SOP too personal? Counseling Psychology...

[tadams25]

I feel that it's relevant to give a brief overview of my interest in the field; however, what happens if my interest stems from my childhood? I have been debating for weeks whether or not to entirely leave this out, but I feel that it's the root of my passion in this field. My experience has also been the primary source of my research interests, as discussed in the last section:

"When I was six years old, I was prescribed Zoloft. I was told that it would cause me to worry less, and make me feel “better.” Apparently, my irrational fear of being left alone was grounds for medication. When Zoloft didn’t seem to change my feelings, I was prescribed Lexapro, Wellbutrin, and then Paxil. The side effects, negative and positive, were present, but my consent was essentially absent. Approaching puberty, however, I refused to swallow any more pills or see any more doctors; rather, I endeavored to answer my own questions. I sought to discover the origin of my previous separation issues, the thought processes that went into my parents’ and psychiatrists’ allowance of my medications, and the focus of my psychologists’ approach to therapy."

As I am aware, it's probably best to veer away from any reference to my own mental health (even if it's from my childhood?), but this is my honest reality - I was prescribed medications because my childhood feelings were "too much" to handle for my parents. This is the derivation of my interests and, essentially, passion. Any constructive criticism is STRONGLY welcomed =]

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

I think you have a good enough understanding of who you are as a person to use your past issues as a way to make you sound focused and in control rather than lost and unstable. I also wouldn't put so much weight into what others suggested. If everyone followed the do's and don't's of SOPs then everyone's SOP would sound the same. It's all about execution. I think you can pull it off. Maybe write both and see which one you like better.

[sareth]

I think the way you're framing the experience is strong. If, as JoeyBoy718 suggests, you make it clear that this was an issue in your childhood, not one you're dealing with now, I think it could work. That said, you might find this paper on personal statements in psych interesting: "one respondent stated that a KOD [Kiss of Death] may occur 'when students highlight how they were drawn to graduate study because of significant personal problems or trauma.'"

In your position I'd run my draft past a trusted professor or two for opinions. Good luck!

(if the link doesn't work, the paper's Appleby & Appleby, Kisses of Death in the Graduate School Application Process, Teaching of Psychology Vol. 33 Iss. 1, 2006)

[watson]

There are 3 major reasons to (in general) avoid talking about mental health issues/trauma in an SOP:

1. Worries that it will affect your grad work (grad school is hard emotionally and psychologically....though past issues may be irrelevant today, you can potentially bring up people's biases anyway)

2. That it will make your research interests appear too narrow--that you care only about this specific issue that occurred to you

3. Your intense connection to the subject may cause you to over-devote space in the SOP to describing parts of the story you feel are essential but make little difference to the adcoms, depriving you of the space to talk about the issues they REALLY care about

You can deal with all 3 of these, but you need to be aware of them as you write and edit your SOP. Especially with 2 & 3....really ask yourself whether each word of your 'story' needs to be there...how much does it add to why you'll be fantastic in grad school or is it veering into creative writing/motivational speech? Are you using it as an example of how it will broadly influence your approach to research/treatment, or are you just sharing an experience you had? Are you only interested in issues of over-prescription, or can you relate this to a more wide-reaching issue? Does your research focus on child-consent issues?

Just be very selective in what you include basically.

[TheFez]

With so many other ways to approach the topic - I would not describe a mental health issue in applying to a grad program. There is no upside.

[rems]

I think your opening does border on "too personal." You may focus on it a little too much -- perhaps taking some of the details out would help. It makes it seem like you're focusing on YOUR story and not your research interests. Stating that this is where you passion came from is completely fine and probably makes it stronger but focusing SO MUCH on it makes it seem like you're writing a personal narrative and not a statement of purpose.

To be completely honest, your paragraph sounds angry which is not the tone you want to give off to an adcom. It could be argued that this even sounds like your pursuing your degree in order to prove your parents wrong rather than striving to understand what goes wrong in child psychology. Your story is very interesting, but focus more on how it influenced who you are TODAY instead of focusing on what your parents did to you in the PAST. I would even keep the opening line, but you don't need the specifics of your diagnosis. Focus more on who you are now rather than who you were then. One or two sentences explaining how your diagnosis influenced your career path is strong, but an entire paragraph about how you think your therapist was wrong doesn't have anything to do with your graduate studies... At least according to an adcom.

But, of course, this isn't my field, and I'm not on an adcom. I don't mean to sound harsh, and I agree with JoeyBoy718 -- it's YOUR statement not mine. Write what YOU think will get you in and what you're passionate about. Best advice.

[tadams25]

Thank you for all the input! I've decided on NOT using that introduction. I agree, it does come across as angry.

[DarwinAG]

Looks like you've made your decision. I would recommend against it also. But I have seen it down tactfully and with such force that it just made the personal statement stand out. But writing it that way is such a gamble.

[PsychGirl1]

I agree with most of the other posters. In addition, you really don't know the background of people reading your essay on the admissions committee or really of the PI you're applying to work with. Maybe some of them work with a psychiatrist to give therapy to children who are medicated. Maybe they even feel that for those children, the medication is essential to help with the rest of their therapy program. Maybe they even took medication as a child. There is really no way to approach your experience without accusing people in the field of overmedicating and potentially insulting a good number of people who would potentially read your essay.

IF this is relevant to the research area you are applying to work in, you could approach it like: throughout your life, you have seen people struggle with the question of whether to take medication for their depression as a child and/or give it to their children, and as a result, you want to explore when it is appropriate to prescribe medication for child mental illness compared to not, and how to reduce the stigma for people who decide to take medication, etc. Your statement almost seems to suggest the opposite- that people who take medication or see doctors are lazy, which is kinda insulting, and this "idea" is a major issue for the field of psychology/psychiatry that stops many people from seeking appropriate treatment.

And not to get too personal, but you do seem to be upset about your childhood experience- but think of it from your parents' perspective. Maybe they were concerned about your mental well-being, took you to see someone, and that doctor recommended that you be on medicine, and explained why. Instead of thinking that your parents decided you were too much to handle, there's a real possibility that your parents were just concerned and leaned on medical advice- like many parents do today who medicate their child, whether it is, in the end, essential or not.

Edited November 13, 2012 by PsychGirl1