Department of Psychology

Doctoral Program Requirements

Course Requirements

The following are the basic required courses for the Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program. Courses with 6000 numbers are Master's level courses and those with 7000 or 8000 numbers are Doctoral level courses; students enroll in 7/8000 level classes after the Master’s Degree is conferred.

A. Core Coursework (Clinical and Experimental Doctoral Students; 45 credit minimum)

1. Statistics and Research Design (12 credits) Credit Hours
PSY 6100 Quantitative Methods in Psychology I 3
PSY 6110 Quantitative Methods in Psychology II 3
PSY 6130 Design & Evaluation of Psychology Research 3
One of the following advanced statistics electives: PSY 6/7150 Psychometrics and Scale Development  
PSY 6/7930 Structural Equation Modeling
3
2. Core Content Coursesa,b (at least two of the following = 6 credit hours) Credit Hours
PSY 6/7400 Cognitive Psychology 3
PSY 6/7500 Developmental Psychology 3
PSY 6/7600 Behavioral Neuroscience or PSY 6/7070 Science of Emotion                                                               3
PSY 6/7700 Social Psychology 3
PSY 6/7710 Social Cognition 3
PSY 6/7510 Seminar in Developmental Psychology 3

a. Students must demonstrate foundational knowledge in the current body of research and methods in each of these core areas. This can be demonstrated upon entry to the program by either (1) an undergraduate transcript indicating a grade of B- or higher and the syllabus for the relevant course or (2) a score at or above the 70th percentile on the relevant GRE subject test section. If this is not demonstrated upon entry to the program, the relevant core content courses must be taken during the time of the student’s matriculation through the program. Alternatives to courses in this list must be coordinated with your Faculty Mentor and approved by the DCT. It is very important that the student and their mentor check with the APA C-7 discipline specific knowledge requirements. For the approved alternative, students should complete the Current Student Psychology Discipline Specific Knowledge (DSK) Course Alternative Form (see Appendix C) and place copies of all material in their file.

b. Students also must fulfill a History and Systems of Psychology requirement. This can be fulfilled by either (1) an undergraduate transcript indicating a grade of B- or higher and the syllabus for a course pertaining to the History and Systems of Psychology, or (2) completing PSY 5000 (History of Psychology) as an elective course in the program. 

3. Research (27 hours minimum) Credit Hours
PSY 6960 Master's Thesis                                                                                                                                                             6
PSY 8960 PhD Dissertation 9
PSY 6/7030 Research Practicum 6
Advanced Research Electives 6

B. Clinical Psychology Area of Concentration (47 credits minimum)

1. Clinical Core Courses (17 hours)  Credit Hours
PSY 6/7240 Assessment I 4
PSY 6/7280 Assessment II 4
PSY 6/7360 Foundations of Psychotherapy I 3
PSY 6/7370 Foundations of Psychotherapy II 3
PSY 6/7380 Empirically Supported Interventions and Processes of Change                                                           3
2. Clinical Practica1 (20 hours)
Credit Hours
 PSY 6/7290 Foundations of Clinical Practice I                                                                                                                     3
 PSY 6/7300 Foundations of Clinical Practice II  3
 PSY 6810 Clinical Practicum I  2
 And at least 14 hours from the following practica*:  
           PSY 6/7820 Clinical Practicum II  6
           PSY 6/7830 Clinical Practicum III  4
           PSY 6/7840 Clinical Practicum IV  4

1. Students entering with their Master's Degree can qualify to take fewer practicum hours. These decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis and require the approval of their mentor and the DCT.

* Students typically enroll in a practicum each academic semester from the fall of their 1st year into spring of their 4th year (unless they arrive with a master’s and leave for internship early). However, students planning an academic research career can elect to substitute 6-hours of research practicum for one year of clinical practicum in their 3rd or 4th year, with the approval of their mentor. Students seeking to substitute research practicum for clinical practicum must complete the Substitution of Clinical with Research Practicum Form found in Appendix Q.

3. Specialized Coursework/Electives (7 hours) Credit Hours
To be chosen in consultation with and approval of the mentor:                                                                                   
PSY 6/7250 Seminar in Clinical Psychology 3
Seminar in Experimental Psychology 3
Additional Statistics or Methods Course 3
Advanced Clinical Seminar 3
4. Internship (3 hours) Credit Hours
PSY 8940 APA-Accredited Clinical Internship                                                                                                                        3

TOTAL MINIMUM REQUIRED HOURS (Semester hours) = 92

Research and Professional Development Requirements

Conference submissions. Each student is required to submit two first-authored poster or presentation abstracts to professional conferences by the end of their second year. Each submission must have mentor approval. The submission of these abstracts will be tracked on your annual evaluation form.

Empirical paper submissions. Each student is required to submit one first-authored, peer-reviewed manuscript by the end of their third program year. This submission must be formally submitted to the relevant publication outlet by the last day of classes in the student’s third year. This submission requires mentor approval. The submission of the empirical paper will be tracked on your annual evaluation form.

Clinical case presentations. Second and third year students are required to give a Clinical Case Presentation during the course of their second and third program years. One presentation must be on an assessment case while the other must be on a treatment case. The order of the presentations is to be determined by the student, mentor, and clinical supervisors. The schedule of presenters will be determined for the coming year at the end of each spring semester. Each student will be evaluated on their presentation according to a standardized rubric that will be completed by each core clinical faculty member in attendance. Formative feedback will be provided to the student on the basis of these evaluations. The rubric will be placed in the student’s file to demonstrate completion of this program requirement.

Last Updated: 6/27/22