Insider's Guide to Graduate Programs in Clinical and Counseling Psychology: 2010/2011 Edition (Insider's Guide to Graduate Programs in Clinical & Counseling Psychology)

As a university lecturer at three universities, I get plenty of questions about these things. I hear plenty of horror stories from students about faulty or non-existent mentoring in these areas. There is plenty of advice out there to be had from ignorant, indifferent, or hostile sources. A big problem is that many professors and staff in psychology departments at major universities don't have knowledge or interest in clinical and counseling psychology. They may be openly hostile to the entire field, or toward areas and programs they perceive as being too unscientific. Even among supportive mentors, there isn't enough time to mentor students on all these issues. For many professors, finding quality time with students sucks time from writing papers and chasing grants. Your best bet is to use this book to master the basics. Find a great mentor and use that person's time to fine tune your thinking and turbo-charge your applications.

My advice is to start here if you are...Read more

This book is INDISPENSABLE when applying to graduate programs in clinical and counseling psychology, and as others state, not just a bunch of program statistics. Sure, it has all the statistics you need to start narrowing down to schools that are a good fit, but it tells you so much more. I would bet that 90%+ of successful clinical Ph.D. students have either read or used this book in some manner, it is that useful and valuable (no I don't have data to back that up.) When you go on interviews for graduate school though it will be clear that everyone is playing from the same script, and for good reason, the successful candidate presents themselves in a manner that is professional and prepared. Having been through the application process twice, I would have fared better had I paid closer attention to some of what the authors stated, my second time through was very successful and I am in a great program. I don't think I would have made it without the information in this book.

This appears to be a helpful guide if you are interested in a PhD or PsyD program. I wish I'd realized before I purchased it that it hardly addresses Master's programs at all. It mentions them briefly but none of the information it provides about specific schools' programs relates to masters counseling programs.