Three books that every student should read before deciding to go grad school in psychology:
On Being a Therapist, by Jeffrey Kottler. Terrifically honest book about the rewards and pitfalls of pursuing a career as a therapist. I especially appreciate the author's honesty about the tensions and contradictions we are asked to live with, such as the competing demands to "be authentic" and "be professional."
House of Cards, by Robyn Dawes. Dawes, a social psychologists, eviscerates the field of clinical psychology, arguing that our degrees and licensure signify very little of real value. While he acknowledges that there are some therapists who truly value evidence-based therapies, he rips psychology for embracing pseudoscientific treatments and for falsely claiming expertise where it has none to offer. I read this book expecting to have plenty of answers to his arguments, and I came away feeling grudgingly won over.
Eleven Blunders that Cripple Psychotherapy in America, by Nicholas Cummings and William O'Donohue. This is a must-read for any student or psychologist who someday hopes to make a living as a psychologist. The authors document the failures of leadership in the APA that led to our current situation of declining salaries and professional stature. They do a great job of placing psychology in the context of the entire healthcare system, and they attempt to explain why we are the lowest paid of doctoral professions. While I don't agree with everything the authors have to say, I found their perspectives on the economics of mental health care to be eye-opening. Again, I wish I had known this stuff before deciding to be a psychologist.
On Being a Therapist, by Jeffrey Kottler. Terrifically honest book about the rewards and pitfalls of pursuing a career as a therapist. I especially appreciate the author's honesty about the tensions and contradictions we are asked to live with, such as the competing demands to "be authentic" and "be professional."
House of Cards, by Robyn Dawes. Dawes, a social psychologists, eviscerates the field of clinical psychology, arguing that our degrees and licensure signify very little of real value. While he acknowledges that there are some therapists who truly value evidence-based therapies, he rips psychology for embracing pseudoscientific treatments and for falsely claiming expertise where it has none to offer. I read this book expecting to have plenty of answers to his arguments, and I came away feeling grudgingly won over.
Eleven Blunders that Cripple Psychotherapy in America, by Nicholas Cummings and William O'Donohue. This is a must-read for any student or psychologist who someday hopes to make a living as a psychologist. The authors document the failures of leadership in the APA that led to our current situation of declining salaries and professional stature. They do a great job of placing psychology in the context of the entire healthcare system, and they attempt to explain why we are the lowest paid of doctoral professions. While I don't agree with everything the authors have to say, I found their perspectives on the economics of mental health care to be eye-opening. Again, I wish I had known this stuff before deciding to be a psychologist.
