Clinical Psychology: PhD, San Francisco

A Scholar-Practitioner Program

 The PhD program prepares scholar practitioners for the 21st century. Infused with social justice concerns in a multicultural and global context, our program educates students both to conduct a broad range of psychological research and to become broadly trained practitioners. We provide training for clinical psychologists in all aspects of conducting psychological research such that they are capable of being productive scholars who contribute to the body of psychological literature. We believe that effective clinical psychologists are responsive to the broader social contexts within a framework of sound clinical knowledge and experience. We provide students with the knowledge, skills, and professional attitudes necessary to evaluate psychological functioning and provide effective interventions with diverse clients across a range of settings. We infuse multicultural perspectives throughout our curriculum, offer courses focusing on diverse populations, and provide clinical practica (field placements) that offer exposure to a range of client populations.

The PhD program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of the American Psychological Association (750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242; Phone: 202-336-5979; Email: apaaccred@apa.org; Web: www.apa.org/ed/accreditation). Faculty members are committed to the integration of applied research and professional practice across the fields of trauma, gender roles, racial/ethnic identity, LGBT issues, health at every size, primary care health psychology, program evaluation, eating disorders, substance abuse, and mental health service delivery for children, adolescents, adults, and families. Faculty serve as role models across a diverse range of theoretical orientations, research methodologies and topics, cultural backgrounds, and practice experiences, and as leaders in psychology at the community, state, and national levels.

The program is designed to address all five levels of the biopsychosocial model of human functioning: biological, psychological, familial, community, and sociocultural. We encourage students to develop a personal integration of cognitive-behavioral, family systems, multicultural, and contemporary psychodynamic approaches. Because of the extensive clinical course offerings at CSPP-San Francisco, students are able to develop in-depth expertise in one or more of these orientations by selecting sections of required courses, elective courses, clinical practica (field placements), and supervisors that emphasize a specific theoretical orientation in therapy.

The cornerstone of the PhD program’s research training is a series of PhD Research Seminars: small groups that include a member of the program faculty and students at various levels in the program addressing research questions within the faculty member’s areas of research interest and expertise. All students enroll in a research seminar during the second semester of their first year and continue in the seminar at least until they complete a dissertation proposal. In these seminars, students work initially on a First Research Project and subsequently on a PhD Dissertation.

The First Research Project provides entering students with experience working on a research project from start to finish. It culminates at the end of the students’ second year with a paper that they submit to their seminar instructor and a poster that they present at the annual campus research conference. More advanced students use the seminar as a framework for designing and getting feedback on their dissertation proposal and working toward completing their research.

Consent of the instructor is required to enter a research seminar, and matching of new students to research seminars is done during the fall semester. Students have an opportunity to meet research seminar faculty during orientation and may visit seminars and have individual appointments with instructors before making their selections. Assignments are made on the basis of students’ interests and preferences and their match with faculty preferences and expertise. In past years, a majority of students have been placed into their first choice seminar, but we cannot guarantee that this will be the case for all students.

Clinical practicum training in community field placements typically begins in the second year (Practicum I) and continues in the third year (Practicum II). Practica offer up to 20 hours per week of training that includes direct clinical service, supervision, and didactic training. San Francisco’s clinical programs’ practicum placement is facilitated and supervised through our Office of Professional Training, which is a founding member of Bay Area Psychology Internship Council (BAPIC). BAPIC has over 100 affiliated clinical placements and holds an annual fair in January to kick off the practicum application process and allow students an opportunity to interact with many different agencies in one day. Although not required for the degree, some students choose to complete a supplemental practicum in their 4th year while applying for predoctoral internship and completing their dissertation research. An optional and funded research practicum is also available for students in their first or third year in the program. Established in conjunction with the San Francisco Department of Public Health, this one year 8-10 hours per week research and evaluation practicum provides a fundamental understanding of research and evaluation within a public health context.

The standard PhD curriculum is five years and is designed to give students the opportunity to complete the dissertation before beginning a full-time internship in the fifth year. However, students may extend their time to take additional courses, complete research work, or spread their internship over two years (usually, the fifth and sixth years), in consultation with their faculty advisor. Students must remain in academic good standing, complete a minimum of 60 units including all first and second year courses, finish their First Research Project, and pass all preliminary examination subtests (in assessment, ethics, research methods, and statistics) before advancing to doctoral candidacy.

The program faculty believe that for many clinical students, personal psychotherapy can be an extremely valuable tool through which to better understand oneself, become comfortable with asking for and receiving psychological help, learning about one’s emotional vulnerabilities and “triggers,” and understanding the impact of one’s behavior and affect in the clinical encounter. As a general suggestion, we recommend that PhD clinical students consider seeking personal psychotherapy (individual, group, couple, family, or a combination) on a weekly basis at some point in their graduate training.

However, personal psychotherapy is voluntary and not required to complete the program. Students who follow this recommendation arrange and pay for their own therapy, which ideally would be provided by a licensed doctoral-level therapist (psychologist, psychiatrist, doctorate-holding LPCC, LCSW or LMFT). Upon request, the PhD program can provide a list of psychotherapists in the community who offer sliding-scale services. 

Program Goals and Objectives

The PhD program has adopted a series of goals and objectives designed to implement its philosophy. The objectives include attitudes, knowledge, and skills that students are expected to achieve by the time they graduate from the program and subsequent attitudes, practices, and professional achievements graduates are expected to report. The objectives are met operationally through various academic and training activities that include courses, practicum and internship placements, and supervised research experiences. Multiple data sources are used to assess outcomes relative to these objectives.

Goal 1. To prepare students to be effective professional psychologists who are skilled at evaluating psychological functioning and providing effective interventions with diverse clients across a range of settings

Objective 1: We expect students to develop broad theoretical and scientific knowledge in foundational areas that provide the basis for the effective practice of clinical psychology.

Objective 2: We expect students to learn to integrate research finding and clinical literature with clinical practice.

Objective 3: We expect students to develop an understanding of psychopathology and psychological assessment and to apply such knowledge in the evaluation of psychological functioning in a variety of settings with diverse populations.

Objective 4: We expect students to develop an understanding of the efficacy and modes of application of psychological interventions in a variety of settings with diverse populations.

Goal 2. To educate students to conduct applied research and to contribute to the knowledge base of psychology

Objective 5: We expect students to develop research skills and knowledge and the ability to review, synthesize and evaluate empirical research.

Objective 6: We expect students to develop skills as an independent researcher and the ability to contribute new knowledge to the field of psychology.

Goal 3. To prepare students to be ethical and responsible professional psychologists who are committed to lifelong learning and productivity

Objective 7: We expect students to develop an understanding of the legal, ethical and professional principles of clinical psychology and how to apply these principles in research and practice.

Objective 8: We expect students to develop attitudes and skills essential for lifelong learning and productivity.

Professional Training (Practicum and Internship)

The selection of professional training (practicum) placements for each student is guided by:

• CSPP’s requirement for diverse and rigorous professional training experiences,
• The rules and regulations of the California Board of Psychology, the body charged with the licensing of psychologists in the State of California, and
• The American Psychological Association’s criteria for practicum and internship training.

The primary criteria used in selection and approval of placements are the quality of the training experience and the supervision provided for the student.

An important feature of the program is the process used to match students with a professional training agency that will enable students to acquire and develop professional skills in their desired area of specialization. Students and professional training agencies engage in a carefully organized selection process in order to facilitate the most appropriate training opportunities while also providing each community agency with valuable and appropriate service. Faculty members maintain ongoing relationships with professional training agencies, while students participate in clinical and ethical issues seminars that parallel their practicum experiences. This approach helps facilitate thoughtful supervision and integrates field placement clinical experience and on-campus classroom learning so that students gain strong professional practice skills prior to graduation.

Because of CSPP’s large network of affiliated agencies, the school can offer professional training placements in community mental health clinics, adult outpatient services, hospitals, neuropsychiatric institutions, infant-parent programs, child and adolescent guidance clinics, college counseling centers, family service agencies, residential treatment centers, forensic settings, pediatric psychology programs, school-based settings, substance abuse treatment centers, and programs serving predominantly African American, Asian American, Latino, and LGBT populations. The San Francisco campus places students in agencies throughout Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Solano counties. Additional placements are located in some counties outside the immediate Bay Area, including Napa, Sacramento, Santa Cruz, Sonoma, San Benito, and Yolo counties. Because stipends are modest and relatively scarce, particularly at the practicum level, students should not count on them to finance their studies.

Students typically begin the required pre-doctoral internship in the fifth year. Full-time (40 hours per week for 12 months) internship options include APA-accredited or APPIC-member training programs, pursued through the national selection process. We strongly support students in preparing for and applying to APA accredited internships. If circumstances do not allow for a national search for internship, students may apply for California-based internship programs that are members of the California Psychology Internship Council (CAPIC) and approved by the CSPP faculty. Students also have the option of completing the internship requirement for the PhD program by completing two half-time internships that are APA, CAPIC, or APPIC training programs, and have been approved by the CSPP faculty. 

Credit for Previous Graduate Work

Entering students may be eligible to receive credit for previous graduate work up to a maximum of 30 units.

1. To be considered for credit in our program students’ graduate coursework:
(a) Must have been taken from a regionally accredited master’s or doctoral program.
(b) Must have been completed prior to the student’s entry to our doctoral degree program.
(c) Must have resulted in grades of B or better and have been completed within the last seven years.

2. Students’ graduate coursework will be compared and evaluated on a course by course basis against courses in our PhD program curriculum to establish that the courses previously taken are equivalent to the courses we offer. To provide necessary information for timely evaluation, applicants must provide copies of graduate course syllabi and/or other supporting materials at the time of application or when coming to campus for an admissions interview.

3. The following graduate level courses offered at CSPP in San Francisco will be considered for credit for previous work: Social Bases of Behavior; Cognitive and Affective Aspects of Behavior; Biological Bases of Behavior and Psychopharmacology; Human Development; History and Systems; Advanced Psychopathology; Observation and Interviewing; Principles of Psychotherapy; Intellectual Assessment, Theory & Technique of Clinical Practice, and elective units.

4. Students who have completed an empirical master’s thesis in psychology may be able to get credit for the first semester of the Research Seminar and waive the First Research Project. To do so, they must submit a copy of their thesis (in English) to the Program Director so that it can be evaluated by program faculty. All students must enroll in a research seminar beginning their second semester in the program and remain continuously enrolled in research seminar, followed by dissertation units, until both the First Research Project and dissertation are complete.