Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology (Los Angeles)

Program Description/Overview

This program provides advanced education and training for practitioners of health service psychology, with a focus in clinical psychology. The program addresses society’s needs for multiculturally competent professional practitioners in clinical psychology who can effectively integrate scientific evidence with practice to respond to human problems of developmental deprivation, dysfunction, and trauma. Students can follow their own clinical interests and further their individual career goals by selecting an emphasis area and taking a specialized series of courses, and by pursuing research and field placements that are consistent with their interests and long-term career goals.

Academic Residency Requirements 

The academic year consists of a 15-week Fall semester, a 15-week Spring semester, and a 10-week summer session. The program is designed to be a 4-year full-time program, but students have the option of following a modified curriculum plan that leads to completion of the program in 5 years. The 5-year option is also considered full-time by the standards of federal financial aid (5 units or above per term) and is identical in content to the standard 4-year model (120 total semester units, including 30 internship units). The program currently has hundreds of students at various stages of completion. All students are required to complete a minimum of four years of full-time study (or the equivalent) with three years in full-time residence. All students undertake one-year full-time internship training in the four-year (or 5th, if following a modified curriculum plan). The program requires two years of residency prior to advancement to candidacy (which includes completion of all 1st and 2nd year courses, assessment comprehensive exam, research comprehensive exam, CPA case report, and dissertation proposal). Students who have completed all degree requirements (except for internship) are eligible to participate in Alliant’s Commencement Ceremony in the month of May of their final year. Internship must be completed before the degree is posted to the transcript and the diploma is printed.

Emphasis/Concentration/Tracks

Clinical Health Psychology 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 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. Health emphasis students 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 health psychologists need to serve in various professional roles across diverse community-based, medical and behavioral health care settings.

In addition to developing the diagnostic, assessment and treatment skills required of all clinical psychologists, Health emphasis students learn practical techniques in the areas of cognitive-behavioral, existential, and community-based interventions from faculty with expertise in areas ranging from neuropsychological assessment and treatment of autism spectrum; neurodevelopmental disorders; child/pediatric psychology; LGBT health; body image issues and disordered eating; women’s health; global health and racial disparities; substance abuse treatment and addictions; adjustment to chronic illness; pain management; loss, grief and bereavement; trauma- and stress-related issues; and resiliency, strength and wellness. Within and beyond these areas of focus, Health students learn about the sociocultural, demographic, political, and economic forces that underlie health and health-care disparities for individuals across the lifespan; 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 prepares students to explore a variety of opportunities in the rapidly evolving health care system. Early career positions for Health graduates have ranged from entering post-doctoral fellowships in various behavioral medicine settings to 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, Health emphasis graduates 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 (FACE)

Designed for students who are dedicated to learning family and couple psychology intervention, the goal of 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. Through development of skills in the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of relationship systems, FACE students learn how to conceptualize, assess, and interview families and couples. The FACE emphasis area assists students in developing their professional identity through coursework, lectures, and networking opportunities. FACE also offers culturally sensitive clinical training and volunteer opportunities with the Los Angeles Ronald McDonald House, where trainees provide evidence- and strength-based services to children with serious illnesses and their families and receive special training in personal development of the therapist.

Multicultural Community-Clinical Psychology Emphasis (MCCP)

The Multicultural and Community Psychology (MCCP) emphasis area reflects state-of-the-art in training philosophy, curriculum, and applied experiences relevant to training clinical psychologists with special competence in multicultural and community psychology. MCCP’s goal 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 practice intervention with communities, institutional systems and specific multicultural groups. Faculty members focus on training clinical psychologists who are critical thinkers about the etiology of psychological distress and who can conceptualize the multiple pathways to healing individuals, families, and communities.

Multi-Interest Option (MIO)

Students who do not opt into an emphasis area at the time they begin the program follow the Multi-Interest Option (MIO) curriculum. The MIO faculty includes practitioners and researchers who have multiple professional interests and are involved in various aspects of clinical psychology. Instead of focusing on a particular clinical emphasis or expertise, MIO provides flexibility for students who are interested in topics that fall within the scope of multiple emphasis areas and multiple facets of the profession. From the diversity that it offers, MIO faculty members bring to students a broad spectrum of what clinical psychology offers and the various professional opportunities and potential career goals students can pursue as future psychologists. While students who join an emphasis area (Health, FACE, or MCCP) must dedicate 2 of their 4 electives to their emphasis, MIO students can opt to take elective courses from any emphasis area or from those sponsored by MIO.

The faculty and students affiliated with MIO provide colloquia and social gatherings that, like those sponsored by the emphasis areas, are open to all members of the Los Angeles campus community. For example, MIO has sponsored presentations that promote awareness of diverse roles in professional psychology by MIO faculty sharing their clinical expertise (as lunch colloquia or formal workshop), enlisting alumni to discuss their career trajectories, an introduction to grant writing and publications, and hosting a panel discussion on professional consultation as a professional activity. The MIO faculty seeks to encourage students’ scholarly and professional growth in a wide range of interest areas.

Program Learning Outcomes/Goals

Program Aims

1. Train students who can intervene effectively and sensitively, using scientifically informed assessments and interventions with diverse populations across a range of settings and modalities. 
2. Provide students with a graduate-level, scientific knowledge base that serves as a foundation for continued training in and practice of health service psychology in a multicultural society. 
3. Prepare students to develop strong professional identities as health service psychologists, grounded in knowledge of ethical and legal principles, laws, regulations, and policies and the ability to apply this knowledge effectively in all their professional activities. 

The program’s aims are supported by the development of nine profession-wide competencies as delineated by the Commission on Accreditation of the American Psychological Association.

Profession-Wide Competencies

Competency I: Research

Students must demonstrate the integration of science and practice. Individuals who successfully complete programs accredited in Health Service Psychology (HSP) must demonstrate knowledge, skills, and competence sufficient to produce new knowledge, to critically evaluate and use existing knowledge to solve problems, and to disseminate research. This area of competence requires substantial knowledge of scientific methods, procedures, and practices.

Students are expected to:

1. Demonstrate the substantially independent ability to formulate research or other scholarly activities (e.g., critical literature reviews, dissertation, efficacy studies, clinical case studies, theoretical papers, program evaluation projects, program development projects) that are of sufficient quality and rigor to have the potential to contribute to the scientific, psychological, or professional knowledge base.
2. Conduct research or other scholarly activities.
3. Critically evaluate and disseminate research or other scholarly activity via professional publication and presentation at the local (including the host institution), regional, or national level.

Competency II: Ethical and legal standards

Students are expected to respond professionally in increasingly complex situations with a greater degree of independence and across levels of training.

Students are expected to demonstrate competency in each of the following areas:

1. Be knowledgeable of and act in accordance with each of the following:
   1. the current version of the APA Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct;
   2. relevant laws, regulations, rules, and policies governing health service psychology at the organizational, local, state, regional, and federal levels; and
   3. relevant professional standards and guidelines.
2. Recognize ethical dilemmas as they arise and apply ethical decision-making processes in order to resolve the dilemmas.
3. Conduct self in an ethical manner in all professional activities.

Competency III: Individual and cultural diversity

Effectiveness in health service psychology requires that trainees develop the ability to conduct all professional activities with sensitivity to human diversity, including the ability to deliver high quality services to an increasingly diverse population. Therefore, students must demonstrate knowledge, awareness, sensitivity, and skills when working with diverse individuals and communities who embody a variety of cultural and personal background and characteristics. The Commission on Accreditation defines cultural and individual differences and diversity as including, but not limited to, age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, language, national origin, race, religion, culture, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status.

Students are expected to demonstrate:

1. an understanding of how their own personal/cultural history, attitudes, and biases may affect how they understand and interact with people different from themselves.
2. knowledge of the current theoretical and empirical knowledge base as it relates to addressing diversity in all professional activities including research, training, supervision/consultation, and service.
3. the ability to integrate awareness and knowledge of individual and cultural differences in the conduct of professional roles (e.g., research, services, and other professional activities). This includes the ability to apply a framework for working effectively with areas of individual and cultural diversity not previously encountered over the course of their careers. Also included is the ability to work effectively with individuals whose group membership, demographic characteristics, or worldviews create conflict with their own.
4. the requisite knowledge base, ability to articulate an approach to working effectively with diverse individuals and groups and apply this approach effectively in their professional work.

Competency IV: Professional values and attitudes

Students are expected to:

1. behave in ways that reflect the values and attitudes of psychology, including integrity, deportment, professional identity, accountability, lifelong learning, and concern for the welfare of others.
2. engage in self-reflection regarding one’s personal and professional functioning; engage in activities to maintain and improve performance, well-being, and professional effectiveness.
3. actively seek and demonstrate openness and responsiveness to feedback and supervision.
4. respond professionally in increasingly complex situations with a greater degree of independence as they progress across levels of training.

Competency V: Communication and interpersonal skills

Students are expected to:

1. develop and maintain effective relationships with a wide range of individuals, including colleagues, communities, organizations, supervisors, supervisees, and those receiving professional services.
2. produce and comprehend oral, nonverbal, and written communications that are informative and well-integrated; demonstrate a thorough grasp of professional language and concepts.
3. demonstrate effective interpersonal skills and the ability to manage difficult communication well.

Competency VI: Assessment

Students demonstrate competence in conducting evidence-based assessment consistent with the scope of Health Service Psychology.

Students are expected to demonstrate the following competencies:

1. Demonstrate current knowledge of diagnostic classification systems, functional and dysfunctional behaviors, including consideration of client strengths and psychopathology.
2. Demonstrate understanding of human behavior within its context (e.g., family, social, societal and cultural).
3. Demonstrate the ability to apply the knowledge of functional and dysfunctional behaviors including context to the assessment and/or diagnostic process.
4. Select and apply assessment methods that draw from the best available empirical literature and that reflect the science of measurement and psychometrics; collect relevant data using multiple sources and methods appropriate to the identified goals and questions of the assessment as well as relevant diversity characteristics of the service recipient.
5. Interpret assessment results, following current research and professional standards and guidelines, to inform case conceptualization, classification, and recommendations, while guarding against decision-making biases, distinguishing the aspects of assessment that are subjective from those that are objective.
6. Communicate orally and in written documents the findings and implications of the assessment in an accurate and effective manner sensitive to a range of audiences.

Competency VII: Intervention

Students demonstrate competence in evidence-based interventions consistent with the scope of Health Service Psychology. Intervention is being defined broadly to include but not be limited to psychotherapy. Interventions may be derived from a variety of theoretical orientations or approaches. The level of intervention includes those directed at an individual, a family, a group, an organization, a community, a population or other systems.

Students are expected to demonstrate the ability to:

1. establish and maintain effective relationships with the recipients of psychological services.
2. develop evidence-based intervention plans specific to the service delivery goals.
3. implement interventions informed by the current scientific literature, assessment findings, diversity characteristics, and contextual variables.
4. demonstrate the ability to apply the relevant research literature to clinical decision making.
5. modify and adapt evidence-based approaches effectively when a clear evidence-base is lacking,
6. evaluate intervention effectiveness and adapt intervention goals and methods consistent with ongoing evaluation.

Competency VIII: Supervision

Supervision involves the mentoring and monitoring of trainees and others in the development of competence and skill in professional practice and the effective evaluation of those skills. Supervisors act as role models and maintain responsibility for the activities they oversee.

Students are expected to:

1. Demonstrate knowledge of supervision models and practices.
2. Demonstrate the ability to integrate supervisor feedback into professional practice.

Competency IX: Consultation and inter-professional/interdisciplinary skills

Consultation and interprofessional/interdisciplinary skills are reflected in the intentional collaboration of professionals in health service psychology with other individuals or groups to address a problem, seek or share knowledge, or promote effectiveness in professional activities.

Students:

1. Demonstrate knowledge and respect for the roles and perspectives of other professions.
2. Demonstrates knowledge of consultation models and practices.

Discipline-Specific Knowledge 

All students are expected to possess discipline-specific knowledge in the following four categories: 

1. History and systems of psychology.
2. The basic content areas of scientific psychology, including affective, biological, cognitive, developmental, and social aspects of behavior. 
3. Advanced integrative knowledge in scientific psychology. 
4. Research methods, statistical analysis, and psychometrics.

Training Model

The program’s educational philosophy incorporates the values of the practitioner model of graduate education for professional clinical psychologists. It is grounded in the application of evidence-based methods to professional practice within a multicultural society. The program provides a strong generalist foundation in clinical psychology, emphasizing the applications of theory and research to practice. This foundation, along with the belief that scholarship is fundamental to effective psychological practice (including professional engagement and advocacy) maximizes clinical competencies and enables graduates to adapt to future changes in both service delivery and psychological knowledge.

Professional Behavior Expectations/Ethical Guidelines

Students are held to the APA Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct (www.apa.org/ethics/code/) from the time of acceptance of admission.

Licensure

All psychologists who offer direct services to the public for a fee must be licensed or certified by the state in which they practice. Applicants for licensure in the state of California must hold an earned doctoral degree in clinical or counseling psychology, educational psychology, education with a specialization in counseling psychology, or education with a specialization in educational psychology from an approved or accredited educational institution. They also must have completed 3,000 hours of supervised professional experience (of which at least 1,500 must be postdoctoral) and have taken and passed the national Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP) and the California Psychology Law and Ethics Examination (CPLEE). In addition, they must submit evidence of having completed coursework in human sexuality, child abuse, substance abuse, spousal abuse, and aging and long-term care. Continuing education is required to maintain the license. CSPP doctoral course requirements are designed to fulfill the programmatic requirements for licensure in California.

Students considering or planning to apply for licensure in states other than California are required to contact the University Admissions Office for more information.

For further information on licensure in California contact:

Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards
PO Box 241245
Montgomery, AL 36124-1245
(334) 832-4580, asppb@asppb.org

or

California Board of Psychology
2005 Evergreen Street, Suite 1400
Sacramento, CA 95815
(916) 263-2699, bopmail@dca.ca.gov

or

Practice Directorate American Psychological Association
750 First Street NE
Washington, DC 20002-4242
(202) 336-5979, apaaccred@apa.org

Programmatic Accreditation

The program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of the American Psychological Association (APA) and publishes the following outcome data as required by APA:

1. Time to Completion
2. Program Costs
3. Internship Placement Rates
4. Attrition
5. Licensure

Please visit our website to view the data.

Questions related to the program’s accredited status should be directed to the Commission on Accreditation:

Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation
American Psychological Association
750 1st Street NE
Washington, DC 20002
Phone: (202) 336-5979
Email: apaaccred@apa.org
Web: www.apa.org/ed/accreditation

Internship, Practicum, and/or Dissertation Information

Clinical Field Training

The program requires all students to complete three years of practica and a full-time doctoral internship. Every student receives guidance and support through the clinical training placement selection and application process from the Practicum and Internship Training Directors. They are licensed professionals who work with students to develop and implement individualized training plans that expose students to a variety of clientele and professional role models. This intensive mentorship also supports students’ abilities to obtain clinical placements that are well-suited to each student’s skill level, clinical interests, and longer-term professional goals (including the successful acquisition of a full-time APA-accredited internship placement).

Practicum

Students obtain part-time professional training placements (8-10 hours per week in the first year, and 15-20 hours per week in the second and third years) at diverse agencies throughout the Los Angeles area. In these settings, students assume greater clinical responsibility for assessment and intervention while continuing to receive close supervision, appropriate to their training level and abilities. All training sites and placements are carefully reviewed and continually monitored on an ongoing basis by the Director of Clinical Training, to ensure consistency and quality of training.

For all practicum placements, students are required to participate in a minimum of one hour of weekly supervision provided by a licensed psychologist. Many practicum sites also require group supervision. Practicum supervision requirements also include a minimum of two hours per week spent in didactic training.

Internship

Prior to graduation, students are required to complete a full-time internship. Students become eligible to apply for internship only after achieving post-proposal status on their clinical dissertation and are required to pass the proposal meeting by the end of finals week in the spring semester of their second year to apply to internship in the fall of the third year. In special cases, via faculty advisement and with Program Director approval, students may be allowed to modify their program to five years by adding an extra practicum experience in their fourth year and complete the required full-time internship in their fifth year. Students who modify their program to a 5-year plan are required to pass the proposal meeting by the end of finals week in the spring semester of their third year to apply to internship in the fall of the fourth year.

The culminating internship experience integrates academic and clinical experiences and prepares students for future professional roles in the field of health service psychology. While the completion of an APA-accredited internship is not required to complete the program, students should be aware that various postdoctoral training positions and some employers (e.g., the Veterans Administration) require that successful applicants have completed APA-accredited internships. The program’s commitment to helping students obtain an APA-accredited internship requires that all students apply to a minimum number of APA-accredited internship sites and participate in Phases I and II of the APPIC Match process. The number of APA-accredited internships in Southern California is limited and many students leave the Los Angeles area to gain specialized training at APA-accredited/APPIC internship sites located nation-wide. Thus, prospective students should be prepared to leave Southern California for internship should an internship that matches their interests and skills not be available locally at the time they submit applications. Full-time APA-accredited/APPIC internships provide a stipend to students during their internship year. Most other internships and practicum sites do not offer stipends. Students should not count on training stipends as means of financing their education. For all internship placements, students are required to participate in a minimum of one hour of weekly supervision provided by a licensed psychologist who serves as primary supervisor, who is available to the intern 100% of the time that the student is at the agency, and who is employed by the agency at least 50% of the duration of the student’s internship. A minimum of two hours of weekly didactic training is also required. At least two psychologists must be involved in providing internship training.

Internship units are charged at a lower tuition rate than regular coursework, please refer to the current tuition fee schedule for details.

The three semester (Fall/Spring/Summer) enrollment requirement for internship is intended to provide students with financial aid over the summer.

If a student’s internship has an end date in May, the student should request enrollment in a two-semester internship unit model. If a student’s internship has a start date in June, the student should request enrollment in a Summer/Fall/Spring internship unit model. Please contact the Clinical PsyD Student Advisor for information.

Clinical Dissertation

In support of developing competencies in research, students are required to complete a clinical dissertation under the mentorship and supervision of a clinical dissertation chair (a core faculty member of the Clinical Psychology PsyD program) and at least two dissertation committee members.

Students in the LA Clinical PsyD program can elect to complete either an empirical or non-empirical clinical dissertation. Empirical dissertations can follow any set of well-established quantitative, qualitative, and/or mixed-method procedures for data collection and analysis. Non-empirical dissertations begin with either an analytical or integrative literature review and culminate with the development of a clinical product that has direct application to clinical practice in the chosen area of study (e.g., adaptations of existing assessment protocols or treatment manuals for use with new clinical populations). Completing a clinical dissertation provides students with the opportunity to strengthen critical thinking skills, learn about research methodology, and become well-informed consumers of evidence-based literature, which will serve as foundation for their clinical practice. It is also through this process that students learn to collaborate with others (e.g., faculty advisor, committee members, external consultants) in the development of scholarship that helps advance the field and to disseminate their findings to the mental health professional community (e.g., via manuscript publication, presentation at a professional meeting, etc.).

Students identify or are matched with their clinical dissertation chair at the end of the spring semester of their first year and begin formal clinical dissertation development work in the fall of the second year. Students are expected to defend and complete their dissertation by the end of their third year, before the commencement of full-time internship training. Once begun, continuous enrollment in dissertation or dissertation extension courses is required, up to and including the semester in which the final dissertation is accepted for submission to the ProQuest Electronic Theses & Dissertations database. Students who do not complete their clinical dissertations by the end of the required dissertation course sequence will be required to extend the sequence by enrolling in dissertation extension courses.

Minimum Levels of Achievement

Students are expected to meet or exceed established minimum levels of achievement (MLAs) in their coursework, field training evaluations, and dissertation work.

Field Training Evaluation/MLAs

Students receive mid-year and final evaluations of their clinical performance from their primary supervisor. Evaluations are submitted to and reviewed by the Office of Professional Training and the student’s faculty advisor.

To receive credit for successful completion of a field training placement, students’ evaluation scores must meet or exceed the MLAs that are appropriate for their level of training.

If a student fails to attain an MLA for one or more competencies on a mid-year or final evaluation, they may be required to complete remediation to demonstrate achievement of competency. Required remediation varies by the severity of the student’s difficulties and may include repeating a training year. Occasionally, students are dismissed from the program for egregious unethical or unprofessional behavior or for not completing required remediation and attaining required MLAs. 

Dissertation Evaluation/MLAs

Acquisition of competencies related to dissertation development and completion are formally evaluated by the dissertation chair and committee members at the proposal and final oral defense stages. Students must earn scores of 3 (“Meets expectations”) on proposal and final oral defense evaluation forms to demonstrate competency. Students who earn scores of 2 (“Partially meets expectations”) are required to complete remediation prior to proceeding with dissertation development/completion. Students who earn scores of 1 (“Does not meet expectations”) are required to complete significant remediation before scheduling another proposal/final oral defense meeting. Students unable to meet minimum levels of achievement related to dissertation development/completion may be terminated from the program.

Credit Units

Total Credit Units: 120

Total Core Credit Units: 108

Total Elective Credit Units: 12

Total Concentration Credit Units: Varies

Degree Requirements

Comprehensive Exams

Students are required to pass three comprehensive exams during their time in the program:

1. The Assessment Comprehensive Exam (administered at the end of the first-year spring semester) assesses student competencies in test measurement, ethical and cultural considerations in assessment, basic diagnostic skills, and integration and interpretation of test data to inform possible diagnoses and treatment planning. A score of 80% or higher is required to pass this exam.
2. The Research Comprehensive Exam (administered at the end of the second-year fall semester) assesses basic competency in research design and statistical concepts, as well as the ability to critically review empirical literature. A score of 80% or higher is required to pass this exam.
3. The two-part Clinical Proficiency Assessment (CPA) assesses clinical competencies in diagnostic formulation, psychological assessment, case conceptualization, treatment planning and intervention strategy, legal and ethical issues, therapeutic relationships, self-examination, multicultural competency, and general report writing skills (e.g., writing mechanics, APA style). At the end of the second-year spring semester, students submit the CPA Case Report, a written case conceptualization and treatment plan for a current practicum client. At the beginning of the third-year fall semester, students take the CPA Oral Vignette Exam, during which they conceptualize a case and develop diagnostic impressions, treatment plans, and interventions based on review of a clinical vignette. To pass the CPA Case Report and Oral Vignette Exam and demonstrate related competencies, scores of “Adequate” or “Strong” must be earned in all areas of evaluation.

Note: Students who do not pass any comprehensive exam on their initial attempt have a maximum of two additional opportunities to retake and pass the exam. Students who do not pass any comprehensive exam on the third attempt will be terminated from the program.

Psychotherapy Requirement

Accrual of 45 hours of individual psychotherapy with a licensed psychologist is required prior to graduation. This requirement supports student acquisition of competency in Professional Values and Attitudes by providing students with the opportunity to engage in self-reflection regarding personal and professional functioning and engaging in activities to maintain and Improve performance, well-being, and professional effectiveness.

Students are expected to engage in 45 hours of individual therapy with one licensed psychologist, and the hours must be accrued while the student is in the program. On very special circumstances, students may submit a request to the Program Director for an exception (e.g., a compelling need for group, conjoint marital, or family therapy instead of individual therapy; a compelling demonstrated need to switch therapists). All requests must be fully supported by documentation and must be approved before the student begins accruing psychotherapy hours to meet the program’s requirement. Students who have previously completed psychotherapy hours with a licensed psychologist within two years of matriculation to the program may fulfil all or some of this requirement by submitting documentation of hours (up to 45) to the Program Director for approval. Students are responsible for meeting the cost of personal psychotherapy. A list of therapists who have agreed to provide sliding-scale fees to CSPP students is available and may be obtained from the Clinical PsyD Student Advisor.

Prerequisite Courses

Four (4) prerequisite courses are required for students without an undergraduate degree in psychology.

1. Statistics
2. Abnormal Psychology OR Psychopathology
3. Experimental Psychology OR Research Methods in Psychology
4. Physiological Psychology OR Learning/Memory OR Cognitive Psychology OR Sensation/Perception

Prerequisite courses must be completed with a grade of B- or higher and official transcripts must be received no later than mid-August of the year of planned matriculation.

Emphasis/Concentration/Track Requirements

Elective Requirements

12 elective units are required for completion of the program. The program typically offers 6 to 8 elective options to students per semester (Fall and Spring). Offerings change every year depending on student cohorts’ expressed interests and faculty availability. The following are examples of elective courses that have been offered in recent years.

1. PSY76053A-Z Clinical Elective-Practice Seminar (3 units; semester-long course)

      Recent PSY76053A-Z elective courses include:

1. Military Psychology (Health)
2. LGBTQ Mental Health (Health)
3. Neuropsychological Assessment (Health)
4. Couple Therapy (FACE)
5. Family Violence (FACE)
6. Child and Family Interventions (FACE)
7. Psychology of Immigrants: Trauma and Treatment (MCCP)
8. Asian and African American Mental Health (MCCP)
9. Latine Mental Health (MCCP)
10. Dissociation in Clinical Practice (MIO)

2. PSY95003A-D Advanced Clinical Elective (6 units; year-long course)

      Recent PSY95003A-D elective courses include:

1. Systemic Group Psychotherapy: Supervision & Training (FACE)
2. Integrated Approach to Sex, Intimacy, & Relationships (FACE)
3. Trauma and Dissociation (MIO)

Students must complete both Intervention course sequences prior to enrolling in electives.

Curriculum Plan

All coursework is taken during the first three years with concurrent practicum training leading up to the required full-time internship. Any modification in the student’s schedule can have implications on tuition units, financial aid eligibility, and/or duration of their program. Coursework is sequential, cumulative, and graded in complexity to promote the achievement of educational and training goals, and therefore may not be taken out of sequence unless expressly permitted by the Program Director.