Early Career Psychologist Service Awardee

• Tell us about your current professional roles, activities, and background.

I am a board-certified clinical psychologist and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Emory University School of Medicine. I specialize in cognitive behavioral therapy for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder. I am also part of psychedelic assisted therapy research team. Previously, I was faculty at Stanford, UT Southwestern Medical Center, and a psychologist at the Atlanta VA. It has been meaningful to serve veterans with cutting-edge treatment who would otherwise not be able to access quality care.

Outside of Emory, I have tremendously enjoyed professional service and leadership opportunities in professional psychology organizations.  I serve on the Board of Trustees for American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP), APA Task Force for Serious Mental Illness/ Severe Emotional Disturbance, and APA Healthcare Financing Advisory Group.

Teachers and mentors have been crucial in my development as a clinical psychologist. As an Asian American whose parents did not attend college and as an early career psychologist, I have struggled with doubt and imposter syndrome. I am grateful for mentors, especially at ABPP, who encourage me that I have an important voice despite being a younger female Asian American psychologist. I hope to support future generations of psychologists too. 

• What do you enjoy most about your job?

I like wearing many hats in my role as a clinician, educator, and researcher! By being involved in evidence-based treatment, cutting-edge clinical research, and training the next generation of clinicians, I get to multiply my impact and contributions to the field. Clinically, I am honored to serve veterans because their bravery and sacrifice to the country far exceed what I could ever do.

• What inspired you to get board certified as an early career psychologist ?

As an Early Career Psychologist, I saw board certification as a way to demonstrate competence to the public. At my previous faculty job, board certification was common and expected for promotion. It also came with an increase to my salary. When I received the Walter Katkovsky Scholarship to offset the cost of board certification, it helped me get started despite imposter syndrome. I found it helpful to focus on one step at a time, treating each step as the temporary finish line. I steadily progressed through each phase and achieved board certification. My examiners were very collegial and the exam process felt more like a professional discussion of my interests and reasoning in my clinical work rather than a grad school dissertation defense.

• How has board certification contributed to your professional activities?

Now that I have become heavily involved with ABPP, I have realized the benefits of ABPP go far beyond the initial incentives. I feel so lucky to have been elected to serve as the Early Career Psychologist Trustee Representative on the ABPP Board of Trustees. I have often been the most junior psychologist in this room of giants and psychologist leaders, but they are so encouraging and supportive. They have truly listened to my voice and allowed me to take initiatives for ABPP. I have grown into a more confident leader and collaborator because of their support.

More important than my growth, I have gained a professional family. Through serving on the ABPP Board of Trustees and volunteering on so many committees and initiatives, I have gotten to know so many specialists who are well-represented throughout the field. The psychology field is a small world, and I know I can ask for their specialty expertise.  

• What advice would you give to Early Career Psychologists and trainees of diverse background interested in pursuing board certification?

Go for it! You don’t have to wait until you are 10 or 20 years as a psychologist to get board certification. Board certification is about demonstrating competence in your specialty field (e.g., health, child). Without it, the public or consumers won’t know if you are competent in that specific field beyond just being a general licensed psychologist. If circumstances allow, it’s far easier to pursue board certification early than later. I am so glad I completed board certification two years before I had my child because it would be so much to juggle with a young child demanding all of my attention and being an ECP. I also sought help from a mentor who set realistic expectations and told me when I didn’t need to overprepare for the oral exam. There are also lots of ABPP specialists from diverse background, rather than the myth that all specialists look one particular way. Feel free to reach out a specialist of similar background, as many are more than happy to encourage ECPs of diverse background to feel inclusive.

• How do you utilize artificial intelligence in your professional activities?

Joining the ABPP AI Task Force has allowed me to learn about AI with a specific focus on its use and ethical considerations in mental health. I became more comfortable with AI by asking ChatGPT about light, unimportant topics, such as recipes on using up leftover pulled pork. After that, I have used AI for ambient dictation, only through the employer-based platform where the data are HIPAA-complaint and secure with a BAA agreement by the employer. I also use approved AI for drafting letters and emails and designing flyers.

Lately, in my free time, I have created a custom GPT that trains psychology trainees on conducting PTSD treatment. I love playing around with my prompts and seeing what GPT comes back with. This GPT includes realistic patient profiles based on aggregate past patients and also provides real-time feedback to the users like in supervision. Users are reminded that they should always seek supervision from a real supervisor and that the GPT is only a practice for training purposes. It has been fun to play around AI and use my professional knowledge to create something that would have taken me ages to try to do before the era of AI.

• What advice would you give psychologists or trainees interested in integrating artificial intelligence into their professional activities?

I’d encourage an “SOS” framework – Safe, Open, and Skeptical. First, only use AI when it’s safe. Especially if you use it with PHI/PII information, ensure that your organization has a BAA and HIPAA agreement with the company to ensure the PHI/PII information would be secure and HIPAA-compliant. It’s also important to consider your input, making sure that it’s not copyrighted (such as a book or a journal article), or personal information such as social security number or credit card number. Second, it’s important to be open and exploratory. AI has so much more potential than just giving back an answer. As long as you’re safe with your input, you can ask AI to take on a role of a patient or to be a critical supervisor who challenges your thinking in 10 other ways. Lastly, AI is prone to hallucinations especially if the input data aren’t good or adequate. AI is only an assistant and ultimately the responsibility rests on us as licensed psychologists. We need to be skeptical of the AI-generated output and ensure that it’s accurate.