About the Program
Graduate students in Psychological Sciences are expected to become qualified researchers and experts in their selected area of concentration and to acquire a broad and in-depth background of the field in general. The graduate program provides comprehensive training leading to the Ph.D. with one of the following six degree options: Clinical, Cognitive, Industrial-Organizational, Mathematical and Computational Psychology, Neuroscience and Behavior, and Social Psychology. The clinical psychological sciences graduate program is a charter member of The Academy of Psychological Clinical Science, which is a coalition of doctoral training programs that produce and apply scientific knowledge to the assessment, understanding and advancement of human problems. The Clinical Psychological Sciences program is committed to excellence in scientific training and uses clinical science as the foundation for designing, implementing and evaluating assessment and intervention procedures. The program is designed to give students a broad background in psychology and expansive knowledge of clinical psychology through didactic courses and seminars. Students will receive clinical experience in the Purdue Psychology Treatment and Research Clinics (PPTRC) as well as other clinical practice and courses. To gain research experience, students will join a research team and participate in a first-year project, master’s thesis, preliminary paper/examination and PhD dissertation. Program Website Program Requirements
90 Credits Required (30 credits from a Master’s may be applied.) Required Courses (xx credits)
Statistics Courses (6 credits)
Seminar Courses (10 credits)
To be taken every semester for one credit each. These seminars are mandatory for all students each semester. Students applying for internship should come but are excused from the mandatory attendance policy. Research presentations: Clinical colloquium offers an opportunity to be exposed in greater depth to ongoing research activities and findings. Each student will present at colloquium at least twice during their time in the program on empirically-based research projects, most typically that are part of programmatic research milestones (1st year project, MS thesis; preliminary exam). Clinical presentations: Some presentations at colloquium have a clear clinical practice focus. For example, a specific evidence-based intervention or clinical considerations for a specific population. These presentations often have interactive elements and some of the presenters are supervisors of practica. In addition, students are required to deliver one clinical case presentation prior to internship. This presentation must be a based on a case assigned during a psychotherapy practicum (i.e. Child and Family or Adult Services) for whom the student was a primary therapist. Professional Development: Seminars that are focused on professional development offer students an opportunity to learn skills and ask frank questions regarding important aspects that are not formally included in most doctoral psychology curricula but may be helpful for a successful career as a psychologist, e.g. how to start a private practice; the job search; successes and failures; mentoring; and interactions between clinical psychology and the law. Additionally, every year, students who have successfully completed the internship match process deliver a seminar describing the internship application and interview process, provide tips, and answer questions. Diversity Journal Club: colloquium provides opportunities to think about diversity and multiculturalism issues that are relevant to research, practice, and teaching in clinical psychology. These seminars may include a discussion of a recent journal article, presentation and conversation about policy statements/current events, guest speakers (from within or outside the department), experiential exercises, or thematically-organized discussion groups. Each spring there will be a colloquium focused on clinical practice (the “multicultural case conference”). Typically one or more senior graduate students will present on a clinical case where attention to and incorporation of diversity were key. Clinical Psychology Courses (xx credits)
Clinical Assessment Courses (xx credits)
Practicum Training (19-27 credits)
All graduate students participate in formal practicum training at Purdue, and are required to be enrolled in PSY 67900 for at least six semesters. In the course of their practicum placements students are expected to meet the following goals: - Deliver a range of psychological services, including intervention, assessment, and consultation, in a manner consistent with APA ethical principles, standards of clinical psychology practice, and applicable state legal mandates.
- Demonstrate the use of the clinical science model in a clinical setting including an understanding of the scientific evidence that supports the theory or procedures on which assessment and therapeutic techniques are based. For clinical practice procedures that are not evidence-based, a thorough understanding of related evidence, the limitations of available scientific evidence, and the theoretical or empirical basis for deviations from evidence-based practices should be demonstrated.
Practicum experiences are graded (rather than Pass/No Pass). Not only does this permit finer-grained recognition of student performance, given the multiple facets of clinical work, but practicum experiences also will count toward credits required for graduation. Internal Practica Requirements
Students should take PSY 679 Assessment Practicum in the second semester of their first year. Students then typically take PSY 679 as either Adult Services Clinic or as Child Family Treatment. In their third year, students will take whichever internal practicum they did not take in their second year. For years two and three, students typically take 3 credits each semester. If students choose to continue to enroll and see clients, then at least 1 credit hour is required. By the fourth and fifth year, students will be participating in external practica, which generally provide more clinical hours and more focused clinical experiences than what is offered in the in-house practicum clinics. External Practica Requirements
External practica aim to develop advanced skills in the implementation of evidence-based therapies and assessment. Continued attention is directed toward ensuring student sensitivity to individual and cultural diversity and strict adherence to the standards of ethical and professional conduct. At this level, students learn to evaluate the clinical needs of a case, develop a treatment plan, carry out intervention procedures, and adjust and change procedures with only moderate supervision. Students should be able to conceptualize cases and be conversant with alternative conceptualizations. They should acquire a broader range of technical skills in evaluation and treatment and be able to make decisions with regard to their use. At this level of practicum, one hour of supervision should correspond to between 1-3 hours of client contact. Both group and individual supervision formats are used in these practica. In order to ensure that students make adequate progress towards their requirements and in their research, students are only allowed to spend two days per week in external practica. Additionally, in order to provide integrated, hierarchical supervision teams and in-house oversight of external practica, students on external practica are expected to enroll in and participate in one of the two in-house practica. In terms of participation, it is optional for students in their fifth year (or later) to enroll in an in-house or external practicum, or if they are, to carry a client caseload or provide peer supervision within our in-house practica. Students can negotiate the amount of time they will attend the in-house supervision team, but the program recommends that they attend at least one of every four team meetings. Clinical Internship (xx credits)
The predoctoral clinical internship is the capstone of the student’s clinical training, in the same way that the dissertation is the capstone of the student’s research training. The Ph.D. degree in clinical psychologyrequires the completion of an internship of at least 1,900 hours of supervised clinical work. This internship usually is taken in a one-year block of full-time work; however, with the approval of the Clinical Area faculty, it may be completed in two years of half-time work. The student selects the internship in consultation with their Major Professor, Advisory Committee, and the Clinical Area’s Internship Committee. The internship is chosen in order to provide supervised experience in the area of the student’s major interest, as well as breadth of clinical training in this last pre-doctoral practical experience. It is expected that that students apply to APA-accredited internships except in highly unusually circumstances cleared with the clinical faculty and Director of Clinical Training. In addition to the geographical region of the country, internships vary according to type of setting (e.g. medical school, hospital, outpatient mental health center, prison, consortia), theoretical models that are emphasized, nature of supervision, balance of assessment and therapy activities, weekly workload, opportunities for participation in research, populations served, nature of other training experiences (consultation, supervision, administration), training in empirically supported therapies and APA accreditation status. Information about internship accreditation status can be obtained from faculty, the APA Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation, and the Academy of Psychological Clinical Sciences. It can also be found on the individual site listings in the APPIC Directory Online. Electives (9-36 credits)
The Department of Psychological Sciences requires all graduate students to take at least three courses (nine credit hours) outside of the student’s major area. These courses are elective and should reflect a student’s individual training needs, but might be chosen to fulfill overlapping departmental and APA requirements. At least two courses must be graduate courses offered within the Department, while the third course may be from outside of the Department (e.g. an Interdisciplinary Neuroscience course, a HDFS course, a Sociology course). These courses must be approved by the student’s advisory committee. In general, it is expected that clinical students will take more electives than the requisite three. Clinical students must meet additional APA requirements and will need to take additional methodological and statistical courses to become excellent researchers. Dissertation Research (4-44 credits)
Students typically take PhD research credits in their fourth year and fifth years, for a minimum of 1 credit each semester to a maximum of 11 credits. Program Learning Outcomes
Students will: - Achieve competence in conducting, reviewing and evaluating empirical research.
- Develop knowledge in the bases of research and psychological theory.
- Gain competence in the delivery of evidence-based professional psychological services.
- Be equipped to contribute to the field through responsible and exemplary professional behavior as psychologists.
Additional Information
First-year project: The first-year project is designed to facilitate the immediate involvement in research of incoming students in collaboration with their faculty mentors. These typically involve analysis and reporting on data previously collected by the Major Professor but can involve primary data collection. The project should ideally be capable of completion within the first year in the program. Thus, a student must begin, early in the first semester, to meet regularly with his/her Major Professor to discuss and complete the broad outlines of the project. APA Accreditation (and Licensure) Requirements: The American Psychological Association (APA) stipulates that students in accredited clinical programs should demonstrate competence in: - Profession-wide competencies (PWC), including: a) research, b) ethical and legal standards, c) individual and cultural diversity, d) professional values, attitudes, and behaviors, e) communication and interpersonal skills, f) assessment, g) intervention, h) supervision, and i) consultation and interprofessional/interdisciplinary skills.
- Discipline-specific knowledge (DSK), including: a) affective aspects of behavior, b) biological aspects of behavior, c) cognitive aspects of behavior, d) developmental aspects of behavior, e) social aspects of behavior, f) history and systems of psychology, g) research methods, h) statistical analysis, and i) psychometrics.
- Advanced integrative knowledge: Students must also demonstrate advanced integrative knowledge of at least two of the discipline-specific areas listed above. This is typically done via a graduate-level course that serves as “an evaluated educational experience that provides basic coverage in two or more areas and integration across those areas.” These areas of competence and knowledge may be demonstrated through students’ participation in coursework (full courses or parts of courses), independent study, research experiences, or clinical practica. For the DSK areas (and for “advanced integrative knowledge”), APA requires that knowledge be demonstrated via an “evaluated educational experience” (EEE), defined as “a learning experience (e.g. course, parts of courses, or independent study) the outcome of which is assessed by a person recognized as having current knowledge and expertise in the area of the learning experience.”
GPA Requirements
Only courses for which “A” or “B” grades are earned are acceptable in fulfilling departmental requirements. Students are expected to repeat any required courses in which they receive a grade of “C+” or lower. Graduate Programs Disclaimer
- The student is ultimately responsible for knowing and completing all degree requirements. Students should consult with their advisor/department for more information.
- Not all graduate programs may be actively recruiting students and course modality availability may vary.
- Please refer to the Explore Graduate Programs website for a list of currently available graduate programs.
- Transfer credit policy: Credits earned for graduate study at other universities (both domestic and international) may be applied toward an advanced degree. Only credit hours associated with graduate courses for which grades of B- or better were obtained will be eligible for transfer. Any additional conditions under which credit transfers may be made are determined by the various departments.
- Comparative information about Purdue University and other U.S. educational institutions is also available through the College Navigator tool, provided by the National Center for Education Statistics, and through the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard.
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