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TEACHING PSYCHOLOGY AS A PROFESSION
Teaching Psychology as a Profession
Julian Costa
Northampton Community College
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Teaching Psychology as a Profession
Psychology is a field that has many branches. Individuals in the field choose which
branch to pursue based off of their own beliefs and personality traits. Professionals in any field
will serve the people in different ways; however, some people choose to share their knowledge
with others. Their intent is to simply educate them. Teaching psychology as a profession is a
particular area of interest to Karen Clay Rhines, a doctor of psychology who teaches at
Northampton Community College.
Karen Clay Rhines, a Pennsylvania native, originally had no intentions of entering the
field of psychology. She had entered Penn State University as an undergraduate student,
planning to study veterinary medicine. “I realized fairly quickly that biology is just not a strength
for me,” Rhines states in an interview. Dr. Rhines took an Intro to Psychology course, since it
was recommended for first-year students. “I loved it, I loved my professors, and I thought it was
great, so I thought about majoring in psychology,” says Rhines. In 1993, Karen graduated from
Penn State, majoring in Psychology and minoring in Women’s Studies.
When the topic of graduate school came up, Karen was determined to get there despite
several roadblocks he faced. After applying during her senior year and not getting in, she applied
at several other locations including Michigan State. It was here where she was waitlisted, but still
no acceptance. “They took their top 3, and I was number four,” she states. After this, she began
doing clinical research in addiction at the University of Pennsylvania for two years. Finally, she
is accepted into graduate school at Rutgers University, where she received her Master of Science
degree in Clinical Psychology in 1998. Following her graduate work, Karen completed her
Clinical Psychology internship in 2000, and finally her Ph.D in 2001, earning her the title “Dr.
Karen Clay Rhines.”
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Many people who have been educated in their field will pursue research projects,
pertaining to problems or topics of their interest. Karen Rhines did much of her big research
projects even before going to graduate school. While working for the University of
Pennsylvania, she worked alongside Dr. Joseph Volpicelli. Volpicelli was deeply involved in
research regarding addiction. This involved the use of a medical model, and the treatment of the
drug Naltrexone. “This drug binds to the same receptors in the brain that alcohol and the opiates,
and endorphins internally bind to,” says Rhines. In retrospect, Karen believes that this research
was the true beginning of her professional career.
In doing this research, Rhines noticed that not many clinical trials were being done on
women. Rhines points out that “many male faculty are not interest in dealing with women, due to
the biological issues of working with them.” This is in respect to the menstrual cycle, and how
blood tests differ pending on what point of the menstrual cycle one is currently in. Once
beginning her graduate work, Karen’s research included trying to find differences between men
and women in regards to their alcohol use. Over the years, Karen has participated in numerous
conference presentations and seminars regarding these topics. These include “changes in alcohol
craving and consumption by phase of menstrual cycle in alcoholic women,” as well as
“Treatment issues and outcomes for alcohol-dependent women.” Like many professionals in the
field, Karen Rhines found an area of interest through her research, and was able to continue
studying it with her research.
Every professional in a field, regardless of what the field may be, will find an area of
service that he or she particularly enjoys working in. For Karen Rhines, she chose teaching over
clinical practice. “My first several clinical experiences were not everything I had hoped for from
clinical work,” Rhines says. “I really found that I did not get the reward from therapy with
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patients that I did on a regular basis teaching a class.” Rhines began teaching in the summer of
1996 at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, teaching Psychology of Women. “I did it
for extra money – they needed faculty to teach, and the graduate students were encouraged to do
that.” Rhines says. “I just loved it, and walking in front of the class really felt like home to me.”
Over the years, she has continued teaching. In the fall of 2000, she taught two courses:
Psychology of Women and Introductory Psychology II at Montclair State University in New
Jersey. “I was working on my dissertation and not doing much else, they needed someone to
teach two classes, so I did it and just loved it,” Rhines says. After earning her Ph.D in 2001, Dr.
Rhines took a tenure track teaching position at Seton Hall University, where she taught from
2001 to 2006. In Fall 2006, Rhines moved to Northampton Community College in Bethlehem,
PA, where she is an associate professor of psychology. When asked what aspects of her job she
truly enjoys, Rhines said that “being in front of the class, working with students and having
relationships with students.” She also mentioned how much she enjoys the service aspect of her
job; including being part of clubs, committees, and presentations. “I love when I do a
presentation that students walk out of looking at themselves in a different way.” Looking back on
her twelve years spent teaching, Dr. Rhines believes “my life has carried me, but the teaching
has been such as passion of mine since the summer of ’96.” Honest words from a person who
truly enjoys her line of work.
Subsequently, her teaching career led to a new avenue of service. After all, individuals in
their field will get the opportunity to publish printed material, or be influential in the writing and
publishing of a printed work. Dr. Rhines has worked on published material all throughout her
academic studies, from as far back as 1994. These works included articles in journals such as the
Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. After working in the educational branch of psychology for some
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time, Dr. Rhines published teaching supplements for textbooks such as Fundamentals of
Abnormal Psychology, and The Social Animal (10th edition). She has even received invitations
from textbook publishing companies to author a textbook. Publishing, while not the sole purpose
of her career, is an interesting and challenging aspect that she has done on many instances
through the years.
In brief, Dr. Karen Clay Rhines is a educator of psychology. In her years in the
profession, she has published many articles and printed materials. She has done clinical research
in several specialty areas. Dr. Rhines has also taught a mix of courses at the undergraduate level,
ranging from Introductory Psychology to Abnormal Psychology. She finds much satisfaction out
of this career. The profession of teaching Psychology is a branch that has many benefits, for both
the teacher and the learners.