Book V helps you find ways to overcome procrastination and other forms of writer's block by teaching you to honor your natural approach to writing and editing so you can produce high-quality material and complete your applications in advance of your deadlines.

1. Getting the Internship You
Want:
How to write APPIC
essays that get you
noticed . . . without
completely losing your
sanity
Dr. John T. Carlsen
Your Internship Coach
Book V: Sharpening Your Writing Tools to Overcome
Writer’s Block and Produce Excellent Writing

2. Copyright © 2008, 2011
John T. Carlsen, Psy.D.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
EXCEPT FOR USE IN A REVIEW, THE REPRODUCTION OR USE OF THIS WORK
IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY ELECTRONIC, MECHANICAL, OR OTHER MEANS,
NOW KNOWN OR HEREAFTER INVENTED, INCLUDING PHOTOCOPYING,
RECORDING, AND IN ANY INFORMATION STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL SYSTEM
IS FORBIDDEN WITHOUT THE WRITTEN PERMISSION OF THE WRITER AND
PUBLISHER
PRODUCED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
FOR ORDERING INFORMATION, CONTACT:
John T. Carlsen, Psy.D.
(773) 975-4297
DrCarlsen@PDI-online.com
www.PDI-online.com

3. Chapter I:
Prepare to Write Thoughtful, Comprehensive Model Essays
The APPI essays are the part of your application packet in which you present
yourself as the person behind your professional role. Aside from the total number
of experiences you have had, these essays provide you the chance to set yourself
apart from your competitors.
Often, selection committees start by simply reading these responses for an
introduction to who you are. So, be sure to spend enough time thinking about
them to make the best first impression you can. Think about your philosophy as a
therapist, your values about being part of a helping profession, the people and
experiences that have shaped your career goals.
You will save yourself a significant amount of time if you start by writing a M odel
Essay for each of the four required essays and worry about customizing them to
each site later: You will avoid writing each essay for each site, and you will have
more time to think about how to match your particular qualifications with the needs
of each individual internship program.
Remember that, to write a comprehensive but brief response, it is easier to start by
writing a longer draft that enables you to cover the material fully. Then, you can
revise and edit what you have written, condensing your sentences and fitting them
into the number of words allowed for each essay.
Also, realize that writing your
applications might represent “. . . the secret to writing persuasive
your first experience of putting
applications is identifying your
your thoughts about internship
and your career plans into unique personal qualities and
words. Before now, you might professional qualifications and
never before have taken the finding ways to present the
time to answer questions such as
these in detail. So, avoid the persuasively.”
tendency to believe that you
have to articulate your responses
perfectly the first time or to believe that you must fit your responses into the
allotted number of words.
Instead, allow yourself enough time to refine and polish your essays until they say
exactly what you want to say. With each essay, you have two main goals:
Copyright © 2008 by Dr. John T. Carlsen. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized duplication is strictly prohibited.

4. 2 CHAPTER I: Prepare to Write Comprehensive Model Essays
1. You want to present the very best qualifications, both personal and
professional, you have to offer as an applicant. Remember that your
personal and professional sense of self will evolve and change continually.
2. You want to present your qualifications in such a way that you stimulate
selection committee members’ curiosity about you - so they have to
schedule an interview to learn more about you. You do not want them to
base their selection decision only on your written materials.
Also, do not think that what you say in these responses must be permanently true
about you. Over time, as you finish your training and move into the profession,
your philosophy and goals will probably change dramatically. In fact, it would be
surprising if they did not change, given the intense experiences you will have.
As stated previously, the secret to writing persuasive applications is: identifying
your unique personal qualities and professional qualifications and finding
w ays to present them persuasively. A central assumption in this manual is
that you will continue revising and editing your rough drafts - making several
versions - until you arrive at final drafts that convey your most important
qualifications in clear, concise, and understandable sentences.
Try not to feel overwhelmed by the amount of material you generate with your
brainstorming exercises at the beginning of the writing process. The more material
you have to choose from in writing your documents, the greater your chances of
uncovering your best and being able to highlight it.
Copyright © 2008 by Dr. John T. Carlsen. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized duplication is strictly prohibited.

5. CHAPTER I: Prepare to Write Comprehensive Model Essays 3
Overcome Your Writer's Block
Before you become too involved in writing your applications, you might want to
pause for this review of the writing process and learn to make the most of your
writing sessions. Whenever writers need to write important material under
pressure, they run the risk of hitting writer's block.
What is writer’s block? It is simply the writer's version of creative panic.
If you are struggling with writer’s block, you might, as you sit down to write,
initially find yourself staring at the blank computer screen or a piece of paper for
several minutes...or even several hours. As you continue this visual fixation, many
of your greatest fears might begin to rise to the surface. You hear yourself asking:
"W hat if I have nothing to say...or, at least, nothing w orth saying?
“W hat if no one understands w hat I’m trying to say?"
"W hat if no one takes me seriously?"
"W hat if I m ake mistakes in gram m ar or punctuation?"
"W hat if I com e across looking naive or foolish?"
Whether or not they are true, each of these fears can raise doubts about your
existing abilities and your levels of competence. And, unless you find ways to face
them directly and work through them, these fears can even hamper your success
throughout the entire application process.
How Writer’s Block Stops You Cold and
Keeps You From Getting Started
Your fear of looking bad to others might prevent you from even sitting down to
start writing your first thoughts. It may keep you from recognizing - and
challenging - your hidden expectations that you can write something perfectly, the
first time. Finally, it might convince you that your rough drafts will never reach the
level of quality you expect in your final copies. To cope successfully with writer's
block, therefore, you must begin to identify - and work hard to counteract - the
ways it manifests in your individual circumstances.
Typically, writer's block generally emerges in one of a few different forms. The first
Copyright © 2008 by Dr. John T. Carlsen. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized duplication is strictly prohibited.

6. 4 CHAPTER I: Prepare to Write Comprehensive Model Essays
appears when you have the overall feeling that you have nothing to say and wind
up staring at a blank computer screen or piece of paper for several minutes, unable
to make your fingers type or put your pen on the paper. You might get up from
the chair and pace, turn on the television or radio, or find some other distracting
activity to fill your boredom.
A second form of writer's block appears when you k now internally that you have a
great deal to say, yet cannot even get the first words out. Frequently, this kind of
writer’s block reflects a strongly-developed, but unconscious, attitude of
perfectionism: It leads you to believe that you m ust to start out with exactly the
right sentence before your can allow the rest of your thoughts to begin flowing
across the page. You might find yourself going over and over the sam e sentence
- refining it, rearranging it, crossing it out and starting over completely, tearing off
sheet after sheet of paper, or opening one new document after another. Yet,
despite your best efforts, you cannot move beyond the first sentence or two to
write the rest of your draft.
In his classic book, The Courage to
Create, noted psychologist and author “Whenever you try to create
Dr. Rollo May explains the psychological
experiences of fear and terror that often
something out of nothing,
lie deep within the unconscious of our some of your most basic,
writer’s mind, especially at the beginning long-standing fears are likely
of the creative process. He says that, to appear.”
w henever you try to create something
out of nothing, some of your most basic,
long-standing fears are likely to appear.
Notice, as you begin and continue the process of writing your applications, how this
occurs in your experience or writing. For example, you might discover:
1. The fear that what you create will appear to others as inadequate,
2. The fear that you will say something m eaningless or
em barrassing, or
3. The fear that others will see you for the trainee you actually are,
rather than the one you profess to be.
Dr. May says that fears such as these might prevent you from starting the creative
process at all. Or, cause you to become lost in an relentless editorial loop that
keeps you from moving forward and completing this task.
You are not, how ever, alone in this fear.
Copyright © 2008 by Dr. John T. Carlsen. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized duplication is strictly prohibited.

7. CHAPTER I: Prepare to Write Comprehensive Model Essays 5
Visual and performing artists often experience a similar version of these fears.
Painters often stare at a blank canvas for days on end before daring to touch it with
a paintbrush or drawing pencil. Actors, directors, and set designers frequently
stare at an empty stage for a long period of time, unable to imagine what kinds of
scenes and backdrops they would like to create.
Depending upon your previous success with facing these
fears, your typical response might be to give into them
completely - and simply allow yourself to procrastinate or
perseverant in one part of your creative process.
Throughout high school and college, you might have
taught yourself to wait until the last possible minute -
and “pull an all-nighter”. During those days of youth,
you might even have been able to produce acceptable work - while surviving on
minimal sleep and inadequate nutrition. But, like it or not, those days are gone.
You cannot, unfortunately, afford to take this approach to applying for internship.
You have reached the doctoral level of training, so selection committees have much
higher expectations of how you will present yourself and what you will say. More
importantly, you are clearly competing against many experienced and highly-
qualified applicants. So, you can no longer take the chances associated with this
long-standing habit:
The consequences are, sim ply, too severe.
Unlike the relative unimportance of any single essay or research paper, the
contents of your internship applications heavily influence - and largely determ ine
- whether or not you receive interviews at your chosen sites. So, they basically
determine your chances of receiving the internship training you want and need.
Actually, the process of writing your internship applications offers you several
chances to begin addressing these unconscious fears more directly: Because you
will be engaged in this writing process over several weeks, you will have numerous
opportunities to recognize, and begin changing, your existing writing habits.
Given the depth of this process, you might even start making significant progress in
overcoming your writer’s block. If you, typically, ignore these fears and give into
avoidance, you will certainly benefit from learning to recognize them when they
appear.
Develop Strategies for Blasting Through Writer’s Block
Copyright © 2008 by Dr. John T. Carlsen. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized duplication is strictly prohibited.

8. 6 CHAPTER I: Prepare to Write Comprehensive Model Essays
To prevent writer’s block, you can stop to think carefully about your writing style
and plan a strategy that allows your thoughts to flow smoothly onto the paper or
the computer screen. First,
start recognizing that the
entire process of w riting TECHNIQUES TO SPARK YOUR CREATIVITY
actually does ex cite your AND HELP YOU OVERCOME WRITER'S BLOCK
greatest fears and ex pose
our deepest vulnerabilities. 1. Jot down your first thoughts and rough out an
And, this reality will never overall writing plan when you look at your
internship applications and before you become
change: Each time you sit too involved in reading them in depth. Allow
down to write, you are your first ideas to emerge before allowing
involved in an act of creation. them to be influenced by what you read.
Each time you put your
2. Outline your main ideas and break them down
thoughts into words, you are
logically into sub-ideas and details using a
bringing something into Roman numeral outline. Organize the details
existence that did not exist under each main idea to keep them organized.
before.
3. Carry a pad of paper with you at all times so
you can jot down ideas that occur to you when
Therefore, you need to find
you are not involved in the writing process.
ways to reduce your Creativity works best when we allow it to
vulnerability throughout the happen spontaneously rather than trying to
entire creative process so you force it.
can complete your applications.
4. If something on your mind or in your heart
One of the most effective keeps your attention, write it in a journal -
solutions comes from planning promise yourself that you will return to it later
adequate time for writing and and deal with it more directly. This will free
editing your rough drafts. This your mind from your emotions to concentrate
m eans you m ust get started on the task at hand.
as soon as possible.
Second, start recognizing and
acknowledging that, when you feel so vulnerable, you will also probably feel more
anxious. And, you might attempt to cope with the anxiety by becoming self-critical.
You might even begin to believe that you can avoid the criticism of others by
criticizing yourself first. Unfortunately, you might criticize yourself when you feel
particularly vulnerable in this creative process.
So, practice using m ore positive internal self-talk . That is, consciously
change the words you use internally in evaluating your performance as you move
along.
Copyright © 2008 by Dr. John T. Carlsen. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized duplication is strictly prohibited.

9. CHAPTER I: Prepare to Write Comprehensive Model Essays 7
Third, remember that the importance of writing competitive internship applications
might intensify your existing anxieties. The emphasis that professors, training
directors, supervisors, and classmates have placed on finding a good internship
right away might lead you to believe that you must achieve perfection in writing
your applications. As if writing were not already an extremely vulnerable process
of revealing your fragile thoughts! Promoting your qualifications to several groups
of unseen strangers can make the experience of writing even m ore challenging.
In summary, remember that any tim e you have to w rite under pressure -
especially w hen the stak es are as high as they are for internship
applicants - you can anticipate ex periencing w riter’s block . Knowing this
ahead of time can help you gain control and manage your own particular kinds of
writing obstacles. In other words, learning to combine self-discipline and self-care
can help you manage your anxiety and learn to prevent feelings of being
overwhelmed
The following sections will help you gain a clearer understanding of the writing and
editing processes. They will also help you to identify your own writing style.
Combining this knowledge of the writing/editing processes with your individual
writing style will help you learn to work through - and overcome - the obstacles of
writer’s block.
Copyright © 2008 by Dr. John T. Carlsen. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized duplication is strictly prohibited.

10. Getting the Internship You Get the full book
W ant: (or the entire set) at:
The
How to write APPIC essays Internship Resource
that get you noticed . . . without Center Store
completely losing your sanity
Dr. John T. Carlsen
Your Internship Coach
Book V: Sharpening Your Writing Tools to
Overcome Writer’s Block and Produce
Excellent Writing
About the book
Finally, for a generation of doctoral students who are dedicated to becoming highly-
competent psychologists but facing unprecedented competition for internship
positions comes Getting the Internship You Want, Dr. John T. Carlsen’s proven
approach to distinguishing yourself from your fellow applicants. A completely
practical approach to marketing your qualifications that not only tells you what to
do, but also shows you how to do it.