The book Becoming a Clinical Psychologist: Personal Stories of Doctoral Training...captures the concerns of graduate students in doctoral clinical psychology programs, and it outlines them in honest, touching, thoughtful, and insightful narratives. The book contains a total of 12 chapters which are organized into three sections pertaining to the experiences of beginning therapists, the personal and professional challenges involved in training, and the training and clinical practice of doctoral students belonging to diverse groups. This book reminds students, professors, and supervisors of the fears that graduate students tend to have in their training such as fears of evaluation, of failure, of incompetence, and of the need for self-care during the training process. The beginning clinical psychology trainee can experience a good deal of stress and isolation, and this book can serve as an extremely useful source of social support. It offers narratives of both common experiences and unique circumstances with which the student in a clinical psychology program can identify. . . .This book can function as a foundation for the doctoral clinical psychology student seeking validation for thoughts and feelings related to their diverse experiences. In addition, professors and supervisors can use this book to better understand their students as individuals, to gain perspective on their fears and concerns, and to avoid asking inappropriate questions of the graduate student based on a lack of understanding of diverse issues. . . .[T]his book may encourage faculty and supervisors to become more sensitive to the questions they ask graduate students.

PsycCRITIQUES

This volume provides an important adjunct to clinical training in psychology. It will be a valuable resource for both students and educators, inviting in-depth consideration of the personal challenges entailed in becoming a clinical psychologist.

Marilyn Charles, PhD, Austen Riggs Center

This unique book provides a collection of candid, revealing, and deeply personal accounts of the trials, tribulations, rewards, and joys experienced by students undergoing training to become clinical psychologists and psychotherapists. What is it like to be seeing your first patient in therapy? What are the unexpected ways in which undergoing training affects relationships with friends, families, and romantic partners? What is it like to be struggling with your own personal problems, while training to help others? What is it like to be the only black trainee in your training program? What is it like to be pathologized for being a man when most of your fellow trainees are women? What is it like for a gay orthodox Jewish trainee to be struggling with ‘coming out of the closet?’ This book is a must-read for anyone teaching therapists, those undergoing clinical training, and those thinking of becoming a therapist, undergoing therapy, or just plain curious about psychotherapy.

Jeremy D. Safran, PhD, New School for Social Research

The field of clinical psychology is evolving in the direction of becoming more research-oriented. The fact remains, though, that most clinical psychologists will never become clinical researchers, and the need for quality clinical training will not soon disappear. Indeed, now more than ever, there is a need to articulate and strengthen our understanding of the process through which trainees transform into professional, competent practitioners. Therefore, Knafo, Keisner, and Fiammenghi’s Becoming a Clinical Psychologist: Personal Stories of Doctoral Training, is a welcomed and timely contribution, which has the distinct merit of allowing us to hear doctoral students describing their own experience. The introduction provides a lively overview of the contemporary scene in clinical psychology, and many of the chapters outline personal aspects of experience as well as focusing on issues around diversity. Anyone who is contemplating entering the field, anyone who has recently joined the field, and anyone who has the responsibility of training students will find this book informative and helpful.

Elliot Jurist, The City College of New York