The transition from graduate student to front-line clinical supervisor
Emma Langsford UA’23, C’25 and Jim Stellar
In May 2025 I (EL) graduated from my master’s program in clinical psychology, rounding out two years of being a full-time graduate student while also working full-time. Around the time of graduation, I was fortunate to receive an external promotion, moving into a supervisory position of the same role. I have now been on the job for eight months.
I (JS) remember when, in 1978, I took my first job as an assistant professor. I had graduated, completed a postdoctoral fellowship, and now I had a regular job in my field with a salary and serious job responsibilities. I was teaching classes to undergraduates and preparing to get grants to support a starting behavioral neuroscience research laboratory. Today, we would say that back then, I was finally “adulting,” but the same passion that drove me to college and graduate school was still there. I loved studying and talking about the brain.
That feels similar to where I am now (EL). Becoming a supervisor after two years of front-line work and graduate school feels both like a leap and a natural next step. In our last blog, we discussed how being a graduate student made me better at my job and how, in turn, my job made me a better student. We described this as developing “professional wisdom,” where lived experience and academic knowledge inform each other. Now, I am able to apply that integration directly in coaching my team and making decisions that impact the young people who we serve.
As I (JS) aged, got tenure and promotion to full professor (20 years), moved into senior academic administration (20 years), and then moved back to the faculty as a professor again (5 years so far). I can see how my lived experience gave me some of that professional wisdom that EL mentioned above. Frankly, after all those years, if I did not have something like that, I would probably be a loser. I think that experience leaves me with having seen plans made, and then seen how they felt in execution, and then doing it again. I think of that as the dance between head (cognitive processes) and heart (limbic system processes). Maybe both taught each other as this “dance” between them played out, and they learned from each other.
Interestingly, I (EL) do not have any personal history with foster care, the field in which I now work. I entered this field because it fulfilled my desire to be of service and help others. Working in this field and being in leadership was not an aspiration of mine as a child, but over time, and with the random cognitive and limbic system processes in adulthood, here I am. This field can be draining and feel hopeless at times, but it is also incredibly rewarding work. I wake up most days proud of what I do, which is a fulfillment that I know not every field offers. When I first graduated from college, I was certain that a PhD in clinical psychology was what I wanted for my future, and, while this could still be in the cards, entering the professional world expanded my knowledge of what meaningful careers can look like. Making decisions about my future now as an adult, I feel much more confident that the steps I’m taking are in the right direction, because those decisions are grounded in experience rather than imagination.
I (JS) agree that making decisions on the way is hugely beneficial as it allows the experience of now to play into the decisions of the future, vs the imagination of what “now” would look like. That strong presence of both the plans unfolding (cognition) and the reaction to those plans (emotion) allows value to be attached to cognition in ways that could be predictable but could also be surprising. As we often say, “try before you buy,” and while one cannot always do that, it certainly illustrates the space one has to make in thinking about careers for the unexpected. Here, it looks like the planning thinking was confirmed. That may be what generates this feeling of crossing into adulthood in a profession that we wrote about above. There are more decisions to make in the future, but somehow, with the benefit of accumulated experience, it seems more certain. That feels like professional wisdom emerging, and (trust me) it only gets better if the career is on the right track.
Over the course of this blog series, I (EL) have reflected on a journey that began with a single conversation in a classroom where Jim was a guest lecturer and gradually unfolded into a growing sense of identity and career direction. We’ve written about the leap to graduate school, something hugely impacted by Jim’s mentorship, the intimidation that came with it, the value of working in school, and now, what it feels like to step into leadership. This feels like a natural place for a pause, and this will be our last blog in the series[1]. I am deeply grateful to Jim for his mentorship, which made all the difference for me in building my identity and confidence approaching the adult world. Having someone believe in you is innately special. This belief, along with the thoughtful questions and exploration in our meetings, has helped me transform my experiences into professional wisdom.
[1] But stay tuned for our future writing.
