Clinical psychology goes beyond the Cuckoo's Nest

Knox College senior Ashley Bunnell '07, and a handful of other psychology students, are finding out that clinical work goes beyond reading Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, by immersing themselves in  clinical psychology term. They are also finding out that, by today's standards, the Miss Ratcheds are merely characters in a book.

Bunnell worked at St. Mary's Square Living Center, a residential facility for developmentally disabled adults. "I job-shadowed the director of admissions and head nurse at St. Mary's. I think there is a blending of what I did at St. Mary's with what a group of psychology students did at Knox County Academy. We used techniques of a cognitive-behavioral clinical orientation in order to teach a class at Knox County Academy aimed at preventing depression and anxiety," Bunnell says.

According to Tim Kasser, associate professor of psychology, the core of clinical term is three credits of specialized coursework: clinical and abnormal psychology, theories and methods of psychotherapy , and a clinical internship. Landing a clinical internship, by the way, is a feat usually not seen until graduate school. During their internship experiences, both Andersson and Bunnell developed basic skills needed to accurately assess behavior in patients. "The term is unique. It provides these students with a positive, constructive, and real life clinical experience," Kasser says.

Matt Andersson '08 is pursuing a double major in chemistry and psychology. He took his internship at the Safe Harbor facility, a resource for battered women and their children. There, he spent time facilitating group discussions and developing activities for the children. He takes pride in knowing that the victims and families he came in touch with benefitted from his work.

Andersson and Bunnell, like the other clinical term students, have substantive work to show for their time. "I had more than 200 pages of journal notes," Andersson, who also works as a CTL writing tutor, says. He also served as co-editor of Catch, Knox's bi-annual literary magazine.

Journal keeping is just one tool that clinical students use to evaluate their experiences. "The weekly discussions also provided great feedback," Andersson says.

 "Most students who take clinical term are thinking about clinical psychology or social work for a career," Kasser says. "Clinical term gives them a taste of what graduate school will be like, and also gives them some great experience for graduate school."

Originally, Bunnell had no intention of pursuing a career in clinical psychology. "I did it [clinical term] because I felt that psychology majors should spend some time studying clinical issues," Bunnell says.  "It was intense, but when I went through the clinical term on a day-to-day basis, I thought, 'Wow ? this is what grad school is like. I could do this 24/7.'" In light of her experiences in clinical term, Bunnell says she wants to pursue a master's degree in clinical psychology, and eventually earn a doctorate. "I see myself teaching and conducting research in a place like Knox College," she says.

This year, Andersson is undertaking honors research in psychology by examining the health effects of creative writing. He hopes to combine his passions for science and English by teaching psychology and researching literature as a science. "In five years, I hope to be a writer-scientist," he says.