Clinical Psychology

Clinical Psychology Applicant Requirements

Applicants to the Graduate Program in Clinical Psychology must have:

A bachelor’s degree from an accredited American college or university, or its foreign university equivalent, with a concentration in psychology or related discipline. For those lacking a psychology concentration, the following psychology courses are required:
General Psychology
Developmental Psychology (or Child Psychology)
Abnormal Psychology
Statistics and Research Methods.
Physiological Psychology and Social Psychology are not required but are highly recommended.
A 3.0 G.P.A. on undergraduate course work and a minimum 3.25 G.P.A. on any postgraduate courses taken. Please note that program directors may require that foreign academic credentials be evaluated by a third party.
A minimum of 250 hours of supervised work experience in mental health or closely related human services position (paid or volunteer).
In evaluating students for admission to the program, we require both an academic background showing distinction in psychology and personal experiences and attributes indicative of a likelihood of success as a professional psychologist. Here, ideally, we look for references resulting from work experiences in the human services of one sort or another, or at minimum, evidence that the individual is effective in working with others in a helping capacity. Caring, commitment, empathy and integrity, while difficult to measure and evaluate, are essential characteristics we look for in our students. Students from the social sciences and humanities, who have the requisite course work in psychology, are encouraged to apply.
Applicants for whom English is not a native language should consult the “Admission Procedures for International Studies” in the front of the catalog.

Clinical Psychology Admission Procedure

Applicants to the Clinical Psychology Program will need to follow the procedure for admission as stated below or as found in the Application for Graduate Admission. Please note: International applicants should also follow “Admission Procedures for International Students.”

Complete the Application for Graduate Admission.
Obtain official transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate course work. Have official transcripts sent to you in a sealed envelope and include with your application. (Please note: International applicants should have official transcripts sent directly from the institution to Saint Michael’s College at the address below. Program directors may require foreign academic credentials to be evaluated independently).
Fill out the first portion of two Reference Forms, providing the name and address of two persons who can address your academic and professional competence or potential. This should include at least one reference resulting from supervised work experience in the human services or, evidence that you are effectively working in a helping capacity, and one letter from a faculty member of an institution of higher education. Give these forms to your evaluators to be returned by them to Saint Michael’s at the address on the form or to be sent to you in a sealed envelope to be included with your application.
A 4-5 page (double-spaced) autobiographical essay describing how you became interested in a career in professional psychology, including those pivotal experiences as a student, intern, patient or observer of the mental health system. This essay serves not only as a writing sample, but also to convey who you are as a person and how you see our program as compatible with your personal and professional goals.
Include the application fee.

While Saint Michael’s College usually notifies applicants regarding the completeness of their files, it is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that all necessary materials are received. Once the file is complete, the applicant will be contacted to schedule an interview with the director of the program.

Admission decisions are made by the program director in consultation with other key people in the program. Meeting applicant requirements and following admission procedures does not guarantee acceptance into the program. In order to provide personalized and high quality graduate training in clinical psychology, it is necessary to limit the size of the program. Therefore, the admission process is competitive. Applicants are notified of the admission decision after all requirements of the admission process have been satisfied, including the interview.

A letter of interest is needed with the application, if a student wants to be considered for one of the two teaching assistantships available to first-year graduate students. The letter of interest is due by July 1st.

Graduate Teaching Assistantship

The Clinical Psychology Program offers two half-time graduate teaching assistantships a year. Responsibilities include assisting in the teaching of a General Psychology course by leading discussion sections, holding office hours, and other administrative duties. Qualifications for the position are:

Admission into the Graduate Program for the fall semester
Psychology major or its equivalent
Undergraduate G.P.A. of 3.5
Prior experience in tutoring undergraduates or assisting in the instruction of college-level courses

Apply by including a letter of interest with your application for admission describing your prior teaching experience that you believe qualifies you for the assistant position by July 1.

Candidacy

A student should apply for Candidacy after completing a minimum of twelve credit hours and a maximum of thirty credit hours in the GPS program, including at least one year-long clinical course sequence (such as: GPS 525-526, or GPS 515-516, or GPS 507-508) and six credits of general core courses (such as: GPS 505, 510-511, 513, or 520). This is done by submitting a Candidacy form indicating the various courses or areas of study that will constitute your degree program. This evaluation will emphasize both the academic and personal characteristics consistent with the requirements of a professional psychologist. In the event that deficiencies are identified, students will be notified in writing, and a meeting will be set with the Director to discuss the faculty’s decision. Whenever possible, a plan will be developed with the student to address the difficulties. However, in some cases students may be asked to leave the program at this juncture.

Internship

The internship is designed to give students a well-supervised, intensive, first-hand experience functioning as a professional psychologist. The course will be graded on a Pass-Fail basis and will be determined by the instructor in consultation with the clinical internship supervisor.

This is a two-semester (nine-month) experience consisting of two components: first, it requires a minimum of two days per week of clinical practice as a psychology intern under the supervision of a licensed psychologist; second, it requires attendance at a course that meets one night per week each semester.

In the internship, the student will have the opportunity to gain experience in assessment and clinical intervention in a setting that brings him/her in contact with a wide variety of clients and other mental health professionals. Involvement in administration, mental health consultation, and applied research is encouraged but not required of interns.

The Graduate Program in Clinical Psychology actively develops suitable internship placements and welcomes student initiative in developing experiences that satisfy the requirements. Such internships need to be discussed in advance with the Director. To date, students have been placed at community mental health centers, college counseling services, residential treatment facilities for adolescents, Fletcher Allen Health Care, public school systems, and other hospitals.

Major Paper/Thesis/Case-Study

Students must elect one of these three options. The students enroll in GPS 689, Research Seminar, and will receive guidelines for completing this project from the Instructor.

Major Paper

The major paper is an in-depth critical review of the theoretical, empirical, and clinical literature relevant to some issue or question in the field of clinical psychology and is a three-credit undertaking through registration in GPS 689 Research Seminar in the fall. Through the major paper, the student demonstrates his/her command of the conceptual and methodological bases of clinical psychology, and the ability to communicate the same at a professional level. Length will vary with the topic, but it may be expected to run between forty to sixty pages and written to conform to the format guidelines in the APA Publication Manual. Emphasis should be on the student’s own analysis, synthesis, integration, and reasoned evaluation of literature. Articles in Psychological Bulletin serve as a model for this type of paper. One might expect to work six to eight months on this requirement.

The major paper is to be carried out under the direction of the Research Seminar instructor. In addition to the instructor, two others (full- or part-time faculty or internship supervisors) are selected to serve on the committee to review the paper and conduct an oral examination. After the oral defense, the student is required to submit four copies of the Major Paper to be bound, two of which will be placed in the Saint Michael’s library collection, one for the program, and a personal copy for the student.

Thesis

The master’s thesis is an original effort that demonstrates the student’s ability to contribute to the empirical knowledge base of clinical psychology. Research may be experimental, qualitative, correlational, or an applied demonstration project with appropriate evaluation methods. The student is expected to produce a written work that is up to or exceeds the standard of research in the particular area in question. It is anticipated that work on the thesis will span a twelve- to fifteen-month period. Length of the thesis depends greatly on the topic but it typically runs from thirty-five to fifty pages and written to conform to the format guidelines in the APA Publication Manual.

The thesis is to be carried out under the direction of an advisor in consultation with the Research Seminar instructor, who will both be a part of the committee. The advisor should be a program faculty member who has an interest in the specific topic of the thesis. The advisor and student then recruit one additional member of the thesis committee from among the full-time or part-time faculty, or field supervisors.

The student will formulate a specific research hypothesis and methodology, and present a written proposal for the thesis to the committee. The committee will meet at least once to approve the thesis proposal, which is required in order to proceed with the study.

Once the chair has approved the completed thesis the committee will meet again to conduct the oral examination on the thesis. The student is required to submit four copies of the thesis to be bound, two of which will be placed in the Saint Michael’s library collection, one for the program, and a personal copy for the student.

Case-Study

The project begins with a student choosing a case from their clinical work (of most any kind) where the student has had a minimum of ten hours of direct contact with the clinical situation of interest (there may be many more than ten hours in some cases.) A qualified clinician (though not necessarily a psychologist) must supervise the work. Given that the case may not be identified until well into the internship experience, it is likely that completion of this option will span a twelve- to fifteen-month period. Length of the case-study varies, but is generally between fifty to seventy-five pages and written to conform to the format guidelines in the APA Publication Manual.

The write-up will include: (1) a detailed description of the case, the process of working with the client(s), and the clinical outcome; (2) analytical literature review of similar published cases or clinical theory relevant to this case; (3) a discussion of at least one theoretical/philosophical/empirical dilemma that arose in the actual clinical work; (4) critique of the clinical work actually done and how it might have been improved upon or broadened given the research discovered in the process of writing the case-study.

As with a thesis, a primary advisor is recruited who has an interest in the specific kind of case being discussed and who is a member of the program faculty. A committee of three faculty members is formed (the clinical supervisor of the case may replace one faculty member).

The goal is for the student to use this writing project as an opportunity to move their own thinking on clinical work to a higher level, and to hopefully contribute to moving the discipline’s understanding of clinical practice along as well. Wherever possible it is hoped that students will write about cases in areas where there have been few published cases, or cases that do not fit the textbook mold for assessment, diagnosis, treatment, or consultation. In other words, the goal of the case-study is to contribute to the knowledge base of the profession just as it is in the major paper or thesis option.

Once the chair has approved the completed case-study the committee will meet again to conduct the oral examination on the case-study. The student is required to submit four copies of the case-study to be bound, two of which will be placed in the Saint Michael’s library collection, one for the program, and a personal copy for the student.