We’re not saying we invented Consulting Psychology, but, building on its tradition of excellence in innovation, Alliant International University offered the first Consulting Psychology PhD training program in the world. We’re not saying we are the only thought leaders in Consulting Psychology but a member of our faculty currently edits “Consulting Psychology: Practice and Research”, the flagship journal in the field, and also edited the seminal “Handbook of Organizational Consulting Psychology”.
What is Consulting Psychology? The Society of Consulting Psychology (Division 13 of the American Psychological Association, www.div13.org,) is the professional home for consulting psychologists. We follow the American Psychological Association’s (2007) Guidelines for Education and Training at the Doctoral and Postdoctoral Levels in Consulting Psychology/Organizational Consulting Psychology* in crafting our program to train licensable psychologists who are competent to consult at the individual, group, and organizational levels.
Consulting Psychology integrates across other areas of psychology. It overlaps, for example, with Industrial-Organizational (I-O) and Counseling Psychology in being focused on both group and organizational knowledge and in assessing and counseling people at the individual level. It builds on knowledge and skills that also derive from social and clinical psychology. In short, it aims to train a psychologist who can integrate psychological knowledge and skills to make a difference in the careers of individuals, the functionality of groups, and the effectiveness of the organization as a whole.
With a PhD in Consulting Psychology from Alliant International University’s Organizational Psychology Program, you will be trained to make a positive difference in the lives of leaders and employees while also working on the cultures, processes, values, and competitiveness of organizations and groups.
In this program, you’ll learn how to help individual leaders, managers, or employees achieve their individual or organizational goals. You will also focus on working with an entire team or an entire organization. Students and graduates from our program work as psychologists in a variety of settings including consulting firms, private consulting practice, the human resources or organizational effectiveness units of many different kinds of corporations, and government and not-for-profit organizations. Our graduates are found in important positions. Their career opportunities are particularly good because they are well-trained psychologists who can apply their skills to a variety of consulting roles.
Graduates of this program not only are involved in applying psychology to work-place projects–like employee selection, surveys, organizational development, team building, and organizational change–but also are well-trained to provide one-on-one coaching, counseling, personality assessment, and conflict resolution. In addition, our graduates complete the specialized training and internships that will permit them to seek licensure as a psychologist in most licensing jurisdictions. The curriculum is designed to permit psychology licensure eligibility, and it is expected that graduates of the program can be licensed as psychologists in relevant jurisdictions when they complete their program, post-graduate supervised experience, and other licensing requirements.
The PhD in Consulting Psychology program meets the Guidelines for Defining Doctoral Degree in Psychology of the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards/National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology. The requirements of the Consulting Psychology PhD program are designed to meet psychology licensure requirements including in the state of California. However, in each jurisdiction there may be additional requirements that must be satisfied (and some may not license psychologists in this particular specialty). For exact information of the psychology licensing laws in the jurisdiction of interest, you should contact the state, provincial or country licensing board in the location(s) in which you plan to apply.
Once licensed, graduates are eligible to apply for credentialing as a Health Service Provider in Psychology. However, there are additional requirements that must be satisfied prior to being listed in the National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology©. For further information, consult the National Register’s web site: www.nationalregister.org.
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* American Psychologist, 62, Dec, 2007. pp. 980-992.
(These Guidelines were created by a Task Force headed by a faculty member in Alliant’s Consulting Psychology PhD program.)
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Combined Program Options are available!
- Joint PhD in Consulting Psychology & MBA Masters in Business Administration - San Diego Campus only
- Joint PhD in Consulting Psychology & IMBA International Masters in Business Administration - San Diego Campus only
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