A Day in the Life of a Clinical Psychologist

I am a licensed psychologist, which means I have a PhD in clinical psychology. I am trained to diagnose adults struggling with any mental health struggles, but I specialize in the treatments I provide. I focus on couples therapy, sex therapy, and behavioral medicine.

I love endurance athletics, so I structure my days to accommodate longer workouts. I usually am up before 6 to start a run, usually with my club or friends.

9am: I start going over client notes, previewing if I need to score any questionnaires they have submitted since we last met and prepare feedback for them, have any patient emails, or need to read any research about new treatments. Sometimes, I will search Google Scholar, PubMed, or similar in the morning to determine if there is a new treatment or assessment for a problem I need to learn to provide research-supported services.

10am-7:15pm: I start seeing patients from 10 AM and see them until 7:15PM most days. During this time, I conduct assessments to diagnose and provide research-supported treatments. I send clients “homework” assignments and questionnaires to complete. I have one shorter day and one day for my research work (when I see no patients).

End of day: At the end of the day, I like to lift at the gym, usually 30-45 minutes. Of course, I visit with family and friends at night also, as time/energy allows!

Every week I have a case conference with other providers, where we (confidentially) discuss any difficulties we may have with client issues. I also am frequently completing letters for my patients to support disability applications, FMLA, and similar issues. I am responsible for completing a note for every session, noting what assessment/treatment was provided, the current status of the client’s progress, and the time for the purpose of billing insurance. I work for a service that manages all my scheduling and billing.

Pros

I love that therapy online allows me to reach clients who have an area in which I have deep expertise, who otherwise would be unlikely to find a therapist in their immediate area with my level of specialization. I also enjoy the freedom of having my choice to use research-supported treatments, although it creates a higher burden of paperwork on the company.

Cons

The cons are the 40-minute sessions because most treatments were developed assuming sessions would be 60 minutes. Standardized treatments become more sessions than initially tested because we simply cannot get through the material. I also am often disappointed to learn that clients have seen therapists before, but did not receive treatments that are known to work. It highlights the needless suffering of clients caught in a system that does not require mental health providers to use treatments that are evidence-based, a distinction from medical practice.