Clinical Psychology Goals and Objectives

Objectives:

Students will attain competency in research and evaluation methods, which include: Critically evaluating and synthesizing research findings from different sources and applying these to clinical work; carrying out original research studies, including critical evaluation and use of past research findings from different sources; formulating research questions; and executing all phases of research on both the pre-dissertation research and dissertation research projects, including data gathering, application of quantitative and qualitative analysis, evaluation of limitations and significance of findings for future research and demonstration of authorship through presentation or publication of research findings in a professional venue.

Objectives:

Students will attain competency in relationship skills, including therapeutic communication, establishment and maintenance of therapeutic alliance, understanding of therapeutic processes, such as transference and countertransference, and understanding the roles of ethnicity and culture.

Students will attain competency in assessment skills, which include: Test construction; standard assessment battery administration, interpretation and report writing; identification and use of additional diagnostic assessment tools (e.g., for assessment of learning disabilities and attention deficit disorders) as indicated; assignment of appropriate DSM-IV-R diagnoses; and understanding of the impact of ethnicity, race, gender and other factors on assessment outcomes.

Students will attain competency in intervention skills, which include: The ability to create case formulations utilizing theories of etiology (e.g., psychodynamic) with knowledge of alternative theoretical explanations; the ability to integrate understanding of psychopathology with clinical/symptom presentation; the ability to apply accurate diagnoses across all DSM Axes; the ability to plan a course of treatment informed by current clinical research and accepted standards of practice; the ability to present and critically discuss clinical case material incorporating knowledge of psychotherapy process and outcome literature; and the ability to understand the contributions of race, class, culture and other factors on the course of treatment.

Students will attain competency in consultation and supervision skills, including an understanding of the role of psychologists in complex systems and an understanding of the principles and practice of consultation, education, management and supervision.

Objectives:

Students will become scholar-practitioners through attainment of competency in foundational and practice dimensions of clinical psychology. Content areas of research and practice competencies are listed above. Content areas of foundational competencies include history and systems, cognition and affect, developmental, social, and biological bases of behavior.

Objectives:

Students will attain competency in diversity, which include: The ability to function professionally in a multicultural society through self-awareness of one’s own attitudes about diversity including but not limited to age, sex, gender, race, class, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation and disability; the ability to understand clinical phenomena with reference to cultural and social context; and the ability to formulate and execute treatment with reference to diversity issues.

Students will attain competency in professional standards and ethics, which include: Knowledge and use of ethical principles in professional practice in accordance with the APA Ethical Code of Conduct and in research in accordance with NIH standards for protecting human participants; knowledge and use of legal and state regulations governing psychological practice; and the ability to reflect on oneself as a significant factor in the therapeutic relationship and to critically evaluate one’s own work and appropriately use other professionals for consultation and supervision.