Clinical Psychology: PhD, San Diego

Field Training

Students learn applied professional skills through formal coursework and through clinical training experiences supervised by faculty and professionals in the community. Each student is assigned a professional training advisor who, along with the student’s core faculty advisor, helps the student to formulate an individualized plan for practicum and internship training designed to insure (a) that training experiences are consistent with the student’s growing skill levels and professional goals and (b) that the student is exposed to a breadth of training experiences with a variety of clinical populations and professional role models.

Clinical practica are taken in the second (800 hours) and third (1000 hours) years of the program after students have mastered the prerequisite knowledge and skills that provide the foundations on which to build clinical competencies. In addition to obtaining training and supervised practice at a minimum of two distinct practicum placement sites, practicum students enroll concurrently in campus-based clinical consultation groups offered by core and senior adjunct faculty. These groups augment the supervision received at the agencies, insure integration of classroom and clinical knowledge, support evidence based practice, and allow faculty to directly assess the development of students’ clinical competencies.

The internship is the more extensive training experience for advanced students. All San Diego clinical psychology PhD program students apply for a full-time, APA accredited clinical internship that is taken in the fifth year of the program.

Students select their practicum placements from more than 80 agencies. Most of these facilities are within a 25-mile radius of the campus, but some are as far as 80 miles away for the benefit of advanced students who live in Orange County. These agencies have over 350 professional training positions. The Professional Training Office coordinates these experiences and provides continuous oversight to insure that students receive high quality clinical training experiences.

Research Training

The knowledge and skills necessary to conduct independent clinical research are introduced during the first year of the program and built upon in the years that follow. Students select a core faculty member under whose direction the student participates in a first year Research Practicum experience. Students learn to design their own studies in the second year and simultaneously begin their enrollment in the dissertation research course sequence that continues through the completion of the dissertation. Students must complete their dissertation proposals prior to applying for the internship training experience.

Non-terminal Master’s Degree

Clinical Psychology doctoral students have the option to apply for a Master of Arts degree in Psychology.

Requirements to qualify for the non-terminal master’s degree:

• Student is in good academic standing
• Student’s GPA is 3.0 or above
• Student has completed G1 and G2 coursework to include a minimum of 60 units. For transfer students, the student has completed at least 60 units, with at least 51 units out of the 60 being Alliant coursework.

Track I

Track II - Health Track

Health Emphasis

Health Psychology is concerned with biopsychosocial factors related to health and illness, the individuals affected, and the health care providers and institutions that serve them. Students who elect the Health Psychology Emphasis Area develop knowledge and skills that integrate the medical/biological domains and the psychological/social domains in order to provide a theoretical and practical foundation for the roles that clinical psychologists play in a variety of health care settings. Three courses are required to complete the health Emphasis Area, two of which are mandatory.

Family/Child Psychology Emphasis

The family/child psychology emphasis is designed for students who are interested in developing proficiency in evaluation, treatment, and research with children and families. Courses are presented from various theoretical viewpoints including family-systems, psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral and lifespan development. You can expect your courses to include the study of ethnic and cultural issues as they affect the individual and the family. Faculty research interests include family violence, child abuse and neglect, adolescent development, childhood social competence and peer relationships, pediatric and adolescent health psychology, child obesity, early childhood psychopathology, child resiliency, step families, and process and outcomes of family interventions.

Forensic Psychology Emphasis

The forensic psychology emphasis focuses on the relationship and interdependency of law, social science, and clinical practice. It provides the basic foundation for post-graduate training for a career in forensic clinical psychology. The emphasis requires the completion of an introductory course in forensics, which acquaints the student with the nature of the legal system and the varied roles of psychologists within it. This introduction also includes training in the basics of testimony the preparation of a defensible report; the appropriate presentation of one’s qualifications; the persuasive presentation of psychological science to a judge, jury, or within an amicus brief; and the increased ability to withstand cross-examination. Additional courses address psychological assessment, violence, and antisocial behavior and other clinical topics. Students also have the option of taking an organizational psychology advanced seminar addressing conflict management or dispute resolution. Students are expected to address an issue in forensic psychology in their dissertation. They are also encouraged, but not required, to procure forensic training in their practicum or internship.

Multicultural and International Emphasis

The Alliant approach to multiculturalism is inclusive. It incorporates diversity in many respects including race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, geographical and international factors, age, social class, religion, and disability. Central to traditional clinical psychology is the examination of factors known to be relevant to mental health/mental illness as western society defines them. The goal of this emphasis area is to go beyond the traditional western, majority cultural viewpoint so that students might have the basic preparation to focus on cultural and international encounters in professional psychology. Whereas traditional psychology focuses primarily on individual psychological activity, cultural psychology is based on the view that cultural and societal level influences on the individual can be best understood by incorporating societal systemic variables and cultural contexts. The emphasis provides students with opportunities to prepare for clinical licensure, research, teaching, and consulting in the area of cultural diversity.

In addition to the two cultural psychology courses required of all students, a total of nine additional units in multicultural or international psychology are required.

Psychodynamic Emphasis

The psychodynamic emphasis provides students with a coherent practical and theoretical framework to practice general psychology in a variety of settings with children and adults. The psychodynamic emphasis curriculum gives students exposure to coursework and supervision integrating object relations, self psychology, analytic psychology, existential psychology, and cognitive, science-based approaches to unconscious processes. Coursework and supervision prepare students for further professional development and specialization beyond the doctorate.

Students in the psychodynamic emphasis area are required to complete at least three courses among the psychodynamic offerings, complete at least one practicum with psychodynamic supervision, complete a dissertation in an area pertinent to psychodynamic theory, research or application.

• PSY 7643 - Transference and Counter- Transference
• PSY 8500 - Clinical Elective : Advanced Psychodynamic Interventions (3 units)
• PSY 8500 - Clinical Elective: Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy with Adolescents (3 units)
• PSY 8800 - Advanced Seminar : Theoretical Psychodynamic Issues (3 units)
• PSY 8800 - Advanced Seminar: Object Relations (3 units)
• PSY 8800 - Advanced Seminar: Research and Empirical Foundations of Psychoanalysis (3 units)

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) Emphasis and Certificate Program

The Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) Emphasis Area provides the coursework and practicum experiences necessary for eligibility to become a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). The ABA Emphasis Area will introduce students to the core content and application of applied behavior assessment and intervention in the fields of mental health and developmental disabilities. A particular focus will be in the application of ABA for children and adolescents with Neuro-developmental disorders such as autism, severe disruptive behavior disorders, and mental retardation.