Ph.D - Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (Clinical and Health Psychology - PHHP) with Concentration in Clinical and Health Psychology

The doctoral program in clinical psychology has been accredited by the American Psychological Association since 1953 and adheres to the Scientist-Practitioner Model of education and training. The Clinical Psychology Doctoral program is unique in the country in that it is housed in an independent department of Clinical and Health Psychology in a major academic health science setting along with an APA accredited internship. These features foster program strengths in research, teaching and professional training in health care psychology. To accommodate the broad range of career trajectories possible within Scientist-Practitioner education and training, the program offers a Scientist-Practitioner Emphasis and a Clinical Researcher Emphasis. The Scientist-Practitioner Emphasis allows the student to obtain broad clinical, academic, and research training that readies them for careers anywhere along the science-practice continuum. The student obtains focused research mentorship in a faculty member’s laboratory and obtains broad training in clinical assessment and intervention both in and outside of their designated area of concentration. The Clinical Researcher Emphasis is designed to provide the interested student with more intensive mentor-based training for purposes of preparing for a research career. The Clinical Researcher Emphasis is designed for students who are clearly focused on a research career and therefore want an increased opportunity to perform mentored empirical work. This emphasis focuses on the acquisition of research skills, training in scientific methods and technologies to better understand behavior problems, psychopathology and psychological adjustment to illness and wellness, and to develop empirically validated assessment and treatment procedures. The primary goal of the Clinical Researcher emphasis is to train psychologists for academic settings and other employment venues in which research productivity and innovation is a major job expectancy. In comparison to the scientist-practitioner emphasis, more time is dedicated to research (less time is spent in supervised practicum with the general faculty), and advanced clinical training is focused on patient populations and methods in the student’s area of research interest. The Clinical Researcher emphasis follows a “mentorship” model in which the faculty mentor is the student’s overall guide and supervisor, and the student’s primary research training is accomplished in his/her laboratory. The Doctoral Program provides the student with training in the concepts, tools, roles, and functions of the clinical psychologist. The overall goals of the graduate program are to prepare the student to: investigate meaningful, empirically testable questions in the quest for understanding a behavioral process, a patient’s problem, or a professional issue; function as a professional psychologist; practice competently in the applied areas of psychological assessment/diagnosis, intervention/therapy, and consultation; and contribute to the advancement of psychological knowledge through research or other creative scholarly activity. Through a combination of general and specialized experiences in the classroom, laboratory, and clinic students develop knowledge and skills as scientist-practitioners. Attitudes are developed toward the practice of psychology and toward related professions which enable effective personal interaction and participation in the interdisciplinary approach to problems of research and practice. As students progress in the program, they develop professional identity through acceptance of increased responsibility for professional decisions, through the execution of significant research projects, and through their contributions to the understanding of psychological problems and processes.