My name is Shawndeeia Drinkard, the Div. 43 student/early career psychologist representative for the 2018-2019 year. I graduated from the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University Los Angeles with a PhD in clinical psychology and completed my predoctoral internship at the University of California Irvine Counseling Center. I am currently completing my postdoctoral residency at the University of California San Diego Counseling and Psychological Services. To provide a bit context for the tips and experiences that I will share, I am a black, cisgender woman, and I am a first-generation college student.
Applying to internships is arguably one of the most difficult processes (except for attending and/or teaching classes, dissertating, passing comprehensive examinations, surviving graduate school, etc.) for doctoral students in psychology. In all seriousness, the internship application process is unlike any of these other processes because it can have the ability to stretch students outside of their comfort zones forcing them to flex muscles that they either didn't know they had or haven't used in a while (e.g. marketing yourself, engaging in healthy competition or thriving under duress). While the match process can bring negative emotions and can be difficult for people, there are some great things that can come from it.
One piece of good news about the match, is that every year, people get through it successfully. In the words of many people before me, "this too shall pass." It can be hard to imagine "trusting the process," as many people may tell you to do when entering the match. In my limited experience, there is no amount of research about the numbers game of the match and anecdotal stories that can relieve the anxiety that the process can bring. Below I'll offer some tips that helped me thrive during the match in hopes that some of them may be of use to you or someone that you may come to know on their journey.
Mobilizing support systems
My key to thriving during this process was allowing the folks and communities around me to support me. As a grad student, I tended to feel most comfortable in the role of the person providing support instead of the person being supported. This posed an interesting challenge for me during the match process, because I knew that I needed love/support from the people around me but did not always know how to ask for it. My support came from family members, my faith community, friends (inside and out of my program/academia) and folks at my program/practicum sites (administrative staff, faculty members, supervisors and other students/trainees).
An example of how this support looked is that one of my cohort-mates and I agreed that we would be program buddies. We served in this role for each other throughout classes, dissertation, internship match and now through the licensure process. She and I were able to be vulnerable with each other (e.g., sharing when we received a rejection email from a site without feeling judged or embarrassed). Her support during this process was crucial for me because she was also going through the process at the same time and could relate in ways that others could not; for example, my mom, another key supporter and leader of the self-proclaimed Family Internship Materials Review Team. If you have people that you can trust, it may be important to consider leaning on them for encouragement sometimes.
Trusting the process vs trusting your own abilities
There are lots of possibilities of outcomes in the internship process. With so much uncertainty around what the outcomes will be, many folks start to feel comforted by the mantra "trust the process." That didn't quite fit for me, which may have been due to my research and extensive reading into how the "process" hurt a lot of people in the past. I shifted my thought to include trusting in my own abilities and strength as a candidate and remembered that as much as I was excited to learn and grow during internship, I too had something to offer these sites. This was an important shift for me to make because I was able sprinkle some confidence on my humbleness.
Utilizing resources
Staying informed and connected to updated information during the match process was an important factor for success in the match for me. Do your best to subscribe to credible sources as your go-to for information. It may be a good idea to contact folks in your department to get tips on resources to use. The Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centersopens in new window website is a good place to start. Additionally, time reporting service organizations often publish articlesopens in new window that have lots of resources for students.
Cheers to thriving during this process.