PsyD Personal Statement Sample

Born and raised in Pennsylvania, a child of immigrant parents arriving from India in 1990, I have long been engaged with the issues surrounding the mental health of recent immigrants to America. My long-term professional goal is to start my own mental health clinic and attend to the mental health needs and issues of members of my community who are in need of my support, with special attention to those who have come to America most recently. XXXX University is my first choice for earning the PsyD Degree for a variety of reasons ranging from the location to the sheer excellence of your program.

I often spend time simply daydreaming about the clinical practice that I hope to begin and invest the balance of my professional lifetime, working alongside colleagues with different special skills and interests. Ideally, especially taking into account the importance of culturally appropriate therapy and mental health support, it is important and can be most beneficial to the client, to match therapist and client in accordance with their interests, talents, language, etc.

PsyD Personal Statement Sample

I am also convinced as a result of my studies that there is a need for well-trained, South Asian Psychologists and other mental health professionals. I have gone through therapy myself and can testify to the great value of culturally sensitive and appropriate therapy, even though I was born in the USA, I found that my counselor who was also an Indian woman was more effective, that one would have been who knew little to nothing about my own cultural heritage, worldview, and value system, especially that part of it that I have inherited from my parents.

As with other minority groups of more recent immigrants to the USA, many South Asian immigrants, Bangladeshis and Pakistanis, for example, as well as Indians, treat mental health issues as a tabu subject and make every effort to hide or disguise problems of this nature when they arise. Mental health challenges are stigmatized, which has destructive effects on the members of our communities to live happy, productive, and successful lives. Nothing excites me as much as the idea of becoming part of this conversation and helping my community to overcome their inhibitions in this regard.

A non-traditional applicant, I have a lot of experience in the scientific world as I have worked in many labs in the area of immunology. I have struggled in my own personal and professional life and counseling helped me to deal very successfully with difficult challenges. Now that I have come out on the other side of that experience feeling much stronger. I want to help other to also weather difficult times and overcome major obstacles to happiness in their lives. I have come to the conclusion that this is my calling.

After leaving home I had no choice but to return for financial reasons at the age of 25 and it was hard adjusting to having my parents again criticizing my behavior. My father, in particular, became quite oppressive. My therapist always tried to advise me to talk to my parents and try to set boundaries, but in my culture that is very difficult. Respecting your elders is seen as the paramount moral duty in Indian culture. It is hard to even debate a topic or talk about something like my feelings or treatment without being viewed as insubordinate or disrespectful. Oftentimes trying to talk or relay that I am now an adult and my own person just made things worse. When my mother was growing up, she had no say at all in anything in her household. Her father made all of her decisions and then arranged her marriage to my father who essentially took over. My parents are pretty progressive overall, considering their upbringing, but it still isn’t enough for someone born and raised in America.

When I focus on the term South Asian, I am including Pakistani, Srilankan, and Bangladeshi populations as well, I have friends in these minorities who face a lot of the same issues and family problems that I do because, despite the historical tensions between India and Pakistan, the cultures and norms are exceptionally similar, especially for first generation millennials like myself.  South Asian women in particular, I feel, are in need of my help and I am well versed in the way that many if not most South Asian men make every attempt to replicate patriarchal systems of domination here in America, similar to what they enjoyed in Asia. That, of course, is unacceptable here in the USA and sometimes results in illegal as well as very damaging and destructive behavior.

I am currently enrolled at Bucks County Community College in two classes in preparation for your program, Statistics in Psychology and Developmental Psychology. These courses will help me to hit the ground running and excel.

I thank you for considering my application for study towards the PsyD Degree at XXXX University.

PsyD Personal Statement Sample