Document Type
Dissertation
Date of Award
2023
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Beth Boyd
Abstract
2020 was rife with social and political changes across the globe, ranging from the COVID-19 global pandemic, Black Lives Matter Movements, the effects of climate changes, and the insurrection on Capitol Hill (Salo, 2020). A qualitative methodology was used to explore the lived experiences of doctoral clinical psychology students of color during the crises of 2020-2022. Clinical psychology graduate students must navigate their own stressors in life (personal and academic) while also providing clinical therapeutic services to others, making them vulnerable to stress (DeAngelis, 2002). Many graduate students must balance academic coursework, clinical training, research, and financial demands, on top of the stress related to their performance in the program (Badali & Habra, 2003; Meyers et el., 2012). Graduate students of color experience additional stressors associated with their marginalized status including microaggressions, discrimination, lack of sense of belonging, and imposter syndrome (Brunsma et al., 2017). This study explored how graduate students’ personal and professional identities were shaped through the major sociohistorical influences of 2020 and beyond and how they were supported through these events. Five major themes were found to describe the experiences of clinical psychology doctoral students of color and the factors they believe impacted how they made meaning of their experiences as it related to them as a student, clinician, researcher, and future clinical psychologist.
Keywords
CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY GRADUATE
Number of Pages
154
Publisher
University of South Dakota
Recommended Citation
Denu, Yodit, "“IT'S NOT PASSION, IT'S SHEER SURVIVAL”: THE LIVED EXPERIENCES OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY GRADUATE STUDENTS OF COLOR DURING THE YEARS 2020-2022" (2023). Dissertations and Theses. 163.
https://red.library.usd.edu/diss-thesis/163