Category Archives: Graduate School

Negotiating Job Contracts: Effective Strategies to Improve Your Outcome

How to be comfortable being uncomfortable while negotiating

By Sarah Aghjayan

Are you in a position to negotiate your salary but do not know where to start? If so, you are not alone. According to a recent survey by Glassdoor, more than half of American workers accepted their employer’s pay offer without negotiating (2016). Many times, workers do not negotiate their salary because they are afraid of being told no or losing the job offer, they think it might create a negative impression, or their employer did not signal that the offer was negotiable by asking their expected salary. While negotiating can seem intimidating, there are several strategies that can help you feel more comfortable when negotiating and lead to a more positive outcome. Whether you are seeking a position in an academic, clinical, or industry setting, these effective strategies and resources may help boost your confidence when negotiating.

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APAGS CSOGD Committee Spotlight: Emily Boswell

What is your name and pronouns? 

Emily Boswell, she/her.

What is your program and year? 

I am a rising 4th year Counseling Psychology Ph.D. candidate at Ball State University in Muncie, IN. 

What brought you to CSOGD? 

I had been interested in engaging in advocacy work for the LGBTQ+ community for several years, but I had never been aware of leadership positions. I applied to CSOGD after experiencing anti-LGBTQ+ prejudice as a psychologist-in-training and I did not have a large network of LGBTQ+ psychologists to consult or receive support in navigating these experiences. I wanted to use this platform to support other LGBTQ+ students in psychology who also found themselves in need of support, advocacy, and connection. 

What LGBTQ+ advocacy projects are you involved in? 

In addition to coordinating APAGS-CSOGD’s efforts, I’ve provided trainings to clinicians-in-training regarding multicultural competence in working with LGBTQ+ clients, with specific focus on working with LGBTQ+ youth. I’ve also advocated for the creation of community check-ins within my program’s department. 

What are your research interests and experiences? 

My research is currently focused on assessing clinicians’ competency in working with clients who hold an asexual-spectrum identity, and how clinicians’ attitudes impact clinical decision-making when working with asexual clients.  

What are your clinical interests?
I have primarily worked with LGBTQ+ adolescents and young adults and I love working with folx who are navigating identity development. I also enjoy working with folx who have experienced sexual trauma, anxiety, depression, and family of origin concerns.  

What other interests do you have? 

I currently have approximately 30 plants that I try to keep alive (some more successfully than others), and two cats (that I very successfully keep alive) named Loki and Onion. I love lifting weights, drawing with charcoal, playing my bass guitar, and watching TV – I’m currently obsessed with Stranger Things.

 

9 Tips for Navigating an In-Person Convention

By Amanda Wisinger, APAGS Convention Committee

A return to in-person conferences is likely bringing about a mix of emotions for students – both positive and negative. Many of us have spent the better part of two years attending classes and seminars behind computer screens. For some of us, our entire graduate school experience has been spent in virtual spaces with limited opportunities to connect in-person with our peers and professors. We have grown adept at navigating a variety of typically in-person events being held virtually, such as dissertation defenses, interviews for practicum and internship, and even professional conferences.

If you are attending the APA Convention in Minneapolis this August in-person, it may be your first in-person conference ever. Or, your first in-person conference in a few years. While virtual conferences provided us with many benefits (e.g., reduced travel and lodging costs, the ability to refill your coffee by simply taking a few steps into your kitchen, attending sessions in your sweatpants, etc.), there were undoubtedly many opportunities that virtual events did not provide – including the ability to form new professional relationships and contacts through in-person networking.

Here are my top tips to boost your networking skills and make the most of an in-person Convention:

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APAGS CSOGD Committee Spotlight: Aidan Kraus

What is your name and pronouns?

Aidan D. Kraus, (they/them/theirs)

What is your program and year?

2nd year Ph.D. Student

Counseling Psychology, Specialization in Sport & Performance Psychology

Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development

What brought you to CSOGD?

It was recommended that I apply to join APAGS from a former CSOGD member after vocalizing how I was looking to build my LGBTQIA+ community within academic settings. Working with CSOGD over the past two years has been an incredible experience as we continue to support one another in producing meaningful and affirming work and resources for the LGBTQIA+ community within APA and beyond. I feel so humbled to be a part of such a caring and encouraging group of LGBTQIA+ graduate students and allies.

What LGBTQ+ advocacy projects are you involved in?

In addition to being a subcommittee member for the APAGS CSOGD, I am a Student Representative for the APA Division 17 Section for the Advocacy of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity (SASOGD), a Co-Chair of the Pride (LGBTQ+) Special Interest Group through the Association for Applied Sport Psychology, and an Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Committee Member through Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development. I am also working on projects focused on transgender inclusion policies for sports participation at the K-12 levels.

What are your research interests and experiences?

My research focuses on the wellbeing, mental health, and sense of belonging of transgender and non-binary youth and athletes from across the United States as part of a pilot longitudinal project. Additionally, my research also includes developing and analyzing trauma-informed coaching practices for sport coaches at the K-12, high school, collegiate, and elite levels.

What are your clinical interests?

I am interested in providing clinical and performance enhancement support to athletes at the collegiate and professional levels. In addition to working within an athletic department or for individual teams, I plan to open a private practice focused on providing affirming clinical and performance enhancement services to athletes who identify as LGBTQIA+ at all levels of play.

What other interests do you have?

I enjoy playing and watching sports, live music, photography, and spending time exploring new places with friends and family.

APAGS CSOGD Committee Spotlight: Jared Boot

This blog post is a part of a series developed by the APAGS Committee on Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity (CSOGD) to celebrate LGBTQ+ graduate student leaders in psychology. If you are interested in learning more about APAGS-CSOGD and leadership opportunities within APAGS, please contact Emily Boswell (she/her). 

What is your name and pronouns?

Jared Boot (he/him)

What is your program and year?

I am a third-year student in a Clinical Psychology PsyD program at The Michigan School of Psychology.

What brought you to CSOGD?

I wanted to make a difference for other LGBTQIA+ psychology students. I was inspired by the Trans Resource Guide, which aids students in advocating for inclusive campus environments, and I used that resource to implement changes on my campus. I was also a mentee in the LGBTQIA+ mentoring program and found that to be a meaningful experience that helped me gain confidence, connections, and feel affirmed as an LGBTQIA+ student. I wanted to join the committee and be a part of continuing to make a difference for LGBTQIA+ students, and it has been a privilege to work with other mentors and mentees to support the growth and development of other LGBTQIA+ students. I also sought to bridge CSOGD with other LGBTQIA+ healthcare organizations, particularly interdisciplinary organizations like GLMA, where I serve as a student board member and Co-Chair of the Health Professionals in Training Committee (HPiT). Some of their work related to curricular reform efforts to incorporating LGBTQIA+ content in health professional trainee curriculum is aligned with CSOGD’s mission.

What LGBTQ+ advocacy projects are you involved in?

My most recent advocacy project was advocating for and helping draft a position statement on the rights and dignities of asexual individuals from the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors, and Therapists (AASECT). Asexual individuals often face stigmatizing and pathologizing experiences from healthcare providers, including psychologists, and hopefully, AASECT being the first healthcare organization to make a statement on affirming care for asexual individuals improves the experiences of members of that community. Another advocacy project I tackled during my time as the Chair of the World Professional Association of Transgender Health (WPATH) was related to increasing funding opportunities for students and trainees to attend WPATH conferences.

What are your research interests and experiences?

I recently finished a preliminary study assessing transgender competency for rural clinicians. This study looked at comparing rural clinicians who either completed a 10-hour general multicultural training or a 10-hour intensive transgender training and whether there were difference in transgender competency. Differences between groups were discovered, but only via the open-ended qualitative instrument and not through the Likert-based measure of transgender competency. This may have implications for the types of assessments used in competency trainings and whether we include material related to LGBTQIA+ individuals in multicultural courses or teach material related to affirming care for LGBTQIA+ individuals as an intensive stand-alone course.

My dissertation is focused on the unique minority stress factors, resilience factors, and their contribution to psychological distress among those holding the intersecting identity of asexual and transgender/gender diverse. This is an under-researched community within asexual research despite transgender and gender diverse folx identifying as asexual at up to ten times the number of cisgender folx who identify as asexual. 

What are your clinical interests?

My primary clinical interests are gender and sex therapy and intuitive eating counseling. I was fortunate to go through training and certification through the World Professional Association of Transgender Health and the AASECT and find it especially rewarding to work with individuals looking to embrace their identity, whether it is as a person with a diverse sexual or gender identity or an individual seeking to affirm their size diversity through intuitive eating counseling. 

What other interests do you have?

Taking care of, walking, and playing with my two sphinx cats, Horus and Cleopatra, and seeing musicals with my fiancé Aaron.