As a Navy psychologist you're trained
to treat a variety of psychological conditions
ranging from depression to anxiety to combat stress.
A lot of times you are the only provider at a
clinic or on a ship so you have to be versed
and treat men of many different conditions.
I am Navy Lieutenant J. Porter Evans
and I am a clinical psychologist.
I first considered joining the Navy
my last year of graduate school when I
started looking at pre-doctorial internships.
Traditionally psychologists do a internship,
then they do what's called a post-doctorial year
to get a license, and then they look for a first
job once they're licensed. What the Navy provides
is they provide an opportunity to do all of
those things at once. And so, I saw it as a
way to really get my career jump started.
My first experiences in the Navy were as
an intern at Naval Medical Center, San Diego.
And during that time I got a very diverse
experience and got to do a lot of different things.
Shortly after I was licensed there,
I was thrust into a department head position
as a clinical director and department head
of a substance abuse clinic. What I couldn't
believe is all the responsibility I had
compared to my peers. And, at first,
I was very apprehensive about taking the position.
Shortly after arriving I found the Navy had
provided me with all the training I needed
to accomplish that role as a leader and
also as a clinical director for the clinic.
I was given the opportunity to be the ship
psychologist on the USS George Washington
which is a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.
The ship was a great experience for a number
of reasons. One is it gave me a great deal of
autonomy to set up a clinic and a practice.
The other piece to that is it helped me to
realize how important the Navy values psychologists
and mental health. You know, as a young psychologist
I found myself being in a position to impact
a lot of young lives.
Currently I'm stationed at the United States
Naval Academy as a clinical psychologist in what's
called the Midshipmen Development Center which is
a non-medical counseling center that provides
services to the brigade of midshipmen.
It's given me a new experience that I hadn't
had before as a clinical psychologist to work
with a college student population and it's
also put me in a position where I can really
have a great impact on - on the future leaders
in the Navy and - and young people.
Navy psychology faces many challenges.
I think one of my greatest challenges has
been trying to balance the demand for my
services with my available time.
The Navy has provided me with a strong
foundation both professionally and personally.
From a financial perspective, the Navy internships
pay almost three times what a traditional civilian
internship pays which allowed me to start a family.
The Navy also provides funding for continuing
education so that you can stay current on all the
latest trends in clinical psychology. The Navy also
pays for board certification which is a key
milestone in most clinical psychologist's career.
Board certification in clinical psychology is the
highest certification a clinical psychologist can get.
What it does is a few things for psychologists.
One of them is it shows to your patients and to the
public that you've obtained a high level of training
and knowledge. And it also opens many doors for you
for job opportunities both in the Navy as well as
should you decide to go to the civilian sector
after your time on active duty.
One of the tremendous benefits of
Navy psychology is to have the opportunity for
mentoring from senior peers. I've had the
opportunity to work with many psychologists who
have provided me with tremendous leadership as well
as supervision. And it's through those
relationships that I feel I've grown significantly
as a provider. One of my first professional goals
was to be a licensed clinical psychologist and the
Navy certainly helped me achieve that.
And the next one was to become board certified
and I've been able to achieve that too.
The Navy is for clinical psychologists that
certainly look forward and embrace challenges,
that want leadership opportunities and also want
a variety of experiences. I found that my time in
the Navy certainly has positioned me well for a
number of future opportunities.
I am Navy Lieutenant J. Porter Evans
and I am a clinical psychologist.