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Welcome! We're glad you are interested in pursuing a PhD at Mississippi State University. Dr. Rieger really enjoys working with students and would be honored to mentor you in your research and research-informed public service careers.
Dr. Rieger is reviewing applicants for the current admission cycle, with the opportunity to admit 1-2 new clinical psychology PhD students. The strongest applicants are those who have research or evaluation experience and - perhaps most importantly - who are passionate about interpersonal violence prevention and/or trauma-focused interventions, particularly with rural communities and youth with developmental differences and disabilities. Upcoming projects will have good opportunities to study lay provider implementation.
Action-oriented research is a team sport, and to be part of CHORAL you need to be a thoughtful, kind, humble human being on a research team and with community partners.
Learn more about the Clinical Psychology PhD program, including admission requirements and processes, here: https://www.psychology.msstate.edu/graduate-programs/clinical-psychology-program Please note that our applications are due on December 1. Students are fully funded and we are proud of our 100% pre-doctoral clinical internship match rate.
Research Mentorship in CHORAL
Research Mentorship in CHORAL
CHORAL is a clinical and community psychology research group. We work collaboratively with nonprofits and community members to design, interpret, and disseminate research. If you are interested in pursuing a research or evaluation career, and/or a career dedicated to public service, then we could be a collegial and productive place for you to complete your graduate education!
CHORAL is a great fit for prospective students who would like to research interpersonal violence prevention and/or trauma-focused interventions - especially with rural youth and youth with developmental differences and disabilities. We are an especially good fit with prospective students who would like to learn mixed-methods and community-engaged research designs. CHORAL will always be passionate about community engagement and community psychology principles.
Read more about our current/ongoing projects, and feel free to email Dr. Rieger at ar3029@msstate.edu to check on the progress of any upcoming grants.
Clinical Training at Mississippi State
Clinical Training at Mississippi State
All PhD students consistently engage in compassionate, evidence-based clinical training with an emphasis on cognitive-behavioral approaches. Congratulations to our clinic director, Dr. Emily Stafford, who recently won a national award from the Council of University Directors of Clinical Psychology in recognition of the Department of Psychology's excellent clinical training!
As interested, clinical students who would like to be clinically supervised by Dr. Rieger can count on receiving strong training in:
youth and family trauma-focused interventions, including Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) and Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) adapted for trauma-exposed youth and families (Trauma-Directed Interaction, TDI)
evidence-based youth interventions for a variety of youth mental health concerns, including First Approach Skills Training (FAST) Programs; Modular Approach to Therapy for Children with Anxiety, Depression, Trauma, or Conduct Problems (MATCH-ADTC); and the Unified Protocol for Emotional Disorders (UP) for children and adolescents
couples interventions, primarily Integrative Behavioral Couples Therapy (IBCT)
consultation/training with lay providers and community providers
Application Tips
Application Tips
The below tips are just for applicants who are applying to work in CHORAL/with Dr. Rieger.
As long as it is true, emphasize that you want good research training so that you can either have a career in research (e.g., professor, consultant, data scientist) or evaluation (e.g., evaluation firm, think tank, internal evaluator), and/or have a truly research-informed public service practice-based career (e.g., consistently using up-to-date research to provide great supervision in under-served areas, providing low-cost and accessible care for the public).
Clearly identify research topics and methods that you would like to pursue as you work towards your PhD. Expect your interests to change as you grow! Knowing what you are interested in helps us determine if we have the right resources for you.
Mention the Mississippi Youth Resilience Center (MY-REC) and your interest in research and evaluation within MY-REC. It is totally welcome for you to have more interest in, for example, CHORAL research with rape crisis centers and other organizations - also, CHORAL students will have strong funding opportunities with MY-REC and you will likely use MY-REC data or be asked to help with MY-REC at some point. Remember that CHORAL is most focused on training researchers, so while Dr. Rieger is passionate about excellent evidence-based interventions, for admission to a clinical psychology PhD program at an R1 like Mississippi State, it will be most helpful for you to write about research and evaluation within MY-REC rather than clinical training within MY-REC.
Take breaks and both receive and provide social support to fellow applicants! Applying to PhD programs is an exciting time in your career, and it's amazing how much easier writing/thinking/dreaming can be when you get enough sleep 🙂
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