The First Few Months of my PhD
Wow, it has been one heck of a semester.
For those of you who aren’t aware, this past fall, I started my PhD at Boston University (BU) in their counseling psychology and applied human development program. It is housed in Wheelock College department of education. My specialization is in psychology, more specifically sport and performance psychology. In a few sentences, what that means is that I conduct research and provide services to individuals who are pursuing optimal performance in their respective fields/sports/domains. This encompasses the persons mental health and their mindset before, during, and after a performance. It also may include what recovery looks like for someone to be prepared to perform at a high level consistently. It can include working with one person, but also a team developing cohesion, group confidence, team mental models, and/or culture. In addition to this performance specialization, I am pursuing to be a psychologist, which requires a separate area of training. There are many hats I wear as a PhD student here at BU. I plan on presenting them to you in this substack as I reflect on my first semester of my PhD.
My expectations were exceeded. I received many more experiences than I thought I would, and I learned a ton of useful information that I can apply within my field and beyond. However, I do want to share a disclaimer, it was hard, it was stressful, it was scary at times. My understanding is that a PhD is not supposed to be a walk in the park. I also remind myself that there are so many other individuals that would love to be in my shoes. Therefore, although it is easy to complain, and I have, without a doubt, I am extremely grateful to have been given an opportunity to be at BU. At the end of the day, if it were easy, many more people would hold a Doctorate Degree in their name. So, let’s get to it.
I’m going to break this piece up into three sections and share my experiences and my takeaways from each. I will share about the Teaching experience I received, the Research I conducted and what lab I’m a part of, and finally share the Practice I am part of, which are the services I had a chance to provide during my first semester. Whether you are a current graduate student looking to apply, someone who is interested in the field, a friend, a family member, a current professional in the field, a current PhD student in another program, regardless, I think you will find something informative in this post.
Teaching
As an accepted student into the program, you automatically receive a Fellowship, which requires you to commit to one semester of the year to being a Teaching Assistantship, or in some cases, an instructor. This is where you get your stipend from. The semester you do not spend teaching, you are expected to conduct a higher output of research. However, during your Teaching Assistantship, you are still required to conduct research, but your time is more spread out across responsibilities. If you want to seek out additional experience, all the power to you.
As I began the program, I came in with a certification called Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC), which was awarded to me through the Association for Applied Sport Psychology after completing all necessary requirements. Due to that qualification, I have the ability to mentor students who are on the path of pursuing that certification. This allowed me to co-teach a masters course (Sport Psychology Practicum) with a faculty member teaching various types of interventions in sport psychology. Additionally, I mentored a few students, which consisted of watching recordings of them delivering mental performance services, facilitate educational discussions around sport psychology topics, and provide them with feedback. To be transparent, I learned so much from all the students that I had the opportunity to mentor and still mentor. I wish the students learned just as much from me.
Moving forward into 2022, I will continue co-teaching the Sport Psychology Practicum course and mentoring students. Additionally, I will be a Teaching Assistant for a Psychology of Coaching class, which is my Fellowship assignment. I am really looking forward to this class because I believe coaching is a realm that has the potential for sport and performance psychology to be an asset. This is the case in some organizations, but not in general culture, which I hope is only a matter of time. It also is important to understand sport from the coaches perspective, because at the end of the day, they are the ones calling the final shots.
Research
Being enrolled in a PhD program that has an “R1” designation from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, means that the institution is involved in very high research activity at the graduate and faculty level. This is versus an R2 or R3 label that schools can also receive, which are considered to have lower expectation of research output. Additionally, BU is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), which includes 64 in the United States and 2 in Canada and are expected to be leading in innovation and scholarship that contribute to scientific progress. This translates into the education programs they offer. Therefore, as a PhD student there is expectation that you will conduct research throughout your time as a student. However, this depends on the advisor you are with throughout your PhD and the goals you have for yourself post PhD.
Personally, one of the reasons why I chose BU as a program is because the vision my advisor (Dr. Edson Filho) had for his laboratory. As a student I want to contribute to that vision and conduct innovative research. In my case, I am the first PhD student my advisor has at BU. This is exciting because he is just developing his laboratory, and so far, it has been a blast to be part of developing, brainstorming, and providing my two cents into how the laboratory will be run. It is the Performance, Recovery, and Optimization Laboratory. We are still working on our website, but here is a preliminary site. There are a number of active research projects happening at once from various students who are members, which is so much fun to see.
Just like a team, a laboratory needs to be cohesive. Therefore, I was appointed the lab manager where part of my responsibility lies in developing the culture in the lab. Overtime I hope to optimize lab member well-being and collaboration between members. Whether that be through social events, exercise groups, or constructive feedback, we want to create a culture of excellence, while having fun. This can easily be a research study.
Before I started at BU, my research focused on group dynamics and mindfulness, where I had the opportunity to be published with a few other colleagues. Although my current interests still align with these two topics, I have expanded, I’m currently examining peer-leadership and have a developing interest in implementing psycho-physiological markers to performance settings. Furthermore, I am highly interested in program development within athletic departments, and how they provide services to the student-athlete population.
I believe that having diverse integration of topics will only benefit me as a scientist-practitioner in the field. I want to know more about what it means to perform optimally, and this requires developing expertise in multiple topics. Many scientists may think that developing expertise in one area is what one should do, but in the realm of sport psychology, does it benefit a practitioner if they only know group dynamics? I am all for an eclectic and holistic approach to science, which I believe will make me a better practitioner and a stronger scientist.
Practice
The last piece of the puzzle. What makes a well-rounded sport psychologist? One that can teach, conduct research, and deliver mental performance interventions. The emphasis on practice at BU has provided ample experience to further develop my mental performance delivery. This is because of the BU Sport Psychology Team. We are a group of PhD and advanced masters level students who work in the BU athletic department working with teams and individuals. Additionally, we work with College of Fine Arts performing artists and musicians who seek out our services too.
This past semester I have had an opportunity to work with two teams (men’s basketball & men’s rowing) that I plan to stay with during my time at BU, and individuals from both sport and music. In these settings I provide mental performance services, which looks different each day. This could look like an athlete or musician scheduling a session with me, dropping into a coach’s office and having a conversation about team culture or supporting injured athletes, delivering team workshops on various topics, facilitating meditation sessions after practice, being present at practice or during a performance, or having a conversation with an athlete or coach during a strength and conditioning session. The point is that the delivery of mental performance services varies depending on the need and support someone is looking for. Sometimes it may simply standing in the background and providing support that way. Presence can have a huge impact over time, that is something that I have learned.
I cannot forget to speak to the clinical psychology portion of my training. Although, I did not deliver any services this past semester, I did apply to my first round of clinical practicum. As a PhD student on the psychology side at BU, you go through three years of psychology training that starts your second year. This fall I applied to my first year of psychology training, and every following year you reapply to different places. Think of it as clinical rotations for medical students. At BU you go through three different practicum placements.
For me, I am working towards getting accepted to a placement that also includes a sport psychology component. For example, being at a university counseling center and providing services to the student-athlete population. I am pursuing that experience because I want to provide services to a performing population once I am done with my PhD.
Conclusion
If you made it this far, I applaud you. I hope my word vomit did not bore you and you have a bit of info to take away from this substack. The reason why I wanted to present my experiences from these distinct categories, is because I believe that it is essential to develop skills in all three areas. This will only be an asset. You want to develop a diverse number of skills, which will provide you more opportunity once you complete school. Not sure if these are my words or those of a mentor, but I currently embody them. My goal is to stay in the realm of academia in a hybrid sense, where I can teach, conduct research, mentor students, and provide service in the institution’s athletic department or have a private practice. There aren’t many who hold such positions, but the fact that there are a few, means that it is possible.
Regardless, if you are debating on moving forward into doctorate work, I encourage you to examine the good of each of the three areas. You don’t have to love all of it but look for bits and pieces that provide fuel for that burning desire that originally got you going. Once you recognize that thread, that can be powerful.
Loved reading about your year so far. Reflection, as you know, is a powerful tool for growth and learning. Not only have you shared your roles and responsibilities but you have also reflected on what the process has been like for you. Looking forward to chatting more with you about your work Piotr. Talk soon.