HI guys, My name is Tia and I am from NY. I am currently a Psychologist and run the IG page @thepresentspsych, a page for psychoeducation, mental health strategies, and awareness. I graduated about 3 yrs. ago. I did my undergrad then went to grad school both for Psychology. I have top 3 tips to share with you that I learned, it is my hope it will provide value throughout your educational career!
1). Research! – Research and make sure it is a career that you are passionate about! In addition,
i.e. job market/ job growth, salary, roles in the field (a great site is https://www.bls.gov/ces/, just type the job in the search box). Also, do this by reaching out to people in the field, most love to talk to students, ask what their day to day role looks like and their job satisfaction.
2). Ask ?s!- Don’t be afraid to ask ?s/ mess up. I learned this during my internship especially. Remember, this is their job and they've already been through school and are in the field (specifically in internships, your "supervisor" is just grateful you’re there to help and they know you’re still learning). Therefore, take full advantage of this time when, not only are you allowed, but also EXPECTED to mess up (because we all do!). Absorb their knowledge and take advantage of this financial and time commitment you are making by getting all you can out of it by asking ?s.
3) Practice Self Care! – This is a lifelong skill. Don’t burn yourself out by "powering through" assignments or always pulling all nighters (yes it happens, but try to be mindful). If you burn yourself out you won’t be the best student you can be. Look up productivity tips (i.e. chunking, task batching, cognitive breaks). This is a good practice to start now for when you're in the field. From my experience, my field is emotionally taxing and if I burn out, I can’t provide the best services to my population. Practice self-care now so that you can be the best whatever it is you want to be in the future!
I hope this helps. I have more self-care strategies and some productivity tips on my IG @thepresentspsych. Let me know how these tips work for you.
I wish you all the best & remember to take care of your whole self,
Tia
Agreed. I experienced similar feelings (felt like I was “bothering” them). It’s important to remember that they took on a student to supervise so they know that this comes with that. However, if this still is a fear, I think it may be helpful to frame questions in a way that tells them “I want to help you, make things easier on you so I want it to be correct” type of way. I’ll use myself as a psychologist intern for an example (I had to write psych evals for individuals to obtain services): “I need help with x, I want to make sure it is right so that the meeting for services goes quick and smooth when we meet.” Hope this helps:)
Love these Tia! Learning through experience is definitely more beneficial than I thought...I just did my first internship.
Asking ?s can feel so overwhelming sometimes. It can be tough to know where to start, and I hate feeling like I have stupid questions or I'm bothering them.