Rodriguez 1

Alan Rodriguez Interview Part I Joseph Larkin Comm. 1010 February, 6th, 2014 Preliminary Research: My Interviewee: I am interviewing Dr. Brad Lundahl. The reason I chose to interview him is because he seemed very experienced and he had a Phd which set him apart from other candidates that I was looking to interview. He graduated in 2004 from Northern Illinois University and has been in practice for over 15 years. The way I contacted him was through the internet and then I gave him a call to schedule an interview, we decided to do the interview in his office up at the University of Utah on Tuesday, February 11th at 1PM since that was what he had available. My goal is to ask questions that will open my eyes more to the field of psychology, as well to find out what it takes to become one and if this is the right career choice for me.

Career Research: I first took a psychology class late in high school and found out that it fascinated me from day one. Even though high school and college courses are a lot different, they were both just as enjoyable. What fascinates me is how the mind works and how we as human beings can either be so complex or so simple. The following is research in the field of psychology which is my topic of interest and my major. I looked at the Occupational Outlook Handbook and went ahead and read some information to answer my questions. I learned that the field is in a steady and normal growth which is about 12% and will be for the next 10 years The things that a psychologist does can vary greatly depending on what field theyre in and what they do. For example if you decide to

Rodriguez 2

teach you will grade more papers than do your own research out in the field. Some information that I found was regarding how much education you needed, I already knew that you needed at least your Masters Degree to get a good job. The occupational outlook handbook said that if you want to have better chances of getting a good job you will obviously need a Phd and that qualifies you more than someone with a less of a degree. However, if you are a specialist in one area and you have your Masters you can still get a good job in a Hospital, nursing home or organization. The thing that surprised me the most was that if you at least have your Bachelor's in psychology then you can at least be an assistant and you will still have a job, you can also get jobs in education settings, businesses or sales with just a Bachelor's degree. A great thing if you have your Phd is that you make your own hours because you can work on your own time and charge what you would like an hour, as they do their own practices. If you have Masters or less you cant work on your own and will have to schedule yourself around the needs of the institution or business that you work for. The payout is great as the median salary is around 69k a year and you can earn up a triple digit salary depending on some things. The mission for psychologists is to understand the human mind, behaviors and why and how we do things, it is to do research and conduct test patterns to try to find answers to be able to help humanity.

Interview Schedule: Opening: Hello Dr. Lundahl! Again my name is Alan and I want to thank you so much for taking some time of your day to speak with me, it means a lot. Im really glad I was able to get a hold of you to interview you for my assignment because you seem like you're very knowledgeable in the field of Psychology.

Rodriguez 3

Like I told you before when we talked on the phone, the purpose of our meeting is to do an interview that wont take much of your time, around 30 minutes or less. I wanted to interview you on the career that you chose. This is an assignment for my communications class, but this is actually my field of study so I am taking this very seriously, and I want to know more about the field and what it takes to be successful. I'll be asking you some questions about the psychology field in general and how you got started, what it takes to be competitive in the field and little about your schedule and lifestyle. I'll be taking some notes but don't worry you can still talk while i'm doing this, this is just to help my memory later. Like I mentioned before it will take less than half an hour, lets get started, shall we?

Body Topic 1: Getting started in the field 1. What made you choose the field of Psychology? (Primary, Open) Always interested in the human experience, thought about going into business but this was his passion. - Why would you say that you made a good choice? (Secondary, Open) Loves it because he is also a proffoser and gets to teach his passion. - Also loves to do research. - Loves to write. And just loves the whole experience and variety that there is the field. 2. What are some of the steps that you took during school to be sure you will become a successful Psychologist? (Primary,Open) -Studied hard.

Rodriguez 4

- Talked to a lot of psychology professors. - Interviewed a lot of people in the field. - Out of these steps that you just mentioned, which one would be the most important one to achieve the goal of being a psychologist? (Secondary, Open) The whole experience, but most of all doing well with your grades. 3. How did you get started as a psychologist after you graduated? (Primary, Open) - Got hired as a professor first, and he mentioned that education gets you there. - Mentioned that in this field it is not that hard to get a job. - He has been a therapist for 3 years.

- What would you say was the hardest thing to do after graduation? Why? (Secondary,Open) - 10 years in school was already hard: - Building clients in the beginning for his own practice. - Working with insurance companies, pay roll, all complex and it is the business side of things. - Did you already have things planned out in your head, as far as how things were going to go? (Secondary, closed) - Yes he did, he mentioned he wanted to be a professor all along as well as a therapist. Had it all planned out and played out great.

- What degree do you hold? (Secondary, Factual) - PHd in clinical Psychology. - Other Master Degrees. 4. What are some of the skills that you would recommend that I develop starting now to be successful? (Primary, Open, Opinion)

Rodriguez 5

- Clarifying values. - Figure out what you want. - Commitment, work hard and get feedback. - If I could only remember one of those skills, which one would you tell me to remember? (Secondary, Opened,) - Commitment, focus and hard work will help achieve the goal.

Topic 2: Life at work 1. What is the first thing you do when you come in to work? (Primary, open) - Whos in the client list. - Figure out what they want and look at the notes and refresh memory if it was a patient that came in before. - How enjoyable would you say that first thing you do at work is? From a scale of 1 to 10? (Secondary, Closed) - 9. 2. Can you give me brief description of how a typical day work goes? (Primary, open) - First day, a lot of clients come in, then you write some notes. - It gets repetitive. - End of day give the billing to the person that does that. - Which of the things is the easiest? (Secondary, Closed) - Seeing the clients. - Which of the things is the hardest? (Secondary, Closed) - The billing. 3. What is that you love the most about working as a psychologist? (Primary, Opinion,

Rodriguez 6

Open) - Working with the clients. - Intrigue of knowing the client, intimate relationship with them. - When the client comes back, feels good, - Making people realize what their life goals are. - Why do you love that certain thing about the job? (Secondary, Opinion, opened) - N/A 4. What is the thing that is your least favorite about your profession? (Primary,Opinion,Open) - The billing part. - Bussiness part like calling the insurance companies, It sucks getting passed around. - Why would you say that you don't like it? (Secondary, Open) - N/A - Is there anything that you think you can do to make it enjoyable? (Secondary, Open, Opinion) - Would hire someone to do it for him, the billing and such. Topic 3: Education & Lifestyle 1. What is your recommendation as far as how much education to have to be successful and have more of a competitive edge? (Primary, Open) - To be a psychologist you dont need a Phd, only if you want to do your own research and want to teach in a high level university . - Is it necessary to have that amount of education? (Secondary, Closed) - Masters will get you a good job, you can do psych testing with a masters. 2. What if you needed an assistant, what would you require from that assitant to know and

Rodriguez 7

have as far education? ( Primary, Hypothetical,Open) - To have a Masters Degree. - Great if they have the Dople license by the state. - Why are you requiring the past prerequisites from your assistant? (Secondary,open) - It would be illegal to not do so, as the practice needs to be with someone with a license and an education. - If you really needed that assistant, why would you need one? what would you make them do? (secondary,open) - Do lower level work. - Do tests, like personality tests. - Too much on plate, is when he would make them do more. 3. As far as lifestyle goes what type of lifestyle is that the one that you wanted the career to provide you? (Secondary, Open) - Good, flexibility, choose own schedule since he own his own building where he practices clinical psychology. - Good money after a while. - Did this career give you the lifestyle that you wanted? (Primary, Closed) - Yes, mostly because of the flexibility. - Main boss, no one above him. - Do you enjoy the lifestyle you have? (Secondary, Closed) - N/A Clearinghouse Questions: - Is there anything important that you feel I missed and should know about the field of

Rodriguez 8

psychology? - Lots of education, - Is there anyone that you think I could talk to, to gain more information about going into the field? - Somone with a masters degree. - Nate Acrey - Social worker.

Closing: Now that we are done with this interview I want to thank you very much for taking the time to answer all of my questions. I really did learn a lot about what it takes to become one and answered my question if this is the correct field for me. Again, I want to thank you for doing this with me and also helping me accomplish my assignment.