Well, good evening.
This is Michelle Drennan, and I'm in alumni relations, and I have the joy of helping to present this webinar this evening.
I also wanna introduce you to Matthew Wynne.
Matthew is actually a current student.
So while you are signing in, it'd be real fun to go into the chat feature and tell us where you're from.
Well, I'm happy to be here, everyone.
My name is Matthew.
I'm a second year PsyD student.
That's local in the area.
I like Michelle was talking about, I was online of last year because of the pandemic, back in my home state, Washington state.
I'm from Seattle originally.
And so over the summer semester, I recently moved out here to Ashburn, Virginia about, I wanna say, ten, fifteen minutes away from school.
And, I'm loving ever since.
I this is my first time on the East Coast, and Michelle was asking me before the the webinar started.
After graduation, I would stay here and practice here, and I am growing more and more in love with this area.
There's a lot to do around here.
And so it's it's been good.
It's been great.
There's a lot of a lot more plumber restaurants than I anticipated.
And I'm a huge foodie, so I like to to go out and try all the all the places.
It's a little less expensive to live around Sterling in Seattle or not?
A little bit.
Seattle, has been growing in prices, actually.
It's Right.
But the whole boom of IT, you know, and stuff out there, it's been kind of getting kind of expensive.
So come coming out here, I was actually kinda surprised that, kind of the variety of food out here.
A lot of Indian food, especially.
Yeah.
You have a lot of people who do move into that area, whether it's politically or FBI or school or whatever it is that Yeah.
You know, they caught into that kind of thing.
Well, for respect for the starting time of 07:00, there will be other people jumping on, so I may repeat myself.
But I welcome each of you, and tonight's goal is to make sure we get all your questions answered, to make sure that you realize a couple of things.
Number one, it's a very high demand career field.
Having been in admissions all my life, I like to make sure my students understand you're gonna get a great return on investment.
You're gonna make sure that they have the opportunity to continue to use what they're learning in a way that they help mankind.
You know, one of the questions that I asked Matthew is, you know, why Divine Mercy University?
He said, well, I wanted a a Catholic university that taught psychology, not just, you know, with the science, but in working with the whole person.
And that's really what we do at Divine Mercy University.
So tonight, we're gonna give you an overview of the doctor of psychology.
We call it PsyD, affectionately, in clinical psychology program.
So I am Michelle Durnan.
I am the alumni relations coordinator.
And we decided we would go from the back end and work forward.
Usually, admissions person does this presentation.
But I'm finding as I start the alumni association, there's a tremendous demand for our graduates.
We have more job opportunities than our graduates to fill them.
And so that makes you feel pretty good right there that there are opportunities out there, whether it's our own graduates hiring people or people calling in and saying, can I get a referral to one of your, side ear counseling folks?
So that's that's why I think it's exciting that I come at you and share with you the opportunities that are available.
So what's the history of Divine Mercy University?
Well, we're a Catholic institution comprised of two schools.
We're dedicated to the scientific study of psychology of the Catholic Christian understanding of the person, marriage, and family.
We actually were founded in 1999 as the Institute for Psychological Sciences or IPS.
So some people will call and they'll go, are you affiliated with IPS?
And I said, what?
Yes.
And some of our clinical programs are still called that.
But in 2014, we launched our online psychology program to focus on educating working professionals, whether teachers or people in the court system helping young children or people in areas like criminal justice that needed to really help mankind, if you will.
So in 2015, we changed our name and officially became Divine Mercy University when we added the school of counseling.
So what do we teach at Divine Mercy University?
We teach several things.
We do have the master's in counseling, which is an online hybrid.
It's about two and a half years in time factor.
You do most of it online, but you do have to come to the campus four times during that time frame to be able to, study at as far as your clinical rotations and that kind of thing.
The Psy BA in clinical psychology, which is residential, is the one that we're talking about today, where you do have to physically move somewhere near Sterling, Virginia because the classes are indeed in a classroom environment.
Then we have a master's in psychology online, which I used to be the admissions representative for, and that's the only one that's a 100% online.
And then recently, we also started a spiritual direction program, and that's really for somebody who really wants to go in that direction, oftentimes working in churches churches or really wants to be a spiritual direction.
So those are the four that we offer.
What's our mission?
Well, we wanna provide students with an effective academic and educational environment that really supports the integration of the psychological sciences with a Catholic Christian understanding of the person, prepares student to respond to their vocation as mental health professionals.
Because oftentimes, even though a college may say that they're Christian or they may see they're faith based, they still teach the, perhaps, the psychology a little bit more in-depth than they do the study of the whole person.
Have you found that, Matthew, to be true that you're really integrating both the psychology and understanding the whole person?
Absolutely.
We have a philosophy and theology class, almost every semester up until now, and it's almost impossible to separate psychology with philosophy and theology.
And I I don't know if I could see it any other way.
Thank you.
That's a good insight from a current student.
And that takes us to that geographical place where we're located.
We actually located in Sterling, Virginia.
We are outside of the Washington DC area.
We have many students in Virginia and Maryland.
But just like Matthew, we have many people who move from Clearcross, you know, the the world to come and take our program because it's the only program where you can come in.
If you're accepted with a bachelor's program, you're actually learn, gaining your master's and your doctoral at the same time.
So that's another real unique aspect to Divine Mercy University.
So worth the move from that standpoint if you're accepted into the program.
So accreditations is very, very important.
If you're going to go to any school and you want to check out their accreditation, we're pleased to say that we are the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, places like Duke University.
You know, many other colleges have that accreditation.
It is the accrediting body, by the Department of Education.
And we voluntarily participate in the accrediting process, and we have met and exceeded all standards in all of our evaluations.
We also have the approval to operate in our state, by SHEV, s h e v, which is the State Council of Higher Education in Virginia.
And we've actually been recognized since 2006 as a national registered designation program by the Association of State and Prevention Psychology Boards.
And the PsyD program has been accredited by the APA, the American Psychological Association, since 2016.
And that's quite an honor and quite an undertaking.
And we also have been approved to participate in the National Council for State Authorization through Reciprocity Agreements.
And as one goes into the program and decides where they're going to be practicing, that's a very important thing.
And all these below, and I'll let you just read that yourself, are all the different additional higher education for Virginia, American Psychological Association.
So those are all things that you wanna look at as you're making the investment in a doctoral program.
So clinical psychology is actually a specialty that provides continuing and comprehensive mental and behavioral health care for individuals and families, consultation to agencies, communities, training, education, supervision, and research based practice.
And I might say also as we're going through here, if any of you want to ask a question in chat, you're welcome to do so, or you can take notes and ask them all at the end.
It's whatever your preference is.
I wanna hear your voice and your questions as well.
So how do we structure our program?
So first of all, the program is a hundred and twenty two hours inclusive of both the MS and the PsyD degrees.
It is a five year program on-site in Sterling.
It does prepare you for licensure as a clinical psychologist.
So the first, well, it says here what happens in the first four years.
Year one, it's in class.
You actually start your dissertation research, determine what your dissertation is gonna be about.
In year two, you do some coursework externship.
In year three, coursework externship.
Year four, SANE.
And in year five, you're actually doing your predoctoral internship, and you are typically paid for that.
You defend your dissertation.
There'll be no classes.
You're actually working in an environment.
Some of the sites just nearby, St.
Elizabeth Hospital in DC, Psychiatric Hospital in Washington, DC, the VA Medical Center, we're a VA approved school.
So if any of you on the call today are veterans, we have VA approvals.
And 85% of our students are matched with an AP accredited or APPIC member internship site date from 2017 to 2018.
What's that mean?
Well, it means many times, you actually get hired where you do that particular internship, and that's exciting.
It gives you experiential opportunities as well as employment.
And I'll tell you a funny story real quick kind of off the slides.
When I first started, gathering the alumni in, you know, my little flock of 511 students, I said, you know, we're gonna update our, wonderful website, and I wanna be able to put your your, your website on our site.
So when people who need referrals will know who you are.
And I've had several students say, well, you can put it on there, but I tell you right now, I can't take any new patients.
So, I mean, I think that just tells you the need and the excitement about this particular career field.
So one of the things that I've done in my life in nursing admissions, technical admissions, I've pretty much done this most of my adult life, is I wanna make sure that we're always putting people in the right program.
And you have to kind of go inside yourself and say, what do I wanna do as far as loving a career that I choose?
So some of the questions that you would wanna ask yourself in this ID program.
Do you wanna help people flourish and grow?
Are you truly interested in the science of behavioral human of behavioral science and human behavior?
Do you wanna become an instrument of healing through the psychological sciences?
Are you interested in performing psychological tests and assessments, diagnose your clients, and create, you know, all their plans?
And are you looking to start a career as a licensed mental health professional, specifically as a clinical psychologist?
So here's a story for you right here in Cincinnati, Ohio.
I just, two weeks ago with father Charles Sikorsky and Thomas Kronquist went to a fundraiser for one of our graduates, doctor Sodergren.
Doctor Sodergren is very well known.
He's hired two of our graduates as his practice has grown, but he does such a myriad of things in his practice.
He vets priests or seminarians before they go into the priesthood.
He works with people who have pornography addictions.
He works with families and marriage.
So he's kind of all over the board in his interests.
So in a minute, we'll go into some career opportunities, but I think that's exciting to know that there are so many areas in which one can elect to flourish and to grow and choose career opportunities.
So the key areas of competency that one achieves through this ID program.
First of all, the foundations in psychological sciences and research, which is crucial.
Having integrity in your practice, making sure that you're doing appropriate assessments and diagnosis, therapeutic intervention, professional roles, and then again, that clinical practice from a Catholic integrative perspective.
So those are our big key areas of competency.
So the other areas that is very important is what you achieve through the PsyD program and your competency levels.
I'm not going to read all this word for word.
You probably read faster than I do.
But number one is the foundations in psychological sciences and research.
Because if you're looking at biological and cognitive and social and development aspects of the human person, as well as the history, you will find that as a graduate, you'll have the skills to conduct that your own psychological research.
More important than just about anything is the integrity in your practice.
Are you learning and displaying critical thinking?
Are you self aware and reflective practice and self care?
Graduates will demonstrate responsiveness to supervision, the collegiality and professional components that's in professional practice.
Assessments and diagnosis are very important because you're going to conduct clinical interviewing, perform intake evaluations, make sure that you're interpreting psychological assessments, integrating multiple sources of test data, and also to be able to do clinical interviews in a written report, diagnose, and then develop a treatment plan.
Number four is that you really understand that therapeutic intervention.
How can I demonstrate case conceptualization, treatment planning, making sure that I'm making progress at all times in the therapeutic relationship, psychotherapy skills, crisis management, urgent special circumstances, and discharge planning?
These are every aspect of people who have any level of mental health situations.
And so that is a very in-depth part of the way Divine Mercy University delivers their education to you.
Professional roles.
Oh my goodness.
Graduates are gonna function in a variety of required roles.
Professional psychologists to include consultants, educators, supervisors, practice managers, program evaluators.
You're gonna be able to work collaboratively within interdisciplinary teams and with clients.
And the big crucial thing is a lot of individuals.
I'm not gonna tell you that everybody comes to Divine Mercy is Catholic.
I would say most of the people who come are Christians.
I think it's important that you know that you will have developed a Catholic understanding of the human flourishing in the individual person and marriage and family life and be able to integrate that in the psychological sciences in your clinical practice.
So let's talk a minute about employment tracks.
Obviously, the most important thing is, okay, I'm gonna give five years of my life.
I'm gonna study.
I'm gonna work harder than I've ever worked in my life if I get accepted into this program.
So what am I gonna be when I grow up?
And I used to always say that even at the bachelor's level.
So here's some of the really wonderful titles, licensed clinical psychologists, clinic directors, psychiatric techs, psychiatric crisis unit interviewers, community mental health social workers, very big area right now, drug abuse social worker, drug and alcohol, certified alcohol and drug counselors, and then professional psychology resource advisors, behavioral therapists, and then a lot of individuals, health project directors, group home directors, does require an additional education certification for that for licensure that above are listed.
Because I've seen people come into us that are like social workers with their bachelor's and know that to go to the next level, whether they're working for hospice or they're working for healthcare administration, if they add on to what they already know, they're gonna really open up their world for different kinds of career opportunities.
Some people come in, they know exactly what they wanna do.
They know what their pathway is.
Other people, it changes and other people as they go through different, subject matter and, you know, every one of the classrooms settings are so different and so robust that many times the instructors have the great ability to be able to say, these are your strengths.
How do you feel about this career field?
But it's very exciting to know that there's so much out there for you and that changes and grows daily.
So the best aspect of what we do is how our students feel about what we do.
Knowing that in the clinical psychology program, James Wall Wallaville, he was very good about answering his questionnaire right away when he when I put that out there.
And he said it really trained, and focused him on healing the whole person.
Kristen Long, wonderful graduate.
She was drawn to PsyD because she really wanted to serve others in a more profound way than any of her other previous positions had offered.
Timothy White, you know, we're not afraid to teach you.
It means to be human at every level.
We challenge you, psychologically, philosophically, and theologically, and that's why I like it.
And I do know that from the standpoint of Kristen, she's very thankful, oops, for divine mercy simply because of the way, we interpret all of our psychological aspects.
So I do want you to listen to this particular little video and this has to do with William Johnston.
And he actually wrote this regarding treating PTSD in combat veterans.
So this is actually presentation and a, assignment that this particular student graduate did.
So take a moment and listen.
Hi.
My name is William Johnston, and I'm a PsyD student at Divine Mercy University, currently approaching the end of my third year in the program.
Military service runs in my family, and, and so both my grandparents served, my parents both served.
This door, the PsyD program at Divine Mercy University opened the opportunity for me to continue to give back, to conduct research, and hopefully implement a more robust program to treat PTSD as it relates to combat veterans.
DMU has certainly provided the integration that I saw in terms of my formation, both the philosophy and theology core, in addition to the psychology curriculum, has provided me growth in terms of my faith, and my role as a husband and father, and, of course, a psychological clinician.
So in essence, the Catholic Christian meta model of the human person is is why I'm here, both for my own sake as well as the sake of my future clients.
Again, it's always nice to hear, I think, from current student.
And we do have a lot of individuals who are working with at the level of, you know, making sure that especially in the whole PTSD world.
So, this is another Psy D testimonial.
So I want you to take just a moment.
These are short.
But it's giving an opportunity to really know about and acquiring the knowledges and skills at DMU.
I would say that being a student at DY University or DMU is one of the best thing that happens to me.
Me.
I really appreciate a great support from faculty members and also classmates.
I have gained a great deal of knowledge in all aspects of clinical practice, research, and also professional development.
DMU not only provides students with strong academic skills, but also prepares them for a career in psychology.
I personally benefit from mentorship with academic advisor and clinical supervisors.
As a person, what I most appreciate from DMU is that its mission helped broaden my perspectives in understanding a human person through the lens of Catholicism.
Catholic principle, especially in hope, love, and faith are very valuable and certainly helped me become a better clinician.
Viratri, I'm not sure how far along she is, but, it's a beautiful testimonial.
So who are these wonderful people who are delivering the quality education that we always will strive for.
Doctor Lisa Klowicki is specializes in adolescents, adults, and couples therapy in her own practice, and she is our program director.
Doctor Nordling, who is wonderful, he's actually on my alumni board of volunteers and jumped right in when we started the alumni association.
He's a PhD professor in clinical and supervises, specialized credentials in child, marriage, and family.
Doctor Anna Pecoraro, PsyD associate professor, clinical supervisor, specializes in addiction and trauma treatment.
And personally happen to know she's a wonderful opera singer on the side.
So we have some very diversified people.
Doctor Scrofani is a professor clinical supervisor, clinical psychology, and his specialization is cognitive behavioral therapy, group therapy.
And Doctor.
Craig Titus is a professor as well.
And he specializes in the nature of the human person.
Both he and Doctor.
Vitz actually were very, very integrative in writing the whole meta model of the human.
And it's a very best selling book.
Doctor Vitz is amazing.
Doctor Vitz, many years ago, before he became a Catholic was actually an atheist.
And he has written some incredible books on how he specializes in the integrative and Christian theology with psychology and the importance of that.
So let's talk a minute about licensing.
That is always something that comes up and is very important because you will be licensed counselors, doctoral graduates.
So first of all, to know that a license to practice is required by each state and jurisdiction where individuals might practice as a counselor.
Licensing process begins after the student completes the practicum and intern and, internship and officially graduates from DMU, and you're given all that information.
Every state has some different, requirements as far as that.
And you'll it's one of the things that might as I asked Matthew early on, you know, you think you'll stay on the East Coast or go back to the West Coast.
And a lot of, states have what we call, agreements that you can in here.
And if you're already licensed in one state and say you decide to move, you would be able to change over to that state.
It's kinda like nursing in that respect.
And DMU gives you general information relating to licensure and then refers you to your state during the student experience.
And licensing is important because it's important for the student to begin the research of their licensing requirement in the state where you intend to work as early in the program as possible.
A student's have to say, will I be fully licensed after graduation?
No, not immediately.
The graduates must work approximately one year in a supervised clinical environment in addition to other state requirements to be licensed.
But you all are practicing under that individual that's taken you into the clinical rotation and you'll be able to work under their license.
And the graduate may be required to obtain a provisional license and that's what that is, during this, year period.
And you would again, check your individual state where you think you'll practice for that particular information.
You know, one of the things having been in admissions and education all my life, again, where it was nursing or technical or psychology is I think it's very important that when you look at your education and your investment and what's gonna happen down the road that you want what I call in life an ROI, a return on investment.
And one of the things that I've often said as simply as it can be put, there's one thing that no one can ever take away from you and that's your education.
And as you do your research and decide what your next move is, maybe some of you on this call are not quite sure, you know, what direction you're gonna go.
I can only assure you, and I know this from being the alumni relations coordinator and the amount of job leads that I get, that your investment continues to appreciate the longer that you are in an education process.
And a lot of individuals are so excited that they can accomplish this in a five year period, You know, by having a high value network, hiring staff that's going to look at what you do and what you've learned to make their practice your own practice or a hospital.
A lot of people are now having major behavioral opportunities in big hospital.
In Toledo, one of my other board members, he's actually the head of the behavioral sciences in the University of Toledo.
So it's pretty exciting to see what direction you can go.
And let's talk about that investment.
Are we inexpensive?
No.
But no good education is.
For what you get when you look at the fact that it's 1,095 per credit times a 122 credits, keeping in mind that you're getting both your masters and your doctoral, and that tuition only is a $133.05 90.
It doesn't include any fees or indirect expenses, meaning your rent, coming into the area and, you know, finding a place to live and those kinds of things.
But financial aid is very much available for those qualified.
We have the William D Ford Federal Direct Student Loan Program.
If you've got loans from your undergrad, you can always put those on hold and be able to I always said to my kids, pay your interest and then keep going for your master's, including unsubsidized Stafford loans, graduate plus loans.
And our Fanchette Lake aid department is wonderful working with each student on an individual basis.
Almost everyone, if they get in there and they apply for scholarships, both internal and external, are going to receive some monies off the top of that tuition.
And then we also have assistantships and federal work study programs.
And this is a good time to ask you, Matthew, When you were going through the whole financial aid process, did we do a good job making sure it was understandable and making sure you can apply for scholarships?
Tell me about that experience.
Sure, Michelle.
Yeah.
And you're right.
One of the most important things that I consider was the financial aspect of this because that's a big number.
Right?
When I was going through the application process, admissions reached out to me constantly, and, financially, they reached out to me as well.
And they made it so that I could for the best deal possible.
And they worked with me, and they I told them my story.
I told them my situation.
I shared with them my financial, hopes, my financial dreams, and they made it work.
They they offered, me a scholarship, on a certain percentage based off of kind of the need, and where I was coming from, especially my contacts.
I come from a big family, and my parents are actually still working, to support that family.
And they understood, and they and they heard me on.
They listened, and they offered me as much as they could.
And it was enough for me and where I can make ends meet.
I'm actually working off of student loans right now with FAFSA.
And because of my situation, I was offered, the maximum loan possible, and so I'm making that work as well.
Because I will say, ladies and gentlemen, that it's a tough educational pathway to do a lot of working, you know, even part time.
I mean, some do, but you're very committed.
And so there's other avenues to look at.
Sometimes people have saved and they do have private funds or cash plans.
There are organizations out there matching funds.
We have a lot of group opportunities and a lot of diocese now that we're back on track after the pandemic.
We've had, priests, they have their diocese needs them to learn more in-depth information or maybe even an RCIA director will get some additional tuition assistance from their diocese or even their church.
And so I always say don't leave any stone unturned.
Go online, see what's kind of scholarships are.
And a lot of those go uncaptured because people don't make that effort.
And then we're very excited that we are obviously a VA approved school as well.
And so that can really help folks who are either in the national guard or they're coming out of the military.
I have two women that I put in the program a couple years ago that were just thrilled that they were able to use their VA funding.
So it's kind of that old cliche where there's a will, there's a way.
So how do you make it affordable?
Well, the exciting thing, we do have early admission scholarships, which can tack off as much as $3,000 We have a Newman scholarship if you were affiliated with one of the Newman schools that's on the listing.
Faith and Hope scholarship, which can really ride all over the place.
A lot of times that may be for the religious.
Patriotic scholarships.
You generally have to write, and I think that still goes.
Right, Matthew?
That you have to write an essay to procure these scholarships.
International yeah.
Everybody has to write a little bit of an essay and that's part of the acceptance process.
And the better essay you write, the better your scholarships are.
International student scholarships, diversity scholarships.
And we as a nonprofit university are always looking for benefactors and individuals who will help our students.
And that's another whole area of Divine Mercy University that we have people who believe in what we do so much that they will give us some funding, like for the grant in aid or a PsyD scholarship.
There's not a lot of them that are 50% up to 50%, but there are situations where that's available.
The PsyD transfer scholarship, sometimes if someone's transferring from another arena, there's a St.
Martin de Pore scholarship, Christendom, many of our graduates come from Christendom, Christendom College.
And so there's a whole listing on our page and we're improving that as we improve our website.
But if you go online and look at those, you'll be very excited to say, okay.
Well, if I'm accepted into this program, there's a whole bunch of scholarships I can try for to make it make it work.
So so how do I get accepted?
Well, you must have a baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited or an international recognized school.
If you have an undergraduate degree in psychology, that's preferred, but you don't have to.
We have people who have it in social work.
I've seen criminal justice.
I've seen a lot of areas.
If you are admitted without an undergraduate degree in psychology, you will be required to complete some prerequisite courses during the first year of the program.
That's required because we want we want you to be successful.
We want you to hit the ground running and have the opportunity to really and and and Matthew and I were talking about this before the he's on in midterms right now.
And it's a lot of information.
And we will say that to be accepted, you do need a GPA of three point zero on a four point zero scale.
So that's very important.
Applicants that have accumulated GPA of less than three point zero may be considered for admission on a case by case basis.
And I think what was always surprising to me is most of the people that come into the program that we accept are people who started in an undergrad and they went all the way through and they finished.
We don't seem to have a whole lot of people that jump around from college to college.
These are individuals that kind of know what they want from the beginning.
And that's where you have a very like group of people that you dealt develop some amazing lifetime, relationships with.
So how do I get accepted?
So what we're doing tonight is basically an overview of, wow, am I interested in this?
Is this something that really hits in my heart and my soul?
And, you know, I remember when I first started with DMU, I had somebody say, you all are really unusual.
You know, usually if you just wanna go into a college, you just get online and fill out an application.
Well, again, we wanna make sure upfront that you know as much as you possibly can about the expectations, the acceptance, the quality, but you would complete an online application after you would sit down with an admissions person and we'll talk about that at the end.
And then our financial aid office will begin working with you upon receipt of the application.
And I heard Matthew say a while ago, consistent communication, you know, our admissions folks just don't leave you after you apply.
They keep in touch with you to make sure that everything's coming through.
There are documents that have to be submitted and competitive applicants are invited to interview on-site once those documents are all in your in your file.
You are gonna hear back when the admission decision by mid February.
And, our program begins on-site in August 2022, which seems to be way out there, but it is a process for which you plan, if you will.
So, how you complete your application package is to do the online application form.
It does include, putting in a $55 application fee.
But I think for early application, we're able to waive that.
You do write essays and resumes as part of your and I have to tell somebody to spell essays right.
This is an educational institution.
Three recommendations, at least two of which must be academic in nature.
And we have a form that you're able to send to those individuals.
Then we get official transcripts from all your post secondary institutions or if it's only one, it's one.
And you do need to take a GRE general test.
If you've taken it previously, as long as it's been the past five years, if you're taking it right off the bat, then you just put in the school code, and then they automatically send us your GRE results.
Is that right, Matthew?
Is that the way that happens is they send the GRE results to us once you put in the school code?
Yes.
So you have you're able to send it to a couple schools, and then you could put the code in, and they'll send it directly to Divine Mercy.
Wonderful.
So we do have, international applicants who actually leave their home country and move all the way over to The United States.
So if if you hold a degree from outside The United States, it has to be submitted via international transcript to an ACES approved evaluation course by course.
We use the west.org or other ones that are credible.
And so anybody who, holds a degree from outside The United States holds a degree from outside of The United States has to demonstrate that post secondary education is commensurate, or equivalent to a U.
S.
Bachelor's degree.
If your credentials not English, the credential must be translated into English.
Costs for this evaluation would be the responsibility of the student.
And applicants whose primary language is not English may need to take a TOEFL or an IELTS.
The majority of our folks, English is their first language.
If you wanna get into this coursework, you wanna make sure you're gonna be successful.
So we have that criteria in place that we're not putting into a program that you can't flourish.
Is there anybody that has any questions that I'd like to put into the chat box at this point?
I may I haven't even opened it to look, and we will certainly hold some till the end.
Okay.
Well, here's a couple.
We probably, can let Matthew ask, how much does it cost to live near Sterling?
Do you have, an idea of the basic rents and that kind of thing, Matthew, an overview?
Sure.
Yeah.
Around Sterling the Sterling area, the Nova area, the North Virginia area is actually very wide, and there's a lot of communities, a lot of suburbs as well.
And so there's actually a wide range from anywhere between 400, $500, for rent and group housing.
And there's always people looking for group housing out here to living out in your to your apartment now.
And those are competitively priced as well.
The average price to live up here is basically kind of the same everywhere else except for maybe the Midwest.
Well, I come from the West Coast, so it's kind of similar to the pricing out there.
So I was very familiar with the price ranges out here.
It's very affordable, I think, especially, with my, with my loans and the amount of money that I have.
And so I'm living pretty comfortably out here right now.
Good.
Thank you.
And I do know that when I was covering the phones during the time of, COVID, because I'm remote and they just rang into my house, I would have people call and say, you know, my children are all gone.
I live very near your campus.
If anybody wants to rent a private place in a home, you know, it's, you know, it's a very, individual kind of approach.
But it works well sometimes for some of the priests maybe that come into the program.
And this is something very important.
And I'm seeing this from Ebony who's in communications.
If you decide at some juncture, you know, even before or after you interview, if you don't write down that waiver code, that CCMMP1999 will keep you from having to pay that application fee.
You just put that in, on the application.
And I mentioned, Michelle, that Yeah.
The $405,100 dollar range was also because I'm living with other DMU students.
Good point.
Yeah.
Well, we're all sharing a house, and and that would be kind of like that idea.
I actually when I first moved here, I went on to Facebook and went into, like a Catholic roommates in the DC area.
And there's actually a lot of young adult professionals out here who are maybe employed by the government or attending other schools out here that are willing to be good, you know, Catholic roommates, Catholic Christian roommates, and split kind of the cost of living out here to make it affordable for everybody.
I always hope that birds of a feather flock together.
Yes, ma'am.
And and and that brings up a a very important point because that way, if you're in a cohort and you're, you know, going to school together and you're working together and you're sharing thoughts together and expenses together, it's it's a wonderful thing.
So how much computer facility is needed to manage the program?
Matthew, can I ask you to answer that?
Is that require more clarity?
Sure.
Yeah.
I would ask what you mean by computer facility.
If you mean, the how to use a computer, basically, it's just, you know, the very basics of Microsoft Office, Word, just a little bit of Excel just to know how to move around boxes and whatnot.
But the main kind of part of the program is, you know, to, you know, to write those essays, to write your dissertation, to to get those case conceptualizations.
And and so it's very, very basic.
And if you're able to join this call, I think that's enough to to be able to to make it in this program.
Is it fair to say, Matthew, that you become a better writer in this program?
Absolutely.
And the professor will work with you, and they'll give you some tips.
And there's also, a lot of programs that the library provides to help you become a better writer as well.
Now Jeff in our library is and I'm I guess I'm partial because he's helped me help a lot of students understand that aspect is that, yeah, there's research.
Yeah.
There's papers to write.
But I think the exciting thing is and and I've heard this from every student probably in every discipline that we offer, is I become a better person.
If they're married, a better wife or husband or wife or if if they're have children.
What I have learned helps me, I know, in my future career, but also helps me as a human being because I write all the time.
More questions.
What percentage of graduates are involved in research?
I may have to get back to you on that because that's gonna vary.
We do have people who that's what they wanna do is specifically everybody does some research, Matthew.
Right?
I mean, obviously, a big part of this research.
Research.
Right.
As as we run our dissertation, we'll be doing research, and there's also the possibility of holding your own research and putting out, surveys to the community and whatnot.
However, we are a PsyD program and not a PhD program.
Right.
And the so if you're looking to do more research, you can look towards more towards a PhD program.
PsyD is more garnered towards clinical therapy and kind of the practical application of psychology within the field itself.
But there are, possibilities to do research in.
I know that some graduates, kind of look towards kind of programs and areas and and institutions that do a lot more research than than not.
But, again, like, our focus is more on the clinical aspect of it.
That's a great answer.
Again, we wanna give you realistic expectations.
Okay.
We've already answered the one on group housing.
Do most of the graduates work for the church?
I would say most is a big, not most.
Certainly, we have priests who've taken this program.
We certainly have nuns who've taken this program.
But a lot of individuals are people who are called.
Is can you think, Matthew, of a couple people that are what their background has been and what they're looking for that are in your cohort?
I think you've got 12 or 15 in your cohort.
Yeah.
We have, we we have 12 in our cohort.
Two of them are priests, and they were sent by their diocese to study psychology so that they can become clinical therapists for their diocese.
Now if you mean, working in the church as a whole, there are some that go back to their diocese and ask the the diocese whether they need a clinical therapist.
And many diocese are becoming more privy to the fact that their, their attendees, they need and the people in the church, they need clinical therapy.
I know that some have become clinical therapists at seminaries.
And, actually, one of our professors, doctor Klowicki, has opened up her own Catholic clinical therapy office where a lot of graduates also work and provide Catholic therapy, for those in the church.
But I can tell you as the alumni relations coordinator, as I've gathered the websites of where our students go, the majority of them are in private practice.
Now on their website, they will share with you that they are indeed individuals that, teach from a Catholic Christian meta model of how they do.
And it and that's what's interesting to me is getting calls, And I have one right now.
It's the second time a gal has called me from Texas, and and it's she got sent me an email and say, here I am again, and and I have somebody that has some major issues, and she gave me what the criteria was.
And I'll search for that person if they practice in that specific area.
But both of them are in private practice.
It does say please feel free to also reach out to doctor Rebecca Morse.
He is a reefer research professor, And we do offer, and I forgot about this, an annual student symposium that is research driven.
And I I think it's important to realize that we offer a lot of other outside the actual education factor that you're going through in PsyD.
I mean, we have some trauma workshops that we often tell people about.
So there's many other opportunities to branch out and do more research.
So you're gonna find with the instructors and the professors that we have, there are just all kinds of opportunities to learn more as you go through this program.
So thank you all for these great questions, by the way.
So right now, when we look at the early admission scholarship, the October 29 is the deadline on that early opportunity scholarship, and that is a $3,000 scholarship.
And not that that's not all you're gonna get.
You're gonna, you know, write essays for others.
You would need, to apply by October 29.
You would interview by November 12.
And then second interview dates for applications received, would be December received by December 31.
You would then interview, by January 14 and final application deadline would be February 18 for an interview on March 4.
And a lot of people say, well, why do you do this so far out?
Well, there's a lot of documents together.
I would like to tell you that everyone gets accepted, but that's not true.
I mean, it is a program that you have to really look at the aspects to make sure it's right for you, and we wanna make sure that you're right for us.
And a lot of it is just making sure that you're getting everything in, that you're really asking the right questions, that you interview well.
And I think there's some coaching that goes on, from the admission standpoint to help you really understand what our admissions committee is looking for.
Does that make sense?
So I am delighted to have done this is the first time that I've done a PsyD webinar.
I've done a lot of different other reasons.
Mr.
Steve Showalter, my wonderful colleague, is actually doing the admissions for PsyD right now.
He's former military and he's right now doing some symposiums and he's traveling.
But I think it's very, very important, that you go ahead and write down his address, hisadmissions.PsyD@divinemercy.edu.
And that's his phone number, and also a Calendly.
So you can click on a calendar, and he'll have availability evenings, daytime to do a quick overview of everything that you've just seen, but make it a little bit more individual, ask you some questions personally and professionally to make sure that we match up, that indeed it's the right program for you.
That's very important to us.
And because of that, our retention is strong.
People come into the program.
They know what they're getting into.
They continue on.
They learn, learn, learn.
They are with a wonderful group of people that have an opportunity to help one another.
That's one thing Matt and I talked about, before you all came on.
And he says, yeah.
And he says, we've gotten very close in this cohort because we're all learning from one another.
And I think that's crucial, like in any educational process.
Let's see if we have any more questions.
Okay.
Looking at these dates, does this mean I can apply I can't apply until next year.
I graduated BA in psychology twenty years ago and so do not have a GRE that I can use.
Seems that next available dates are in February 2022.
Well, my recommendation to you would be this.
Number one, schedule and get your GRE.
It doesn't take very long.
Did you take yours online, Matthew, or physically a GRE testing place?
So this is actually a really good concern because I had the same concern.
Okay.
Great.
I the dates of the GRE are a little late for the application process.
Okay.
And so, I was concerned as well that I would turn in the GRE too late.
I talked with the admissions, however, and they said just to get your application in.
Right?
And then, they they would defer the GRE scores in middle until, like, later until when I could take it.
We wanna consider everything, and we know that a lot of people have different schedules.
And so I would reach out personally to admissions and ask, hey.
Can I take the jury a little bit later?
There's no dates around me at that time.
And 99% of the time, they will say, just get your application in.
We'll get you going.
Absolutely.
And I think the important aspect is there's so many other documents you have to get together.
So get that transcript together.
Mhmm.
Make sure that you are getting those references in a line, and you're actually able to send an electronic form that those individuals will write those recommendations, and then they will come right back to us.
And it's a pretty cool process as far as how it works.
And so we're constantly gathering all your information and assimilating that in an electronic file.
And and thank you, Matthew, because I wasn't sure on that.
And then just get that GRE scheduled as soon as you can.
And then as soon as that next interview date comes up, you're kind of put into a lineage of, okay, everything's in the file, everything's there.
The only thing that's missing is the GRE.
That is a great question.
Thank you.
We have another question question here from Richard.
I don't know if we have enough time to answer that.
We do.
Go right ahead.
Sure.
Richard's asking, what is the daily schedule like for Matthew?
And so that's a really good question.
It's busy.
It's very busy as it should be, I think, in a grad program.
And because I think DME wants us to Paris prepare us very well for for practice.
If, if you remember the slide with all the years on it, there's a mixture.
The first year will be more class heavy, while all the other years will be integrating practice with the theory that you're learning, if that makes sense.
So the first year is mainly classes.
The classes are three to four hours long depending on what class it is, but we won't have more than one more than two classes per day, if that makes sense.
Usually, because of that schedule, I might have two classes a day, which means it it might be around six hours per day.
Right?
I will have three hours, in the morning.
So say I have a six hour day.
I'll have a a class with for three hours in the morning, and then we break for lunch from one to two.
During that time, actually, DMU actually, provides mass for the students there, which lasts about half an hour long.
I usually try to make it to mass during that time.
After that, I eat lunch after mass, and then I head off to my next class for another three hours ending around three or 04:00 depending on what time it is.
During my second year, however, I have a mix between externship at the IPS center at DMU.
So I'm actually seeing two clients.
And then I also have class on top of that as well.
And the the supervisors and the professors are very gracious knowing that we do have a heavy workload.
And so, working with them has been good so far.
Well and that's why I'm so glad Matthew is on board in this webinar because I'll tell you this.
Is the master's program easy?
No.
It's not.
It will challenge you, but I had I know this from walking around a few years on this earth.
The things that challenge us make us better.
The content and the way we teach psychology is intense.
But it comes together.
It comes together because of the commitment of not only you and your time, but the same commitment that the, professors have.
And I know Matthew feels the same way.
We have another message.
Oh, thank you for your time and information.
And I believe that you will get a recording of this as well.
And that because I know we had some people who registered and, you know, time happens and they can't, you know, but I will tell you that if you do have interest in really looking at that next class and Steve may actually call the people who've been on this webinar anyway, but if you have some sense of urgency, you know, get that Calendly, write that down.
And again, I think you're gonna get a recording anyway with these slides so that you have it.
And that's why we love to do this because we wanna be transparent.
We want you to have every single bit of information that you can to make the application process and the information seeking process, as robust as possible.
Well, I am delighted that we had attendees on here with these fabulous, fabulous questions.
And if you have any after this and you just say, wow, I have more, you can either send me a note at alumni@divinemercy.edu or certainly, to Steve Showalter, my colleague at the admissions dot side at divine mercy dot edu.
And the one thing I know is we are responsive.
The other thing that I think it's important to say and it didn't get answered, but we have a wonderful orientation, don't we Matthew?
Somebody asked about the computer time.
So once you're accepted in the program, you go through a whole thing through our student services department that teach you how to use Canvas, which is the, the software that we use for posting all your information.
So we don't just leave you out there fishing in the dark.
We make sure that you have some upfront training to help you be successful and do some practice, on the actual training that we do.
And some schools use Blackboard.
What we find that our software, is much easier in Canvas.
So that's something that's not on the slide, but something I think that's important to know.
What a joy it has been.
It's, questions make the webinar longer, but I'll tell you what.
The good questions are what make you better in life, and you gotta always keep asking questions to get all these good answers.
And, Matthew, I can't thank you enough for your gift of time this evening.
It's so nice to have a a real student who's been through the program, to answer all the great questions.
Of course.
Thanks for having me, Michelle.
You bet.
Well, God be with all of you.
We keep our our future students, our current students, and our alumni in our prayers because that's what we do.
And, you enjoy the rest of your evening and please let us know if we can assist you.
And like I say, Steve may reach out to you for information and just see if you have any additional questions or you please feel very, very, comfortable just proactively contact him.
Okay?
Alright, ladies and gentlemen.
Thank you so much.
And I'll just make sure there's not any more questions before we well, thank you, Jessica.
We appreciate that.
We will have a great night, and we do thank you for your time as well.
Take care, everyone.
God bless.
Alright.
God bless you, everyone.
Oh, I know.
Thanks again, Matthew.