The doctor of psychology program in clinical psychology aims to
educate psychologists for practice in clinical and other applied
professional settings.
The program does not adhere to a single
model for training all students. It aims to provide the student with a
solid foundation in clinical work, including the basic areas of
psychology, within which much of clinical practice is grounded.
Didactic training in basic psychological principles is coupled with
practical, graduated instruction in a range of assessment and
intervention modes. While advancing through the training program, the
student has the opportunity to specialize in intervention modes
oriented around several of the most widely accepted theoretical
positions, and within particular problem areas of clinical treatment. Infused into all educational and training experiences is an awareness of, sensitivity to, and consideration of appropriate approaches for individual differences, such as those associated with ethnicity, culture, race, gender, sexual orientation, and national origin.
While encouraging the student to gain a broad appreciation of the roots
of contemporary clinical practices, the program also encourages
development of both student and faculty interest in areas of clinical
and applied work that are innovative in nature--one of the most
important functions of a university. To this end, faculty members are
engaged in applied scholarly or research programs oriented around new
intervention modes and new modes of relating to societal issues.
Students are encouraged to work in these programs.
Clinical
training within a professional school of psychology permits the
student to be immersed immediately in issues directly relevant to
clinical and applied work. The student is encouraged to develop a
specialty cluster focusing on an area of specific interest. This might
be reflected in concentration within a specific theoretical
orientation such as cognitive behavioral, psychodynamic, or systems;
or a particular problem area such as children,
community/organizational, marital, serious mental illness, anxiety disorders, substance abuse, or sport psychology. Specialty areas are designed by
the student in consultation with his or her adviser.
There has
been considerable change in professional clinical psychology during the
past decade as managed care has influenced health care in general and
resulted in diminished public access to mental health services. There is evidence, however, that the pendulum is slowly
swinging back toward giving consumers increased protection and
better access to services.
Along with the pressure of managed
care requiring increasingly time-efficient interventions, another
converging pressure for change has come from the development of
empirically-based interventions in clinical treatment. These are
treatment procedures that have a sound base of empirical support
demonstrating their beneficial effects. Fortunately, a number of the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology (GSAPP) faculty have been intimately involved in the development of some
of these treatment methods and are well positioned to educate students
about these techniques.
Sensitive to the changing health care
delivery system, GSAPP's goal is to produce graduates who will assume
leadership roles in improving the development and delivery of mental
health services, both in managed care and non-managed care settings.
