bubble_psych

First off, I'm so sorry to hear what you and your family have been going though. After reading what you've posted though, it might just be best to take an additional year before applying again. You're going through a lot, and rushing yourself to try to meet deadlines when you are exhausted might not be the way to go. Taking an extra year before applying can help space out your goals/milestones for applying, which will make the process less overwhelming.
Not to mention, when you actually are in the PhD program, things get increasingly difficult and one of the reasons why people drop out is due to unexpected family issues/concerns.
As for juggling everything, and trying not to feel overwhelmed, def suggest using the pomodoro method (google it!) when working on assignments, and using mindfulness meditations.

First off, I'm so sorry to hear what you and your family have been going though. After reading what you've posted though, it might just be best to take an additional year before applying again. You're going through a lot, and rushing yourself to try to meet deadlines when you are exhausted might not be the way to go. Taking an extra year before applying can help space out your goals/milestones for applying, which will make the process less overwhelming.
Not to mention, when you actually are in the PhD program, things get increasingly difficult and one of the reasons why people drop out is due to unexpected family issues/concerns.
As for juggling everything, and trying not to feel overwhelmed, def suggest using the pomodoro method (google it!) when working on assignments, and using mindfulness meditations.

First off, I'm so sorry to hear what you and your family have been going though. After reading what you've posted though, it might just be best to take an additional year before applying again. You're going through a lot, and rushing yourself to try to meet deadlines when you are exhausted might not be the way to go. Taking an extra year before applying can help space out your goals/milestones for applying, which will make the process less overwhelming.
Not to mention, when you actually are in the PhD program, things get increasingly difficult and one of the reasons why people drop out is due to unexpected family issues/concerns.
As for juggling everything, and trying not to feel overwhelmed, def suggest using the pomodoro method (google it!) when working on assignments, and using mindfulness meditations.

I took 4 gap years, and I think it was a great decision - working allowed me to start grad school debt free, and it allowed me to obtain a diverse skillset as well as develop more mature work-based communication styles.

Not sure if this was mentioned, but another point is that as a grad student, you may at some point hold a position of power over the undergraduate or people in their social circle whom you both associate with. For example if you were TAing, or managing a lab where the undergrad or people in her/his social circle were either your students or research assistants. An imbalanced relationship in this context may blur the lines of consent.

As far as I know, PAU is incredibly expensive. Also, be wary of programs that have a specialized focus of interest/specialized tracks. Often, but not always, its just a marketing tool to get people to pay high amounts of tuition. If you are interested in LGBTQ issues and want to research in this area, find a funded school with a research mentor that studies the population. As well, most clinical psychology programs do cover how to work with LGBTQ populations in your multicultural psychology course. 

A PhD in clinical psychology is not something that can be done part time, and PhD training in psychology is not really something that can be done entirely online, especially for neuropsych. While testing administration has somewhat moved online due to COVID, there are very few assessments that have validity data for online administration. You will not find a reputable, APA-accredited program that will allow you to do part time and/or online that will actually set you up for a neuropsych internship. Neuropsych is one of the most competitive subfields of clinical psychology, so even if you find a program, you will be starting with way more barriers than someone in a traditional university. Also, most clinical psychology PhD programs provide full funding and a stipend.  

Remember they are looking at the whole package and your LORs are just one component. If your letters from last year were good, I wouldn't change them. Theres nothing wrong with reusing LORs from year to year. Even if there was something bad about that, I'm sure programs wouldnt be digging too deep to know if you reused your letters.
 
I would not recommend the letter from the nannying job

You might want to flesh this out a little bit more. Think about how working as a therapist or researcher will help you advocate for women and children that have gone through abuse. I can certainly see this though the research route. Through the therapy route, you may be mostly treating the emotional effects related to the abuse. You may want to get an idea of what the day to day activities are really like in research and in therapy to see if you want to pursue these in the long term. Without knowing all of the little processes that go into providing therapy and conducting research, you may be overestimating the amount of change you can make and overestimate how much you would enjoy the activities.
Sorry if came off as a bit pessimistic, but I think it's important to understand these things before you make a commitment to pursue clinical psychology

Hi, thank you so much for sharing you experience. Luckily, my LOR writer just emailed me back. Such a relief!

Cognitive assessments like the WAIS and general mood and personality measures can be used in general clinical work. The thing that is not so kosher is using neuropsych assessments (and I'm guessing also forensic assessments too?) when you do not have the training (or your supervisor does not have the training) to understand and interpret the measures. As I understand it, this would be a violation of the ethical standard regarding competence.

At the end of the day there is no high tier, mid tier etc. for doctoral level training. The things you should be looking at for the programs you are applying to are:
1. How good is the research fit
2. Does the program philosophy match up woth my needs? In clinical programs this is:
Clinical science-heavily focused in research, but you will still get basic therapy skills taught
Scientist-practitioner-mix of research and clinical training
3. Look at the outcome data to see how many applicants a program gets each year and gow many people they admit - this will give you an idea of how competitive the process is. Apply to schools with a mix of competitiveness
4. Look into what funding is provided for the program, and if you will be funded for all of the years in the program
Some of what im writing is specific to clinical psych programs so YMMV

I'm in the second cohort of a newly established program, and it hasn't really hindered me in any way. We currently have accreditation on contingency but didn't when I started the program. Its always worth it to apply and then assess after interview day if you think its worth attending. Overall I'd say that if you make it to interview day, try to get a good grasp on how organized and prepared the DCT and faculty are in applying for accreditation. Be sure to ask questions about the process. If they appear prepared I'd think its less of a risk than you would imagine.

I've been teaching online for about a year now (3 semesters), and I've found a lot of great resources to really help.
Are you teaching synchronously or asynchronously? What have you tried? What seems to be working? What specific concerns do you have? What topic(s) do you teach? Without knowing much about your situation, it's more difficult to help.
One big thing that changes with online teaching is obviously the connection between teacher and student. From personal experience and research, feeling connected to a teacher improves learning. I find it really helpful to be much more involved in the process. For example, I have very active discussion threads and try to respond to everyone. I email students regularly to check-in, and since I have my faculty email on my phone, I often respond to emails within minutes (assuming they're basic responses). Students really appreciate that they feel they can reach me and feel heard. Also, I do what I can to help them feel like they "know" me. As part of "knowing" me, I'm also more relaxed online than in-person. For example, I might not always wear dress clothes. I know other profs who'll record lectures while cooking dinner.
Another thing I've found with teaching online that it's really helpful to be more of a maximalist regarding resources than a minimalist. Teaching in-person, you don't want to overwhelm students with too much information, but you also have the opportunity for students to ask questions about material. Online, I find students don't really reach out when they're confused about a topic. Instead, I'll find multiple resources that might explain the topic a different way, and I'll link them under my lecture with "For more information..." My students have mentioned on course evals that this helped because they never felt lost, and they had lots of information about the topics.
A few quick things?
Make sure your course is well-organized. Even try to have someone else look at it! I thought my course was beautifully organized but then had students saying they couldn't find stuff. Check-in with students more often. I do Google surveys twice in the semester (every 5 weeks in a 15-week semester) that asks how things are going. It's not graded and can be anonymous. I ask what's going well and what they'd like changed. Record videos with your actual face, not just slides. (As a note, I just started using Zoom for lecture capture, OpenShot for video editing, and then YouTube for publishing, and it's working great!) Don't use too much text. Nobody likes a text wall. Especially looking at a computer screen, the eyes start to hurt. Do more checks for understanding with low-stakes "quizzes" that students can retake.It's harder to know if students understand the learning material, so I often just have a pretty basic quiz to check their learning occasionally. It's important that these are low stakes, though, because it's more about communicating to YOU what they know so you can alter your lessons, not to actually "test" them. If that makes sense.

I'm in the second cohort of a newly established program, and it hasn't really hindered me in any way. We currently have accreditation on contingency but didn't when I started the program. Its always worth it to apply and then assess after interview day if you think its worth attending. Overall I'd say that if you make it to interview day, try to get a good grasp on how organized and prepared the DCT and faculty are in applying for accreditation. Be sure to ask questions about the process. If they appear prepared I'd think its less of a risk than you would imagine.

I'm in the second cohort of a newly established program, and it hasn't really hindered me in any way. We currently have accreditation on contingency but didn't when I started the program. Its always worth it to apply and then assess after interview day if you think its worth attending. Overall I'd say that if you make it to interview day, try to get a good grasp on how organized and prepared the DCT and faculty are in applying for accreditation. Be sure to ask questions about the process. If they appear prepared I'd think its less of a risk than you would imagine.

The current accreditation process allows programs to be accredited, on contingency, before the first cohort of students graduate. This status is typically given within the first year after the first cohort has been admitted (i.e. probably sometime in 2021/2022). The program can only be fully accredited after the first cohort graduated, but graduating from an accredited, on contingency program means you graduate from an accredited program. There is always a risk but it is pretty low given UC Irvine's reputation and resources so I wouldn't worry about it. One aspect that a new program struggles more often is arranging/assisting in clinical experiences as they may not have established connections and it takes a lot of work to coordinate this. However, this can also be the case without a dedicated, organized DCT in established programs. 

Not sure if this was mentioned, but another point is that as a grad student, you may at some point hold a position of power over the undergraduate or people in their social circle whom you both associate with. For example if you were TAing, or managing a lab where the undergrad or people in her/his social circle were either your students or research assistants. An imbalanced relationship in this context may blur the lines of consent.

There are no magical programs with high acceptance rates and great training. The student to faculty ratio is just too high.
If you apply this year and don't get in, that's okay. Most people do not attend right out of undergrad. You aren't a bad applicant. It's just very competitive.
Master's programs aren't for bad applicants. They do great work just like people with doctorates. Don't get hung up on the doctor labels because that's what will steer you toward a PsyD.
You can't "do-over" the decision to go to PsyD. It has permanent effects on your career and finances. But you can do-over your application next year or the year after.

If you haven't already, get the Insider's guide to clinical psych program. It has everything about all the programs (funding, theoretical orientation, practice/research oriented) and you can look at the acceptance rate of each to get a realistic idea of your chances. Other good, funded/partially funded PsyD programs I know are Baylors, Indiana State U and IUP. A quick search in Gradcafe should provide you more in-depth information like this post. Many balanced PhD programs give students the option to tailor their degree accordingly to their interest, it's not uncommon that people do only the minimal required research work to do more clinical hours or vice versa. IMO, you should focus more on exploring your interest and the fit between you and the programs as that's arguably the biggest factor of all (Personal statement+LORs).

I signed my first ever book contract last week with a major publishing house. 

Very quick. I feel like I just started but I'm already about to start 3rd year and studying for comps. 

You can put ones that are in-prep so long as a substantial chunk of it is written.

Always apply to APA accredited schools that offer funding. The PhD is a long route 5-7 years and even if you are funded, its barely enough for one person to live on, let alone a family. Taking on an unfunded program will mean that you would be in significant debt for a much longer time and you would need much longer than finishing your program to just "break even" with your finances.
It looks like you are geographically restricted and are considering this when applying for grad school, but it is also important to think about this when you apply for internship and post-doc. These application processes are also very competitive and may require you to move to a different state twice, even if you get into a program in your geographical area. Its important to consider whether or not this is a dealbreaker for you.
Finally its important to think about what you would like to do as a clinician. Master's level clinicians can provide psychotherapy, and psychologists can provide psychotherapy and assessment. As someone credentialled with a masters degree, if you wish to teach, you can adjunct some classes (though the pay is usually a bit low for this ~4,000-5,000 a class each semester). The only difference which you outlined is the ability to conduct research independently and the ability to condict assessments. Consider what you would want for a standard day in your practice. And be realistic in your expectations. Most say they want to do research, teaching, and clinical work, (myself included) but in reality most end up choosing 1 or 2 of these things due to time constraints/quality of life/maximizing income.
And a side note, in my experience, ageism shouldnt be an issue. Several students in my program started in their mid 30's-and early 40's so they're not the traditional applicant and did not have an issue.

You'll need to calculate your gpa for undergrad and masters. You have to report this even if your schools didn't calculate it. I recommend you remove names of schools and professors in your post. You don't need to include all of that in this setting.
Your application is good. Don't stress yourself out about not having a first-author paper yet. Study for the GRE. Magoosh is a good value. I would avoid reporting your current scores because of the low Q score.  I would strongly advise you to expand your search beyond those three states. Identify professors you want to work with rather than places you would like to live. If you pursue a career in this field you will need to relocate multiple times (internship, postdoc, job). Also be careful about you discuss your art unofficial recreational therapist experience. A google search tells me this requires a license. Make sure you don't misrepresent your credentials.