Becoming a Psychotherapist: Studying Psychology, Psychotherapy Training + Day in the Life
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- Опубліковано 22 тра 2024
- Hi 🙋🏼♀️ I'm Alina, a German psychologist, and currently in training to become a psychodynamic psychotherapist. I want to take you behind the scenes of what it's like to be in training to become a psychotherapist. Including a little sneak-peak into the day or week in the life of a clinical psychologist.
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TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Introduction
01:35 Studying Psychology
06:08 Why the Psychodynamic Approach?
09:35 Psychotherapy Training
12:20 DITL / Week in the Life of a Clinical Psychologist
14:49 Answering More Questions
18:06 A little extra declaration of love for the psychodynamic approach 😊
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Thank you Alina. My background is finance and project management which never fulfilled me so I'm happy I switched over. I completed my Psychology with Counselling degree and am about to embark on post graduate qualifications to become a Counsellor (psychodynamic). It's a lot easier studying what we enjoy. Interesting that you talk about how we too need therapy and it's something I need to arrange in the next few weeks. I feel apprehensive but also excited as to what my unconscious self may reveal. Totally agree about the evolution of psychodynamic theory but intrigued how the advances in neuroscience can further the theory and I read that the psychodynamic therapy can promote new psychological processes within us that become self reinforcing and lead to perhaps continual positive change from within. I do think as human beings we carry frailties which are fairly dynamic but understanding ourselves is the optimum goal ( from my perspective ). Best wishes to you in your journey.
Thank you so much for your kind and open comment. It's so wonderful to hear about more people that arrive at the therapy profession with a more crooked (or as my loved ones say "interesting") path. To me being in therapy myself is one of the most important aspects in training to become a psychotherapist. And the same advice applies to us as to our patients: Look for a psychotherapist you feel comfortable with, make appointments with multiple, if it's not the right fit change, etc. I think it's immensly interesting to feel all the weird feelings that can come up for patients ourselves (i.e. wondering whether the therapist thinks about us outside of the sessions, whether they think our stories are interesting, secretly hoping that we're their favourite patient, being convinced that they are somehow a more ideal person and have it all figured out - but deny us the right "advice" to "make it" as well). I wish you all the best!
Dear Alina, I would recommend you read the books of the authors: Irvin D Yalom and Nancy McWilliams (both are my favorites)
It's been awhile since I had much time to see your videos as I like (with spare time to enjoy them properly)! I just started studying Psychology in college as I am 26 years old, and I relate to your experience a lot. I see a lot of people with their lives put together, and I am just starting mine. But I am no more feeling bad about it lol.
Thank you for this video. It is so inspiring and an energy boost for me!
Wow! Good for you, Eduardo. I've been exactly where you are right now... But for me it has been worth it :) I'm glad it could give you a little boost, I remember the strenous university days. I'm always for people focusing on their real lives rather than UA-cam, haha. Boa sorte!
Thank you Alina for sharing your experience. At 32 i decided to start my journey towards becoming a psychotherapist. I am planning to train mainly is psychodynamic approach, but i want to be able to do integrative psychotherapy. I am from Bangladesh and there is rarely anything but CBT.
Feeling hopeful about my journey.
Thank you for sharing, I'm always so inspired to hear of other people on their journey that is not a straight line :) I can relate. Finding good training in the psychodynamic approach can be hard! Ultimately, we all end up creating our very own appraoch and will often pick from different approaches :) I'm sure you will be able to put something together that will be uniquely you and inspired by many interesting things out there. I wish you the best!
Hi Alina! Was looking forward to this video, I wanted to say there is a real sense of humility and sincerity that comes through, that’s been a consistent theme I’ve observed whilst listening to your excellent videos! Im based in the U.K. and although Psychotherapy training is highly rigorous here, it’s nothing like Germany where it appears to be considerably more intense! I wholeheartedly agree with you regard to understanding oneself, so many things we do we don’t actually understand why we do it, so many relationships we enter in adult life appear to be filling a void from childhood in some respects etc. I’m at the infancy of my psychotherapy training journey as a career change but I can totally relate to the part of your video where your friend observed your inclination to all things psychology such as books/things you listen to, I am the same, but on reflection I had been doing this for years whilst on long commutes through the hustle and bustle of London, only to arrive at a job where I was merely going through mechanically each day! I am glad I finally had enough introspection too make the career change and feel much better already! My inspiration is the late Prof Aaron Beck and father of CBT, learning and developing never ends! Finally, I agree Psychodynamic psychotherapy is so cool! I look forward to delving deeper! Best wishes Alina and I hope you have a wonderful day/night 😀
Hi Aman! Your comment was such a joy to read 😊 Thank you for your kind words. I wish you all the best for your training, it can be so hard but so worth it. Take care 🍀
Would love to have more of these! Your experience in each aspect of your learning. I highly enjoyed this video & have come back to it numerous times :)
Thank you so much 😊 What other aspect to the training would be interesting for you to hear about? I like exchanging experiences and perspectives on a lot of it as well!
@@PsychodynamicPsychology That would be great, you spoke about working in a private practice set up, group therapy and hospice care setup as well, would love to hear about your experiences with each of these practices as much as you can, because here in India, group therapy and hospice care experience is very rare, especially during studentship days. And most Psychologists work in private clinics. And psychiatric hospitals are for those who are trained in Medicine.
There must be a misunderstanding, I never worked in hospice care. I only worked in a psychiatry (where was involved in individual as well as group therapy sessions) and am now working in an out-patient setting in a practice where I see patients individually. This is standard for the German psychotherapy training.
Hey Alina, so cool to see you answer our questions - thank you! Your story of coming to psychology after already having gotten a degree and a job is probably more relatable than you think. Right now I'm exactly where you were when you were 25. I'm 24 and, in an amusing parallel to your situation, I studied German Literature, Linguistics and Philosophy in England (though I am English) and preferred the speaking of German and the philosophy parts to the literature (though I chose to stick with it and ended up enjoying it after a while). Now I'm in my fancy corporate job and am coming to the realization it's not for me so am looking into becoming a psychotherapist. I'm exploring options, but I like the feel of Psychosynthesis at the moment. Your story is inspirational of you choosing to do what you want and it's lovely to learn more about you personally! Good luck with the second part of your course and keep up the great content!
Hi Lewis, thank you for another thoughtful and kind comment and for asking a question! It still blows my mind that people show an interest in my channel, that makes me feel so grateful. And wow, I was stunned to see that your story shares so much overlap with my own. I don't say that often but I know how you feel. Studying psychology was the best decision I ever made but at the same time I have to accept again and again that now I still have a life with problems - just better problems. There are tough days where I wonder if maybe I shouldv'e better done something with computers :D But all in all, it was worth it. You seem to be such a thoughtful person, I could see you being a good fit to becoming a psychotherapist. Can you become a psychotherapist without a psychology degree in the UK? I wish you all the best, I'm curious to hear how your life progresses!
Thank you, Alina! It's surprisingly reassuring to hear that although studying psychology was such a great decision for you, you've still got doubts and problems. I'm trying to accept that this will always be the case - I see it as about choosing problems/suffering that align with things you care about and then accepting these problems as part of life. Not there yet, but learning 😂 I'm currently looking into the pathways to becoming a psychotherapist in the UK and have booked some open evening sessions with institutes to find out more. I'm hoping to be able to just do a Psychology conversion masters and then training, but we'll see. Part of me wants to rush it all, but the other part recognises it's important to go slowly and make informed choices and also enjoy the journey itself.
Will update you in the comments of a future video!
Haha, oh believe me, on hard days I do ask myself whether I should not have better done something with computers 😂 But I have accepted this as part of the whole experience - at least most days. I can relate to that, I'm very driven myself and if I've set a goal, I'd rather reach it tomorrow already than wait. But as you said, the journey is the goal, this is a process that in its essence cannot be rushed. Plus, it's a big committment! I'm curious to hear more about your path and I wish you all the very best 🍀
Thank you for sharing your story so honestly, I loved it. And felt so much better to know I am not alone! Personally I am a trained lawyer and I am moving into the world of Psychology now. Working on my degree on Psychology and loving it.
Can't wait for more such heart to heart videos from you!
Thank you for your comment and welcome to a club! I didn't expect so many others to share the same story. That also makes me feel less alone. I'm so happy to hear you love studying psychology. I wish you all the best for your studies and hope that your dreams come true!
Thanks so much for sharing!
Thank you for watching!
Hey there Alina, Its Kaleb here, loving the content you put out there, I'm very interested in potentially studding in the field of Psychotherapy or therapy. I feel I have a very long way to get there as I've only been looking into it just a bit more then a year, but I know its defiantly something that drives my passion to help people. I've been looking into studding over in Europe as I'm currently living in Australia and love the idea of being in another country to learn and understand the human mind.
your Videos have actually been really inspiring to me and wish the best for your current journey to becoming a Psychodynamic Psychotherapist :)
Hi Kaleb! So nice to hear from you :) Becoming a psychotherapist is the most intense thing I've ever done. If you're up for that I can wholeheartedly recommend it. Just make sure check where you might end up working as a psychotherapist because the laws are different everywhere. Otherwise your degree might not be recognized appropriately. Thank you so much and I also wish you all the best! Let me know if you decide to go for it :)
Hi Alina! Thank you for your story so far it opens my perspective and gives me hope. I am 26 and starting my undergraduate in Psychology and German as a double major here in the United States in September. I plan on living and to studying a masters in Germany( that's why im learning German) and become a Clinical Neuropsychologist. I've been trying to look into the process of becoming a Clinical Psychologist/ Clinical Neuropsychologist in German because as far as I know it is different than here in the US. If I remember correctly you need an undergraduate (4yr in the US) and get a PhD/PsyD and a bit of clinical training to be considered a Clinical Psychologist and more training after for Specializing to Neuropsychology. Thanks again for the Video!
Hi Christian! Wow, that's so cool to hear. Neuropsychologists are rare (especially in the country side) as far as I know, so that will be a good choice! I'm not that familiar with the procedure of becoming one but as far as I know it requires a Master's degree in Germany with subsequent certification. In Germany you don't need a PhD/PsyD to become a psychologist but a Bachelor's and Master's degree. I wish you all the best!
@@PsychodynamicPsychology Yes! from what I've heard it is pretty rare haha. If not the Clinical Psychologist is still the goal. That's what my plan is so far, to get a Masters in germany but Thank you! hope everything goes well with you also!
Wherever I go, there I am.
Congrats on reaching 10k! Next Q&A at 100k!
Thank you so much! I love the current size of my channel because it still allows me to answer comments and interact with you all :) Haha, 100k is a number I can't even think about but thank you for believing in me. Best wishes
thx for sharing 😊 I also improved my English not by reading the grammar books but instead reading the self help / personal development / spiritual books in English ❤ first time to hear psychodynamic therapy, will look into it haha
Wow, well done! Psychodynamic psychology is my personal favourite. Enjoy discovering more of it 😊
Thank you so much for sharing your story, Alina! I’m 29, work in the corporate world and currently taking steps to start my psychoanalytic training in NYC this/next year. I’m taking pre-training classes now at one of the institutes here in the city, and it’s the first time in my life that I’m actually excited to read papers and discuss them during the seminars. I absolutely share your excitement about psychoanalytic/psychodynamic theories, their depth is incredible, and it makes me happy that I’m not alone :)
Hi Kristina! I absolutely loved to read your comment. Our experiences are so similar and I know the feeling of fascination and excitement in my bones :) I'm so happy to hear you're diving into what you love. I wish you all the very best! Would love to hear back from you in a while about how it's going. Best wishes 🍀
@@PsychodynamicPsychology thank you so much, Alina! It’s very exciting and a little scary to start this new journey, but it feels right at the moment! I would also love to learn more about your training as it progresses, and I’ll for sure write my update at some point :)
Hi Kristina! I would love to know what institutes you’re going to! I also live in nyc and I’m interested in starting my training as well 😊
@@blondedl1f3 hi! This is wonderful! I go to CMPS - center for modern psychoanalytic studies. I can’t recommend it enough, it’s such a great place to study! My second semester starts next week and I can’t wait. Let me know if you have any questions about it :)
@@blondedl1f3 hi! This is wonderful! I go to CMPS (center for modern psychoanalytic studies). I’m starting my second semester next week and I can’t wait! It’s such a great place to study! Let me know if you have any questions about it:)
I love your story!
Thank you, I'm glad it resonates!
Really enjoyed this! You're very driven, speaking 3 languages is not easy.
@@scottsmith6489 Thank you, Scott! I wouldn't consider myself fluent in Dutch anymore but I appreciate your kind words.
Your comment about deciding to go into psychology made a lot of sense, hearing it from others.
I learned something that may have pushed me in a direction I wasn’t sure of. Thank you!
Have you investigated the connection between Psychodynamic Psychotherapy/Psychoanalysis on the one hand, and "Neuroplasticity" on the other? Chapter 9, "The Brain that Changes Itself," Norman Doidge, M.D. psychiatrist, on "Turning your Ghosts into Ancestors," Psychoanalysis as Neuroplastic Therapy. Remembering that Freud started out as a Neurologist. Hope you look into it, the idea is very validating and very interesting!
The brain is plastic throughout our life and, yes, there has been scientific evidence to show that psychotherapy can alter gene expression which lead to changes in the neural wiring.
Hi Alina! Thank you for your video! I am currently thinking about changing my career, I am a 27 y.o. engineer living in Germany. It is a very long trip to become a licensed psychotherapist in Germany, especially when it is not a first degree. I was wondering if the psychotherapy training being paid during this 3 years period? Is it in all the cases going to last for 3 years? I am a little scared because I need to think how I will be able to pay my bills😁
Thank you again for the video! I wish you all the best in your journey.
Hi Botagoz! It's very tough financially to become a psychotherapist in Germany. During my 18 months working in a psychiatry, I earned 1000€ brutto per month (you often only get the status of an intern) and still had to pay fees for my institute from that money - and live of course. Now that I treat patients in an outpatient setting, it depends how many I see in a week. Especially in the beginning when you're just starting to take on patients, you make no money. Now that I'm a bit more established and considering the high costs for my own therapy, supervision, theory, etc, I don't get more than 1500€ per month (after paying for health insurance and taxes). Part of starting a UA-cam channel and Patreon is simply to pay for my expenses. By now at least the income I get from UA-cam pays for my groceries every month. So, I repeat: it's tough. You do all that after having a Masters degree in (Clinical) Psychology. Laws in German have changed recently, so I don't know how exactly the new program work. But you need to reeeeeeaaaally want to do this to push through the financial hardship.
@@PsychodynamicPsychology Hi Alina, thank you so so much for your reply! It was very helpful. I will have to give it a thought. I wish you all the best in your career and in your personal life! Thank you again for a great information!☺
Do you use the PDM-2? What are some pros and cons of psychodynamic theory in your opinion?
No, in Germany we use the OPD-2 for case formulation and the ICD-10 for diagnosis. Ca you specify the questions about pros and cons a bit?
Hi Alina, I have a good question, what kind of camera do you use?
You're the first person to ask me about this 😊 I use a Sony a6400 with a Sigma 16mm 1.4 lens (back in the day in my older videos I used a Lumix but don't remember the model).
Hi Alina, I am an Indian student and want to pursue my masters in clinical psychology and psychotherapy from Germany, I am currently pursuing my bachelors in psychology from india, so according to the PsychTHG policies, am I eligible to pursue my masters from germany?
Psychotherapy outcomes are not always positive. Approximately 40-60% of patients do not reach a recovery criterion (Fisher and Durham, 1999; Gyani et al., 2013; HSCIS, 2018) and between 5 and 8.2% have a negative outcome, with worse mental health at the end of therapy than at intake (Barkham et al., 2001; Hansen et al., 2002). Estimates vary because of measurement and population differences. However, there is an important difference between an unsuccessful therapy and a harmful one. Clinical deterioration can be caused by many factors external to the therapy, and failure to benefit from therapy does not imply harm. Negative effects of therapy are common, may be short-lived, and emotionally distressing experience may be an intrinsic part of good therapy (Schermuly-Haupt et al., 2018). Rozental et al. (2019) found that 50.9% of 564 clients in low intensity CBT reported some degree of adverse experience during therapy on the Negative Effects Questionnaire (NEQ). In contrast, in a survey of 14,587 British patients receiving National Health Service psychotherapy, 5% reported “lasting bad effects” of therapy (Crawford et al., 2016). Although this is a much smaller proportion, it represents a large number of patients who report that therapy has been, to some extent, harmful.
Absolutely! Unfortunately there has been no substantial improvement in psychotherapy outcomes for a long time. It seems there was so much focus on modalities and infighting between what approach is best, that what was understudied was the person of the therapist themselves (what makes a good therapist?) as well as the fit between patient, therapist, and modality. Wampold has done a lot of research on this. As a psychotherapist in training my institute demands me to educate my patients about adverse effects of psychotherapy within the first 4 "get-to-know" sessions.
I understand it's her actual feelings but boy the "I feel bad I walked slightly less than perfectly straight path figuring out a new career at 25" sounds so entitled and privileged and lacking perspective to me. I'm surprised one would feel that way after having practiced therapy.. dunno if it's germany or her selection of clients.
I'm starting to navigate towards a career in therapy in my mid 30s after having escaped third world using stem social elevator. I know other ppl like that, given stem is oft the only choice to run away from poor. places like india imo it's pretty common to have to do that until you're safe, and only then be able to think about one's passions.
I do "therapy" online kinda compulsively, a lot of ppl I love helping the most are very smart but had actual trouble in life: some are yet to go to college in their mid 20s, some are stuck in wrong careers or academia..
It's not really a productive feeling but I can't help expressing how nuts it drives me she seems unaware of her privilege.
And I have trouble understanding how she can be like that while presumably seeing and understanding and being compassionate towards clients many of whom had real troubles in their lives.
Your frustration comes through strongly here @horoisgay. Your journey sounds very difficult, and from a sort of pseudo birds-eye view, yes, it seems that Alina has not had the same obstacles that you have had. However, I would challenge you to reconsider attacking someone whom you know next to nothing about. I agree with your statement "It's not really a productive feeling" & I propose that your frustration is misplaced.
How do you know if Alina recognizes her own privilege? The struggles she has gone through in the context of her life cannot be directly or easily compared to someone else's; people are far too dynamically complex for that and you would be far better off continuing to focus on bettering your own life as best as you can. Regardless, you are assuming, or potentially even projecting, a judgment of Alina's capacity to genuinely and competently facilitate patients' growth and transformation based off a video which in itself does not contain any interaction with one of her patients: Your evidence is imagined.
What would you propose Alina do to be a better person? Is it not a good that she has committed her resources and talents to make the world a better place? Alina's passion for psychodynamic theory shines through each of her videos. Why shouldn't her deep admiration for the therapeutic process not be honed into an expert mastery to help others? Though, she is only human like us all, I applaud her sacrifices to help others through the psychodynamic practice and implore you to aim for criticism that inspires others to become better themselves.
The editing jumps are kind of freaking me out, to be honest.
It was wonderful to hear sbout your journey Alina. You learned Dutch! I'm studying it too. I intend to open up a music academy in Lieden next year
and provide music therapy to thousands of international students. Take Care and be well.
PS love you accent.
Yes, I did! To be fair though it is easier as a German native speaker. Ik wens je heel veel success met je academie/praktijk. En veel plezier met het leren van de taal natuurlijk. Best wishes, Alina.