Clinical Psychology, M.S.

Learning Goals and Student Learning Outcomes

The following goals and outcomes have been established for students pursuing the MS degree in Clinical Psychology

Frameworks, concepts, terminology and techniques relating to clinical psychology.

• Know the legal and ethical responsibilities related to clinical practice; apply these in actual clinical situations.
• Master the diagnostic and conceptual framework for mental disorders and related terminology; accurately diagnose actual clinical patients.
• Apply a variety of dominant theoretical frameworks for describing personality, predicting behavior, treatment planning and guiding clinical interventions.
• Employ therapeutic techniques from a variety of theoretical models for intervening with children, adolescents and adults in individual, family and group modalities.
• Be familiar with assessment techniques commonly used in clinical practice; understand their administration, scoring and interpretation.
• Be sensitive to the influence of ethnicity and cultural values on clinical practice; consider cultural and ethnic influences while working with therapy cases.

Analytical, scientific perspective on psychology and personal adjustment; research mentorship experiences.

• Gain command of research methodology and statistical techniques; employ these methods and techniques in an original master's thesis of one's own design.
• View clinical interventions as a hypothesis testing process; assess the effectiveness of one's interventions objectively.

Hands-on experience with actual clinical cases; application of learning from didactic coursework to clients while receiving intensive supervision--including review of video-recorded sessions.

• Complete 225 hours of direct clinical contact during a year-long clinical internship in a professional mental health setting; complete a two-semester Fieldwork sequence.