mental health

Sample A

Sherry Burke, Psy.D.

Address: XXXXX

Cell: XXXX

Email: XXXX

August 17, 2010

Nova Southeastern University

Mailman Segal Institute

3301 College Ave.

Davie, Fl. 33314

Re: Unicorn Children’s Clinic Psychologist

To Whom It May Concern:

It is with much excitement and enthusiasm that I submit my application for the Unicorn

Children’s Clinic Psychologist position within your department. I have diligently taken

advantage of my training up to this point to be an appropriate match for your facility. My

academic training, research, practicum, academic, and internship and post-doctoral experiences

have prepared me for a clinical position that works with conducting assessments and providing

therapeutic services for children and families. In addition, based on my background of growing

up in South Florida and raised by Haitian immigrants, I believe that I am able to provide

graduate students the knowledge and awareness of working with culturally diverse clients with

mental health disorders. Also, throughout all of my clinical training, I have had the opportunity

to work with children and families of culturally diverse populations (i.e., Hispanic, Haitian,

Asian, Russian, Indian, etc).

During my graduate training, I completed the requirements for my program’s Child, Adolescent,

and Family track. Enrolling in courses such as Intervention and Assessments, Child and

Adolescent Psychopathology, Child and Adolescent Intervention, Infant and Child Mental

Health, has increased my awareness of the complexities when working with various vulnerable

populations. In addition, I completed my coursework in the Advanced Applied Behavioral

Analysis (ABA) program and completed a one-year practicum at a school setting for children

within the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

Clinically, during my graduate career, I completed three one-year practicums that helped to align

my interest in working with children, adolescents, and families. During my internship year, I

continued to provide assessment and intervention for children and adolescents with Pervasive

Developmental Disorders and other emotional and behavioral disorders. In addition, I have

gained experience working with severely disturbed children and adolescents in a residential-

medical setting. I have completed my postdoctoral training at a children’s center completing

psycho-educational and psychological developmental assessments for children between the ages

of 0-5 with ASD and emotional difficulties and provided consultation for school districts within

the U.S. Throughout my training and work experience, I have had the pleasure to train and

supervise others (i.e., staff members, practicum psychology students and interns) within the areas

of research, assessments, and therapeutic interventions.

Academically, I have taught numerous courses within the graduate psychology program at Nova

Southeastern University and assisted several faculty staffs in providing lectures to students,

grading assignments, and teaching students how to administer psychological assessments.

I understand that one of the requirements for this position is that the psychologist is licensed to

practice in the state of Florida. It is important to note that even though I am currently not

licensed, I have scheduled to take my licensing exam in the beginning of October and my goal is

to be licensed to practice prior to the end of October. Also, I think that another quality that

someone should have, that is seeking to work at your facility, is the knowledge and awareness of

the many different treatment interventions when working with the ASD population. As

mentioned before, I have completed my coursework in an Advanced ABA program and I am

planning to sit for the exam and becoming a Board Certified Behavioral Analyst (BCBA) in the

future as well.

Knowing that your facility is a training ground for future clinicians, I am confident that I will be

able to train students and staff members the skills that they will need to be effective clinicians

when working with children and family members, especially with the ASD population. Your

facility also offers specific opportunities consistent with my clinical interests and goals. I have

spent a majority of my academic career obtaining expertise in diagnosis, assessment, and

intervention strategies unique to those of developmental disorders, emotional and behavioral

disorders for children and adolescents. The skills that I have learned within the past several years

will allow me to support future clinicians through training and supervision. Consequently, I find

that your facility rather attractive and will allow me to continue to develop and strengthen my

clinical, academic, and research skills. I believe that your facility will foster the growth of my

identity as a developing administrator and clinician, more importantly promote my development

as a well-rounded psychologist by helping me to explore my interests and achieve my goals.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Sherry Burke, Psy.D.

Enclosure