Sell-out Doctor Network Strikes for the last time

(Warning, very long rant ahead. You should get a snack)

Today you will find me a very angry graduate student. One of the many ways I have found to waste time over the previous three months has been obsessive monitoring of the Student Doctor Network’s clinical psychology forum. Today, I stop. I have finally had enough of listening to people whine about the field of psychology and pontificate on subjects with which they are unfamiliar. I’ve had enough of the whining about money, enough of the whining about social workers, and enough of the whining about affirmative action. Every time I browse the forums I just find myself pissed off that so many shallow, intellectually dishonest, uncaring people have mysteriously decided to employ themselves in a helping profession. What, there aren’t enough consulting jobs to go around?

I suppose I should probably give a little more background. The SDN forums are designed so that students will have the ability to share information about their professions directly with other students. Unfortunately, all of the threads in the clinical psychology forum turn into one of three debates.

1. Psychologists don’t make enough money.
2. Ph.D. psychologists are better (smarter, better trained, more physically fit, etc) than Psy.D. psychologists.
3. Affirmative action is “unfair” because “two wrongs don’t make a right” and “racism isn’t a factor in 21st century America.”

Bullshit! All of it! Yes, psychology is not the most lucrative field in the world but it is not as if psychologists have to moonlight at McDonald’s to pay their rent. It would be kind of funny if they did (Cust: Can I supersize that? Psych: it is not my place to tell you what you can and can’t do), but they don’t. If you wanted to make a ton of money, then pick a career that pays well. Go be an accountant or actuary or gagsta rapper but get the hell out of my profession. I don’t want to work with you if money is your primary concern. If the rewards of helping others and a modest though comfortable income are insufficient motivation for you, then psychology is not your field. Similarly, I am sick and tired of all of these disparaging comments directed toward PsyDs. Clinical psychology Ph.D. programs have lower acceptance rates than any programs other than veterinary schools. There just aren’t enough positions in Ph.D. programs to accommodate all of the talented and qualified people who may want to become psychologists. If we did not train psychologists in Psy.D. programs, then psychology would be even less available to those in need than it is right now. In a world in which 19 out of 20 people who are treated for depression do not receive the benefit of therapy this is unacceptable. And this isn’t just sectarian advocacy on my part; I am in a Ph.D. program.

(I told you that you should get a snack)

Finally we come to affirmative action and diversity within the field of psychology. The Sell-out Doctor Network is populated by a whole bunch of relatively privileged white kids who are constantly getting their panties in a wad over diversity initiatives within the field of psychology. I constantly have to trudge through the same tired old neo-con arguments talking about “reverse discrimination” and how diversity is “watering down” the field of psychology. They further assert that “the world has changed since LBJ instituted AA, and it is no longer needed.” To these arguments I present my well-reasoned and measured response … F*ck You!

First of all mental health is not like other industries. Unlike the CEOs of major corporations, mental health professionals directly serve the varied communities in which they practice. It is imperative that there is come congruence between the ethnic diversity one finds in population and the ethnic distribution of service providers. Underserved communities will continue to be underserved until such congruence is reached. Second, it pains my heart when supposed social scientists suggest that discrimination is no longer a factor in 21st century America. They should know better. Countless studies suggest that implicit racism is alive and well in America even among those who do not consciously profess racist beliefs. Finally, I find it incredibly offensive when people compare difficulty getting into the University of Michigan with true racism in all of its ugly fury. When I most recently read these posts I had just come from the Chicago indymedia website where I had been reading about Lt. John Burge of our fine Chicago Police Department. Good Lt. Burge is being investigated for torturing dozens of black men into confessing to crimes they did not commit. These men were held without being given a phone call or access to an attorney while he and his henchmen used tazers, batons, and loaded guns to convince suspects to cooperate. Most suspects seem to have been selected at random. Of course, no white victims have been identified. That is real racism; going to your safety school is not.

By the way, I don’t mean for this to offend anyone who disagrees with my position on AA. I have heard reasonable arguments against the program in other instances. The part of this that really offended me was the self-serving nature of the arguments as they were being made among the sell-out doctors. It is clear these individuals do not give a damn about racial equality if it means they will be less likely to get a big NIH grant after their post-doc.

In a way this is part of a larger sort of disillusionment. I went into psychology as a crusader. I wanted to join with other like-minded people and “rescue” the mentally ill (naïve, I know). Unfortunately I have discovered that psychology is just a job for many people. If that is all it is, then there are better jobs; it is too hard to help people for nothing more than money. In the end I am not sure whether I am more angry at all of the other psychologists for treating this profession with such nonchalance or scared that eventually I will too.