CSP@UR: Graduate Studies: Our Graduate Students Speak Their Minds

Clinical & Social Sciences in Psychology

Our Graduate Students Speak Their Minds

Why did you choose the University of Rochester?
What is it like to be in the department?
What is it like to live in Rochester?
What types of clinical training opportunities have you had as a graduate student here? [For CLINICAL students]

Why did you choose the University of Rochester?

I chose the program for the productivity and expertise of the faculty as well as the commitment of the department's leadership to meeting the needs of their students (graduate students here are very much a part of the department, instead of just 'cogs' in the machinery). There are adequate resources available for professional, publishable research. Less tangibly, the program here just 'felt right,' with its laid-back sense of camaraderie in the context of a serious academic research orientation.
I chose the U of R mainly because of the emphasis on quality research. I felt that Rochester offered the extraordinary opportunity to work and collaborate with many fine researchers and scholars while remaining a small department with personalized programs.
I chose the University of Rochester because my research interests matched that of my advisor the best here, and I knew right away that I would enjoy working with my advisor. One thing I had been told is that the relationship one has with his/her research advisor really impacts how much one enjoys graduate school. I have found this to be true for me, and doubt that I could have found a more supportive advisor elsewhere. In meeting faculty, students, and support staff during interview weekend, I also had the sense that this was a more supportive environment (versus competitive) that I had been used to, and really wanted that in a graduate program. I was also really impressed with the type and amount of clinical training available, because most research-oriented programs I had looked into had less emphasis on clinical training.
It was an ideal place to explore my dual interest in neural development and language acquisition. In addition, when interviewing here, I had a strong impression that students were happy within the department.
Research interests; specifically, my advisor's.
Faculty research interests matched my research interests.
My reason was to work with Rich Ryan in Self-determination theory.
To study with a particular faculty member. Also, I was an undergrad at U of R and have a fondness for the University.
I was interested in human motivation research, and I knew that U of R was a major center (if not THE center) for motivation research. I also had a very good intuitive feeling about the program, faculty, and students after visiting for my interview.
The clinical and research opportunities at the Mt. Hope Family Center.
My primary research interest is in motivation. This program was unique in that I could not only pursue my clinical degree but have a forum in the form of the human motivation group to have an exciting exchange of ideas about research. In addition, I have a particular affinity for Self-Determination Theory so this place was a natural choice to work from that theoretical perspective.
There was a match between my research interests and my advisor's. Geographical location also a plus.
Moving back to be closer to family. But the department definitely impressed me a lot.
Who is here, and what the program offers.
For the motivation research group and Ed Deci and Rich Ryan. Also for the structure of the program which leaves students in general free to work with more than one researcher.

What is it like to be in the department?

Friendly atmosphere, challenging courses.
In addition to being knowledgeable and well respected in their fields, in my experience, the faculty are very accessible and very willing to work with students on an individual basis. They help students develop reasonable research strategies and help those plans to come to fruition. Pretty much everyone in the department encourages your successes, and will collaborate with you to fully explore your interests and to refine and utilize your abilities.
Faculty are easily accessible and approachable.
The department is a friendly and accepting place in which to work and study. Faculty and students not only interact using a first name basis, but power differentials between faculty and students are minimized, and students are treated in a collegial manner. Faculty members are generally quite available to students and are open to students dropping in without appointments. Although there is support from faculty, it is pretty important in this program to be able to work autonomously, especially in conducting research. The workload is demanding but not unreasonable. Initially, the course load is heavy but later, clinical work or research occupies more of our time, which means that we have a busy schedule most of the time. In general, the courses are interesting and well taught, and the knowledge gained in valuable and relevant. The clinical courses are excellent in helping us to learn how to conduct assessments and psychodynamic psychotherapy. The instructors and clinical supervisors are very competent and skilled. I have found the use of video- or audiotapes, which is the norm for our clinical courses, to be extremely useful learning tools.
I like most aspects of the department here. Faculty-student relationships are typically casual and friendly, quite collegial; and in general, this is a good place to learn a lot.
Excellent new focus on neurobiology, specifically, the course in Neurobiological Foundations.
The atmosphere of the department is conducive to learning and research--it is relaxed and non-competitive, yet serious and focused. I have had very positive relationships with both the faculty and students.
Faculty are very supportive of students' own initiatives.
Faculty-student relationships are supportive, friendly, available. There is a good range of courses, but we are too limited in the ability to take courses of general interest outside of the requirements.
I am constantly amazed that the faculty all are "tops" in their respective areas of research. Through the department I have been exposed to important work done in the areas of motivation, community psychology, interpersonal relationships, and child maltreatment to name just a few.
So far I have found the department to be extremely supportive. I honestly feel like the faculty want me to succeed and have a positive educational experience.
I find the faculty to be a very kind and caring group of people who are interested in helping you to develop personally and professionally. I have been afforded great opportunities to pursue research and write papers for publication. They encourage development of your own ideas and pursuits rather than give you a formula for what you will do.
The climate amongst students is collegial rather than "cutthroat" and competitive. However, there is generally little collaboration amongst students. This is something that is recognized and is currently being considered to be a direction to move towards.
Small department makes it easy to get to know people. However, as I became more involved with clinical work, there was more distance I felt with faculty, other than with advisor, just because of the amount of time spent elsewhere.
Faculty-student relationships are casual and I feel free to express my opinion on most things that affect my life as a student and even outside of school. I've had many opportunities to collaborate on new and ongoing projects with many faculty. Some projects were applied and some were laboratory-based.

What is it like to live in Rochester?

Rochester is a friendly place to live. There are lots of cultural activities and events to attend, for very little cost. Great for winter activities (X-country skiing, downhill, sledding, ice-skating, etc.).
Safe community, everything is easily accessible, beautiful summers, great skiing.
Rochester is a very livable city, having a lot of the benefits of a large city without many of the pitfalls. Crime is not much of a problem, and there is plenty to do (even in the wintertime), including artistic and cultural activities as well as a diversity of shopping and nightlife. Within an hour of Rochester are some great day-trip destinations, including ski areas, great hiking spots, wineries, sightseeing, and of course, Niagara Falls. It is pretty easy to find and afford decent housing in a quiet neighborhood near campus, if you start looking early (1-2 months before the semester begins). Grad students from the department regularly get together for bouts of revelry and nights out as well as hikes, Frisbee games, and the like.
Rochester is large enough that there is plenty to do, but not so large that there is a lot of rush-hour traffic or other problems associated with large cities. There are at least five or so parks within 5 miles of campus, and plenty of reasonably priced housing nearby. In my spare time, I often ride my bike along the canal & river which pass through Rochester, hang out at McGregor's (a favorite nearby pub/restaurant), go to concerts, etc.
In general, Rochester has the advantage of being large enough to enjoy fine cultural events and a rich nightlife, while retaining the ease and friendliness of a smaller town. More specifically, as a student I think it is helpful that a variety of affordable living situations are available; you can choose either suburban, city, or country living within a few miles of campus.
Living in this city is probably the biggest disadvantage of studying at the University of Rochester. We get a lot of cloudy, rainy days and cold weather. The spring and summers are beautiful though, especially if you enjoy the outdoors as I do (with plenty of opportunities to go hiking, biking, or hang out by any of the Finger Lakes). During the winter, I mainly go to movies, or for dinner or coffee with friends. The fact that coffee shops and many of the restaurants close easy can put a damper on things (pubs are open later though). Although the nightlife leaves much to be desired, there are a couple of lounges or clubs that are fun to go to. There are also many opportunities to go to plays, dance shows, operas, art openings/exhibits, and concerts put on by the students from the Eastman School of Music, and I enjoy those when I get the chance to go.
Rochester, despite being a small city, is pretty fun. There's a really active dance community (contra, swing, cajun/zydeco), which I enjoy, and there's lots of music and theater to enjoy. The grocery store, Wegmans, is amazing. It's really easy to get around, park; and the cost of living is pretty reasonable, so you can survive on your stipend. Given how busy most graduate students are, Rochester is a great place to be in graduate school. There's always something to do, but it's also just pretty convenient to live here.
Swing and Latin dancing!
I find Rochester to be a fun place to live...there are many free concerts and low-priced movies to see, and it is also not as congested as some of the larger cities in which I have lived.
Finger Lakes are great for boating & swimming in summer; good XC skiing in winter (lots of snow). Close to Toronto for cultural activities.
If you come from a big city, it takes getting used to (relatively few diverse attractions). But in truth, I like the quietude that Rochester has to offer. There are good jazz and other music offerings, especially through Eastman.
Rochester has all of the amenities of a big city with a small town flavor. It has things to do without being distracting. The program keeps you quite busy but working out at the gym, going swing dancing, and seeing films are some of the fun things that I do.
There is not too much to do. Good place to study, for sure. Cafes, movies, restaurants are good. Definitely prefer the non-winter months. Rochester is a wonderful place to be then. Lots of outdoors places and things to do.
It is a quiet city in general. I've taken modern dance and ballet lessons and have volunteered at a local animal shelter. There are very good restaurants and some good shows coming to the area. Toronto is accessible for weekend trips.

What types of clinical training opportunities have you had as a graduate student here? [For CLINICAL students]

Opportunities to work with both child and adult populations at local centers and hospitals.
I have had the opportunity to work in a Developmental Neuropsychology clinic, as an extern, for a year. This was an exciting chance to see neuropsychology in action, and to be exposed to a variety of interesting children. The supervisor was great about letting me work with the most interesting cases.
My primary experience has been through the university counseling and mental health services. This placement has an experiential, psychodynamic bent, which fits my personality well. Through my internship here I have also been exposed to rotations through the psychiatric emergency department and have learned how to do consulting and outreach services to the community. Overall, this experience has helped me grow personally and continues to challenge me as a budding therapist.
An exciting opportunity that I had was to work as a research assistant on a project investigating genetics and family factors in autism. I helped do behavioral assessments with family members (where a child had autism) and participated in lab meetings where we discussed, essentially, implications of genetic findings for behavioral outcomes, and vice versa. This was a chance to build up my clinical experience by focusing very closely on one developmental disorder, autism.
Most of my experience is with brief individual psychodynamic psychotherapy and group therapy among University of Rochester students (both undergraduates and graduates), and I have found the training, supervision, and support I received to be exceptional. Also, I have implemented outreach programs on the university campus, served as a consultant to residential life, and been involved in screening for depression, eating disorders, and alcohol-related problems. I have also run and/or supervised psychoeducational groups with adolescent girls in high schools that focused on women's issues. Finally, I was involved in conducting and evaluating neuropsychological assessments with elderly persons with sleep disorders.
I was able to structure my community mental health practicum as a chance to supervise undergraduates as they worked as aides in classrooms of individuals (children and young adults) with developmental disabilities. This was a fun way to build my understanding of how to supervise effectively, and it also was a chance to learn a lot about the special education system.
Child and family therapy training at Mt. Hope Family Center; adult/child at a rural mental health center; adolescent/adult at CMHS.
I had a chance to work in an adult neuropsychology weekly clinic at the U of R's Strong Memorial Hospital. The faculty and post doc supervisors helped me learn to conduct patient and family interviews, to do testing, to score tests; and then we would discuss the findings and the implications. I also got to write up reports, with a lot of feedback from them. This was truly an outstanding experience; as a teaching hospital, the faculty members at Strong are committed to acting as supervisors for interested students. This experience went hand-in-hand with two other activities: 1) I worked to facilitate a traumatic brain injury (TBI) support group. The members were from a broad variety of levels of functioning, and I worked to help them support, listen, and educate each other about TBI. 2) I attended (and continue to attend) a city-wide weekly meeting (rounds) of neuropsychologists from a variety of specialties: epilepsy, movement disorders, TBI, geriatric, pediatric, schizophrenia, etc. The rounds include case conferences, research reports, visiting speakers, etc., and have exposed me to the whole panorama of neuropsychology.
I have spent a year working with maltreated preschoolers and their parents from an attachment model perspective. This experience provided great insight into the dynamic workings of families, and provided training in evaluating and interacting therapeutically with young children. Practically, I learned how to do psychological assessments, conduct play and dyadic therapy sessions, and coordinate diverse services for my clients (DSS, childcare, preschool, to name a few). This experience highlighted the everyday struggles many families have in simply attaining basic needs (food, clothing) and struggles they face in navigating the department of social services, the courts, and employment while still committing to care for each other.
I am presently in my second year in the program and have been involved in a variety of different clinical experiences through the University and also through Strong Memorial Hospital. For example, I conducted diagnostic testing at Strong Memorial Hospital for a study examining the genetics of autism. I was trained in the administration of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule — a structured observational measure in which the clinician provides a child with a series of semi-structured social and play situations designed to elicit specific types of social and communicative behaviors. I was also trained on the Autism Diagnostic Interview — a semi-structured interview administered to primary caregivers covering topics such as, the child's developmental history, quality of social interaction, communicative abilities, play and imaginative capabilities, etc. I used these measures to help diagnose children with autism and other Pervasive Developmental Disabilities. I also got the opportunity to participate in a number of home visits and to observe children receiving ABA and music therapy sessions. During these experiences I received supervision from psychologists and a pediatrician specializing in the care of children with Developmental Disabilities. I presently see three clients at the Community Mental Health Center and get weekly group and individual supervision regarding my therapy sessions.
I have found that for health psychology, the department's connections to the area hospitals have provided me with ample experience. For strict clinical work, it seems very limited - Counseling and Mental Health Services (CMHS), Mt. Hope Family Center, Albion Community Mental Health Center. I find the training at CMHS is excellent - luckily I work within a psychodynamic framework. If you're into CBT, CMHS is not the place to be.
CMHS, rural community mental health center, assessment experiences at RPC, and a juvenile group home. Community psychology practicum was good
Lots of freedom to create something or to jump into established organizations. I led support groups for bereaved children.