Doctoral Level Training
There is stiff competition to gain acceptance into clinical psychology doctoral programs (acceptance rates of 2-5% are not uncommon). Clinical psychologists in the U.S. undergo many years of graduate training—usually 5 to 7 years post-Bachelors—in order to gain demonstrable competence and experience. Licensure as a psychologist takes an additional 1 to 2 years post PhD/PsyD (licensure requires 3,000 hours of supervised training), depending on the state (see below under licensure). Today, in America, about half of all clinical psychology graduate students are being trained in PhD programs—a model that emphasizes research and is usually housed in universities—with the other half in PsyD programs, which has more focus on practice (similar to professional degrees for medicine and law). Both models envision practising Clinical Psychology in a research-based, scientifically valid manner, and are accredited by the American Psychological Association and many other English-speaking psychological societies. APA accreditation is very important for U.S. clinical psychology programs and may affect employment prospects and licensure after one graduates (http://www.apa.org/support/education/accreditation/importance.aspx#answer).
Mean debt related to doctoral education in clinical psychology currently exceeds $80,000, according to the 2011 appic match survey, and 44% of graduates accrue over $100,000 in debt (http://www.appic.org/match/5_2_2_match_about_statistics.html). There is currently a significant internship crisis affecting U.S. clinical psychology programs for the past 10 years.
Doctorate (PhD and PsyD) programs usually involve some variation on the following 5 to 7 year, 90-120 unit curriculum:
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- Bases of behavior—biological, cognitive-affective, and cultural-social
- Individual differences—personality, lifespan development, psychopathology
- History and systems—development of psychological theories, practices, and scientific knowledge
- Clinical practice—diagnostics, psychological assessment, psychotherapeutic interventions, psychopharmacology, ethical and legal issues
- Coursework in Statistics and Research Design
- Clinical experience
- Practicum—usually three or four years of working with clients under supervision in a clinical setting. Most practicum placements begin in either the first or second year of doctoral training
- Doctoral Internship—usually an intensive one or two year placement in a clinical setting
- Dissertation—PhD programs usually require original quantitative empirical research, while PsyD dissertations involve original quantitative or qualitative research, theoretical scholarship, program evaluation or development, critical literature analysis, or clinical application and analysis. The dissertation typically takes 2-3 years to complete.
- Specialized electives—many programs offer sets of elective courses for specializations, such as health, child, family, community, or neuropsychology
- Personal psychotherapy—many programs require students to undertake a certain number of hours of personal psychotherapy (with a non-faculty therapist) although in recent years this requirement has become less frequent.
- Comprehensive Exams and/or Master's Thesis: A thesis can involve original data collection and is distinct from a dissertation
Read more about this topic: Training And Licensing Of Clinical Psychologists
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