Note: All Clinical Science students must carry APAIT Student Liability Insurance while conducting clinical work while in residence (therapy, assessments, community work both in the Clinic and while on any Externship assignments). Students apply for this insurance (http://www.apait.org/apait/) at the beginning of the first semester upon arrival in the program and renew it annually. The Clinical Science Program reimburses the cost of the coverage for clinical work conducted in the Psychology Clinic. Copies of the policy must be on file in the Clinic Office. See Johanna for further instructions.

8. Introduction to Clinical Methods (1 unit).
In the Spring semester or summer of Year 1, students enroll in Intervention: Introduction to Clinical Methods (Psy 237H). This workshop-style course focuses on Psychology Clinic policies and procedures and introduces students to clinical supervisory staff.  It includes training in conducting telephone consultations and initial consultations with clients through role playing a variety of interview and therapy scenarios.

9. Specialty Clinics (3 units).
Each year two or more Specialty Clinics are offered. Each Specialty Clinic (Psy 236) defines a clinical population, intervention issue, or community context to be served that year. The Specialty Clinic is a course in which the topic of interest is studied by reviewing the empirical literature, defining and developing an intervention/consultation, marketing and delivering the intervention/consultation, and evaluating the effectiveness of the intervention/consultation. Each Specialty Clinic includes supervision (Psy 237G). Students are required to take one Specialty Clinic in Year 2 and one Specialty Clinic in Year 3.

10. Intern Staff Meeting (1 unit per semester)
Each week all students working in the Psychology Clinic meet for one hour to discuss Clinic policies and procedures, such as documentation and record-keeping, ethical standards of clinical care, HIPAA regulations, and telephone intake responsibilities. (Psy 237E).

11. Clinical Assessments
Students are required to complete 2 assessments between Years 2 and 4 through the Psychology Clinic. If an Assessment Specialty Clinic is offered, this may take the place of some or all this requirement. Students may also complete the Clinical Assessment requirement at an external placement if such a placement is approved by the Clinical Science Program Faculty.

12. Clinical Science Program Colloquia Series (1 unit per semester).
All students in residence are required to attend clinical science colloquia (Psy 239) every semester they are registered in the program. In these colloquia, students, faculty, and guest speakers present material of concern to the field. The Clinical Science Program Colloquia will meet 4 times each semester. Students are also encouraged to attend colloquia offered by other areas of the Department and campus community.

13. Breadth Courses
We are in the process of reviewing our current breadth requirements to make sure that they are in compliance with the Guidelines and Principles of our accrediting body, the American Psychological Association (APA). We will be discussing with faculty and students the best way to meet these requirements during the Fall 2011 semester and should have a new policy in place by the end of that semester.

APA requires that clinical psychology/clinical science programs cover the following areas:

A. Biological aspects of behavior
B. Cognitive and affective aspects of behavior
C. Social aspects of behavior
D. History and systems of psychology
E. Psychological measurement
F. Research methodology
G. Techniques of data analysis
H. Individual differences in behavior
I. Human Development
J. Dysfunctional behavior or psychopathology
K. Professional standards and ethics
L. Theories and methods of assessment and diagnosis
M. Effective intervention
N. Consultation and supervision
O. Evaluating the efficacy of intervention
P. Cultural and individual diversity
Q. Attitudes essential for lifelong learning, scholarly inquiry, and professional problem-solving

With APA becoming much more insistent and less flexible about course coverage, we will be looking at the ways we meet ALL of these requirements and will be evaluating our current system of required courses and electives and changing them as needed to ensure that we are in compliance with the APA Guidelines and Principles.

14. Electives
Students are encouraged to take as many elective courses as their schedules will allow. Choice of electives should be made in consultation with the faculty advisor.

15. Diversity and Ethnic Minority Issues
The discussion of diversity and ethnic minority issues takes place in most Clinical Science Program courses. Students are encouraged to take additional courses in diversity and ethnic minority issues while enrolled in the graduate program. Those with particular interests in the field of ethnic minority mental health and in cross-cultural psychology are also encouraged to seek internship experiences and to focus their research efforts in this field.

16. Ethics and Professional Issues
Ethics and other professional issues constitute an important part of training in clinical science. These issues are discussed in a number of contexts including the Clinical Psychology Proseminar, the weekly Intern Staff Meeting, Specialty Clinics, Lab Meetings, Individual Supervision, and Clinical Science Program Colloquia.

Other Program Requirements

1. First-Year Research Proposal
At the end of the Fall semester in Year 1, students submit a brief proposal (not more than two pages) describing their second-year research project for review by the core Clinical Science Faculty. Students work closely with their faculty advisor to develop this proposal. In addition, a portion of the course time in the Clinical Psychology Proseminar will be devoted to helping students complete these proposals, and the final proposal will be turned in on the last day of class in Psy 230.

2. OMNI Conference
Students in Year 1 of the program are required to attend the monthly OMNI conferences in order to gain exposure to neuropathology, psychopathology, and live patient presentations.

3. Masters-Level Research
All students enrolled in the Clinical Science Program must complete a Masters-Level Research project regardless of having received an MA from another institution. The final version of a paper/thesis based on a research project is to be completed and approved by the end of Fall Semester of Year 3. If the pro­ject is not completed by this time, students may petition for an extension to the Director of the Program. However, students will not be considered to be in good standing until the project is completed. The paper need only be approved by the research ad­visor unless the student wishes to receive a Master's degree, in which case the thesis must be approved by the research advisor and two readers. (see Johanna for the appropriate approval form for advisor signature only).
                       
Additional paperwork is required if you wish to apply for a Master’s degree. For this application, please see the Psychology Graduate Advisor in Student Services). Students planning to file for a Master's degree should consult the Student Calendar in the Schedule of Classes for actual deadline dates. Applications for admission to candidacy are available in the Department's Student Services Office and must be submitted to the Graduate Division by the September deadline date for a December degree and the February deadline date for a May degree. Completed Master's theses must be filed no later than the respective deadlines in December or May.

Each second-year student is expected to present their Masters-Level Research Project at a special Department-wide poster session organized in mid-May. Additionally, students are required to present on their Masters-Level research project in the Clinical Science Colloquia series in the Fall of Year 3.

4. Graduate Student Instructor (GSI)
During their careers at Berkeley, Psychology graduate students are required to spend two semesters as a Graduate Student Instructor (GSI). The Department may require one of these semesters to include Psychology 1 (Introductory Psychology) or 101 (Statistics). Psychology 300 (Teaching Psychology – 2 units) is required of all graduate students in the Department. This seminar must be taken before or concurrent with first assuming GSI responsibilities. It is recommended that students take the seminar in the fall of Year 1.

5. Qualifying Examination
During Year 3, students should select a qualifying examination committee. The committee consists of at least four members: a chair (this person cannot be the student’s dissertation chair, per University regulations), two members from Psychology (usually including the student’s advisor), and one member outside the Psychology Department. Students will work with their committee members to select the three areas and written products that will serve as the basis of the Ph.D. Qualifying Examination ("orals"). This requirement is designed to recognize career-enhancing activities that have taken place during the first three years of the program. As such, the three written products that constitute the written part of the Qualifying Examination can include a number of options. Note that only one may be a clinical case or conference paper:

A. First-authored publication: First-authored scientific or clinical case publication submitted to a peer reviewed journal. Note: The substantive portion of all first- authored papers must be written after entering the program to be considered for the Qualifying Examination, even if the data were collected elsewhere. First-authored book chapters will not count towards the written requirement of the Qualifying Examination.

B. Conference presentation: First-authored written conference paper – scientific research paper or clinical case presentation presented at a conference. A first-authored poster will not count.

C. Substantive grant application: For example, an National Research Service Award (NRSA) application.

D. Review paper on area of interest.

E. Written essay exam questions provided by the committee.

The oral portion of the Qualifying Examination, a requirement of the Graduate School, must be scheduled one week after the three written products are turned in. It is expected that the Qualifying Examination will be completed by the end of Year 3 or beginning of Year 4. The Advancement to Candidacy application must be filed with the Graduate Division no later than the semester following completion of the exam.

6. Dissertation
A committee consisting of three faculty members (the faculty advisor, a member of another department or school, and one additional member of the Psychology Department faculty) must approve the dissertation proposal. Students are welcome to have additional members on the thesis advisory committee, but it is not mandatory. After approval, a three-person committee (advisor, outside member, and one additional Psychology faculty member) guides the work on the dissertation and is responsible for accepting the final dissertation.

Dissertation plans should normally be completed and approved by the beginning of Year 4 (or 5), with the dissertation completed by the end of Year 5 (or 6). Students must have their dissertation proposals approved prior to embarking on their full-time internships. More specifically, the dissertation proposal must be approved by October 1 of the year the student wishes to apply for internship.

Although dissertations can be filed with the Graduate Division before successful completion of the internship, the doctoral degree cannot be awarded until after the successful completion of the internship. Doctoral degrees are conferred twice a year, in December and May. Deadline dates appear in the Schedule of Classes.

7. Year-long Clinical Internship
A year-long, full-time internship is required of all students. Students normally submit applications in Year 4 or 5 for internships in Years 5 or 6. We encourage students to seek internship experience in APA-approved settings across the country that will further their clinical learning. Internships in non-APA approved settings require approval by the Clinical Science Program Faculty. Students must complete all required course work prior to beginning their internships and have had their dissertations approved by October 1 of the year prior to internship. Ideally, students will have their dissertations completed before the internship begins.

Additional Research
Formal and informal research training and experience begin in the first year under the supervision of the student's advisor. Research training is tailored to the needs and career plans of the individual student. For most students, the formal research requirements (i.e., Masters-level research and the dissertation) are sup­ple­mented by additional individual and collaborative research projects undertaken during their tenure in the program. Students should discuss their evolving career plans with their advisors and other mentors early and often. Research goals can then be set that are most consistent with these plans.

Additional Course Work
The graduate program in Clinical Science is designed to have a minimum number of required courses, which are augmented by elective courses. Throughout their graduate work, students are encouraged to study substantive, research, and theoretical issues in diverse areas.

Additional Clinical Work
The bulk of students’ applied clinical training takes place during Years 2 and 3. To ensure a balance between theoretical and practicum learning and to facilitate student progress in meeting the research and other program requirements, we have asked students to place a reasonable limit on clinical practicum activities. The expectation is that students are engaged in practicum activities from 12-15 hours per week during Years 2 and 3. Although caseloads are small, intensive supervision and detailed consideration of clients in Specialty Clinics are intended to give a firm base for developing the concepts and skills necessary for effective intervention. The clinical training that is provided by the program prior to the full-year internship more than meets the requirements established by the American Psychological Association.

Students who are in good standing in the program at the end of Year 3 may opt to obtain additional clinical experience in Years 4 or 5. Most typically, students to seek an off-site externship as a way of broadening their exposure to additional clinical populations, problems, and settings. These externships should require 10 hours or fewer per week.  Participating in externships that entail 11-20 hours per week requires evidence of your being in good standing in the graduate program and making good progress in your research (e.g., publications, conference presentations). All externships must be approved by the Clinical Science Program Director and the faculty mentor. Students may also elect to participate in additional assessments or an additional Specialty Clinic in the Psychology Clinic if these are thought to meet professional goals and if such opportunities are available.

The sequencing and mix of internship and externship experiences is another area of the curriculum that will be under discussion starting in the Fall, 2011 semester. We are concerned with providing our students with adequate breadth of exposure to populations, settings, and approaches consistent with their goals for research, clinical training, the year-long clinical internship, and beyond.