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Clinical Psychologist Helps Patients With A Wide Range Of Challenges

To be licensed in California to practice as a clinical psychologist, you'll need a Doctor of Psychology, 3,000 hours of supervised experience and passing scores on two tests on the national and state level. After licensing, psychologists might join an agency or hospital while a few entrepreneuring individuals open their own private practice. Dr. Lindsay Shortliffe is one of those people, owning a private practice right in the heart of Sacramento.

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(Photo Courtesy of Dr. Lindsay Shortliffe)

What does your job entail?

"As a clinician, I work with individuals dealing with a wide range of life's challenges including anxiety, depression, grief and relationship issues. I provide a supportive space where I help them to gain greater understanding of themselves and to learn skills and techniques that support them to be their best.

What do you enjoy about your job?

"The best part of my job is when I see a client's life change for the better because of the work we have done together. I feel so fortunate to be let into people's innermost thoughts and feelings and to bear witness to their challenges as it creates a special kind of relationship and allows me to grow as a person. I love working for myself as it enables me to provide services in a way that is consistent with my values and beliefs about what best supports mental health."

What is your education history, and how has it helped you?

"I received my Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University in Economics & Philosophy while minoring in Psychology. I then completed my doctorate at the PGSP-Stanford Psy.D. Consortium. My clinical training included a clinical internship at CSU Long Beach Counseling and Psychological Services and a postdoctoral fellowship at UC Berkeley's Counseling and Psychological Services.

My graduate education was great preparation for the clinical work that I do. I was lucky to have both fantastic academic and clinical training through my program. Unfortunately, learning how to run a business was not covered in my academic work and was something I ended up having to learn through experience (with lots of help from wonderful colleagues in private practices.)"

Do you have advice for someone seeking a similar career?

"There are a lot of different types of training programs and degrees that enable you to work in the mental health field. While I greatly enjoyed my Psy.D. program and felt it was the right fit for me, I would recommend carefully considering the kind of work you want to do with your training and which type of program best fits your goals. The type of training, length and cost vary greatly between these options. I also would recommend considering how to care for your own mental health. This work is wonderfully meaningful and engaging, but can also be draining. It is important to care for yourself so that you have the energy to care for others."

Paulo Acoba is a California native raised in the Bay Area and living in the Central Valley. He enjoys distance running, cycling and grassroots motorsports. He holds a degree in management from the University of California Merced. Paulo has been writing for Examiner.com since 2012 and covering the Fresno area.

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