Doctor Of Psychology Curriculum

Our Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) in Clinical Psychology degree program is designed integrate theory, training, and practice throughout the curriculum to help you develop the attitudes, knowledge, and skills essential to your success as a clinical psychologist.

Clinical Training Overview

Clinical training involves supervised out-of-class contact with a clinical population. Through this contact, you can apply theoretical knowledge, implement clinical techniques based on this knowledge, and develop the professional and personal attitudes important to the identity of a professional psychologist. By the end of clinical training, you’ll have received the requisite training to develop effective assessment and intervention skills and to practice in a highly ethical manner.

During clinical training, you’ll advance through progressively more challenging levels of training. At each level, your progress is assessed in multiple ways by several faculty members and field supervisors. Most students in the PsyD in Clinical Psychology degree program generally complete their practicum in the second and third years of the program and their pre-doctoral internship in the fifth year of the program.

Course Listing

Students enrolled in the PsyD in Clinical Psychology degree program at the Arizona School of Professional Psychology at Argosy University are required to satisfactorily complete 98 semester credit hours distributed as follows: assessment requirements, 12 credit hours; clinical intervention and psychotherapy requirements, 24 credit hours; consultation and supervision requirements, 3 credit hours; elective requirements, 12 credit hours; ethics and professional conduct requirements, 5 credit hours; human development requirements, 3 credit hours; psychology foundations: basic science/psychology requirements, 12 credit hours; psychopathology requirements, 6 credit hours; statistics and research methods requirements, 6 credit hours; practicum and practicum seminar requirements, 12 credit hours; and clinical research project requirements, 3 credit hours.

Full Course Sequence

Graduation Requirements

Students who are admitted into the PsyD in Clinical Psychology degree program will be responsible for completing the program requirements that are in effect at the time of their admission. The school retains the right to modify these requirements in accordance with the demands of the profession of psychology.

To be eligible for awarding of the PsyD in Clinical Psychology Degree, students must meet the following requirements:

• A total of 98 semester credit hours which include:
  • 2 credit hours of Professionalization Group
  • 69 credit hours of required coursework (all required courses are 3 credit hours)
  • 12 credit hours of elective coursework, including at least 3 credit hours in advanced intervention and 3 credit hours in special populations.
  • 12 credit hours of practicum and practicum seminars, in the two years of required practicum.
  • 3 credit hours of Clinical Research Project (CRP)
• Successful completion of the Clinical Evaluation Competency
• Successful completion of the Clinical Comprehensive Examination
• Grade point average of at least 3.0 on a scale of 4.0, and a grade of “B-” or better in all required courses
• Completion of the Clinical Research Project
• Successful completion of full year internship
• Completion of all degree requirements within maximum time frame of seven years, with all coursework and practicum completed by the end of the fifth year
• A completed Petition to Graduate submitted to campus administration

Research Training

Consistent with our practitioner-scholar model and goals, this program can help you learn the knowledge and skills needed to critically evaluate professional literature, use this literature to inform your professional practice, and engage in research that aligns with your career objectives. Across the curriculum, your studies will be informed by current empirical research, and you will be taught to critically evaluate the literature and assess outcomes in a manner consistent with the model of the local clinical scientist. Formal training in research methods and statistical analysis occurs in the first year of the program, and, with this knowledge and experience, you may then begin work on your Clinical Research Project (CRP).

The Clinical Research Project (CRP)

The CRP is designed to develop and refine the skills necessary to integrate your clinical knowledge with research literature to produce original, scholarly research in clinical psychology. During this project, you will be expected to:

• Significantly deepen your knowledge about a particular area (or areas) of clinical psychology
• Sharpen your critical thinking and writing skills
• Develop and apply skills in research methodology

The CRP requires you to analyze and synthesize the psychological literature and to develop original research questions. To successfully complete this project, you must investigate these questions and draw conclusions based on your study results. CRPs may involve original empirical research using quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methodologies.

The Clinical Research Project can serve as a launching point for students and alumni to pursue further scholarship such as publications and presentations, often in collaboration with program faculty. Recent examples of such collaborations include:

• Benson-Flórez, G. S., & Martinez, A. (2014, August). Spanish speaking group therapy for Latino parents. Poster presented at the annual conference of the American Psychological Association, Washington DC.
• Spezzacatena, C.D., Butaney, B., & Wechsler, F. (2014, August)Effort as a mediator between learned helplessness and neuropsychological performance tasks. Poster presented at the annual conference of the American Psychological Association, Washington, DC.
• Lewis, D., Wechsler, F., Sideman, L., & Clemente, L. (Eds.) (2007). The Arizona sourcebook: Ethics and law for Arizona psychologists. Woodstock Academic Press & interactive web project (http: www.azpsychologist.com)
• Belanger, S. B., Wechsler, F., Nademin, M. E., & Virden, T. B. (2010). Predicting outcome of gastric bypass surgery utilizing personality scale elevations, psychosocial factors, and diagnostic group membership. Obesity Surgery, 20(10), 1361-71. Doi: 10.1007/s11695-009-9866.
• Tomak, C., Wechsler, F., Ghahramanlou-Holloway, M., Virden, T.,& Nademin, E. (2009). An empirical study of the personality characteristics of internet sex offenders. The Journal of Sexual Aggression, 15(2), 139-148.
• Bushnell, M., Wechsler, F., Amin, K., & Barry, P. (2005). The accuracy of the CRBRISC in comparison to the MMSE for a geriatric population. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 20 (7), 855-856.
• Wechsler, F., Lewis, D., Matusen, D., & Dodani, S. (2012, April). Internship as the capstone experience; One state’s experience with licensure at graduation. Presented at the APPIC Annual Membership Meeting and Conference. Tempe, AZ.