Psychologists' children see firsthand both the trials and triumphs of the profession — whether it's 4 a.m. emergency calls, department politics or the satisfaction of helping people overcome traumas or harmful habits.
And sometimes those experiences make an impact: Many psychologists' offspring follow in their parents' footsteps. Informal outreach yielded dozens of these relationships (see Family Ties), and there are many more.
Here, the Monitor highlights five. While each of these relationships is unique, they also have many commonalities. For one, these psychologist parents unanimously said they never pushed their children to become psychologists, and their children agreed. For another, these relationships are marked by strong mutual respect. Parents were quick to say how much they learned from their psychologist children, professionally and personally, and their children said they felt the same way.
Having a common profession also appeared to deepen their parent-child bonds as well as help the young people handle the stresses of graduate school.
"To have a parent who understood exactly what I was going through and who could talk with me at an academic level was really wonderful," says Kristen Kirkland, PhD, daughter of Montgomery, Ala., practitioner Karl Kirkland, PhD. Her brother Kale is also a psychologist.
Karl Kirkland adds that for him, at least, it is gratifying to have his children not only choose a similar field but trump his accomplishments — something he sees in both Kristen and Kale, who attended top-tier graduate schools and are launched on successful careers in industrial-organizational and forensic psychology, respectively.
"All parents want their children to have a better batting average than they have chalked up," he says. "Mine hit home runs without breaking a sweat."
While seeing their psychologist parents in action likely plays a role in youngsters' career decisions, Karl Kirkland adds it's important to acknowledge the allure of the field itself. "That Kristen and Kale chose psychology says a lot about the field—that it is rich in terms of diversity and opportunity, that it is still alive and well," he says.
Support centralGrowing up in a lively household with three other siblings, Kristen Kirkland, PhD, and Kale Kirkland, PhD, were never starved for attention from their father, Karl Kirkland, PhD, a clinical and forensic psychologist in Montgomery, Ala.
Karl attended all his children's high school basketball games and cheered their academic successes, while his wife, Lauren, coached their cross-country team. Karl also shared his work with them, chatting with them about cases, taking them with him to court and bringing them to his office to help file paperwork.
That support only intensified when Kristen and Kale decided on psychology careers. To help her get into graduate school, Karl encouraged Kristen to publish as an undergraduate, and the two co-wrote an article on child-custody complaints that landed in Professional Psychology: Research and Practice. When it came time for Kale to do his dissertation, Karl helped him gather the data, resulting in a groundbreaking article in the journal Headache on headaches in HIV-positive and AIDS patients that was widely covered in the media.
"He has always been incredibly supportive of anything any of us have ever pursued," says Kristen. "He was so helpful about anything we did in school, almost to the point where if we let him, he would have written our papers for us."
Karl's guidance paid off handsomely. After earning her doctorate from the City University of New York Graduate Center's industrial-organizational psychology program, Kristen spent several years training and developing leaders, teams and employees at Wall Street firms. That work gave her the skills to take on challenges closer to her heart, consulting with nonprofit agencies like the Southern Poverty Law Center and Every Mother Counts, a campaign to end maternal mortality worldwide.
Meanwhile, Kale joined his father's clinical and forensic psychology firm, Kirkland & King, PC, after graduating from the University of Mississippi in 2011. There, he tackles forensic cases, treats troubled teens and enjoys a high level of camaraderie with his coworkers, his father most of all.
"Some people have said, ‘Oh, I don't know if I'd ever be able to work with my dad,'" says Kale. "That's not the case with me at all."
And sometimes those experiences make an impact: Many psychologists' offspring follow in their parents' footsteps. Informal outreach yielded dozens of these relationships (see Family Ties), and there are many more.
Here, the Monitor highlights five. While each of these relationships is unique, they also have many commonalities. For one, these psychologist parents unanimously said they never pushed their children to become psychologists, and their children agreed. For another, these relationships are marked by strong mutual respect. Parents were quick to say how much they learned from their psychologist children, professionally and personally, and their children said they felt the same way.
Having a common profession also appeared to deepen their parent-child bonds as well as help the young people handle the stresses of graduate school.
"To have a parent who understood exactly what I was going through and who could talk with me at an academic level was really wonderful," says Kristen Kirkland, PhD, daughter of Montgomery, Ala., practitioner Karl Kirkland, PhD. Her brother Kale is also a psychologist.
Karl Kirkland adds that for him, at least, it is gratifying to have his children not only choose a similar field but trump his accomplishments — something he sees in both Kristen and Kale, who attended top-tier graduate schools and are launched on successful careers in industrial-organizational and forensic psychology, respectively.
"All parents want their children to have a better batting average than they have chalked up," he says. "Mine hit home runs without breaking a sweat."
While seeing their psychologist parents in action likely plays a role in youngsters' career decisions, Karl Kirkland adds it's important to acknowledge the allure of the field itself. "That Kristen and Kale chose psychology says a lot about the field—that it is rich in terms of diversity and opportunity, that it is still alive and well," he says.
Support centralGrowing up in a lively household with three other siblings, Kristen Kirkland, PhD, and Kale Kirkland, PhD, were never starved for attention from their father, Karl Kirkland, PhD, a clinical and forensic psychologist in Montgomery, Ala.
Karl attended all his children's high school basketball games and cheered their academic successes, while his wife, Lauren, coached their cross-country team. Karl also shared his work with them, chatting with them about cases, taking them with him to court and bringing them to his office to help file paperwork.
That support only intensified when Kristen and Kale decided on psychology careers. To help her get into graduate school, Karl encouraged Kristen to publish as an undergraduate, and the two co-wrote an article on child-custody complaints that landed in Professional Psychology: Research and Practice. When it came time for Kale to do his dissertation, Karl helped him gather the data, resulting in a groundbreaking article in the journal Headache on headaches in HIV-positive and AIDS patients that was widely covered in the media.
"He has always been incredibly supportive of anything any of us have ever pursued," says Kristen. "He was so helpful about anything we did in school, almost to the point where if we let him, he would have written our papers for us."
Karl's guidance paid off handsomely. After earning her doctorate from the City University of New York Graduate Center's industrial-organizational psychology program, Kristen spent several years training and developing leaders, teams and employees at Wall Street firms. That work gave her the skills to take on challenges closer to her heart, consulting with nonprofit agencies like the Southern Poverty Law Center and Every Mother Counts, a campaign to end maternal mortality worldwide.
Meanwhile, Kale joined his father's clinical and forensic psychology firm, Kirkland & King, PC, after graduating from the University of Mississippi in 2011. There, he tackles forensic cases, treats troubled teens and enjoys a high level of camaraderie with his coworkers, his father most of all.
"Some people have said, ‘Oh, I don't know if I'd ever be able to work with my dad,'" says Kale. "That's not the case with me at all."