|
|
Independent Practitioner/Fall 2005 |
||
|
Practitioner Information |
The Mentors’ Corner Miguel E. Gallardo, & Michael Murphy |
||
|
Division 42 Mentor Program: Division 42’s mentoring program, Colleague to Colleague, is up and running. Clearly, it is meeting a need in the Division. We already have 12 pairs of mentors and mentees working together. I hope C2C will continue to grow and be even more successful. If you are interested in being paired with a mentor to assist you in your practice or if you are interested and willing to share your expertise with a colleague please contact the coordinator of our mentoring program, Frank Froman, at frankf@adams.net . Emily Mohr wrote: I am a “new professional” and I am really struggling with feeling out of place. I’m wondering if anyone has any suggestions or thoughts that might help. I have just completed my internship and am in the final stages of finishing up my dissertation. I’ll be defending at the end of September and will have counseling psych Ph.D. in hand in December. I am earning my degree from the University of Utah, did my internship in Texas, and am now living in Michigan because that’s where my fiancé is going to grad school. Needless to say, I’m a woman without a country. New place, new phase of life, new job (which is only providing me with about 3 hours of work per week and no money thus far). I’m feeling very alone and lost. I’m wondering how other people dealt with the vast unknown that is life after grad school. In particular, I’m working for an outpatient clinic which is why things are so slow. No new referrals so I just trickle along with my three clients. All of the things that I reflected upon as meaningful (my work, my school, my friends, and my family) are gone or very far away. I have my fiancé (who is also really stressed and frazzled with his grad program), but I can’t rely on him to be my entire life. Thoughts on how to cope with this? Get involved I suppose, but how? Any ideas would be entirely appreciated! Tammy Martin Causey responded: I can certainly empathize with your situation. Due to a variety of circumstances, I have moved to three different states in the past 10 years. Each time comes the tasks of grieving the loss of local connections while concurrently making new ones. It can be overwhelming. You didn’t mention if you were looking to start your own practice, join a group practice, or look for a job in an agency, etc. How you get out there might depend on your goals. And I guess what further complicates things is whether you’ll be seeking licensure in the state you are in or if you know where you’ll be moving. And I assume you’re looking for postdoc hours? Even with all the unanswered questions, I would still recommend a couple of things. Connect with the campus counseling center and your state psychological association. Even if the counseling center doesn’t have anything to offer you, ask if you can meet with them to learn of networking opportunities on campus and in the local community as you are new and want to meet other psychologists. Who knows, maybe they know somebody who knows somebody who can connect you with a great job. Also, in connecting with your state psychological association, volunteer on a committee of interest. You’d be amazed at the relationships you might develop and how they might connect you with professionals in another state if you plan to move in a couple of years. Also, not to increase anxiety or anything, but are you studying for licensure? If so, inquire on campus about study groups. You may make friends who are going through similar struggles. I would also encourage you to think about your interests outside of psychology and reconnect with them again since you have some free time. I am assuming that as a graduate student, you didn’t have time for outside hobbies and interests! Now is the time! Join or sign up for something that interests you. It’s a great way to meet new friends. And keep posting to this list! E-buddies can be a great resource also. Terry Chang added: I agree with what Tammy wrote -- get connected with the state psych assoc., and if there is a local association, get involved there, too. I was actually in a very similar situation as you and I got a terrific job lead (and eventually the job) from my first meeting at the local association! If you are looking for postdoc possibilities -- what I did was look broadly -- at master’s level positions as well as structured postdocs. Look at the papers, internet, etc. The salary at that level is similar to what you’d get at a postdoc at anyway. So I negotiated to have supervision from a qualified psychologist and “created” my own postdoc that way. I ended up loving my experience, and when it was over, I was able to negotiate for a raise, because I was now licensed. Jane Smith asked: I am a psychologist in a rural area in the Midwest, and in my current position I want to do new things to develop professionally but this is not possible for many reasons, and as a result I feel quite stifled in my work. There is a real need for private practitioners in my area, but I need to have a set income, and my current position would consider it a conflict of interest for me to both work there and to be in private practice. There is only one other psychologist where I work--my boss. So I feel quite isolated from other psychologists. Less than an hour away from me, there is a medium-sized city (population about 300,000) and there is a small organization of psychologists. They don’t meet very often and have no meetings scheduled for the foreseeable future, but they do have a listserv with a few members (including me). I would like to introduce myself to that listserv in some way and also ask if anyone would be willing to meet with me to talk about what they do and any opportunities they know of, etc., but I feel hesitant because I think it’s awkward to start networking when your clear goal is a job and this can put pressure on any new contacts you’re trying to establish. Any advice on how to proceed would be greatly appreciated! Nichole Parkhouse-Walsh responded: When I was doing career planning, I used the book “What Color is Your Parachute,” a great career book. It places a lot of emphasis on networking when finding a job and developing one’s career, and the advice that he gave is to have a healthy social network before you begin to ask help for getting a job--making sure that people know that you like and respect them first, then ask them for job advice later. This way they don’t feel like you’re using them. It would seem to me that you could make contact and get to know the psychologists in the city first, and then after you feel comfortable, start asking for career advice. David Ballard added: Great discussion about networking. In August, the APA Practice Organization had an article in our electronic newsletter, PracticeUpdate, about networking and making connections. As a former APAGS leader and current ECP (and now APA staff member), I have experienced first-hand the importance of “getting out of the office” and making connections in both professional circles and the local community. Some of you may not be aware of this, but practitioner members of APA have access to the Practice Organization’s website, www.APApractice.org as a member benefit. In addition to the networking article, there is lots of content about marketing and building your practice in the “Practice Management” section of the website. Stacy Salant contributed: Your idea is a good way to get started meeting some people. Contacts seem to be everything in this business. I am finishing my first year in private practice and I can say that it’s only now that my networking is paying off, so getting started sooner rather than later is important. Eileen Kennedy-Moore adds: Good for you for realizing the importance of networking and not letting yourself get trapped in isolation! I would suggest getting out your phone book and calling psychologists who work where you’d like to work--the regular people, not the head honchos. These are networking calls, rather than job-seeking calls, but you’ll meet lots of people, get lots of information, and maybe even some good job leads. Your spiel could be something like this: Hi, I’m Jane Smith. I’m an early-career psychologist (or I’m a psychologist who’s relatively new to the area). I’ve been working in a small practice in the XX area, but I’m interested in learning about other work settings. Would you mind sharing what your experiences have been like working at XX? We could meet for coffee, or I’d be happy to come to your office. (Say all of this relatively quickly, so you can say the let’s-get-together part before the interrupt.) Best scenario: You set up a date. You arrive with plenty of interested/interesting questions and a resume in your bag, which you are ready to whip out if appropriate. You meet a nice person, who might become a friend or colleague, and you get several names from them of other people you should meet. You give them your business card in case they want to contact you in the future. Next best scenario: They can’t meet, but they can give you a few minutes. Be ready with your interested/interesting questions. Be sure to ask for names of other people you should contact before you hang up. Medium scenario: They are too busy to meet or chat. Quickly ask them, “Can you suggest other people I might be able to talk with?” Worst scenario: They can’t meet or chat, and they can’t think of anyone else you should talk to. This scenario is very rare. Be polite and thank them anyway. There are lots of other names in the phone book. Getting people to suggest other people you should contact is CRUCIAL, because then you can start your spiel by saying, “Hi, I’m Jane Smith. XX suggested I call you.” I did this when I was starting my practice. It’s hard. I felt nervous and awkward. But it’s worth it. I think phone calls are the way to go, rather than trying to meet people on a listserv, because:
Lynne Padgett concludes: One piece I wanted to add is the following: Networking doesn’t stop when once you “get” the job. Continue to meet/socialize/phone these contacts, to check in with them. It’s important to remember that by meeting you, they’re developing their network also. |
|||
