Student Profile: Tabatha Melton
Thank you for your interest in the Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program. I'm honored to share a bit of my story to those who are interested learning about my path to UT Southwestern Medical Center.
After graduating from high school near Dallas, I followed my passion for helping others and attended Southern Methodist University (SMU), where I earned bachelor's degrees in psychology and political science. At SMU, I started my clinical experience as an undergraduate intern at a local psychological private practice, and developed research experience as a research assistant in the SMU Anxiety Research and Treatment Program.
After completing my undergraduate degrees, I wanted to work specifically with children and families, so I joined UT Southwestern and Children's Medical Center's Pediatric Research Programs as a research coordinator. Here, I worked on multiple pediatric treatment studies, including non-medication interventions for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and combined medication and cognitive behavioral treatment for major depressive disorder.
Dedicated to expanding my abilities in providing therapeutic services to children and their families, I sought to obtain my doctorate in clinical psychology at UT Southwestern Medical Center. During my first three years at UT Southwestern, I worked as a research assistant for Shawn McClintock, Ph.D., and Paul Croarkin, D.O. through the UT Southwestern Neurostimulation Research Lab, where we investigated topics such as cortical excitability and inhibition in children with major depressive disorder and anxiety and depression symptom comorbidity in adolescents.
I recently completed my third-year Clinical Internship at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children (TSRHC). I will to pursue my research apprenticeship at TSRHC over the next year, investigating the anxiety that families experience when referred to the hospital as a result of a scoliosis school screening. I am excited to be beginning my fourth-year clinical internship back at SMU in the Counseling and Psychiatric Services department, providing outpatient psychotherapy to the SMU population.
From the start, the UT Southwestern program has impressed me with its ability to provide a balanced education and wealth of experiences in both research and clinical work. I believe this research/clinical equilibrium is important in creating well-rounded psychologists who can excel in any career path in psychology. I'm grateful to have the opportunity to receive this high caliber of training and wealth of experience at UT Southwestern.
Because I truly enjoy this program and all the faculty and students therein, I accepted the position as co-chief resident this year, with Jed Falkowski. As such, I welcome your questions about pursuing this career field and this program in particular.
Sincerely,
Tabatha Melton
Co-Chief Resident
Doctoral Candidate
Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program, 4th year
