Psychologist Lila Pereira, PhD, doesn't know how she would have survived graduate school and her doctoral internship without friend and fellow trainee Breanna Wilhelmi, PhD. The two former Palo Alto University graduate students bonded over such shared experiences as whether to disclose their pregnancies during internship interviews and how to manage their workloads once they became mothers.
"We really leaned on each other," says Pereira, now a postdoctoral fellow in pediatric hematology, oncology and stem cell transplantation at New York Medical College and Maria Fareri Children's Hospital.
The women realized that other parents pursuing psychology doctorates might need similar support. So, with the help of a handful of other early career parents and grad students, the pair has launched the Families in Psychology Project (FIPP) to encourage parents and other caregivers pursuing careers in psychology to advocate for their needs and connect with others in similar life situations.
The group—open to all psychologists and graduate students—provides peer-to-peer support by bringing members together to share their work/family balance stories, struggles and solutions. FIPP fosters connections through its website, social media, blog and online forum.
FIPP also offers a family resource directory and ranking system that includes more than 400 APA-accredited and accredited on contingency doctoral training programs in clinical psychology. (The directory and rankings are not affiliated with or endorsed by APA.) The resource bases a program's "family friendliness" ranking on whether it offers on-site child care, child care subsidies, health benefits for dependents, flexible course scheduling and other factors.
FIPP is also gathering research data: The group recently surveyed psychology trainees and their mentors about their attitudes toward parenting and is analyzing that data to identify the issues that trainee-parents confront. That information will be used to raise awareness in the field, Wilhelmi says.
"Mostly we just want to ensure that students and early career psychologists with caregiving responsibilities have the same opportunities to learn and succeed as those without these obligations," she says.
To learn more about the Families in Psychology Project, go to www.familiesinpsych.orgopens in new window. Also see APA's new parental leave resource guide at www.apa.org/careers/early-career/parental-leave-guide.pdfopens in new window.
