allowed me to pursue research in the very areas that
brought me to graduate school in the first place.
Tell us about the work you have conducted in using
MST while in graduate school.
During my time in graduate school, I’ve had extensive
experience practicing, adapting, and researching MST. I
spent 2 years working with the local juvenile office as a
MST provider for juvenile delinquents and their fami-
lies. I conducted research on whether MST leads to
long-term improvements (e.g., less severe criminal
outcomes) for nonreferred family members (e.g., sib-
lings, parents) when compared to usual services. I’ve
also received over 4 years of supervision in MST from a
cofounder of MST, Dr. Charles Borduin.
Given my separate experience with MST and chil-
dren with autism, I was fortunate enough to be provided
with an opportunity to collaborate with Dr. Borduin and
experts in autism research, assessment, and practice to
adapt MST for youths with autismspectrumdisorders and
their families. As part of this project, I spent an additional
year providing MST to youths with autism spectrum dis-
order, learning about how they and their families may
differ from those individuals and families typically seen in
MST and beginning to determine whether this model
would be feasible to adapt and helpful for these youths
and families. I was providedwith the opportunity to work
with this team to consider adaptations to the model and
secure grant funding for future studies. I was then
allowed to train and help supervise MST therapists
responsible for providing this new treatment and over-
saw the collection of outcome data used to assess the
feasibility of using MST with this population. As a whole,
this project has provided me with the experiences I had
hoped to some day gainaftergraduate school.
Looking back, what activities or experiences were the
most important for you in your graduate school
program?
Experiences, such as providing MST or adapting a treat-
ment model, were perhaps the most interesting and
rewarding for me. However, looking back, I now see that
many of the most important experiences for me in my
graduate program were also those that were the most
stressful and that I was mostlikely to want to avoid. These
experiences included defending a thesis, orally present-
ing research in front of faculty and peers, and taking
comprehensive exams. Upon reflection, I learned the
most about conducting research, disseminating results,
and both consuming and summarizing clinical research
literature from those experiences.
Any additional hints for those trying to make it
through graduate school in clinical psychology?
I believe that everyone responds a little differently to
the unique stressors and opportunities associated with
graduate school in clinical psychology and therefore
have few blanket recommendations. There are, how-
ever, three things that I do mention to our incoming
students that I found to be helpful for me. First, it is
completely normal to feel as though you are not
competent enough or don’t belong in graduate
school. Many of us feel that way at times, especially
during our first year, regardless of our ability levels.
Second, explore recreational or social outlets outside
of your program. We spend an inordinate amount of
time in classes, labs, and clinics with our peers, and I
feel having at least a few“non-psychology”outlets
helps me when I don’t want to talk shop and/or be
reminded of work. Lastly, don’t spend too much time
fretting and planning for all of the work that you
have to do. Just do it. Looking back, I realized that I
spent endless hours trying to think about or plan for
my work during my early years and am now amazed
by how much more can be accomplished when I just
sit down and work.David WagnerDavid WagnerGROUP THERAPY, FAMILY THERAPY, AND COUPLES THERAPY 449