Five-Year Plan – Clinical Psychology

Five-year plan – Clinical Psychology
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Five-year plan – Clinical Psychology
I have always dreamt of becoming a clinical psychologist. This is a mental health provider that is trained to assess, diagnose, and prepare for all types of emotional, mental, and behavioral problems (University HQ, 2021). Clinical psychology is among the many specialties in psychology – it provides cognitive and behavioral health care to people. My interest in pursuing clinical psychology sparked a few years ago when I visited a mental health facility and spent a day with people. They appeared to require a lot of mental care, yet there were few experts for the task as it is a challenging field. This encouraged me to become a clinical psychologist so I can help people with mental illness, psychiatric problems, and abnormal behavior.
My goal is to get a master’s in clinical psychology and ultimately a Ph.D. and obtain the Licensed Psychologists (LP/HSPP). Licensed Clinical Psychology requires four graduate training years. I will need to enter a doctoral-level degree program in clinical psychology, take an internship and residency program in clinical psychology, and pass the Examination for Professional Practice of Psychology. Licensing is necessary, although it may be a lot of work. I will require a separate designation as a “health service provider” for me to provide mental health services CITATION Mel04 \l 1033 (Dittmann, 2004). After meeting education requirements, I will need to document the number of clients and the problems I dealt with. This includes a dossier of my coursework which I will present to the state board. Additionally, I will take at least 2000 hours of internship and 2000 hours of postdoc. Board certification with the American Board of Clinical Psychology is also necessary.
One of the mandatory education requirements in the growth projection of a career in clinical psychology includes a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a doctorate in psychology. I hope to get my doctorate in the Grand Canyon University (GCU), a university accredited by the American Psychology Association for providing psychology programs (Psychologist License, 2021). People may battle the same disorders, but these are never predictable. Hence, the clinical psychology field requires extensive research and growth. People are different in the way they handle situations which makes continuous studying a necessity in the field. With enough research, I will be in a position to understand how different people think to determine their disorders and the help they need. My sole duty will be to diagnose mental conditions and counsel my clients.
Effective communication and interpersonal skills are r...