PsyD Personal Statement Service

African American Soldier & Mental Health Counselor Personal Statement

An African American soldier, I will soon complete 20 years of service in the United States Army. I now keenly look forward to making doctoral studies towards the PsyD Degree my first priority. I have learned many things as a solider that will help me to excel as a Psychologist, particularly since my professional focus will always be on soldiers, active and veteran, and especially suicide prevention. I see suicide prevention for soldiers and veterans to be one of the burning issues of our times mostly because of the numbers, increasing incrementally for some time now.

There are now many more times the number of Vietnam veterans that have committed suicide after coming home, then fell in Vietnam. New generations and new wars have assurred that PTSD is increasingly widespread and an enormous drain on public resources, crippling broad swaths of our youth, and contributing to the useless and tragic death of our soldiers and veterans. Thus, while I will soon be retiring from the military, I am still a young man, 36. I look forward to giving the next half of my life to learning, reading, writing, investigating, and practicing Psychology, all geared towards saving and prolonging the lives or our soldiers old and young.

If I am blessed with the opportunity to become a clinical psychologist, I hope to contribute valuable real-world experience to discussions, especially issues concerning soldiers and veterans. After serving 20 years on active duty, I believe that that the military is an underserved demographic, with many veterans and soldiers alike in need of mental health assistance. Since I have experience dealing with many of the issues and trials dealt with by service members on a daily basis, I see myself as an excellent candidate for providing them with quality therapy. 

Serving in the military around the world and having the opportunity to work with people from a broad variety of cultural backgrounds, has provided me with an advanced understanding and appreciation of the importance of diversity and multiculturalism in organizations and societies. I have learned how not to look at other cultures and experiences through the biased looking glass of my own culture. My fullest embrace of multiculturalism empowers and inspires me to make my maximum professional contribution in this area.

As a member of a minority group myself, I feel that I am well poised to inspire not just other African Americans, but soldiers and veterans of color more generally speaking, immigrants for example, who have faced and overcame barriers and challenges related to ethnicity and who are underrepresented in their chosen fields. My own greatest inspiration are the soldiers of color, young and old. who jump at the chance to tell someone about their struggles who they see as in a position to understand what they have been through and where they are coming from. I look forward to encouraging minorities to utilize available mental health services

My research interests are focused on suicide in the military. I believe that the military's response is inadequate, and I argue that screening and visits with mental health professionals should be made routine, as ample evidence suggests that this could help to curb the increasing numbers of soldiers and veterans whose lives end by suicide.

PsyD Personal Statement Service