Graduate Student Mental Health Support

Pursuing a graduate degree in health services can be a stressful experience.

Many clinical psychology doctoral students experience financial stress and often cannot afford basic educational, personal living, and health care expenses, likely worsening mental health. Academic programs and leadership are encouraged to increase student stipends, improve financial transparency, provide access to health care, and alleviate financial stress and debt.

Further, graduate students in health service psychology (HSP), are often serving on the front lines during crisis situations. Programs can help to alleviate some of the stress of these situations by providing ample support for students during these events, especially for international students and students of color.

Hobaica, S., Szkody, E., Owens, S., Boland, J., Washburn, J., & Bell, D. (2021). Mental health concerns and barriers to care among future clinical psychologists. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 77(1), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.23198

HSP students experience significant barriers to receiving mental healthcare.

Boland, J., Szkody., E., Daniels, K., Aggarwal, P., Washburn, J., Peterman., A., & Selby. E. (2022) Doctoral-level psychology student training during the COVID-19 Pandemic: May 1st to June 25th, 2020. Training and Education in Professional Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/tep0000406

Education and training were negatively impacted by the pandemic

Daniels, K., Szkody, E., Aggrawal, P., Boland, J., Peterman, A., Washburn, J. & Selby, E. (2022). Characterizing changes in mental health-related outcomes for health service psychology students during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Clinical Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.23392

HSP programs should provide wellness resources, and adopt flexible approaches to support graduate students navigating training during periods of immense disruption.

Szkody, E., Aggrawal, P., Daniels, K., Boland, J., Peterman, A., Washburn, J. & Selby, E. (2023). The differential impact of COVID-19 across health service psychology students of color; An embedded mixed-methods study. Journal of Clinical Psychology.  https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.23530

HSP students of color and their experiences of discrimination need to be addressed

Szkody, E., Hobaica, S., Owens, S., Boland, J., Washburn, J., & Bell, D. (2022). Financial stress and debt in clinical psychology doctoral programs. Journal of Clinical Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.23451

Financial Stress from Graduate School Expenses are Associated with Poor Mental Health

Aggarwal, P., Szkody, E., Kapoulea, E. A., Daniel, K. E.*, Bootes, K. R.*, Boland, J. K., Washburn, J. J., & Peterman, A., (2023). International students’ experiences in graduate health service psychology programs during COVID-19 and recent socio-political climate in the United States. Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education. https://doi.org//10.1108/SGPE-11-2022-0072

The recent sociopolitical climate in the US exacerbated some of the preexisting inequities for international graduate students

Aggarwal, P., Szkody, E., Kapoulea, E. A., Daniel, K. E., Bootes, K. R., Boland, J. K., Washburn, J. J., & Peterman, A., (2022, July). Impact of COVID-19 and Recent Socio-Political Climate on Graduate Psychology International Students. Paper presented at the 2022 International Congress of International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology.

Owens, S., Hobaica., S., Szkody, E., & Boland, J. (2020, January). The relation between financial stress and health outcomes among clinical psychology doctoral students. Paper presented at the 2020 CUDCP Midwinter Meeting, Austin, TX.