93 Applications: PSYC100 Alumni in Clinical Psychology
By Jeremy G. Stewart, Riley J.T. Bonar, and Meghan E. Norris
This week we explored topics related to clinical psychology. It is only fitting that we share a PSYC100 alumnus who now works as Clinical Psychologist. We wonder if this particular alumnus might seem familiar?
Introducing, Dr. Jeremy Stewart!
Dr. Jeremy Stewart is an Associate Professor in Psychology and Associate Director of Clinical Training right here at Queen’s, who graduated from Queen’s in 2006 with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Psychology (major) and English Language and Literature (minor)! Jeremy’s career path began with facing two relevant choice points during his undergraduate degree. During his undergraduate degree, Jeremy felt as though there were two directions he could go in. The first direction was to apply for graduate programs in Psychology (mostly in Clinical Psychology). Jeremy had enjoyed Psychology as an undergraduate (although he didn’t take PSYC100 until the end of his second year and did not get to do an Honours thesis). Jeremy liked the content but was not entirely sure if he wanted to contribute to the content (as a scholar). Jeremy found it helpful to take a year between finishing his BAH and potentially starting graduate school. Jeremy was fortunate to wind up working in several labs (you’ll be familiar with these!); Jeremy was involved in Dr. Val Kuhlmeier’s Infant Cognition Lab (which has since been renamed to the Social Cognition Lab), Dr. Mark Sabbagh’s Early Experience Lab, and Dr. Kate Harkness’s Mood Lab. Jeremy says that he got excellent mentorship; and particularly credits Mark and Val for helping him with where to focus for his applications. Jeremy was on a developmental psychology track for most of his undergraduate, and through Mark and Val’s patience and flexibility, Jeremy credits them with helping him land somewhere that spoke best to his core interests (developmental psychopathology research).
The second relevant direction was during his clinical internship year (for those training to be clinical psychologists, this is generally your final year of “school”, and it is completed within a clinical setting, and focuses mostly on the practical application of your training – seeing patients etc). Jeremy found the experiences from his clinical internship year to be immensely valuable for the clinical knowledge and skills he possesses to this day, as it continues to be impactful for his research, training graduate students, and for teaching graduate-level clinical courses in the program. However, Jeremy’s clinical internship also helped solidify what he had already suspected – that he didn’t want to be a full-time (or anywhere near full time) practitioner. Jeremy’s internship within a research-focused clinical setting (McLean Hospital / Harvard Medical School) and the excellent mentorship from Dr. Randy Auerbach and Dr. Diego Pizzagalli (among others) – helped him refine some of his “bigger picture” research ideas. It was at this time, that two seemingly different directions of academia and clinical work had merged into the Jeremy’s current career path!
As for a typical day in the life, Jeremy says that it’s hard to describe a day in the life for most professors because the days vary substantially, and that a typically day also varies by the “season” (as commitments and responsibilities look different, generally, in the Fall and Winter semesters relative to the Spring/Summer).
However, Jeremy describes the mix of things that will “keep you on your toes” is one of the things that he enjoys about his job! In his own words:
“So, a day for me might start out with a half hour of administrative work (in my clinical training role, there are a lot of emails! Communicating with our students and supervisors is a big thing). Then I might spend an hour doing final preparations for a morning class (once you’ve taught a class several times, particularly if the content does not change drastically – a lot of the prep you are doing during the year is reminding yourself of content and tweaking things to optimize delivery). Most days involve meetings – the ones I like the most are with my graduate students and research staff. A typical graduate student meeting might involve a deep dive into thesis results (e.g., discussing analyses; figuring out how to interpret results), or, during data collection, it can involve updates with study progress and problem-solving (e.g., boosting recruitment). My grad students and I also use our time for clinical supervision (some work on projects where they are administering diagnostic interviews, and I oversee these). A final topic that tends to come up is professional development – I support them with making career decisions, planning their months (or years) to focus on things that will help them with their future goals, fellowship writing, applications for all kinds of things (including internships), etc. On my better/free-er days, I have some writing time carved out – I like to have a personal writing project, and that isn’t always a paper – recently, my writing time will be spent writing grants which, if successful, will help fund the lab’s future project. Coming up with ideas is hard, so “writing time” can also be spent just thinking – this is a big part of my job, and so it is important to carve out a good portion of the week to do it! Another form [of] writing time takes is editing – I’m lucky to have ambitious, productive students who (quite honestly) keep me busy because of how busy and productive THEY are. I spend substantial parts of writing time editing and reviewing student work.
So not a “day in the life” but those are some elements that make up a typical day!”
We caught up with Jeremy and asked what his favourite memory from PSYC 100 was. Jeremy told us that he took PSYC100 from a distance over the summer between the second and third year of his undergraduate degree. Although he did not have the in-class experience, he was captivated by the developmental content. Jeremy remembers reading the chapter on infancy and being flabbergasted – realizing that newborns and infants can do so much more than he ever would have imagined! To this day, Jeremy says that the most magical part of psychology is what we know about very early development. As a professor, Jeremy finds it to be magical now that he gets to teach about it and even reexperience his initial fascination vicariously through his students. As a father, Jeremy finds it to be magical through his own wonderful children, as he’s gotten to watch case studies of these developmental phenomena at home!
Jeremy also offered some advice about careers to students currently taking PSYC 100 and said that it is important to find time to really engage with how cool some the topics covered in psychological science are! On the topic of assessments, Jeremy understands they are important and can appreciate students being focused towards meeting their academic goals. With that said, Jeremy thinks that, at times, some people can get lost in the “pressure elements”, and it might take away from just engaging with the fascinating nature the subject matter that we have learned about humans (and other species!) through psychological science.
In terms of students’ approach to PSYC 100, Jeremy uses the saying: “how do you eat an elephant?” One bite at a time!” and recommends that you treat PSYC100 like an elephant that you’ve got to eat. That is, to take one bite at a time, slowly, but methodically and systematically. It is helpful to spread your learning over as long a time frame as you can (e.g., studying in small – or even very small – but very regular and frequent sessions). Thinking of the course as an elephantine (both are big, there’s a lot of content, and the scope is considerable), taking small bites, one at a time, might make it feel more manageable (and pleasant!).
If you are interested in learning more about what Jeremy does for a living, you can check out his faculty webpage which links to an FAQ for prospective graduate students! As well, Jeremy recommends a book called “At the Helm: Leading your Laboratory” by Kathy Barker to gain insight into the behind-the-scenes of academia.
If you are interested in pursuing a career in Clinical Psychology, we invite you to read this chapter written for those interested in learning more about this pathway in the Canadian context.
References:
- Chivers, M. L., Bowie, C., Buchanan, S., Clifford, T., Goodman, J., Kilik, L., Logan, M., Pukall, C., & Seto, M., C. (2019). Clinical psychological science. In M. E. Norris (Ed.), The Canadian Handbook for Careers in Psychological Science. Kingston, ON: eCampus Ontario. Licensed under CC BY NC 4.0. Retrieved from https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/psychologycareers/chapter/clinical-psychological-science/
How to cite this resource:
Stewart, J.G., Bonar, R.J.T., & Norris, M.E. (2026). Applications: PSYC100 Alumni in Clinical Psychology. In PSYC 100: Principles of psychology. eCampusOntario. https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/testbookje/chapter/applications-psyc100-alumni-in-clinical-psychology/
