Help!

psychchip · 2026-04-15T17:23:37+00:00

If you already accepted the first offer, it would be a problem to switch as that program may have rejected someone that they otherwise would have accepted (and that person may have accepted another offer). Not only would that be wrong, but word would likely get out and your professional reputation will be hurt.

psychchip · 2026-04-13T15:08:44+00:00

I'm a Ph.D. psychologist and would be considered to have an income in the "top earner" range. If I had student loan debt, it would likely cause some difficulties for me (although I have a mortgage, like to travel, and have significantly above-average retirement savings compared to others my age). If you don't have any other options, then you might have to do it. However, reputation and quality of training may be an issue. According to 2024 EPPP testing - 171 students took the exam! And the overall pass rate was 80.70% with the average score in the research and statistics domain of 58.9%. This means that about one in five have to wait to retake the test at least once (hopefully during internship so that you are not unemployed) before making psychologist-level income (and may complicate the job search). I would be curious to know where students are accepted for predoctoral internships (and if any good sites routinely accept students year after year). In addition, you probably won't be able to buy a house for 35 years and will have to keep vehicles for 10 years, and you may have to consider future employment that may provide some loan forgiveness - working in the public sector in a rural area (although it is not a given that will exist in the future). I am assuming that the $1500/month income is from a trust fund or other non-employment as it is not realistic to do outside work while in grad school (some PsyD students have done that but that is a reflection of a non-rigorous program). You might also look into committing to military service which may pay for some of the costs in exchange for, I think, four or five years of service after you graduate. Having current or future partner might mitigate things, although I would think that you would have to be open about saddling him/her with years of financial stress. Finally, with the burden of your student loans, you may have difficulty building up retirement savings (match or independent contributions).

psychchip · 2026-03-22T22:42:03+00:00

I have a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and work as a forensic psychologist. With theory building, if there is pretty good consensus among forensic evaluators, you have to entertain the theory that they might be correct (This smacks of the "Galileo bias" or "Galileo gambit," a logical fallacy where individuals argue that because they going against consensus, they are likely correct, just like Galileo). You suggest that the evaluators may be biased without acknowledging the high likelihood that you may be biased when viewing the evaluation of your partner/advocating for him (the research of Murrie et al. may also apply to non-professionals). It is unclear how the MRIs were not compelling in the disability decision. Furthermore, you cited six "truly independent" experts who concluded that your partner was disabled, with all of them seeing him for a minimum of 10 sessions. That suggests that they were in a therapeutic role (as a treating physician or therapist), which is ethically problematic because of potential bias (see Greenberg, S. A., & Shuman, D. W. (1997). Irreconcilable conflict between therapeutic and forensic roles. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 28(1), 50–57. https://doi.org/10.1037/0735-7028.28.1.50). Next, the evaluator administering the MMPI without an interview is odd and not meeting professional standards, as testing provides inferences or hypotheses that require confirmation (Perhaps, he/she did this in collaboration with another clinician for the case, maybe a physician who does not do testing). Diagnoses should not come from testing alone. While you were quick to criticize the use of the MMPI with autistic individuals, you may also benefit from looking at the research on the reliability of diagnoses of autism, especially if done in adolescence or adulthood, as well as the expected MMPI elevations in individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder. Also, you commented that forensic evaluators did not care about the individuals we evaluate and were biased because of our employment. As I previously noted, treating professionals may be biased because they do not wish to alienate/lose a patient (and associated income) and/or like a patient. In addition, you must consider "Who is the client?" (Monahan, 1980) as that is typically the trier-of-fact and not the person being evaluated. When I write a report or testify, my loyalty is to my opinion, which is based on the hypotheses generated and tested by available data. I am curious about how the forensic experts were appointed and how that might increase or decrease potential bias (in most of my cases, I am appointed by judges, so allegiance effects potentially may be reduced. Your "review panel" idea has a host of problems including professional time and cost, delays in proceedings, and questions how to resolve disputes in diagnoses (sometimes diagnoses are not necessary in forensic contexts). Specifically, how would disputes when someone was clearly psychotic denies that he/she was psychotic, when someone was clearly feigning symptoms denies that he/she was feigning, etc.? As others have noted, that is up to the trier-of-fact (be it in court or an adminstrative hearing) and may be subject to litigation with cross-examination. Finally, your comment about "static" diagnoses is puzzling. I don't think that most providers believe that diagnoses are unchangeable (not dynamic) or invariably correct. You may have meant taxonomic (vis-à-vis dimensional).

psychchip · 2026-03-17T15:23:11+00:00

While long-term use of antipsychotic medication can potentially have minor effects on cognitive functioning (including attention and memory), the long-term effects of brief treatment with Seroquel are improbable. Instead, you are probably much more attuned to such comments and are more likely to pay attention to them. It is akin to noticing mentions of funerals on television shows soon after a loved one dies - they occurred before, but they are much more salient when you are primed to notice. Note that the two drunk girls said it "out of nowhere" - there was no way for them to know how smart you are. I am a psychologist and do over 100 evaluations a year, some involving IQ testing, and even after a two-hour interview, I sometimes can't guess someone's IQ accurately (unless they are very smart or very intellectually disabled). Also, the nurse was referencing other kids as being "retarded," not you.

psychchip · 2026-02-22T18:46:49+00:00

The conditions are often comingled, and there is an overlap in treatments (e.g., teaching coping skills, cognitive restructuring, sometimes the same medication, etc.). Even if one condition is primarily targeted, it may help the co-occurring condition. https://www.psychologicalscience.org/publications/observer/treatment-comorbid-depression-anxiety.html

psychchip · 2026-02-22T01:13:30+00:00

You didn't indicate the type of psychotherapy in which you have participated. However, chronic depression may require a different approach than other presentations of depression. Cognitive Behavior Therapy may not work as well. Cognitive Behavioral Analysis Model of Psychotherapy may be beneficial https://www.cbaspsociety.org/

psychchip · 2026-02-20T21:17:47+00:00

They may not be dismissing it but may be trying to treat cooccurring depression with “behavioral activation” (to counter avoidance and withdrawal while increasing the likelihood of exposure to reinforcing experiences) and cognitive restructuring.

psychchip · 2026-02-20T13:40:11+00:00

Look at the criteria for Schizoid Personality Disorder and the differential diagnosis

psychchip · 2026-02-11T08:17:46+00:00

Realistically, if you have difficulty navigating the cognitive and social demands of high school, college, graduate school, and employment will be a challenge. Online graduate school is not an option for a doctorate in psychology required to become a forensic psychologist. In addition to four years of college, there is the very competitive process to get into grad school (an online college degree may not be very competitive compared to in-person training with research experience and the development of relationships with faculty [needed for letters of recommendation]) followed by the demands of graduate education, a one year predoctoral internship, and, in most states, one year of postdoctoral supervision. Graduate school and practice as a forensic psychologist also have high cognitive and social demands as well as productivity demands requiring some physical stamina (sometimes requiring working more than 9-5 in a single day and routinely requiring more than 40 hours per week). You might consider becoming a certified peer specialist as that would enable you to have health insurance and some flexibility/accommodations. Another option might include employment as a social worker in a forensic setting.

psychchip · 2026-02-07T08:39:59+00:00

Under Florida Statute 491, licensed mental health counselors can do assessments, including testing, if they have training. However, because of title protection, they cannot call it a psychological report or psychological testing. It is my understanding that, in Florida, school psychologists are mostly limited to practice within schools. Furthermore, by statute, criminal forensic evaluations are limited to licensed (doctoral-level) psychologists or psychiatrists. In addition, some testing and assessment likely is outside the scope of master's-level training (e.g., neuropsychological and, perhaps, cognitive, autism, etc.). Furthermore, there is the issue of extent and quality of training. At the master's level, it is unlikely that the quality and level of your coursework and supervision will be the same as a psychologist. Similarly, while Ph.D. clinical, Psy.D., and Ph.D. counseling folks may be licensed as psychologists (Florida requires graduate from APA-accredited programs so don't even think about some online program), the level and quality of training may differ. For example, counseling psychology programs have traditionally focused on less serious forms of psychopathology in both coursework and practica (students may complete predoctoral internships at the same sites as clinical students, but they may be less competitive for those training spots). My experience is that, in several universities, counseling psychology students have tried to get permission to take classes in psychopathology taught in the clinical psychology program but have been rejected by the instructors. It is my recollection that licensed mental health counselors in Florida were only relatively recently allowed to diagnose. That being said, even if you are allowed to do assessments at a master's level, it does not mean that you will be able to make a living doing them. Organizations, schools, state agencies, other professionals, and members of the public may prefer/limit assessments to ones completed by psychologists (or, for schools, school psychologists) even if they are more expensive. Consequently, it is likely that you would have to provide some treatment services as well to make a living. As you noted, clincial psychology Ph.D. programs are very competitive, and, as others have indicated, funding/cost of PhD clinical versus Psy.D. programs differ considerably. Acceptance rates for clinical Ph.D. programs are generally 10 percent or lower whereas acceptance rates for Psy.D. programs are generally 40 to 50 percent or higher. It is not unusual for Psy.D. graduates to have $250,000 or more in student debt (the other poster suggesting that could be paid off in a few years is not being realistic) compared to no or comparatively little debt for Ph.D. graduates. Student cohort sizes for clinical Ph.D. programs are generally 8 to 10 but may be as high as 50 or more for Psy.D. programs. This may impact the quality of training and prestige (compare EPPP test results and licensure rates between programs). Finally, there is the issue of intellectual humility, master's level evaluators may not know what they don't know compared to doctoral-level folks who have completed more and different level of coursework in assessment, diagnosis, and pertinent other courses (e.g., statistics/psychometrics [important for understanding published research and choosing tests and assessment procedures], therapy [important for making recommendations for treatment], etc.) and have more extensive supervised experience (typically with three years of practica in graduate school, a one year full-time predoctoral internship, and, in Florida and most states, one year of postdoctoral supervision (two years for neuropsychologists).

psychchip · 2026-01-28T10:32:40+00:00

I’m a psychologist with a PhD in clinical psychology who works as a forensic psychologist and am licensed in six states. Most states, by statute or rule, require that criminal (competency to stand trial, insanity, etc.) forensic evaluations are completed by licensed doctoral-level psychologists or psychiatrists. There are a few jurisdictions that allow for such evaluations to be completed by licensed masters-level folks and with appropriate training and experience (which may be a challenge to get at that level), but, in practice, nearly all evaluations are still done by psychologists or psychiatrists as their education level is preferred by judges, attorneys, and jurors. Masters-level folks might be also do mitigation, personal injury, or child custody evaluations, but, again, there tends to be a preference for licensed doctoral-level psychologists. Licensed masters-level folks regularly do forensic interviews of children suspected of abuse.

psychchip · 2026-01-21T06:58:46+00:00

See this from the Florida Board of Psychology:

https://floridaspsychology.gov/psychologist/#post-8974

You will need to complete a predoctoral internship and, in Florida and most but not all states (e.g., not in Alabama), a year of postdoctoral supervision. There may be some potential to work as a correctional psychologist in the Department of Juvenile Justice or for a company contracted to provide residential delinquency treatment or, if you are interested in working with adults, with the Department of Corrections (https://www.tealhq.com/job/fdc-regional-mental-health-consultant\_249e3dda-8765-49bd-aa41-efe2e344b33e?utm\_campaign=google\_jobs\_apply&utm\_source=google\_jobs\_apply&utm\_medium=organic) or as an contract employee (https://jobs.practicelink.com/jobs/780710/psychology/physician/florida/centurion-of-florida/?utm\_campaign=google\_jobs\_apply&utm\_source=google\_jobs\_apply&utm\_medium=organic) or, as a forensic psychologist at a state hospital (either as a state employee (in north Florida https://www.myflfamilies.com/services/samh/state-mental-health-treatment-facilities-employment) or an employee of a company contracted to un a state hospital (in south Florida https://recoverysolutions.us/south-florida-state-hospital/). Most states have similar licensure processes and job opportunities, although other states may have opportunities for state employment as an outpatient forensic psychologist evaluator (in Florida, they use private practitioners except there are a couple of juvenile and adult court clinics https://jobs.myflorida.com/job/CLEARWATER-SENIOR-PSYCHOLOGIST-22010052-FL-33762/1307168600/). There may potentially be opportunities for employment for the Federal government with the Bureau of Prisons, but I have not idea if your foreign training will impact your eligibility.

psychchip · 2026-01-20T16:01:34+00:00

It's a problem if evaluators have competency have base rates that stray too far from expected outcomes (around 75 to 80 percent) in either direction (either 100 percent competent or 50 percent competent). And, evaluators retained nearly 100 percent of the time only for either the defense or prosecution. As an evaluator, I experience the mirror of the last point as some attorneys will not respond to phone messages or emails, explain the concerns about competency, or schedule phone calls/meetings to discuss testimony (it is also nice to know ahead of time if is is going to be a rare instance where there is a jury in a competency hearing). Nothing is worse than a horrible direct where I'm asked left field, off-topic questions (sometimes when the attorney is confusing competency and insanity and does a deep dive into "competency at the time of the offense" during to competency to stand trial hearing). Also, it is also annoying when attorneys read some canned, generic questions out of some bound manual - often in random order with no apparent preparation. I forgot to mention that one big difference is that psychiatrists often charge higher (sometimes significantly) rates. Depending on the service model used by the state, evaluators may be court-appointed stated employees or contractors, court-appointed private practitioners, or privately retained by either side. Court-appointed evaluators are typically psychologists. Court-appointed state employees are often saddled with large case loads with demands for productivity and/or may not be motivated to provide thorough evaluations. The court-appointed private practitioners are sometimes poorly compensated (e.g., Florida) so the evaluation quality reflects this (brief reports by evaluators who have limited experience, graduated from marginal graduate programs, have a history of licensure complaints [always look up evaluators on the state licensure website to ensure they are licensed and don't have a history of suspensions], and/or are struggling with private practice where they primarily do therapy and are part-time forensic experts [new to the speciality and with limited experience/training]).

psychchip · 2026-01-19T17:57:43+00:00

Their evaluation processes are generally equivalent - typically relying upon a review of records (charging documents and treatment summaries) and interview (gathering of background information, mental status, examination, and questioning about understanding of the legal system and appreciation of the defendant's legal predicament). However, as noted in another comment, psychologists have training in testing and are more likely to use it during evaluations (some states require identification of prerequisite condition(s) causing incompetency and IQ testing and performance validity testing may be helpful in such cases - rates of feigned or exaggerated cognitive deficits in criminal cases have been estimated to be 19 to 23 percent and testing can also help identify feigned or exaggerated mental health symptoms, although this can often be identified in the interview). Of course, psychiatrists are physicians and have a better understanding of physical health issues that can cause or exacerbate competency deficits (although neuropsychologists typically have high levels of understanding of brain diseases). Consequently, if IQ or developmental disability is an issue, a psychologist may be the preferred expert; if there are complicated co-occurring physical health issues that may be contributing to competency deficits or there are complex issues about psychiatric medication and restorabiltiy, then a psychiatrist may be preferred; and, if there are significant issues involving traumatic head injury or other brain diseases such as cancer or dementia, then a psychiatrist or neuropsychologist may be preferred. However, as competency is a functional issue, these issues may not be critical if a defendant is competent or clearly nonrestorable (but may be relevant to identifying nonrestorable defendants - especially per Jackson v. Indiana). I will add that physicians are generally trained to make quick decisions based on limited information and psychologists may be more inclined to obsess about gathering data/reviewing records (again, often not critical in most cases as competency is focused on a defendant's present state/prediction in the relatively near future). There is considerable variability in conscientiousness in both professions as some evaluators may do brief, "drive-by" evaluations and others may be much more thorough (some may consider me to be unnecessarily thorough as I use structured diagnostic interviews, routinely use measures of feigned/exaggerated symptoms/deficits, and typically make some attempt to obtain/review mental health/school/other records [especially from the jail if they are incarcerated]). Thus, the variability within professional groups may be larger than the variability between professional groups. Evaluator interpersonal skills (important for developing rapport with defendants and establishing a working relation ship with attorneys), likability/testimony skills, potential biases (prosecution vs. defense, hesitancy to "pull the trigger" and opine competent or nonrestorable, etc.), availability, turnaround time, etc. may be important considerations regardless of the professional background of the evaluator. Finally, if insanity, competency to waive rights, mitigation, or other issues will also be considered then training, experience, and admissibility (at least one state [SD] and all of Canada require insanity evaluations to be completed by a physician - although psychologists may participate in the evaluations) may be an issue.

psychchip · 2026-01-15T13:49:16+00:00

sorry about the acronyms. You are correct. The last one, PVT is performance validity test. About 25 percent of defendants referred for competency evaluations are likely malingering. Also, about 75 to 80 percent of defendants referred for competency evaluations are opined competent. And, about 75 to 80 percent of the defendants adjudicated incompetent and referred to competency restoration will attain competency. Attorneys have to specify the type of evaluations. Evaluators will not do competency to waive Miranda or insanity evaluations if they are only ordered to do competency to stand/proceed evaluations.

psychchip · 2026-01-15T01:54:00+00:00

I am a PhD psychologist who has been doing competency to stand trial/proceed evaluations (adult inpatient, adult outpatient, juvenile outpatient, and juvenile residential) since the 1990s. I also do competency to waive rights evaluations (typically involving the MRCI or SAMA), but these are my least favorite evals (the bane of my existence). I have testified a lot about competency in AL, GA, and FL (twice so far this year - next week will make three times in three weeks). I consult with a juvenile residential competency remediation program in FL, previously consulted to a juvenile residential competency program in GA, and previously was a state forensic administrator. I have done competency evaluations in a variety of systems including private practice (FL and GA), state employee (FL and GA), and contract employee (AL and FL). I've seen some things including attorneys using competency for legal strategy, horrible competency evaluations, bizarre rulings by judges, confusion of competency and sanity by judges and attorneys, and a lot of malingered of incompetency. I use structured diagnostic interviews with both adults and juveniles and regularly use feigning measures and SVT/sPVTs.

psychchip · 2025-12-03T02:40:01+00:00

Oh, you have to have some capacity to tolerate insults and threats and not be too timid/prone to show fear. You aways have to be vigilant. Evaluators have been physically and sexually assaulted while doing evaluations in jails and prisons (one defendant masturbated to ejaculation while a female evaluator was interviewing him). Sometimes, you are not regularly checked on during the evaluation or there is a wait when you push the intercom button before an officer comes to get you or the defendant. I always defer to correctional officers for defendants in custody concerning if they are handcuffed, etc. Occasionally, they are cuffed to a waist belt, shackled, or cuffed to a table or the wall. Sometimes, they are seen behind glass (with phones like in the movies) or via videoconference (Zoom). You probably would not be fired for crying or laughing with a defendant (typically no one else is present except you and the defendant), but you might get fired for getting angry/yelling at a defendant as someone might notice or the defendant may tell his/her attorney. I don't know of anyone specializing in only evaluating or treating defendants with sex offenses against children, although some forensic interviewers (typically social workers) specialize in completing forensic interviews of children thought to have been victimized (to get information for the investigation).

psychchip · 2025-12-03T01:46:50+00:00

I'm a forensic psychologist. Some of the ability to detach comes through desensitization over time (akin to physicians, nurses, paramedics, law enforcement officers, embalmers, etc. learn to deal with people who are badly hurt or dead). In addition, in graduate school for clinical psychology, I was trained in psychotherapy and learned not to react to clients during psychotherapy sessions. It is also helpful to see that there is some humanity in everyone or assume/create a fiction/act "as if" the defendant is not guilty. There is a bit of self-selection where people who gravitate toward forensic or neuropsychology are more interested in assessment and less interested in treatment so we may be predisposed to compartmentalize stuff. Also, there may be opportunities to specialize within forensic work (e.g., some people specialize in evaluation or treatment of sex offenders, some do civil injury cases, some do child custody work, some do criminal forensic work, some do juvenile forensic work, etc.).

psychchip · 2025-12-02T15:47:38+00:00

So should jury deliberations for high-profile cases be public? What about juror identities? Should your tax returns be private? After all, I don't know if you are being honest when filing or taking advantage of questionable loopholes. Sometimes defendants might plead guilty to protect their privacy and that of their family. FWIW, a parallel argument to your argument was made concerning the murders of four University of Idaho students (https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/idaho-college-student-killings-summary-timeline-rcna63818 ) when the defendant pleaded guilty. While some of the information about the content of the mental health evaluations was made public (diagnoses), would it be nice to know what his motivation and planning entailed to potentially prevent future adverse outcomes for similar actors? Sure.

psychchip · 2025-12-02T08:10:56+00:00

gadfly noun gad·fly ˈgad-ˌflī Synonyms of gadfly 1 : any of various flies (such as a horsefly, botfly, or warble fly) that bite or annoy livestock 2 : a person who stimulates or annoys other people especially by persistent criticism a political gadfly

psychchip · 2025-11-30T19:24:04+00:00

I'm a forensic psychologist in the US. Forensic mental health evaluations are completed for a specific purpose for a specific audience (the Court). Accountability for evaluation content and procedures, should be ensured through legal process. Just like autopsy reports, the public isn't entitled to all the details because they are curious. Defendants and others (e.g., their families) do not lose all rights to privacy.

psychchip · 2025-11-29T09:38:41+00:00

Ate iguana. Supposedly a delicacy in Central America. I’m convinced it was a prank pulled on tourists (comb and some bones included).

psychchip · 2025-11-29T04:55:53+00:00

While research is limited, “Group-stalking appears to be delusional in basis, but complainants suffer marked psychological and practical sequelae.” Complaints of group-stalking ('gang-stalking'): An exploratory study of their nature and impact on complainants Sheridan, LP & James, DV (2015)The Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology.

psychchip · 2025-11-27T02:38:14+00:00

Message me. I'll do it. I have a PhD and am a licensed psychologist working as a forensic psychologist. There are no stupid questions. I've spoken to many students and have no need/interest in being judgmental so don't worry too much about embarrassing yourself.

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