>> My name is Krystal Stanley and I
am a licensed psychologist and I am
in private practice so that means I meet with
individuals and couples in an office by myself.
I'm not associated with any
other company or organization.
I work a lot with people or couples dealing
with depression or anxiety and also people
who are going through transitions, so
either starting or ending a new job
or relationship, a new move, that sort of thing.
I usually see my first client at 9:00 a.m.
and on a typical day I will see
between 5 and 8 people a day.
The nice thing about living in Washington, D.C.
is that there's a lot going on here in the form
of trainings and workshops so I
don't usually have to go very far
but it's nice to be able to travel.
One thing that I've never taken a business class
and, you know, we don't really take a class
or learn about how to be a business person.
And so I've had to develop skills that are
apart from the skills I have as a psychologist
to run the business and so it take a lot
of, it's a balancing act and it takes a lot
of thoughtfulness and flexibility
but also the ability
to have really strong boundaries,
I guess, if you will.
And being able to be firm about, you
know, payment and make sure you're on top
of scheduling, make sure
that I'm keeping my notes
because that's part of my business as well.
So it's a very interesting process.
I think the thing I love the most, there are
a couple things, one, I get to meet a lot
of really interesting people and I think the
second part of that is it's really exciting
to see people wanting to make changes and going
through the process of getting to the point
of making those changes and so I get to
witness people growing and learning more
about themselves and you know, learning
to tap in to their own inner strength
and I think it's really exciting.
It's a very hopeful career, I think,
because I get to see people make
changes and I like that the best.
I enjoy helping people through that process.
The biggest challenge is the emotional
aspect of the type of work that I do.
So, you know, I see people who are having
difficulties and are having strong emotions
and sometimes these are things that
I've been through and so to be able
to remain objective while also, of
course, providing them with empathy
and being able to be empathic and sympathetic.
So, trying to maintain that balance.
Internships are very important and for
all psychology training that's approved
by the American Psychological Association,
you're required to do internships
and it's very smart, like I said, to
do internships in a variety of settings
and so for instance, when I was in
graduate school there was an opportunity
to do an internship at the career
center which I did and I loved,
and at the college counseling
center and then in the community.
So I worked with clients at a clinic where
they offered free medical and dental care
and I was free therapy for the clients, I
got a variety of people from the community.
There was also the opportunity to work
at a psychiatric hospital which some
of my classmates took advantage of.
And so, basically as an intern, you work there
as a full time clinician or part time clinician
and you're supervised by a more experienced
clinician, sometimes your sessions are taped
and you review your tapes, you
know, critique yourself if you will,
and your supervisor will do the same and
it's a way for you to learn and you know,
improve upon your skills and get
a sense of things that you do well
and areas that you want to improve on.
I think in my field it's very important
to continuously be learning and interested
in learning and to not stagnate,
I guess, you know,
you need to continuously
be exercising your mind.
I got a Bachelor's in Psychology and
also was a double major in Spanish
and so at one point I had an idea, you know,
of doing bilingual therapy so after that I went
to another university and had
got a Master's in Counseling
and then I received a Terminal degree,
a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology
from Penn State University.
The year before you graduate, or a year
before you graduate from a Doctorate program
in Psychology, you have to complete an
internship and so I moved to South Carolina
for a year, you can move all over just
depending on where you want to go,
and I worked at a college counseling center and
so that's an internship, and after you do that,
you're then eligible to apply for licensure
in whichever state or district you live in
and you have to take a national exam
for psychology and then you also have
to take a local or state exam for psychology.
There's Psychology Today,
it's a psychological magazine
and it offers an online advertising profile,
if you will, where send your profile,
say this is what I do, here's
my website, these are my offices
and people contact you through there.
And so I've been using that
website since I started in August
and I've been pretty successful
with getting clients that way.
And then, once you're in practice, in
meeting with people, they will refer friends
or family members to you as well.
I'd say to be open to the possibilities.
I think a lot of, I'm not sure that private
practice is the first go-to for a new graduate,
and for anyone who is thinking
about psychology at all,
is to talk to someone who's a
Psychologist or you know, set up a meeting,
an informational interview and get to know them
better and ask them questions about, you know,
kind of like we've discussed today,
what's, you know, your favorite part,
what do you not like as much, you know, any
pieces of advice for someone who's interested
in psychology and just keep in
mind, too, even as a Psychologist,
there are many opportunities in the fields.
So this is just one option.