San Diego Clinical PsyD: A Practitioner Program

The Clinical PsyD Program in San Diego is a Practitioner model program that provides a strong, generalist foundation in clinical psychology, emphasizing the applications of theory and research to clinical practice. The program develops competent professional clinical psychologists who have been broadly educated and who have acquired the skills necessary to deliver a variety of clinical services to people from diverse backgrounds within many types of settings and institutions.

APA Education & Training Outcomes

The CSPP San Diego Clinical Psychology PsyD program is accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA), which requires that we provide student outcome data, including time to completion, program costs, internships, attrition and licensure. Please follow the link below for that information. We hope this information will help you to make an informed decision regarding your graduate study. Student Outcome Data

APA Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation: 750 First Street, NE; Washington, DC 20002-4242  Phone: 202-336-5979

The distinctive component in thisPsyD program is the emphasis on clinical expertise and clinical scholarship. Courses are selected to complement this dual emphasis. Students complete courses in scientific foundations of psychology, theories of personality, psychotherapy, psychopathology, assessment, statistics, cultural psychology, integrative psychology, and practicum-internship.

Courses in integrative psychology are required which often focus on cultural and social contexts of psychological practice. Students must pass written comprehensive examinations as partial fulfillment of the requirements for admission to doctoral candidacy and take a Clinical Proficiency Examination (CPE), as an assessment of clinical competence, at the end of their third year in the program.

Clinical Dissertation Groups

PsyD students also participate in the Clinical Dissertation Group. These are intensive seminars that integrate practice and directed reading in small group formats and prepare students for the clinical dissertation-an applied scholarly work in the chosen area of advanced competency. The student defends the dissertation plan to a faculty committee at the Proposal Meeting.

Additionally, forty hours of individual psychotherapy with a psychologist licensed in California are required prior to graduation. Students who progress successfully should expect to complete the PsyD program in four to five years (unless they enter the program with substantial credit for previous graduate work). Summer sessions and timely completion of all requirements are necessary to complete the program in four years. Our experience suggests that students usually finish their coursework in four years and their dissertation and/or final internship in the fifth year.

Accreditation

The PsyD program has full accreditation from the Committee on Accreditation of the American Psychological Association.

American Psychological Association office of Program Consultation and Accreditation:
750 First Street, N.E.
Washington DC 20002-4242
Phone: 202-336-5979