Professional Clinical Psychologist CV Guide + Tips + Example
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So, you want a job as a professional clinical psychologist. A well-written CV is a place to start! Our guide to crafting an effective professional clinical psychologist CV will help you make the most of your critical thinking and interpersonal skills to get the job you want.
Get started by editing this professional clinical psychologist CV template, or peruse our 40+ CV templates to find the best one for you.
Professional clinical psychologist CV example (text version)
Bob Miller
Atlanta, GA 30310
(555) 555-5555
example@example.com
Summary Statement
State licensed expert in clinical psychology with eight years of experience in the field. Dedicated to serving patients in a meaningful way, listening to their concerns and helping them learn how to approach their mental, emotional, and behavioral problems. Excels at providing children and adolescents with individual psychotherapy to help them facilitate social, vocational and personal adjustment to allow them to lead more meaningful and fulfilling lives.
Core Qualifications
Psychological testing
Behavior analysis
Crisis intervention
Integrated Healthcare Models
MS Office
Interpersonal communication
Attention to detail
Conflict resolution
Education
Georgia State University Atlanta, GA
Ph.D. Clinical Physiology
Georgia State University Atlanta, GA
Master of Science Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Georgia State University Atlanta, GA
Bachelor of Science Psychology
Work Experience
July 2016 – Current
Sterling Medical Corp – Atlanta, GA
Clinical Child Psychologist
Provide outpatient therapy for children aged 3 to 18 and their families.
Consult with primary care physicians and other medical specialists, parents and school staff regarding comprehensive care goals and expectations for individual patients.
Perform psychological assessments, including IQ, personality, ADHD, LD, MR/DD, court ordered and child custody evaluations to an average of 60 children per month.
Lead three group therapy sessions weekly with troubled teens in court-mandated programs.
January 2013 – June 2016
Healthcare Resources Corporation – Atlanta, GA
Clinical Psychologist
Provided care for 20 severely emotionally disturbed children in an outpatient environment.
Facilitated groups to increase social skills in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
Conducted ADOS/ADI-R and comprehensive psychological evaluations.
Wrote reports on clients and maintained required paperwork.
May 2011 – January 2013
Insight Therapy Solutions – Atlanta, GA
Assistant Clinical Psychologist
Interviewed children and families to identify their psychological needs and provide an accurate diagnosis.
Counseled patients to overcome their emotional disorders, including self-esteem and overeating.
Taught parents how to apply strategies learned in therapy at home and school.
Conducted over 50 comprehensive, multidisciplinary evaluations on patients referred for emotional concerns.
Research Experience
- Performed in-depth interviews with 60 research subjects and compiled data and analyses into reports for review by the group leader as a psychology research assistant in “Behavior Intervention in
- Teenagers and Young Adults” (2019), at Georgia State University
- Explored and analyzed ethics in psychology mental treatments, as a research analyst in “The Body’s Mind” (2018), at Georgia State University
- Worked and participated in thesis assessment as research lead in “The Impact of Behavior Issues in the Family” (2017), at Emory University
- Developed research statements and ran surveys and interviews as a research assistant in “The Patient’s Role in Tests” (2016), at Georgia State University
Conference Attendance
- Clinical Child and Adolescent Forum, Atlanta, GA – (2023)
- GPA Annual Conference, Atlanta, GA – (2022)
- International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA – (2021)
- Society for Research in Child Development Conference, online – (2020)
- Cognitive Development Society – (2018)
Professional Affiliations and Memberships
- American Psychological Association (APA) – (2022)
- Association for Psychological Science (APS) – (2022)
- Society of Clinical Psychology – (2021)
- Georgia Psychological Association – (2019)
Certifications and Licenses
- Board Certified Clinical Psychology, Certified American Board of
- Clinical Psychology (ABCP) – (Updated 2022)
- Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) – (Updated 2022)
Training
- Doing the Right Thing: Essential Ethics in Practice, Online Training – (2022)
- Ethics in Behavioral Health Documentation: Reason and Risks – (2022)
- Cognitive Therapy: Theory, Techniques and Application, 2 Edition – (2021)
- Counseling Clinical Supervision Training – (2021)
Profession Relevant Skills
- Extensive active listening and communication skills, giving full attention to patients and taking the time to understand their points of view.
- Critical thinking and complex problem-solving skills demonstrated daily to help determine the best course of action for patient care.
- Excellent knowledge of psychology, therapy and counseling to help provide patients with appropriate care for their individual situations.
- Knowledge of CATS, Noldus, and other statistical and testing software.
- Extensive use of MPMsoft billing accounting software.
Hobbies and Interests
I have a deep interest in learning how PTSD affects children, their coping techniques and the best practices for serving them in an outpatient setting. I volunteer my time with Operation Underground Railroad as a child welfare advocate, protecting the interests of children who have recently been removed from human trafficking. I spend the majority of my free time reading and enjoying the outdoors with my wife and children.
5 essentials of a top professional clinical psychologist CV
Contact details
Without contact information, hiring managers cannot ask you for an interview. Create a section at the top of your CV for it. Display your contact information as follows: Your full name, then your city, state and ZIP code, followed by your phone number and professional email address. If you have a LinkedIn profile and professional website, add those as well.
Personal statement
A personal statement, also called a professional summary, is your chance to shine. It’s where you introduce yourself to the hiring manager and pitch your best technical and soft skills and relevant work experience. A professional clinical psychologist CV personal statement should include one or two of your most notable professional accomplishments to grab the hiring manager’s attention.
Skills
Hiring managers want to know if your skills match their needs. Show them you have what it takes by creating a separate section and using bullet points to display your top hard and soft skills — from active listening to behavior analysis— as demonstrated by our professional clinical psychologist CV sample. If you are applying for your first job, include transferable skills, which are soft skills, such as communication, that you can use in any job.
Work history
Your CV must have a detailed employment history section, even if you don’t have work experience as a professional clinical psychologist. List current and previous employers in reverse-chronological order and provide school names, locations and the dates you worked for each. Add three bullet points of measurable achievements for every job you list. If you don’t have work experience in the field or if this is your first job application, display extracurricular activities, volunteer experience, community service, professional and personal projects — anything that shows you have relevant work experience.
Education
In your CV for a professional clinical psychologist job, add all the educational institutions you’ve attended after high school. Use bullet points for each school and display the name of the school and the year you graduated unless it was more than 10 years ago. List your high school information and any post-high school classes taken if you did not attend college.
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Action words for a stand-out professional clinical psychologist CV
Action words convey confidence and strengthen CVs because they tell the hiring manager exactly what you did. Combine them with numbers to really make an impact!
Here’s a short list of perfect action words for a professional clinical psychologist CV:
- Provide
- Prepare
- Serve
- Assist
- Manage
- Research
- Guide
- Lead
- Ensure
- Help
- Council
- Conduct
- Plan
- Establish
- Inspire
Want more inspiration? Explore our library of more than 350+ CV examples.
Need a great CV for a professional clinical psychologist job now? Our CV Maker has all the tools you need to create a professional CV in minutes. You can make edits on the fly, download your CV and save it as a PDF, .doc or plain text when you’re finished. Yes, it really is that easy!
Top skills for a professional clinical psychologist CV
Review the job description carefully and match the required skills to your skills and traits.
Your skills might include:
- Attention to detail
- Leadership
- Psychological testing
- Behavior disorders
- Written communication
- Verbal communication
- Interpersonal skills
- Time management
- Agility
- Flexibility
- Prioritization
- Research
- Integrated Health Care Models
- Crisis Intervention
- Behavior analysis
- Crisis intervention
- Critical thinking
- Creativity
- Conflict resolution
- Patience
- Enthusiasm
- Ethics
- Leadership
- Planning
- Empathy
- Compassion
Certifications for a professional clinical psychologist CV
Professional clinical psychologists should be board certified by The American Board of Clinical Psychology (ABCP).
Pair your CV with a matching cover letter
Professional clinical psychologist CV FAQ
What’s the best format for a professional clinical psychologist CV template in Word?
A CV for a professional clinical psychologist job can be in any format that fits the industry, job, work experience and goals. For instance, if you’re applying for your first professional clinical psychologist job or are changing careers, it’s best to use a CV format that emphasizes your education or skills. However, if you have a steady career as a professional clinical psychologist and have progressed through the ranks, you might want to showcase your work experience.
What does a professional clinical psychologist do?
Clinical psychologists are tasked with providing mental health care assistance for individuals. They help their patients set goals, gain insights into their particular situations, and make plans to help them achieve their goals. They can help patients achieve social, personal, educational, social, and vocational growth so they can interact more easily and fully cope with the situations in which they are placed and the demands they must meet. This is a highly specialized position, so your CV should clearly demonstrate your skills, training, and certifications to show you are well prepared for the job at hand. You can view our clinical psychologist CV example for ideas on what to include on your CV to have the greatest effect on a recruiter.
How can I create an excellent professional clinical psychologist CV?
A professional clinical psychologist CV provides a comprehensive look at your career. Include everything that can help you stand out from the pool of candidates.
For example:
- Create a section for each: extra training, certifications, awards and honors.
- Include a section for projects you’ve collaborated on and state what you accomplished.
- Add a section focused on community initiatives and volunteer work.
- In the skills section, create subcategories to divide your skills by group. For example, soft skills, hard skills, interpersonal skills and so on.
- If you have related hobbies, add a section for them and list them with bullet points.
Do’s and don’ts for building a professional clinical psychologist CV
- Use measurable achievements to describe your professional clinical psychologist skills and experience.
- Use action words to make an impact on your professional clinical psychologist CV.
- Tailor your CV to your target professional clinical psychologist job.
- Use keywords from the job description throughout your professional clinical psychologist CV.
- Format your professional clinical psychologist CV so that it is easy to read by ATS software and human eyes.
- Lie about your professional clinical psychologist’s work experience and skills.
- Boast about your “incomparable” professional clinical psychologist abilities.
- Include irrelevant personal information such as your ethnicity and age.
- Add skills and experience that do not pertain to being a professional clinical psychologist.
- Forget to proofread. A professional clinical psychologist CV with errors is unprofessional.
Top 4 tips for acing a professional clinical psychologist clinical psychologist interview
Learn about the clinic or organization before your interview.
Learning about an institution’s history, goals, values and people before the interview is important. It shows real interest, dedication and commitment — traits that hiring managers look for in top job candidates. Plus, having a glimpse of the organization before you arrive will give you an idea of what to expect on arrival so that you can feel confident.
Practice!
A little practice now will go a long way during your interview. To practice for your interview, start by reviewing the most common interview questions, such as:
- Why Did you Choose This Career?
- Describe a Time When You Needed to Cope With a Stressful Scenario.
- Describe a Situation Where You Had to Arrive at a Compromise or Lead Others to a Compromise.
Ask a friend to interview you so you can get comfortable with the questions and imprint the answers in your mind. Ask them for feedback on your performance and answers, and write down their suggestions that resonate with you. You’ll feel confident and ready when it’s time for the real thing.
Be proactive and ask questions.
Your interviewer will ask if you have any questions at the end of your session. You should always have at least three questions ready to ask; job candidates who don’t ask questions are not as likely to get hired because hiring managers assume they aren’t interested in the role or won’t put much thought into it.
Some questions you might ask for a professional clinical psychologist clinical psychologist job are:
- What do you expect from someone in this position during the first 30 days?
- What is your management style?
- What do you like most about working here?
Have references ready.
Having professional references before your interview will prepare you in case the hiring manager decides to move forward. Create a list of two former colleagues and a former manager willing to speak to your abilities to perform the professional clinical psychologist job and who you know will give you a stellar review. Even better if they write a letter of recommendation for you.
If you are applying for your first full-time job and don’t have former colleagues or a manager for reference, it’s acceptable to get references from a former instructor, volunteer coordinator, internship manager, classmate, or community leader who will provide a positive review about your ability to perform the job.
Resume examples for the next step in your psychology career
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Clinical Psychologist CV Example
Kellie is a Certified Professional Resume Writer with extensive experience in digital media. She is passionate about helping job seekers navigate their careers. She earned a B.A. in English and writing from Temple University.
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