Applicants interested in graduate study in applied areas of psychology at Rutgers may wish to learn more about other graduate training programs offered at the university. Not part of the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology (GSAPP), the American Psychological Association-approved clinical Ph.D. program offered through Rutgers Graduate School-New Brunswick is a clinical scientist training program that trains clinical psychologists whose primary interests are in research and teaching rather than in professional practice. The clinical program is geared primarily to students whose interests are clearly cognitive behavioral and who seek to pursue such interests in a consistent and systematic fashion. There also are opportunities for students whose interests are eclectic and who may supplement training in cognitive-behavior therapy with courses and supervised experiences in other approaches. Despite the distinctiveness of the clinical Ph.D. and Psy.D. programs in terms of training goals and administrative structures, there are many points of cooperation and collaboration between the two programs.

A brief description of the clinical Ph.D. program is provided here to assist potential applicants in determining which program is best suited to their academic and career goals. The training approach relies heavily upon a mentorship model. Students are matched with a research mentor when they begin their graduate training program, and involve themselves in one or more research projects upon entering the program, initially as apprentices in ongoing projects, and subsequently as independent investigators. Students may study not only with clinical psychology faculty, but also with nonclinical researchers in the psychology department. It is not uncommon for students to participate in more than one research group.

Although the program emphasizes research training, the development of clinical skills is vitally important to the program as well. Students have available as role models a large number of faculty members who conduct research, but who also are experienced clinical psychologists and are directly involved in clinical practice of various kinds. Students also have access to doctoral faculty in GSAPP who focus primarily on clinical practice. A range of sites is available for clinical training. Empirically supported approaches to assessment and treatment are used in practicum setting, and many of the settings also are sites for clinical research.

Students are required to complete core courses, including a two-semester clinical proseminar, a two-course sequence in research design and statistics, adult psychopathology, clinical and research ethics, cognitive assessment, behavioral neuroscience, personality theory, social psychology and cognitive psychology, and a minimum of two therapy methods courses. A unique, two-semester required course introduces students to empirically supported treatments for a wide range of human problems. Taught by faculty experts in these approaches to treatment, students learn specific clinical techniques for the treatment of each disorder.

Students complete a minimum of two years of clinical practicum training, as well as an empirical master's thesis and doctoral dissertation. Written and oral qualifying examinations are required. Students typically take four or five years to complete requirements before accepting a predoctoral internship.

The core clinical faculty for the Ph.D. program are drawn from the Department of Psychology, GSAPP, the Center of Alcohol Studies, and the University of Medicine and Dentistry-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. The breadth of faculty interests and expertise in research permits students to create a program of study tailored to their particular scholarly interests.

Complete information about the clinical Ph.D. program is available at the Department of Psychology's graduate programs website.

The Ph.D. program is offered by the Graduate School-New Brunswick. The catalog can be found online.