Saralyn Masselink '08

I was pursuing a master’s in Theology when I began to crave more in-depth clinical training. When I began researching programs, the name that surfaced in nearly every conversation was Smith’s clinical social work program. One clinician in the area told me that at Smith, I would get “as rigorous psychological training as a Psy.D. program but in two and a half years.” At the time I was considering Psy.D. programs as well, so this comment piqued my interest. What hooked me about Smith’s program however, was the focus on the person-in-context. Beyond focusing on intra-psychic realities that might pertain to any client, Smith digs into psychodynamic theory while critiquing these theories from a variety of perspectives. I recognized that I could gain psychodynamic training while reflecting critically on how religious identity, racial identity, class-related culture and gender norms might influence clinicians and clients’ experiences of themselves and the world. It was exciting to see ways that my theological studies and perspectives on religious identity could weave into my social work interests.

Smith’s block-schedule format has worked well for me. I was not quite ready to leave my home in Atlanta, and so my first-year internship was in a highly reputed outpatient clinic on the edge of Atlanta. I learned so much from this experience -- I had two full hours of individual supervision per week, as well as weekly training sessions offered by the agency. By the end of the internship, I was seeing children and adults for weekly fifty-minute therapy sessions as well as co-facilitating two groups. During my second summer of study, I brought my questions and experiences from the field back to an insightful group of colleagues and professors. It has been helpful to revisit these clinical interactions (through class papers and discussions), interpret them through a variety of theoretical lenses and hone my skills.

For my second year internship, I am crossing the country for a new experience in Los Angeles, California. I will be interning at Kaiser Permanente in their outpatient psychiatry program and I look forward to the learning possibilities there. I love my experiences at Smith -- gaining confidence in the classroom and the field where I have room to practice skills (and learn from mistakes) has been a greatly rewarding experience. I am building my professional identity as a clinical social worker, and I have talented colleagues with whom I will consult often after graduation!