Clinical Psychology: PsyD, Fresno

Field Training

The PsyD program emphasizes the integration of academic coursework with clinical practice. In order to integrate clinical skills with material learned in the classroom, students typically participate in a professional training placement beginning in the first year. Clinical training placements completed prior to the full-time predoctoral internship are known as practicum experiences. Students train in diverse settings, gaining experience with different populations in order to ensure a broad base of training.

Students typically are placed in a 10-15 hour/week practicum in the second semester of their first year. Second-year clinical PsyD students spend 20 hours per week in a practicum at the Psychological Services Center on the Fresno campus.  With few exceptions, third-year clinical PsyD students spend 20 hours per week in a community practicum.  Clinical training coursework is graded on a CR/NC basis.

Assignments to the practica are accomplished with guidance from the Office of Professional Training. Each practicum agency is screened prior to being presented to the student as a placement. The student and his/her Professional Training Liaison make the final placement decisions jointly. Each site is evaluated annually by the students and the OPT staff.

Fourth year students are responsible for obtaining an appropriate yearlong, full-time internship (2,800 hours) and are assisted in this process by the Office of Professional Training. For many students in the fourth year, the internship stipend covers the costs of tuition and living expenses. The Golden State Psychological Internship Association, housed in Fresno provides local APA-Accredited internship sites.

Internship Application Policy

During Phase I of APPIC match, students may only apply to APA-accredited internships. During Phase II of APPIC match, students may apply to both APA-accredited and APPIC (non-APA accredited) internships.  PsyD students who do not match in APPIC match Phase I or II may apply for APA, APPIC or CAPIC post-match vacancies.

Research Training

One of the unique aspects of the PsyD program is the class format in which the dissertation is completed. During their second and third years in the program, students complete their dissertation while taking the PsyD Dissertation Proposal and PsyD Dissertation course series. This four semester intensive structure has proven extremely successful in facilitating students completing the program on time.

Transfer Credit

The Fresno Clinical PsyD Program allows a maximum of 30 units of graduate level transfer credit into the program. These credits must be completed with a grade of a B or better, within the past seven years and must be from an accredited institution.

Transfer credits reduce the total number of units a student must complete in order to obtain the degree. Therefore, it is sometimes possible for a student to reduce a four-year program to three years, but this is rare due to the sequential nature of the curriculum. Students should consult with the Program Director if they believe they can reduce their time to completion.

Students must submit the course syllabuses and instructors’ CV for each course for which transfer credit is being requested

Regardless of the number of transfer units allowed, a student must complete any and all requirements remaining in both the core and emphasis areas for which transfer credit was not allowed.

Listed below are courses that are NOT eligible for transfer credit. Please note that transfer units are credit units and do not require replacement.

•     PSY 6507 Basic Foundations of Clinical Practice: I (3 units)*
•     PSY 6508 Basic Foundations of Clinical Practice: II (3 units)*
•     PSY 6530 Introduction to Ethical Practice & Law (1 unit)
•     PSY 7566 Ethical Foundations of Clinical Practice (2 units)
•     PSY 6501 Intellectual Assessment (3 units)***
•     PSY 6505 Personality Assessment I (3 units)***
•     PSY 6506 Personality Assessment II (2 units)***
•     PSY 6570**, PSY 7571, PSY7572, PSY 8571, PSY8572 Practicum
•     PSY9531, PSY9532, PSY9533, Internship

* These courses may be considered for waiver; if they are waived, units must be replaced with electives

* To apply for a waiver of Basic Foundations of Clinical Practice, students should submit 1) syllabi of graduate level coursework in psychopathology/diagnosis, basic counseling skills, and theories of psychotherapy and 2) a brief videotaped role play or actual therapy session so the student’s basic counseling skills can be assessed. This material should be submitted to the Program Director no later than mid-August. The materials will be submitted to the instructor of Basic Foundations of Clinical Practice for review and for a waiver decision. If the courses are waived, the units must be replaced with elective units. As this is a year-long class, students will receive a waiver for the entire year, if granted, rather than just one semester.

** In order to waive this requirement, the OPT Liaison reviews the information submitted by the student as to the nature and content of the practicum, the number of hours, and the site of the experience. The OPT Liaison will make a decision in conjunction with the Program Director and the student will be notified as to whether or not the practicum may be waived. This decision must be made as soon as possible, preferably by the Add/Drop deadline. If the practicum is waived, the units must be replaced and the hours of the waived practicum will be added to the next required practicum.

*** In order to waive this requirement, the student must contact the Program Director for referral to a faculty member designated to determine waiver requirements.

First Year

Second Year

Third Year

Fourth Year

• PSY 9531 - Full-Time Predoctoral Internship in Clinical Psychology (11 units, Fall)
• PSY 9532 - Full-Time Predoctoral Internship in Clinical Psychology (11 units, Spring)
• PSY 9533 - Full-Time Pre-Doctoral Internship in Clinical Psychology (8 units, Summer)

Note(s):

Students must remain enrolled in Dissertation Extension until the final manuscript is presented to the library staff for binding. During internship year, the registration requirement is one unit in Fall and Spring semesters. After or before internship, the requirement is three units per semester.

Several courses are offered online. Students may complete up to two foundational science courses, one ethics course, and two other required courses, as well as up to nine units of electives, in an online/distributed learning format. Required assessment and intervention courses must be taken in a face-to-face format. The CSPP section of online coursework describes the equipment and software needed for full participation in these courses.

Ecosystemic Child Emphasis

The core focus of the Ecosystemic Clinical Child Psychology Emphasis is the integration of the biological, developmental, intrapsychic, systemic, sociocultural, and historical variables that must be taken into account when addressing a child or adolescent’s functioning.  All of these variables must be considered at both the case conceptualization and the intervention levels. Psychological assessments and interventions are then planned within the context of the client’s familial, peer, educational, medical, legal, cultural, and historical systems and, take the intrapsychic perceptions and developmental level of the client into account.

The Ecosystemic Child Emphasis is offered through the Ecosystemic Play Therapy Training Center (EPTTC) on the Fresno campus.  The EPTTC is an Association for Play Therapy (APT) Approved Center of Play Therapy Education.  The CSPP clinical psychology programs in Fresno are usually able to offer all the coursework required by APT to become a Registered Play Therapist (RPT).

All students must take Play Therapy (2 units). Elective course offerings may include of some of the following: Pediatric Neuropsychology; Family Therapy; Play Therapy: Advanced Techniques and Special Populations; Teaching Parents Parenting Skills; Custody Evaluations; Interventions in the Schools; and, any of the Infant-Preschooler Mental Health courses (see the Certificates section for a description of this and other certificate programs available to students).

All students must complete 1000 hours of clinical training with children, adolescents, and families and a dissertation on a topic with a child or adolescent focus.

Health Psychology Emphasis

Psychologists in nearly every setting frequently encounter clients with medical concerns that have psychological components and mental illnesses that express as medical symptoms.  The Health Psychology Emphasis prepares clinicians to work effectively with those issues in a variety of settings including hospitals, clinics, medical practices, sports teams, corporate wellness programs, private practice and many others.  Health Psychologists also work in the area of prevention, assisting clients to modify lifestyle behaviors such as diet, exercise and stress management to enhance their health and prevent illness.

Following are the requirements for the Health Psychology Emphasis:

1. Introduction to Health Psychology (2 units) and Interventions in Health Psychology (2 units) are required courses, and are to be taken during the first two years of the program.  These courses are offered in alternating years and are described below.
2. An additional 6 units of electives* complete the emphasis coursework.
3. In addition, students must complete at least 400 hours of practicum training in a health psychology setting.  A full-time doctoral internship in a health psychology setting such as a medical office or hospital is strongly recommended.
4. The dissertation must have a health psychology focus.

*Health Psychology Electives include but are not limited to: Hypnotherapy, Eating Disorders, Pediatric Psychology, Pediatric Neuropsychology, Issues/Treatment of Clients with HIV/AIDS, Psychology of Women’s Health, Biopsychosocial Factors in Prenatal and Infant-Preschooler Mental Health, Functional Neuroanatomy/Neuropathology, Advanced Clinical Elective: Grand Rounds-Perspectives in Health Psychology, Minority Health Psychology, Pediatric Neuropsychology, Neuropsychology Foundations, Psychopharmacology, Substance Abuse in Diverse Populations, LGBT Health Issues, LGBT Health Disparities, and Disabilities, Law and Families.

Clinical Forensic Psychology Emphasis

The field of clinical forensic psychology includes clinical services provided to clients with criminal and non-criminal contact with the legal system, covering diverse needs related to divorce, custody mediation, worker’s compensation evaluations, disability evaluations, child abuse, and adoption, in addition to work in prisons and jails. The Clinical Forensic Emphasis in Fresno aims to prepare students to work with clients in these diverse settings.

All students will take the following courses:

• Introduction to Forensic Psychology (2 units)
• Advanced Forensic Assessment with Children/Families or Adults (2 units)
• Forensic Ethics (1 unit)
• Forensic Report Writing (1 unit)
• Child Custody Consultation: Evaluation and Mediation (2 units)
• Disabilities, Law and Families (2 units)

Students must complete a practicum (800 hours) in a forensic psychology setting; a pre-doctoral internship in a forensic psychology setting is strongly recommended as well. Dissertations must be completed in a forensic psychology related area.

Note(s):

Multicultural Facilitated Learning

In addition to the primary emphases, the Fresno PsyD faculty is committed to offering a broad array of elective courses reflecting theory, assessment, and intervention across a variety of systems, especially across cultural systems. The importance of the cultural system is emphasized throughout students’ academic and clinical training. In addition to regular coursework in this area, many of the faculty members have extensive experience teaching and working outside the United States. Countries where our faculty have lived, taught, or worked include Canada, Chile, England, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Kuwait, Mexico, the Netherlands, Scotland, Singapore and South Africa, among others. This experience enriches every course they teach. The focus on cultural issues ensures students will be prepared for professional practice in a pluralistic society.