Dr. Lilly's Mentorship Model
As a doctoral advisor, my mentorship style could be characterized as a combination of strengths-based feedback and tough love. I believe that students thrive in an environment that is positive, one that recognizes their strengths and developmental level. At the same time, it is imperative to provide honest and critical feedback as students develop into scholars and clinicians. As a general style, I would say that I am neither a micro-manager nor am I completely hands-off. My goal is to strike a balance between these two.
In the first year, students meet with me once a week or every other week, dependent on their needs. This time is reserved for two purposes: (1) to cover any lab-related issues that need to be discussed and (2) to develop a research question and preliminary methodology for a Master’s Thesis. Students are encouraged to develop a Master’s Thesis project that has immediate interest to them, as long as I am able to adequately mentor on the topic of choice. I see the Master’s Thesis project as the first study in a series that will launch the students’ own program of research. As such, students are encouraged to spend the first semester perusing and critically examining the trauma literature to identify a topic. My job is to talk through what has been read since the last meeting and guide a focused reading of the literature. Notably, I do not simply give my students a topic or data for their Master’s Thesis. It is expected that they will generate their own questions. To date, all of my students have collected their own data for their Master’s Thesis. However, I would be supportive of students using lab data for their Thesis (it just hasn’t happened yet!).
For the Master’s Thesis, students typically do cross-sectional and/or survey projects, with undergraduates as the targeted population. Yet, several students have elected to complete experimental projects and I am supportive of this decision. Typically speaking, experimental projects have a greater chance of high impact publication and it is always my hope that a student’s Thesis project will result in publishable findings.
In the second year, I typically meet with students every other week to keep them on track with their Thesis. However, this varies depending on the students’ needs. For some students, it may not make sense to meet regularly. For others, more frequent meetings may be needed. A similar meeting schedule is retained through the third year.
As students approach the dissertation in their fourth year, more regular meetings are typically scheduled to provide structure and guidance. For the dissertation, it is my expectation that students will have advanced in their knowledge and skills from the Thesis project. As such, students are encouraged to complete dissertation projects that are more sophisticated than the Thesis in any (or all) of the following ways: (1) statistical analyses conducted, (2) project design (experimental rather than survey; longitudinal rather than cross-sectional), (3) recruitment of a community or specialized population.
Though it is possible for students to graduate from the lab having completed only a Master’s Thesis and Dissertation project, my goal is for students to apply to internship with a minimum of four to five co-authored articles in press or in print. It has been statistically shown that having a higher number of publications improves the match rate of internship applicants, even if a research career is not desired. My goal is for students to match to one of their top sites, which is consistent with the clinical program. Notably, the candidacy exam in the doctoral program now requires students to submit for review at least one first authored and one co-authored manuscript (see Appendix E in the clinical handbook available here).
It is expected that students in the TMHR lab will be productive, but it is also expected that members of the lab will be kind and supportive to each other. Doctoral training in clinical psychology is a challenge and relationships in the lab that are based on mutual respect, honesty, and care are imperative to keep up morale.
In the first year, students meet with me once a week or every other week, dependent on their needs. This time is reserved for two purposes: (1) to cover any lab-related issues that need to be discussed and (2) to develop a research question and preliminary methodology for a Master’s Thesis. Students are encouraged to develop a Master’s Thesis project that has immediate interest to them, as long as I am able to adequately mentor on the topic of choice. I see the Master’s Thesis project as the first study in a series that will launch the students’ own program of research. As such, students are encouraged to spend the first semester perusing and critically examining the trauma literature to identify a topic. My job is to talk through what has been read since the last meeting and guide a focused reading of the literature. Notably, I do not simply give my students a topic or data for their Master’s Thesis. It is expected that they will generate their own questions. To date, all of my students have collected their own data for their Master’s Thesis. However, I would be supportive of students using lab data for their Thesis (it just hasn’t happened yet!).
For the Master’s Thesis, students typically do cross-sectional and/or survey projects, with undergraduates as the targeted population. Yet, several students have elected to complete experimental projects and I am supportive of this decision. Typically speaking, experimental projects have a greater chance of high impact publication and it is always my hope that a student’s Thesis project will result in publishable findings.
In the second year, I typically meet with students every other week to keep them on track with their Thesis. However, this varies depending on the students’ needs. For some students, it may not make sense to meet regularly. For others, more frequent meetings may be needed. A similar meeting schedule is retained through the third year.
As students approach the dissertation in their fourth year, more regular meetings are typically scheduled to provide structure and guidance. For the dissertation, it is my expectation that students will have advanced in their knowledge and skills from the Thesis project. As such, students are encouraged to complete dissertation projects that are more sophisticated than the Thesis in any (or all) of the following ways: (1) statistical analyses conducted, (2) project design (experimental rather than survey; longitudinal rather than cross-sectional), (3) recruitment of a community or specialized population.
Though it is possible for students to graduate from the lab having completed only a Master’s Thesis and Dissertation project, my goal is for students to apply to internship with a minimum of four to five co-authored articles in press or in print. It has been statistically shown that having a higher number of publications improves the match rate of internship applicants, even if a research career is not desired. My goal is for students to match to one of their top sites, which is consistent with the clinical program. Notably, the candidacy exam in the doctoral program now requires students to submit for review at least one first authored and one co-authored manuscript (see Appendix E in the clinical handbook available here).
It is expected that students in the TMHR lab will be productive, but it is also expected that members of the lab will be kind and supportive to each other. Doctoral training in clinical psychology is a challenge and relationships in the lab that are based on mutual respect, honesty, and care are imperative to keep up morale.