Testimonials

Keti studied Clinical Psychology at Utrecht University

"From this Master’s I learned and grew a lot. Not only on an academic, but also on a personal and emotional level. Though it was a very tough and intense Master’s, it was worth it.

How I chose my Master’s
After finishing my Bachelor’s in psychology in Germany, I wanted to specialize in clinical psychology in an international Master’s programme. I already heard quite a few positive reviews about Utrecht University from friends who studied there. So, that’s why I chose this programme. Now, I’m almost done and I can look back on the great courses I took. I am looking forward to working as a psychotherapist and I’m looking for a place to do my PhD.

We didn’t just learn from books
We also learned to compare different papers and results. Comparing your own theories and perspectives to those of your fellow students, creates a lot of learning opportunities. We learned to build our own perspective, which is very valuable. I really enjoyed the diversity of the courses and the balance between learning from theories and papers on the one hand, and role-playing and communicating with my fellow students on the other hand. It was a great combination between the focus on patients as well as research.

The most valuable part of my Master’s though, was my internship
I did my internship at EOS clinic in Germany, which is a psychiatric clinic for psychotherapy with different departments.

I got the opportunity to work with the patients on either a group therapy or individual level
Within my internship, I got to work in two different departments. I worked in the general department, where people with problems like depression, anxiety and other mood/emotional disorders are treated. I got to work on psychodiagnostics and I was part of group therapy sessions which lasted up to six hours. While at first this was mostly observant, as I progressed through the internship I also got to lead individual therapies myself. The department of eating disorders was a different, yet also valuable experience. In this department, we were able to spend whole days with small groups of patients. With these patients we did all daily activities such as exposure to cooking and eating in restaurants, daily activities as part of behavioral activation, and mindfulness sessions.

I’m very thankful for my academic supervisor
He checked in on me regularly and supported me very well, and stimulated me to learn through difficulties. Though this Master’s and the internship were very time consuming and (emotionally) intensive, I am grateful that I got to experience and learn from it."

Keti Tafaj, from Germany.

Justina studied Clinical Psychology at Utrecht University

"I applied to a number of Clinical Psychology programs in The Netherlands but my biggest priority was Utrecht University. After watching the webinar, and reading testimonials and descriptions of the programme, I knew I wanted to study here. 

I moved to Utrecht months before the programme started, and that ended up being one of my best decisions. It gave me time to sort out organisational things like registration, housing, cycling and job search. It is much easier to get everything situated when the town is not full of fellow students yet. Before starting the Master’s, I attended summer school classes in Psychodiagnostics and Multivariate Analysis. This was a great experience in terms of getting to know fellow students, the University, and some professors. So, if you get conditionally accepted, don’t worry, taking extra courses beforehand can turn out to be a great experience!

Even though the programme is really well structured, I felt the freedom to pick and build my own portfolio through the elective courses, topics of assignments, my thesis project, and the internship. These choices added up to a feeling of control over my studies: I could let the programme meet my personal preferences and requirements. The internship is an especially pressing matter for the internationals in the programme, because of the language barrier. I chose to do my internship in my home country – Lithuania. I don’t think I could have done as much as I did in any other country, so the internship abroad was not a downside to the programme for me at all.

I was surprised by the quality of student-teaching staff relationships at Utrecht University. The teachers here are always willing to help and accessible, and I could feel the open door policy being executed to its fullest. Most of all, I definitely learned a lot from my instructors, who are true professionals of their field. I would like to congratulate everyone who got into the program and encourage those who are still hesitant. Utrecht University is a great university not only because of its professionalism and expertise but also because of its great atmosphere of mutual respect and egalité!"

Justina Pociūnaitė, from Lithuania.