Clinical
Psychology Department
Mission of the Program
The clinical psychology program is committed to meeting the academic and
professional needs of two separate constituencies. The first are those
individuals wanting to earn a master's degree so as to gain immediate
employment providing direct patient care in a community mental health
setting. A second group of individuals, many of whom overlap with the
first, are those wishing additional academic preparation so as to
enhance their chances of being accepted into and successfully completing
a doctoral program. Approximately 50% of our graduates go on for further
graduate study.
Since its inception in 1968, the graduate
program in Clinical Psychology at Towson University, has prided itself
on being a small, highly selective program committed to preparing
students to become Master's-level professional psychologists. By
offering a curriculum that is based upon the professional model of
clinical training, graduates of the clinical psychology program will be
well equipped to enter the job market with those clinical skills
necessary to diagnose and treat individuals experiencing psychological
distress. Alternatively, many of our graduates choose to continue their
graduate education by going on for a doctoral degree in psychology.
By the time our students complete the
clinical psychology program, they will have taken courses that in many
ways duplicate the first two years of a Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.)
program. That is, our graduates will have completed courses in
psychotherapy and behavior change, preparing them to practice under
appropriate supervision as individual, family, and group therapists.
They will also have completed advanced seminars in legal and ethical
issues in clinical psychology and will have taken electives in cognitive
therapy and the behavioral treatment of children and adolescents. In
addition, all clinical students receive both theoretical as well as
practical, hands-on training in psychological assessment. Such
experiences equip our students to effectively administer and interpret
psychometric instruments used to conduct intellectual, neurological, and
personality evaluations.
A capstone experience requires that all
students complete a nine-month internship during which they provide
supervised psychological services to clients in an off-campus mental
health setting. During the internship year, students can choose to
specialize by working primarily with adults, families, or children in
either an in-patient or outpatient facility. Among the internship
placement sites are community mental health centers and clinics, state
psychiatric hospitals, domestic violence crisis clinics, and prisons and
detention centers for training in forensic issues. This required
nine-month internship is a feature of the program that is offered by
relatively few Master's-level clinical psychology programs.
Goals of the Clinical Psychology Program
The two primary goals of the clinical
psychology program are first, to provide students with the knowledge and
clinical skills required for employment, and second, to provide high
quality instruction for those students wishing to go on for further
graduate study. All ten required courses as well as the three electives
in the program are instrumental in furthering these two over-arching
goals of the program.
In order to achieve these goals, the
faculty of the clinical psychology program is committed to assisting our
students in attaining excellence in the following six areas of study:
1. Theoretical and practical knowledge of
psychopathology. Students will learn the skills necessary to diagnose
and treat individuals with a wide variety of psychological and
personality disorders. Students will attain this goal by completing PSYC
631 Advanced Abnormal Psychology.
2. Theoretical knowledge concerning the
various approaches to psychotherapy. Students will practice those
clinical skills required to conduct psychotherapy in individual, family,
and group settings. These skills will be attained by completing the
following required courses: PSYC 651 Individual and Group Intervention;
PSYC 665 Psychotherapy and Behavior Change I; PSYC 666 Psychotherapy and
Behavior Change II.
3. Knowledge about the construction and
standardization of tests and other psychometric instruments designed to
measure personality, intelligence and other cognitive abilities.
Students will gain experiences administering, scoring, and interpreting
standardized diagnostic instruments. Students will attain these skills
by completing the following required courses: PSYC 620 Assessment of
Intelligence; PSYC 765 Personality Assessment in Clinical Psychology;
PSYC 766 Advanced Personality Assessment.
4. Knowledge about research issues
relevant to the field of clinical psychology. Students will also become
familiar with research methods commonly utilized by psychologists
carrying out clinical research. These skills will be obtained by
completing the following required course: PSYC 653 Research Issues in
Clinical Psychology.
5. Knowledge and skills necessary to
evaluate and treat individuals experiencing mild, moderate, or severe
psychological disorders. Students will learn these skills while
evaluating and treating actual clients/patients in a community mental
health facility. Students will be supervised by professional staff in
facilities committed to training graduate students in clinical
psychology. These skills will be attained while registered for the
following required courses: PSYC 697 Practicum in Clinical Psychology;
PSYC 797 Internship in Clinical Psychology.
6. Knowledge of the ethical and legal
issues impacting the professional practice of psychologists. Students
will abide by the Code of Ethics of Psychologists adopted by the
American Psychological Association. This information will be presented
in all required clinical courses but will be the exclusive topic of
discussion in PSYC 790 Ethical, Legal, and Professional Issues in
Psychology.
Psychology Building, Room 116
Phone: 410-704-3072
Fax:
410-704-3800
psyc@towson.edu |
