Graduate Study in Psychology

A Note for Prospective Graduate Students

I will be taking one clinical graduate student and one experimental student to work under my mentorship for the doctoral program at the University of Ottawa for the coming year. When you apply, be sure to list other faculty you want to work with as well, because I can only take one student from each program and you might increase your chances of being chosen if there are other professors you could work with. But if you come to uOttawa under any faculty member you still have a chance to do some work in my lab. I encourage you to reach out to faculty you might work with in advance.

Students working in my lab will need to do projects aligned with my research areas, which fall under mental health disparities, racism, OCD, PTSD, and psychedelic medicine. Evidence of research experience is required for consideration (for example, conference presentations, posters, and publications), so be sure these are listed on your CV (preferably in APA format). Make sure your GPA is listed next to every university you have attended. You should be able to show that you have done prior work in one or more of my research areas. List your foreign language skills. You can learn more about my work here: www.mentalhealthdisparities.org.

As of two years ago, our graduate program has begun actively prioritizing BIPOC students — although other students are certainly welcome to apply as well. So be sure to mention in your personal statement how you and/or your research will contribute to the School of Psychology's diversity mission. If you are a BIPOC student it will be incumbent on you to make this known.

For students interested in psychedelics, we have developed several lines of training so that people can pursue a MA in psychedelics. You can also complete a doctorate in psychology (or religious studies) with a specialization in psychedelics. As a result, we have several new course offerings in psychedelics that are open to all School of Psychology graduate students. You can learn more here: www.psychedelicstudies.ca.

If you didn't attent uOttawa, your GPA must be converted to uOttawa's system for evaluation and should be 8.5 or higher on this system. Typically, applications with a GPA under 8.0 are weeded out by admin, and faculty do not see them. If you are interested in working with me, please let me know what your GPA is on this system. The GPA requirements are even higher for international students. Sometimes admins make mistakes computing your uOttawa GPA, so you should check this to be sure it is correct. (For example, if your university does not award A+'s, you should make sure your A's are scored as a 10 and not a 9.) Coming in with your own fellowship funding is a plus. A Master's degree is a plus, but I am not accepting students who already have a Ph.D. Having volunteered in my lab is also a plus.

If you didn't major in psychology as an undergraduate with an honours degree (which means you did an undergraduate honours thesis), your application will not advance unless you have taken 20 psychology courses. If you did not major in psychology, you should make your own list of the 20 courses you took and submit them with your application. I do not agree that is necessary that you have majored in psychology or taken 20 psychology courses to be eligible to work with me, but I have no control over this aspect of the admissions process, unfortunately.

I am accepting both anglophone and francophone students, but bilingual students will be prioritized. However, if you don't speak French you are still eligible. Also I am continually looking to make my lab increasingly diverse, as this is essential for the work I do. Indigenous and Black students will be prioritized. Admissions into the clinical program are extremely competitive, and your chances of admission are better if you apply to the French stream. French-stream BIPOC were admitted to the program at a rate of 50% last year!

If you are interested in working with me, please email the following to my uOttawa email address:

• Statement of research interests
• Statement of diversity and social justice interests
• Your CV
• Unofficial transcripts for any college/university work completed

You must send me these materials directly (in addition to your formal uOttawa application) for consideration.

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