Throughout our lives, we experience joys, sorrows, challenges, and excitement. We may also need support as we live through the changes, the ups and downs, the struggles and successes.

Many Ways to Serve

"Clinical psychology offers many ways to find your own path for helping people," says Deborah Lewis, Ph.D., who maintains a private practice in forensic psychology while she is also a professor of clinical psychology in the College of Health Sciences at Midwestern University's Glendale, Arizona campus. "Our students often have an idea of what they want to do when they enter the program, and, over time, they discover their strengths, as well as many ways to serve." At MWU, students experience patient care in a variety of clinical settings that include hospitals, clinics, substance abuse treatment centers, domestic violence shelters, adolescent facilities, forensic settings, and community agencies, beginning in the first year of the program.

Lewis values the small size of the MWU program because she gets to know her students well and can match them successfully with site supervisors who are excited to provide clinical practicum training experiences. "Students typically change their minds many times during the course of the program about how they want to specialize — and we think that's a good thing," says Lewis. "For those who show good judgment, a capacity for critical thinking and good writing, an ethical spirit, an openness to diversity and working with a wide range of people, clinical psychology holds many opportunities to create richly rewarding careers based in fulfilling service."

Community Care

Midwestern's program and students have the opportunity to focus on integrated health care. "We often work with people who struggle with serious medical or mental health issues," says Lewis. As director of training for the department, she coordinates fieldwork placements, which include a discussion seminar where students share their experiences from clinical sites such as the state hospital, community mental health clinics, and private practices, as well as Midwestern's own interdisciplinary clinic in Glendale. "Our students learn how to assess individuals, which may include psychometric testing. In addition, they are trained to diagnose, make treatment recommendations, and perform effective interventions. They also perform appropriate interventions. We are part of a university with a variety of health care programs. All students receive training in consultation and in being part of a health care team. Students get to help treat the entire person."

"For those who show good judgment, a capacity for critical thinking and good writing, an ethical spirit, an openness to diversity and working with a wide range of people, clinical psychology holds many opportunities to create richly rewarding careers based in fulfilling service."
— Deborah Lewis, Ph.D., ABPP, Glendale

A Better Place

A native of Phoenix who wants to "leave things better than I found them," Lewis is excited to be in on the ground floor of MWU's clinical psychology program. "I've taught in several other graduate psychology programs, hospitals, and clinics, and I have gathered what I feel are best practices for training psychologists. I have been able to implement my ideas within Midwestern's supportive and interdisciplinary environment."

Humor Helps

Offsetting the seriousness of issues she and her students face during their professional education while also trying to help their clients, Lewis appreciates the positive atmosphere at Midwestern. "The MWU faculty are terrific," she says. "We collaborate on everything, and we're all committed to teaching. Respect for students is visible, and we enjoy watching them succeed. Besides, everyone has a sense of humor and they laugh at my jokes."

Making a Difference

Lewis appreciates how MWU faculty and administration make a difference in the lives of students by providing excellent role models. "Everyone pitches in," says Lewis. That attitude resembles an experience she had traveling to Tibet and Dharamsala, India, to assess the state of health care by visiting orphanages and refugee camps. "I saw that very good service can happen with very little," says Lewis. "In the U.S., we can easily get discouraged by 'the system' or what we think is a lack of resources, especially when we're dealing with people's lives. But we must be persistent. We must focus on what we believe is the right thing to do and keep going. It's a lesson I hope to bring to my classroom and my students every day. That's the kind of dedication you learn at Midwestern University."