I'm a clinical psychology doctoral candidate finishing up my Psy.D degree. I was originally born in Accra, Ghana, and moved to the States with my family when I was young. I studied Neuroscience in my undergrad life at Indiana University. I then studied at Boston University, obtaining my master's in Health Sciences. My passions have always been reflected in his life as I served as a dental assistant, clinical informatics specialist, pharmaceutical assistant, and currently as a certified personal trainer/medical exercise specialist. My ultimate goal is to help people holistically through physical, emotional, and psychological evidence-based interventions.
Hi Phil. Currently in my first year of the MSW. It's an MSW with a clinucal therapy focus in year 2. Internship is going great. They say my coworkers and i may start some guided therapy sessions with clients in mid semester. it's an internship with the sole focus of mental health therapy. The MSW students will also help find resources like food programs and more for clients who need the resources. The first few weeks are trainings though. I'm excited! Currently behind on all of the systems theory readings but i'm catching up on schedule!
Thanks so much for this video brother. I am 47 years young and I just started my journey to becoming a sport psychologist. I’m getting my undergraduate degree now, I will get my masters after that. I’ve been a personal trainer for 20 years so you think that counts towards experience? Throughout the 20 year span I have trained several athletes, I feel like sport psychology is a natural career progression for me.
In the U.S. a straightforward path would be to become a clinical psychologist and then specialize in neuropsychology. Neurology requires a whole separate education including a 4 year medical school term and residency after that, so its like having two separate doctoral degrees
Very much depends so much on the individual student. There are some general rankings on google for psyd/phd programs. As long as its accredited, there's low turnover between faculty, high success of licensure, and a research lab that you are intersted in, then it might be a good fit for you, but its hard to come up with an objective list of universities. Reaching out to students and asking them about the program on LinkedIn or on social media is also a great way to gauge how good the program is.
Im currently a mental health case manager and I’m thinking about going back to school and deciding between the mental health field and tech industry, After listening to this interview it makes me wonder about a career where a neurologist can work in tech to create or improve technology for the mental health industry.
Such a great idea! I think in the world of AI there will be a lot of opportunities for clinicians to partner with tech or pursue their own lane in tech for the betterment of patients.
Typically neurologists go to medical school after the undergrad/college degree and then do a residency after that. Clinical psychology is a separate process, from college, to a phd/psyd, and then licensure
HI i was wondering if forensic psychologist go to crime scenes or do criminal psychologist do that. Can you please do a video about the difference between forensic and criminal psychology ❤ thank you
Typically the forensic psychologist is hired by the lawyer or attorney to do an assessment for their cilent, like a personality or psychological assessment. I'm not sure if they go to crime scenes but I can look into that and see if a specialist will come to the channel and discuss, great idea!
Another critical component regarding finding out about a patient's mental health before surgery concerns anaesthesia. When a patient is suffering with a MH disorder, they may have a difficult time with staying regulated while under which can lead to serious or even fatal consequences. Moreover, negative interactions can sometimes take place if the patient is taking MH medications. Unfortunately, this component has been overlooked or simply discounted too many times resulting in grave outcomes.
Depending on the organization or medical field/expertise psycholgoists may work in integrated medical settings like with a neuroscientist or neurologist to specialist in neuro-rehab
I would appreciate your input and opinion on going into the realm of sports psychology. Its a growing field as pronsports teams are now mandating they be on staff
Hey Phil! Your video was super helpful. I just want some more clarity on something. I am currently finishing up my bachelors in Social and behavioral Sciences at Seton Hall University. I am looking into grad school now, and came across two programs (one is an MA in psychological sciencesc at Montclair State and the other is an MA in clincial/counseling psych at William Patterson University) I have also found a PhD program in clinical psychology which is a 86-credit program at both those schools. Do you think I can become a successful sports psychologist if I do one of those masters programs and then get my CMPC certification? Or do you think I should just go straight for my PhD and then obtain the certification? I am trying to figure out the best and most efficient way that saves time and money in becoming a sports psychologist. Let me know, thanks!
Great questions! Please feel free to reach me at pkssarpong@gmail for more personalized general advice, but its going to depend on your end goal and how you would use the doctorate differently than a masters. If the masters gets you the bare minimum for what you want to achive and do then thats great, getting a doctorate has its advantages but only in the way that you intend to use it for. For example some like to use the doctorate for teaching, research, more opportunities to become a consultant, lead organizations (perhaps become a mental health administrator for a sports team), things like that. If you just want to walk with athletes, do coaching and therapy then a masters might be all you need, but again every person will be different in terms of their end goal. Best of luck! Just a note, you can't call yourself a sports psychologist without a doctorate in most cases, so having the masters and the certification allows you to call yourself a mental health coach/consultant but not a psychologist (since that's a legally protected term) in the U.S.
Why wouldn’t you get into a psyd program with a masters? I assume it’s because they didn’t get accepted but how are you not getting accepted with a masters? Or is it just choice? And if you don’t get accepted is that it? Or do you get reapply at a later date?
In the U.S. a masters is not required in order to get accepted into a psyd program. Many students in my cohort actually came straight from undergrad. For those who have a masters and are applying to psyd programs, it will make them more competetive, but it's not a guranteed accepatance. Since clinical psychology is already extremely competetive, depending on the school selection, there may be also a lot of applicants who have masters degrees who are applying as well. Whether going for a masters or not is fully dependent on the student, their application strengths and weaknesses, choice of schools, clinical/research experience, location, and so much more, so it's important for students to make the best choice for themselves regardless of what others are doing. Hope that helps!
I have a masters in school psychology and a BS in psychology but I have 0 research experience and did not go to masters program that required a thesis. Based on your experience, how vital is research experience? This is the only thing deterring me from applying to PsyD programs
PsyD programs sometimes focus less on research than PhD programs BUT it depends on the psyd program. Sometimes contacting the admissions dept on schools and asking them via email can be helpful, but in general its typically advised to have a little research experience when applying since most to all psyd programs will have a dissertation component and want to make sure their prospective students can handle the work load in that area. Feel free to check out more on my channel about getting research experience if you're looking for some!
Hello sir I'm about to start my Master's program in Cognitive Neuroscience and Clinical Neuropsychology this semester and my bachelor's degree was psychology. This was a beneficial conversation for me. Thanks
I'm a high school student, and am currently taking Ap Psychology and love it. Can you make a video about what a high school student has to do to become a neuropsychologist.
I’m a black man who played football in college, I have a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Master’s Degree in Exercise and Sports Science, my goal is to become a sports psychologist but it’s so hard to find information for such a rare and specialized field such as this so I appreciate this interview, would love to be able to get in contact with Dr. Quincy Davis
Hello! Great content :) I am wanting to go to hard school for mental health but not sure which degree is good for me! Could you do a video comparing and contrasting options? Psyd vs ma social work vs mhc!
Good question! Sometimes you might ask for them to post before, if thats not an option you could see if there are certain themes or points that they like to focus on in the lecture. That could clue students in to what to focus on when they do the readings on their own. This is really tricky, but i found the better i know my professor and what they seem to talk a lot about the better I’m keyed into what to take notes on when i do the readings. Hope that helps!
Does it matter if the bachelors is of science or of arts? What is the difference and do jobs really care? I’m considering going into a neuropsych program and I understand the course work is what matters but if I chose to get a bachelors @ Long Beach, would I have to take an extra year to even be considered into a program? A B.A is more obtainable and plausible than a B.S at a UC but would it hurt me in the long run?
For most people it won't matter either science or arts, but it might be good to check with grad programs just in case. Jobs are typically the same and won't care as much unless there's something about the job that recommends either arts or science. To get into a neuropsych program in the U.S. a college degree is required, a masters is optional, and typically GRE is optional too in most cases. As for the BA/BS typically students either choose what is more interesting to them, or what would look more preferrableon a cv/resume when applying for a graduate program. At the end of the day working backwards finding what grad schools prioritize what and trying to make your application as close to that as possible can help. Best of luck!
The truth about getting a degree in Psyc is, that unless you have at least a Masters, there is no point. Even an Honours is useless in terms of job prospects.
Yeah I certainly think its important to have a plan in how students would like to use the degree before beginning or in the early years of college to maximize its use! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for this video. So i have a bachelors in psychology from my country, Zimbabwe. I live in the USA and have been for the last two years. I evaluated my degree and got a 3.4GPA. Thing is I’m struggling to get employment. I don’t what i can do to upskill myself so i can be employable.
Yeah, really great question! I know a lot of students in this position. Typically it might help to start in a research or teaching assistant, perhaps volunteering could bring up some opportunities for internships, networking with past faculty and professors is also helpful! Wish you the best of luck!
This was helpful. Thank you. I will be working with Women's Empowerment and Human Trafficking: my goal is to be a Restoration Coach. It is challenging because I don't know where this type of counseling fits. And, I want to be prepared. I will continue to research, as I am moving toward this. I am in the state of California.
- Can I apply to Neuropsychology with a Clinical Master's degree? -There are two other branches related to brain functioning that you mentioned before. Does Neuropsychology have a competitive edge among them? ❤
Yes, in the U.S. you can apply to a neuropsychology/clinical psychology program with a masters degree! Typically neuropsychology is known to be the primary specialty for brain function, cognitive or forensic psychology does a lot of testing/assessment too
hey! I loved this video, helped me a lot :) I have a question too - I'm curious, what do you think about majoring in biology before a neuroscience master?
