the program are surprised by the low cost of living in DeKalb, particularly if they previously lived in a city. The stipend is somewhat lower than other schools, but the small town living makes a big difference. If you get an offer, be sure to talk with current graduate students about their experience. My impression is that many take out some loans, and that overall they are able to maintain a comfortable lifestyle.
Are you taking on a new student to work in your lab starting in the Fall of 2024?
Yes -- I expect that one student will be admitted to NIU’s PhD program in clinical psychology, to begin in the Fall of 2017, to work in my research lab.
What do you look for in an application?
The characteristics that I look for in an application include overall intelligence (as demonstrated GRE, GPA, undergraduate institution), work ethic, match of interests with me and the program, academic preparation, and social skills. I take notice when the application contains evidence of strong writing, statistical skills, or unusual research experience. Age and practical experience are not important factors, except as it influences the narrative in the statement and letters – the overall cohesiveness that narrative is also important.
What type of research are you currently doing in your lab?
About half of the current research in my lab involves social anxiety disorder, especially shyness mindset interventions. There are several social anxiety disorder projects underway and I am not prepared to detail all of them in an email message. I am also open to working on research related to any of the anxiety disorders. We do have one project related to panic underway. My lab also has projects related to trauma, looking at rumination, reconsolidation, and extinction retention; comorbidity between PTSD and alcohol abuse; application of mindset theory to other psychopathology; and disgust and inhibitory learning; I have a long-standing interest in behavioral and cognitive-behavioral factors associated with anxiety and fear. Neuroscience informs my research. A list of my publications can be found in the publications section of this website.
What is the process for evaluating applications and making admissions decisions?
The application/admission process for the doctoral (PhD) program in clinical psychology at NIU is difficult because many highly qualified and deserving applicants experience terrible outcomes. I and my colleagues try to smooth the way and make the process fair, but there is some hurt (and perhaps some arbitrariness) that seems inevitable. I assume that you have been warned about the process by your faculty advisor(s), but I am including a brief summary of our procedures to give you a realistic view of what to expect.
Each year our program receives ~200-250 applications. We ask each applicant to prepare a personal statement and to identify up to three faculty in our program that he/she are potentially interested in working with. Each professor makes admission recommendations to the full faculty. Those recommendations are almost always accepted. Thus, each professor has a great deal of say about which applicant is admitted to work in their lab.
Usually about 60-70 applicants express interest in working with me. As I find it difficult and time-consuming to review so many applications, I typically start by narrowing the field to ~30-35 applications based on a review of numbers (GPA and GRE) and a cursory reading of other material (mainly personal statements). The applications that make that first cut typically have very strong GPA (≥ 3.5 +/- depending on the school), very strong GRE scores (≥80%ile), or moderately strong GPA and GREs (typically≥ 3.3 +/- depending on the school and 65%ile). They typically also have good research experience (≥ 1 year in an established research lab and ≥ 1 conference presentation), exceptional letters of recommendation, and/or something that catches my eye (atypical applicants, from an under-represented group, overcoming hardship, having interesting cultural or linguistic skills or experiences, etc.).
I then spend quite a bit of time reading and reviewing these applications, reducing the list and rereading applications (mostly letters and statements, and reviewing transcripts), until I identify 5-7 applicants to invite for an interview. Sometimes applicants can't come for an interview – they can arrange for a phone or Skype interview. After the interviews are complete (all must be completed by our Interview Day in February), I then rank the top applicants. In cooperation with the Director of Clinical Training (DCT), I then invite my top ranked applicant to join the program. If an applicant declines the invitation, we move to the next ranked applicant. We follow the APA rules for admissions and allow applicants to hold an offer until mid-April. For the program as a whole, we typically extend 10-15 offers to fill the 6-8 positions. Usually I admit one student to work in my lab, but would consider taking two students when there is an exceptional applicant pool.
The process is fickle and depends upon some factors beyond your (or my) control, including funding issues and what other applicants apply. If you have not already done so, consider using resources to help you develop an application, such as Mitch Prinstein’s web pages.
Can I arrange a time to meet with you by telephone or in person?
Although there have been exceptions in unusual circumstances, I do not usually meet with any applicant until the interview day. I usually also prefer to defer conversations about research topics until after I have a chance to review the applications. One exception to this rule is that sometimes applicants need more information to help them decide whether to apply to the program. If you want to talk to help you decide about applying, then perhaps we can arrange a time to talk by phone. I certainly do not mean to dissuade you from applying, but I also feel that it is necessary to give you accurate information to help you make an informed decision.
How else can prospective graduate students learn more about your lab?
Prospective graduate students are invited to email me or call me in my office. You can also call my research lab (815-753-7016). If you catch one of my graduate students by phone, please introduce yourself and ask them if they can take a few minutes to speak with you. Graduate students are an important source of information about a program, a research lab, and an advisor.
What types of outcomes can I expect from your lab?
I have a strong and active lab. My graduate students are well-trained, publish in peer-reviewed journals, present at national professional conferences, and have good employment outcomes. More information about my former and current students can be found in the former students and current students section of this website. At the very bottom of this page is a document with some additional information about my lab that was handed out at the Clinical Psychology Open House this year.
What courses do you teach?
Most semesters I teach one undergraduate course (usually PSYC 316: Introduction to Psychopathology; PSYC 417: Behavior Modification or PSYC 413: Clinical Psychology Laboratory) and one graduate course (usually PSYC 644: Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy; PSYC 654: Psychotherapy Practicum; PSYC 680C: Multicultural Diversity, Supervision, and Consultation). In the past I have also taught PSYC 642: Personality Assessment and PSYC 641: Advanced Psychopathology at the graduate level.
What is your approach to teaching?
My teaching philosophy is communicated to my students on my course syllabi. On the syllabus for Cognitive Behavioral Theory and Techniques (PSYC 644), one of the course objectives is: “Students will take an active role in their learning and preparation for their professional goals, and actively pursuing improvement in the skills needed for that work through discussion, practice, and reading.” All of my syllabi also include the following description of roles and responsibilities: “The teachers’ role is to teach and evaluate. This includes administration of and communication about the course; providing lectures, class activities, and assignments; grading assignments, participation, and exams; and being available to facilitate students’ learning. The students’ role is to learn. This includes attending and participating in class; completing the readings and assignments in a timely manner; taking the exams; and asking questions to clarify procedures, assignments, and curriculum issues.” I create and facilitate training opportunities that are tailored to students’ needs and abilities. I include activities to engage and motivate students, particularly early in the semester. I work hard at teaching and providing reasonable and appropriate accommodations. I am particularly responsive to those students that are engaged and working hard to learn. I am actively engaged in teaching and in improving my teaching. I continue to work on improving my classroom teaching and staying abreast of developments with the academic and professional practice fields. I also do some research related to teaching effectiveness.
What is your approach to mentoring students?
The clinical program creates a mentorship structure during the first year through a first year apprenticeship. I work with about one new graduate student each year as he or she writes a paper for PSYC 642 (Advanced Psychopathology) in the Fall, and designs a project for PSYC 671D (Clinical Research Methods) in the Spring. I often try to involve new graduate students in my lab by having them be first author on a submission to the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) – the deadline is usually around March 1.
Graduate students are encouraged to work on projects in addition to their thesis and dissertation projects, to collaborate with and support the research of other graduate students, and to participate in a community of colleagues engaged in clinical science. The thesis and dissertation constitute the core of my work with students as they build a coherent professional identity that also includes clinical training and service.
Early on, projects might be conceived largely by me. As students progress through the program, they take on increasing levels of independence. Students are expected to take ownership of their own program of research. By the dissertation stage, my role is one of consultant or senior colleague, and the student plays the primary role in the conception, design, and execution of the dissertation project.
I try to be responsive to students requests for help, such as by returning drafts to students in a timely manner. Students usually meet with me about once a week when working on drafts of manuscripts (thesis, dissertation, and papers for presentation or publication), getting feedback on new material each meeting.
During some periods, such as when students are preparing for candidacy exams, students might meet with me as infrequently as once or twice a semester. During busy times when I am not able to return drafts quickly, I ask students to schedule an hour during which I will dedicate to reading drafts and writing comments, and they will check in on me to keep me on task and get feedback.
Students sometimes like to have a structure and a set of deadlines to keep them on track. I often work with students to break larger projects down into tasks, and to establish a set of deadlines for each task.
I am often not on contract in the summer, but I am usually available to work with students during this time as well. My willingness to help students is greatest for those that are hard working and making appropriate progress. I have been blessed with graduate students that are so able and hard working, which makes my job much easier and more rewarding.
Current and past graduate students are an important source of information about my mentoring. I believe that they will tell you that I am responsive, that I am generous with authorship and support for them and their research, that I work hard and expect them to work hard, that I hold my students to a high standard, and that my students are well-prepared for their orals, internship, and careers. You can contact my former and current students; contact information can be found in the former students and current students sections of this website.
What are your clinical interests and approach?
I believe every client has the right to make their own decisions and to proceed at their own pace, and that the role of the therapist is to provide good information and help clients understand what is likely to help. I work mainly with adults and older adolescents. When working with children, I take a collaborative approach by providing consultation to one of my clinic colleagues that specialize in working with children.
Much of my clinical work is for individuals with one or more of the major anxiety disorders (e.g., obsessive compulsive disorder, panic disorder, social phobia, post-traumatic stress disorder, specific phobia, and generalized anxiety disorders). My approach is cognitive-behavioral, emphasizing fear reduction through exposure and incorporation of corrective information. These approaches include exposure and response prevention for obsessive compulsive disorder, interoceptive exposure for panic disorder, and prolonged exposure or cognitive reprocessing therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder.
What is your approach to clinical supervision?
Many therapists in training need support and opportunity. This includes opportunities to gain experience, to see others providing clinical services, to ask questions and get answers, and to reflect on and process their clinical experiences. Early on, many therapists-in-training prefer and benefit from concrete suggestions, such as the specific exercises and assignments embedded within treatment manuals for anxiety disorders. As many therapists in training progress through their training, they develop a deeper understanding of the theoretical models underlying these treatment approaches and increasingly move away from the scripts of the training manuals to develop and rely upon their own style, including their own language, analogies, and stories.
I often try to have students start with observation and structured clinical work, such as assessment or treatment of relatively circumscribed problems using well-developed and highly scripted protocols. I rely primarily upon behavioral and cognitive approaches for the treatment of anxiety disorders. I try to give new therapists in clinical cases that involve behavioral or cognitive-behavioral treatment of relatively circumscribed anxiety problems. These treatments are relatively easier to learn, have enough complexity to offer opportunities for development of conceptualization skills, and are usually quite effective. As therapists in training progress, my role as supervisor shifts away from that of advisor/teacher to one of consultant/colleague.
As a supervisor, I am responsible for the care and treatment of clients. However, I respect the fact that the clinician that actually meets and works with the client has more information than I do about the client, especially regarding interpersonal style and moment-to-moment processes. From a humanistic (Rogerian) perspective, therapy can be thought of as a process by which the client and therapist attempt to develop a common understanding of the client’s problem. Supervision in turn can be thought of as a process by which the therapist and supervisor develop a common understanding of the client’s problem. This view puts the therapist in the middle of two potentially conflicting view, in which the therapist must ask the client to reconcile what the client knows to be true with the treatment model, and simultaneously must ask the supervisor to reconcile the treatment model with the clients experience, perceptions, feelings, beliefs, and values.
Avoidance is a common and critical feature of anxiety disorders, but clients often do not see their avoidance behavior for what it is. The more effectively the therapist can articulate the treatment model, the better informed the client will be in making decisions about how to live their life, how to proceed with therapy, and whether they will continue avoiding situations that are not truly dangerous. The supervisor can help the therapist to understand and articulate the treatment model. To the degree that the client is ready, the supervisor can help the therapist to understand how to implement the model. Therapists are not responsible for their clients’ decisions, but only for whether the therapist has presented good and relevant information.
Clinical supervision is an opportunity to think more deeply about our clinical cases, about the processes of assessment and treatment, and about our development as clinicians. These opportunities for reflection sometimes require openness and disclosure, and thus are facilitated by a context of acceptance and non-evaluation. As much as the structure of our training program allows, I attempt to deal separately two types of feedback: (1) formative feedback in which I help therapists in training to better understand their weaknesses, limitations, and biases, and (2) summative feedback in which I give an appraisal of how much a therapist in training has progressed. I value growth and development in those I supervise. Clinical skills can be learned. Part of the process of becoming a clinician able to function independently is to become aware of and examine one’s implicit beliefs, to try new things, and to have some humility about one’s worldview.
What is your policy regarding graduate students as co-authors on publications?
Graduate students make substantial contributions to the development of many of the publications that come out of my research lab, and thus are listed as co-authors. Graduate students in my research lab are first authors on most publications from my research lab. All of the graduate students working in my lab are expected to publish.
Do you expect your graduate students to belong to professional organizations or attend conferences?
Yes! Graduate students in my research lab are expected to join ABCT (abct.org) as student members and to attend the ABCT annual conference. Depending on their interests, I also encourage them to consider joining APA (apa.org), APS (psychologicalscience.org), OCF (ocfoundation.org), ADAA (adaa.org), MPA (midwesternpsych.org), and ISTSS (istss.org).