Clinical Psychology: PhD, Los Angeles

Field Training

At the predoctoral stage, students’ professional development occurs within the context of both formal coursework and clinical training experiences supervised by faculty and professionals in the field. Students develop and acquire clinical skills through professional training experiences in a variety of mental health service settings in the community. Such supervised professional training experiences include practica and internships, as well as an optional clerkship in the second year.

Each student works with a professional field training liaison who meets regularly with the student to develop and implement an individualized training plan designed to assure (a) that the student receives a broad base of clinical experiences with a variety of clientele and professional role models and (b) that professional training experiences are chosen with due consideration of the student’s level of skill and longer-term professional goals.

In the second year of the Clinical PhD program, students may take an optional clerkship, subject to site availability. Clerkships include experience at a field site.

In the third year of the program, Clinical PhD students are required to have a minimum 15-hour per week practicum experience in a mental health setting. Students begin to assume clinical responsibility for assessment and intervention while being closely supervised at a level appropriate to their training and abilities. This clinical professional training experience varies with respect to the nature of clients served and the mental health setting in which the student serves, as well as with individual students’ skill levels, professional interests, and training needs. The total number of minimum required practicum hours is 800.

Clinical PhD students choose either to complete a second practicum (and therefore accrue an additional 800 hours of supervised practicum hours) in their fourth year for a minimum of 1600 hours of practicum. The students who have completed this second practicum then apply for a full-time internship in the fifth year after coursework has been completed. Clinical PhD students can also choose, instead of a second practicum, to to complete a CAPIC half-time internship in their fourth year and a second CAPIC half-time internship in their fifth year.

At the practicum level, students receive training in agencies that are formally affiliated with the school. At the internship level, students apply competitively for internships, participating either in the APA/APPIC match process or two consecutive CAPIC match processes. All clerkship and practicum training programs are carefully reviewed and monitored on an ongoing basis to assure consistent and high quality training.

The majority of affiliated clerkship and practicum training sites exist within a 40-mile radius of the campus. Students who wish to pursue full-time internships are encouraged to make applications throughout the country. Currently, all APA internships and some CAPIC internships offer a stipend. The majority of half-time internships and virtually all practica do not offer stipends. Students should not count on training stipends as a means of financing their education.

Research Training

During the course of their graduate training, students gain proficiency in applied research methods. The Clinical PhD program emphasizes training psychologists to be competent as producers of scientific research, and Clinical PhD students begin their research training right from the start of the program.

In addition to formal coursework, which provides a basic understanding of research methodology and statistics, within the first two and a half years of the program, Clinical PhD students complete three sequential semesters of Research Practicum which emphasizes the planning and conduct of research and culminates in a poster presentation of an original piece of empirical research. In the third year of the program, students enroll in Research in Applied Settings and focus on the development of research and consultation skills while investigating problems in practical situations.

By their fourth year, students enter into formal dissertation work with a faculty mentor to produce a scholarly and methodologically sound dissertation proposal that is to be completed by the end of the fifth year. The mentor becomes the student’s dissertation committee chair when preliminary orals have been successfully completed.

Students must pass preliminary orals by the end of their fourth year or before they apply for an APA or APPIC internship, whichever comes first.

Track I (Fifth-year full-time internship)

Track II (Fourth and fifth-year half-time internships)

Curriculum Notes

Health Emphasis

Clinical health psychology combines the fields of clinical psychology, behavioral medicine, public health, social psychology, disease prevention and health promotion into an applied discipline that investigates underlying mechanisms that connect the mind and body and explain the dynamic interaction between our physical and mental health. Clinical health psychologists integrate biomedical, psychological, social and spiritual modalities to detect and treat psychological distress, foster behavior change, increase adjustment to acute and chronic illnesses, reduce health and health care disparities, and to promote psychological growth and wellness. Students in the clinical health psychology (CHP) emphasis receive the same thorough preparation for clinical and community practice as students in the other emphasis areas, while in addition gaining a foundation of theoretical knowledge and skills necessary to serve a number of professional roles across various community-based, medical and behavioral health care settings.

In addition to developing the diagnostic, assessment and treatment skills required of all clinical psychologists, CHP students learn practical techniques in the areas of cognitive-behavioral, existential, and community-based interventions.Faculty have expertise in and enjoy mentoring students in areas such as neuropsychological theory and assessment, child/pediatric psychology, LGBT health, women’s health, body image issues and disordered eating, health and racial disparities, substance abuse treatment and addictions, HIV/AIDS, biofeedback, chronic pain/pain management, loss, grief and bereavement, and resiliency, strength and wellness. Within and beyond these areas of focus, CHP students learn about the sociocultural, demographic, political, and economic forces that underlie health and health-care disparities, and influence risk-taking and health-promoting behaviors and practices within diverse and often underserved communities.

Training in the areas of behavioral medicine and health psychology prepare students from the clinical health psychology emphasis to explore a variety of opportunities in the rapidly evolving health care system. Early career positions for CHP graduates have ranged from entering post-doctoral fellowships in various behavioral medicine settingsto serving as members of interdisciplinary teams of health care professionals to working in private practice and community mental health settings using a biopsychosocial framework. Regardless of professional role, graduates from our emphasis area remain dedicated to promoting the mind-body health of children, adolescents, adults, families, and communities within a multicultural and international context.
 

Family/Child and Couple Emphasis

Our goal in the Family/child and Couple Emphasis (FACE) is to introduce graduate students to the theory, research, and clinical practice of family and couple psychology. This is accomplished through coursework in which students learn about families, couples, adults, and children from diverse backgrounds. Students are taught to work with families, couples, and individuals from a systemic perspective. Skills are developed in the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of relationship systems.

In the first two or three years of the FACE emphasis, students learn how to conceptualize, assess, and interview families and couples. FACE students take four family systems courses. The family systems theory and assessment course prepares students for an advanced FACE family systems intervention course taken exclusively by FACE students. The Family/child and Couple Emphasis is for students who are dedicated to learning family and couple psychology intervention.

The emphasis area also provides a choice of one of two sets of courses as follows:

Family Therapy: Students may take the following two courses: Clinical Interventions with Children and Families and Interventions with Adolescents and Families. Other courses offered periodically are: Child Assessment, Family Violence and Sexual Abuse, Family of Origin Therapy, Advanced Family Therapy, Divorce Theory, Therapy with Alternative Families, and Group Psychotherapy.

Couple Therapy: Students examine relationship dynamics through either the year-long Integrated Approach to Sex, Intimacy and Relationship Problems course or the one-semester Couple Therapy and Sex Therapy courses. Other courses offered periodically are Family Violence and Sexual Abuse, Family of Origin Therapy, Advanced Family Therapy, Divorce Theory, and Group Psychotherapy.

Students meet with their FACE academic advisor to determine which other advanced clinical electives and seminars best fit into their plan of study so their career goals are met. Creating a niche entails taking courses as well as networking in the community.
 

Multicultural Community-Clinical Psychology Emphasis

The Multicultural Community-Clinical Psychology (MCCP) emphasis area was established at the Los Angeles campus in 1990. A synthesis of the previous ethnic minority mental health and community clinical proficiencies, MCCP reflects the state-of-the-art in training philosophy, curriculum, and applied experiences relevant to training clinical psychologists with special competence in multicultural and community psychology. The year-long course required of clinical psychology students in all emphasis areas, Intercultural Processes/ Human Diversity, provides basic competence in multicultural issues. The MCPP emphasis area provides the additional opportunity for students to develop (1) more advanced conceptual and intervention skills relevant to psychotherapy with culturally-diverse populations; (2) competence beyond individual psychopathology that includes conceptualization and intervention with community-level distress and social problems; (3) an understanding of sociopolitical and sociocultural influences on psychological functioning and well-being; (4) skills to develop programs and activities focused on the prevention of psychopathology and social problems; and (5) knowledge of community psychology theory and practice.

The mission of the training is to nurture the development of clinical psychologists who will work to understand, prevent, and reduce psychological and community distress, as well as enhance the psychological well-being of historically underserved, stigmatized, and oppressed groups. In doing this, special attention is paid to the cultural and sociopolitical context of the individuals, families, and communities we serve. Faculty members in the emphasis area are committed to fostering a climate of inclusion, respect for differences, and a sense of community both within and outside of CSPP. Ultimately, faculty members strive to empower individuals and communities and to facilitate personal and social healing.

Through coursework, field experiences and mentorship by our faculty, students learn theory, research, and intervention strategies applicable to working with adults, adolescents, children, families, groups, and communities. Students share the core curriculum in clinical psychology with students from all emphasis areas. MCCP students build upon this basic curriculum by learning alternative theories and strategies for intervention with communities, institutional systems and specific multicultural groups. Faculty focuses on training clinical psychologists who are critical thinkers about the etiology of psychological distress and who can conceptualize multiple pathways to healing individuals, families, and communities.

MCCP students participate in professional field training experiences that emphasize clinical services to multicultural and under- or inadequately-served populations. Settings can range from hospitals and mental health clinics to community-based agencies or university counseling centers. Students’ Doctoral Dissertations must reflect an aspect of multicultural and/or community psychology.

Multi-Interest Option (Non-Emphasis)

The Multi-Interest Option (MIO) is designed for students who do not choose to enter one of the three above-mentioned emphasis areas. The Multi-Interest Option offers students flexibility in their choice of elective courses and topics for their clinical dissertations and other scholarly and field training interests. The faculty and students affiliated with the Multi-Interest Option offer colloquia and social gatherings that, like those sponsored by the emphasis areas, are open to all members of the Los Angeles campus community. MIO have sponsored presentations that promote awareness of diverse roles in professional psychology by enlisting alumni to discuss their career trajectory, offering an introduction to grant writing, and hosting a panel discussion on professional consultation as a professional activity. The MIO faculty members seek to encourage students’ scholarly and professional growth in a wide range of interest areas.