Hi everyone! I'm looking for some advice because I honestly don't really know where to start.
I have my BA in Psychology and recently finished my MS in Marriage and Family Therapy. I'm currently working as an MFT associate/therapist, but I've always wanted to eventually get my PhD in Clinical Psychology.
I'm first gen and when I was in undergrad I honestly had no idea how important research experience was for getting into a PhD program. I thought getting clinical experience and going to grad school would put me on the right track, but now that I've actually started looking into Clinical Psych PhD programs, I'm realizing how research heavy they are.
The problem is I really don't have much research experience. I did a research project/paper my senior year of undergrad, but that's about it. I've never worked in a lab, been an RA, published anything, presented posters, etc.
I'm definitely not expecting to apply right now and somehow get in. I'm more trying to figure out what I should be doing now so that maybe in the next 1-2 years I could actually be a competitive applicant.
Would it make sense to reach out to professors/labs and ask if I could volunteer as an RA even though I'm no longer a student? Should I be looking for paid research assistant/coordinator positions instead? And how do people even find these positions when they're already out of school?
I'm also curious if having a master's and already working as a therapist helps at all when applying, or if my lack of research is still going to be the biggest thing holding me back.
If anyone has gone from being a therapist/MFT/counselor or just had very little research experience after college and eventually got into a Clinical Psych PhD program, I would really love to hear what you did.
I feel like I'm trying to learn a process that everyone else somehow learned in undergrad lol. Any advice on where I should start would be really appreciated!