| Clinical psychologists experience a great deal of stress due to the demands of their work and can become impaired if they do not take preventative measures. Over half of clinical psychologists report experiencing burnout at some point in their career, which could be potentially harmful to the clients they serve. This dissertation proposes a wellness program that can be incorporated into the first year of doctoral study to improve the total wellness of students as they enter the field of clinical psychology. Using the Five-Factor Wellness Evaluation of Lifestyle inventory with a sample of 93 clinical psychology doctoral students, the present study assessed the wellness levels of students in 17 third-order factor areas outlined by Myers and Sweeney's (2005) model of wellness, the Indivisible Self. Clinical psychology doctoral students demonstrated slightly higher than average wellness levels compared to the normative sample; however, the normative scores are not meant to be determinants of where an individual should fall given the normative scores tend to be less than optimum. This needs assessment determined the areas of improvement that are the focus of the program based on the scales with the lowest scores. These areas are work, realistic beliefs, stress management, leisure, spirituality, nutrition, and exercise. Furthermore, this study explores in depth why these scales were lower for clinical psychology doctoral students and how to improve these areas of wellness through the program incorporation prior to the start of independent practice. |
