Group interviews - clinical scenarios

[Psychologyandpizza]

Hi everyone! I just found out for one of my interviews that during the group sessions, we will have research and “clinical vignettes”. I’m a bit nervous about this because, while the program emphasizes that it looks for applicants who had masters degrees including clinical placements and practicum, I have a masters in research and don’t have that experience. How do I prepare for these, while recognizing that I don’t have the clinical skills required to make the same judgments that many of the other applicants are qualified to make during these group sessions? Any help is appreciated!

 

Thanks!!

[butwhyisallthecoffeegone]

I would check out the areas of interest of the people in the program (i.e., mood disorders, personality disorders, etc) and then cross- reference those with the criteria found for them in the DSM. You can further cross-reference with articles relating to treatment options of those disorders. 

[topsailpsych]

We used his book in my Clinical Assessment and Treatment Planning class in my Master's degree program and it really helped me to conceptualize treatment planning.  It might be a good option to quickly learn the basics of treatment planning: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1609186494/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

If you don't already have a copy of the DSM 5, it might be worth going ahead and getting one then taking a flip through it to familiarize yourself with some of the most common disorders and the differential diagnoses for those disorders (which are conveniently listed in the section for each of the disorders).

Good luck!