Applications for the Clinical Science PhD Program closed on 12/1/2024


If you are looking into applying to a PhD program in the future, please take a look at this FAQ, which is organized into these sections:

Questions about joining the Targeted Interventions Lab as a graduate student.

What is your mentorship experience?

I am new faculty, so I have not mentored graduate students yet. However, I have extensive experience mentoring undergraduate students and post-bacs who have gone on to clinical or counseling doctoral programs; master's programs in counseling and data science fields; industry positions; and government agencies. Equity, diversity, and inclusion have been core values in all of my work with students (read more about that here). I look forward to recruiting graduate students who will play an active role in building the culture of our lab.

What is your mentorship style?

My overarching goal is to provide opportunities and training that lead to the development of knowledge and skills that make you highly competitive in whatever career you choose to pursue after graduate school. When you start graduate school, I don't expect you to know with 100% certainty what career you want to have - a lot can happen in 5-6 years. I also don't expect all of my trainees to follow a specific path. I want to provide highly personalized mentorship to my trainees, which means I depend on them to be proactive participants in the mentoring relationship. What does that look like?

I've been reading a lot about Mentoring Up, which is an approach that "empowers mentees to be active participants in their mentoring relationships". The principles of mentoring up include: maintaining effective communication; aligning expectations; assessing understanding; addressing equity and inclusion; fostering independence; promoting professional development; and ethics. If you want to dive deeper into these principles, they are described on page 138 and implementation strategies are listed on page 141.

Note that this approach places a lot of power on the mentee - and with that power comes responsibility. Take a look at these resources to see what you think about this approach:

What kind of training can I expect to receive from you?

To position my trainees to be highly competitive for careers in academia, industry, medical centers, non-profits, or clinical practice, I focus on these key areas:

How do I know if I'm a good fit for the lab?

If you have an interest in the lab's current research priorities and you have relevant experience, then you are probably a good fit. You should note the following:

I also encourage you to engage in an honest reflection of these questions:


Questions about the Clinical Science Program in the Department of Psychology at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

What is the program like?

The atmosphere in the program is collegial and collaborative. The clinical area faculty have expertise in a wide range of areas, including mindfulness and ACT; dissemination and implementation of evidence-based practices; grief and identity; eating disorders; and ADHD. You can read more about the program below.

What is the funding situation for graduate students?

In the last 20 years, all students have received full funding throughout the course of the program. Typically students start in a teaching assistant (TA) position for the first two years before transitioning to a graduate research assistant position (GRA). As stated above, grant-writing is a key training goal for lab members. I will mentor students through the grant application process at NIH so that they can secure their own grants, and there will also be other options for grant funding.

Funding levels can be found on pages 2-3 of our Student Admissions, Outcomes, and Other Data. Funding levels have been increasing over the last several years. Currently, 9-month stipends range from $24-27k and 11-month stipends range from $28-31.5k. Tuition is fully covered and health insurance is provided. There are also opportunities for additional salary support (e.g., teaching a summer course, paid practicum experience). The department regularly provides awards for conference travel and data collection.

What clinical and training opportunities are available to students?

The department offers coursework in child and adult psychopathology and treatment - students can acquire expertise in either (or both). Students have practicum opportunities across a wide range of sites, including:

How competitive are students for internship?

Our students are highly competitive for internship, with many getting their top choice in placement including: 

For a full list of sites where our students have placed and a decade of placement statistics see pages 3-6 of our Student Admissions, Outcomes, and Other Data

Information about UH Mānoa

Questions about the application process.

When is the application due?

Applications for Fall 2025 admissions are due December 1, 2024

What goes into the application?

For more details see: https://psychology.manoa.hawaii.edu/applications-admissions/

Are GRE scores required?

No

What can I do to be a competitive applicant?

There are many factors that are taken into account. Peer-reviewed conference posters and/or publications are an excellent way to demonstrate your involvement in research. If  you have these, it's important to describe your specific contributions to the poster/paper in your CV or essay.

What information should I include in my essays?

We recently updated our instructions for essays. We ask for several brief statements (up to 3500 characters each ~ 1 page) that cover specific topics. Note that the 3rd essay is optional.

My advice is to focus your essays on addressing all the key points in a way that is concise and also provides specific details. As I read your essays my goal is to get a clear picture of:

As for more general advice, I agree with much of Mitch’s Uncensored Advice for Applying to Graduate School in Clinical Psychology

"The vast majority of personal statements follow an identical format. First, a brief anecdote is offered describing a watershed moment in which the applicant fully realized their interest in clinical psychology. Next, a brief section describes the applicants’ enthusiasm in one or more psychology undergraduate courses. Research experiences then are described in succession. For each experience, the title and principal investigator of the project are listed, followed by a list of the applicant’s responsibilities and tasks on the project. The statement often ends with a brief paragraph describing research interests, career interests, admiration of the graduate program, and perhaps the name of a specific potential mentor or two... this type of statement is not quite as effective as it may be, in part because so very many statements appear to be remarkably similar to one another. I believe that the statements that truly distinguish themselves are those that demonstrate evidence of the potential to become an independent investigator. As a graduate student, you will be expected to progressively develop research skills that will establish you as an independent scholar. To the extent that it is possible to convey this within the personal statement, you may be able to make your potential to excel as a graduate student very clear to the reader. " - Mitch's Uncensored Advice (p. 27)

Do you meet with prospective applicants before official interviews are offered?

I am happy to schedule a brief zoom meeting with prospective applicants.  I really enjoy hearing about the kind of work applicants are doing. I'm also happy to answer questions and I strongly recommend reading through the material I provide on this website so that your questions can be as specific as possible. July and early August are good times to meet - once the semester starts scheduling meetings becomes trickier. For the 2025 application cycle (to start Fall 2026) I will organize information sessions so that I can meet with more potential applicants.

Questions about living in Honolulu.

What is it like being a graduate student in Honolulu?

I sincerely cannot think of a better place to do graduate school. I will be expanding this section over the next several months but in the meantime let me start by pointing out that the weather is wonderful year round. There is also plenty of sunlight. And we know that good weather and sunlight have a positive impact on energy - which you'll need a lot of during graduate school. The quality, quantity, and accessibility of beautiful outdoor places makes it easy to incorporate relaxing, re-energizing breaks, on a regular basis. 

Here is a nice walking tour of campus:

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