ISPP Current Student Spotlight: Claudia Milano VOL. 15
Claudia Milano, MA (She/Her) 4th Year Clinical Psychology Doctoral Student
Do you have any advice for prospective students?
Most of us choose to become psychologists because we want to dedicate our lives to healing others, understanding the complexities of the world, or use our time to create meaningful change. Yet, academia often introduces perfectionism and an obsession with productivity that can leave us feeling more like machines than human beings by the end of each semester. Over time, small pieces of our spark are chipped away, and by the third year, many of us find ourselves questioning why we began this journey in the first place. Being in a doctoral program for clinical psychology is a truly unique experience. We are not only scientists, but artists and philosophers. It is essential to remember that being a good clinician requires being deeply human. To do this, you must tend to your needs, your desires, and your healing. Taking time during the semester to live your life and create memories is just as important as studying. What will make you a great clinician is exploring the depth of who you are and gaining real-world experiences. Each failure, heartbreak, success, and joy you encounter adds to your depth and strengthens your understanding of life and the human experience. So please, do not forget to live. Go on vacation, fall in love, go to therapy, create art, explore new ideas or spiritual paths. Do anything that reminds you that you are more than your GPA. Living your life cultivates an inner wisdom that cannot be taught through textbooks and this internal knowing will allow you to integrate science and theory with authenticity in your practice. It will be the fuel behind your clinical intuition and allow you to guide the healing of others in profound ways, igniting true therapeutic change, which is, after all, the very reason most of us began this journey in the first place.
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