Is there any truth to the negative stereotypes of psychology students and trainees?
It is a common stereotype that those in psychologyparticularly those who study mental health issues or treat clientsare somehow mentally unstable or emotionally deficient. As a psychology student myself, I am often included in that stereotype. One article in a popular magazine starts off: “Suicide, stress, divorcepsychologists and other mental health professionals may actually be more screwed up than than the rest of us) (Epstein 1997, p. 58). Is there truth to this stereotype? Well, it may not be as severe as the opener above suggests, but various lines of evidence do suggest that some of those who enter the field have some potentially troubling pre-existing qualities or issues that set them apart from the general population. It is, of course, true that there are troubled people in all sorts of professions and occupations. However, it seems not only that there is a greater proportion of them in such fields as psychology, but also that their characteristics, motivations, and personal i
