Psychology can be an incredibly rewarding career path. Few occupations offer as much satisfaction as helping clients overcome psychological and emotional problems. As a graduate student, though, you already know that becoming a psychologist takes hard work and discipline. You put in the time as an undergrad. Once you've earned your doctorate, you still have to pass the EPPP, complete internship hours—often up to 2,000 hours—and meet rigorous state licensing requirements.
The most crucial component, though? Your time in graduate school. This is when you're learning the principles of psychology and developing the skills to work with patients. It's also a time when lots of things can go wrong, from struggling with coursework to dealing with difficult patients.
The attorneys at the Lento Law Firm want to make sure problems in graduate school don't derail your future. We believe in what you're doing. We think it's valuable. And we want to help you succeed.
If you're a graduate student in psychology, and you're facing a problem—large or small—at your university, we're always just a phone call away. Call 888-535-3686 or use our automated online form.
Common Issues and Concerns for Psychology Students
We can't tell you all of your school's specific rules and regulations. For that, you'll need to examine your Student Handbook. Most programs are the same in their general outline, though, so we can give you a basic overview of the types of problems and issues you're likely to encounter.
First, you can expect your program to hold you to high standards of academic achievement. By the end of your undergraduate work, you may have thought you were putting out maximum effort as a student. Graduate work, though, is a whole different level of serious. There are no unimportant classes now. Every subject matters. Most schools maintain an academic standing policy that holds you accountable for all of your grades. At UC Berkeley, for example, you must earn at least a 3.0 GPA, and you can make no more than two grades below a B. If you can't meet those expectations, you'll find yourself placed on Warning status, and should you continue to struggle, you can be dismissed from your program entirely.
Becoming a psychologist isn't just about coursework, though. What you know is crucial to your success as a psychologist, but for anyone working in the healthcare industry, personal and professional behavior matters as much as your knowledge base. You have ethical obligations to your patients. You must be able to communicate effectively. Your own personal life has to be above reproach. Meeting these professional expectations starts now while you're in graduate school. The second area where problems sometimes come up, then, is misconduct.
Academic Expectations
Let's start by focusing on academics.
Every school is different when it comes to curriculum. Again, though, there are some important similarities between them. Doctoral programs in psychology need accreditation, and most schools get their accreditation through the American Psychological Association (APA). The APA sets certain standards for graduate education, and so many of the basic learning objectives are the same from one school to the next.
The APA requires all graduate programs in psychology to include two basic components.
- Discipline-specific Knowledge and Profession-wide Competencies: What you learn during your time in graduate school will vary depending on the specialty you decide to pursue. Of one thing, you can be certain, though: the APA requires you to be fully educated on all the aspects of psychology. Guidelines specifically mention
- Research
- Ethical and legal standards
- Individual and cultural diversities
- Professional values, attitudes and behaviors
- Communication and interpersonal skills
- Assessment
- Intervention
- Supervision
- Consultation and interdisciplinary/ interdisciplinary skills
You can expect coursework in all of these areas, and again, you're required to master all of this material.
- Internship Training: In addition to your classroom work, the APA also mandates that you participate in a one-year full-time or two-year part-time internship to learn how to apply the psychological principles you've learned. This is where you learn to interact with patients, to communicate effectively as a member of a healthcare team, and to implement the ethics of your profession. All doctoral programs, then, must provide internship opportunities. The average requirement is 2,000 hours. You'll receive regular evaluations from your internship supervisors, and, like your grades, these carry enormous weight both in terms of your program and when you eventually apply for a psychologists license.
At this point, you may be asking just how an attorney can help you with academics. It's a fair question. You're not trying to defend yourself from a shoplifting charge or update your will.
You've been a student long enough by now to know that education is a system. Going to class, writing papers, and taking exams is only half the equation. You also have to navigate the bureaucracy. That's where the attorneys at the Lento Law Firm come in. No one knows how to deal with bureaucracy like attorneys. We're actually trained in it. And no one understands educational bureaucracy better than the attorneys at the Lento Law Firm. Need to draft an effective grade appeal? We can do that. Need to negotiate a better internship evaluation than the one your supervisor gave you? We can help. When it comes to higher education, we know who to talk to, what to say, and how to say it.
Misconduct
You'll notice that professionalism and ethics are important elements of the APA academic curriculum. Over the course of your program, you'll actually learn how to interact with patients, what it means to maintain confidentiality, and how best to communicate with others in a healthcare setting.
Your personal behavior, on the other hand, is taken for granted. Your program simply assumes you won't cheat, that you'll resist the temptation to steal things, and that you'll treat other students with respect. And if you should do any of these things, you can expect harsh penalties. Psychology programs view misconduct as an indication that you lack the temperament for a career as a psychologist, and any violation can potentially result in dismissal.
We all make mistakes, though. Just because you study the human mind doesn't mean you always have control of your own. And misunderstandings happen. False accusations sometimes happen. The Lento Law Firm is here to protect you no matter what type of situation you're in or what type of allegation you're facing.
Below, we'll get into some of the rules you'll likely face and how to handle any allegation that you've broken them.
Academic Misconduct
We've talked about it already: the academic expectations on graduate students in psychology are enormous. It won't surprise you to learn, then, that some students decide to bend the rules in order to meet these expectations. However, your program has clear rules regarding academic misconduct.
- Cheating: Typically, this means the use of some unauthorized resource to complete your coursework. If the internet is out-of-bounds when you're taking an exam, that's an unauthorized resources. If you're not supposed to use your book during a lab assignment, that's an unauthorized resource. Other people can be unauthorized resources as well, as when you look at another student's paper during a test or ask someone to help you write a paper.
- Plagiarism: The attempt to pass another person's words or ideas off as your own, especially without giving them due credit. You probably recognize that it's wrong to buy a paper from an online paper mill. Simply failing to properly cite a source, though, can get you into trouble.
- Falsification: Fabrication of all types is expressly prohibited by most programs. You shouldn't make up lab results. You shouldn't invent research sources.
- Sabotage: Finally, many schools also specifically mention sabotage. In simple terms, you're not supposed to misuse school resources, and you're not supposed to undermine any other student's work.
Academic misconduct is a serious offense. In graduate school, even a first offense can result in dismissal. You always have the right to defend yourself, though. Your school will have clear procedures in place for doing that. At some schools, that means appealing the accusation up the chain of administration. At the University of West Florida, for example, you begin by appealing to the psychology department head. If that doesn't work, you can then appeal to the college dean and, ultimately, to the Graduate Dean. Other universities, such as UCLA, use a hearing process. You have the opportunity to submit evidence, to call witnesses, and to raise questions of any witnesses against you.
It's never easy to fight a charge of academic misconduct. Rules and procedures can be complex, and you'll find that faculty and administration close ranks when one of their own is questioned. The Lento Law Firm can help you develop your defense, work with you to find and organize evidence, and even give you practice in delivering your presentation.
Disciplinary Misconduct
Your behavior outside of class is under just as much scrutiny as your behavior in class. You'll find that your school's Code of Conduct contains prohibitions against everything from trespassing to vandalism. Of course, every school's policies are a little different, but virtually all schools have rules about
- Substance abuse: Substance abuse calls into question your fitness to work in the health professions. More fundamentally, though, your university will have specific rules against it. Even if you live in a state where marijuana use is legal, use and possession are still illegal at the federal level, and no school is willing to encourage students to break the law.
- Discrimination and harassment: Your school likely has rules barring any type of harassment. Discrimination and harassment against protected groups like women, members of the LGBTQ community, minorities, and students with disabilities, though, are treated as especially egregious offenses.
- Weapons possession: Most schools outlaw weapons on campus. Even if you are legally licensed to own and carry a weapon, having it on school grounds could get you into serious trouble.
- Theft: You can also expect your school to have rules against all forms of theft. This includes theft from other students, but it also includes theft of school property.
- Disruption: This applies both to classroom disruption and campus disruptions.
Just as your school will have procedures in place for dealing with academic misconduct, it will also have a process for handling allegations of disciplinary misconduct. Most universities undertake a full investigation and allow you to defend yourself at a hearing if the charges are serious and carry penalties of suspension or dismissal. Some give all students the right to a hearing.
Any Responsible (guilty) finding, though, can jeopardize your future, even if it only carries the penalty of a warning. If it appears on your permanent record, a disciplinary sanction can hurt your chances of obtaining a psychologist license and establishing your career. Any time you're facing an allegation, you should contact the Lento Law Firm to see how we can help.
Sexual Misconduct
All college and university students, including graduate students, are subject to Title IX, a federal law. Title IX specifically bars sexual discrimination and harassment. That includes misconduct such as stalking, dating violence, and rape. Title IX offenses are among the most serious any student can face. Most students found Responsible are dismissed.
Due to the severity of the allegation and penalties, though, the law affords you some important due process protections. These include
- A thorough investigation
- Equal treatment to the Complainant (your accuser)
- A presumption of Not Responsible (innocent)
- The right to review all evidence
- A live hearing
- The right to decision-makers who are free of bias
- A process for appealing the hearing outcome
Title IX procedures can be even more confusing than typical university disciplinary procedures. For one thing, the law changes frequently. And, while you do have many important rights throughout the process, it's not always easy to understand how to use them.
Perhaps your most important right under the law is the right to an advisor, and to choose an attorney to serve in this role. It means an attorney from the Lento Law Firm can not only work with you to prepare your case, but can accompany you to the hearing and any investigative meetings.
Getting Help
Most graduate programs in psychology allow you to bring an attorney with you to hearings and other proceedings, even non-Title IX hearings. Your attorney may not be able to speak on your behalf, but they can be on hand to offer advice. Graduate schools understand that the stakes are high, and they generally want to make sure justice is done.
Whether your school allows this or not, though, you need someone from the Lento Law Firm to help you prepare and present your case. It is no exaggeration to say that your entire future is at stake any time you've been accused of misconduct. The process can be confusing and, quite frankly, incredibly stressful. A Lento Law Firm attorney can ensure things go smoothly. They can monitor your case and respond any time your program seems to be violating your rights. They can work with you to get you the very best possible resolution to your case.
A local or family attorney won't do in situations like these. You need someone who is familiar with education law and who has experience representing student clients. You need someone from the Lento Law Firm.
The Lento Law Firm was specifically built to handle allied health student cases. Our Student Defense Team knows what's at stake for you—how much work you've put into getting where you are and how important your career is to you. Whether you're facing a serious misconduct charge like rape, or you just need help negotiating a better grade from your professor, you can count on us to have the knowledge and the experience to get you the best possible outcome.
If you're a psychology student with a problem, don't wait to see what will happen. Contact the Lento Law Firm today at 888-535-3686 or use our automated online form.
