Clinical Psychological Science Requirements

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MISSION OF THE PROGRAM

The mission of the doctoral program in Clinical Psychological Science at Stony Brook University is to train clinical scientists who are skilled researchers and clinicians and who can advance the science of psychology by assuming active roles in academic and research settings.

OVERVIEW OF CURRENT PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

To receive a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychological Science from SBU you must:

1. Complete a series of required courses and demonstrate your academic competence across the field of psychology.
2. Satisfy a series of requirements in research and scholarship, culminating in the doctoral dissertation.
3. Satisfactorily complete a minimum of 160 hours of direct supervised contact with clients.
4. Complete one full year of approved internship.
5. Adhere to the ethical guidelines of the American Psychological Association as if you were a professional psychologist.
6. Satisfy any additional general requirements set forth as degree requirements for the Psychology Department as a whole.

Clinical Psychological Science Progress Checklist

SEQUENCE OF COURSE REQUIREMENTS

The course sequence below is designed to meet accreditation guidelines and NYS Licensing requirements, and has a STEM CIP code. The median time to program completion is 5 years, followed by an internship year. Students must pass all courses with a B- or better, and they must maintain an overall GPA of 3.0. Details about summer enrollment/registration, breadth courses, internship, and coverage of diversity issues are provided at the end of this section.

First Year

Fall Semester: Total 12 Credits

 

Credits	Course	Title
3	501	Analysis of Variance and Experimental Design
0	508	Introduction to Computer Application and Statistics
2	534	Assessment: General Principles, Clinical Interviews, and Adult Psychology
2	545	Psychopathology: Conceptual Models and Internalizing Disorders
3	610	Intervention Science
2	698	Research
0	504	First Year Lectures
0	587	Clinical Science Colloquium

 

Spring Semester: Total 12 Credits

 

Credits	Course	Title
3	502	Correlation and Regression
0	508	Introduction to Computer Applications
2	602	Assessment: Personality Testing, Intellectual/Cognitive Testing, and Child Parent Assessment
2	596	Psychopathology: Externalizing and Psychotic Disorders
2	604	Intervention Practicum
2	603	Ethics and Professional Issues
1	698	Research
0	620	Human Diversity Issues in Psychology
0	587	Clinical Science Colloquium

 

Second Year

Fall Semester: Total 9 Credits

 

Credits	Course Number	Title
3	-	Multivariate Methods (Either 505, 610, or the equivalent)
2	605	Advanced Intervention Practicum
3	606	Supervised Practice (Use Supervisor’s Number)
1	698	Research
0	587	Clinical Science Colloquium

 

Spring Semester: Total 9 Credits

 

Credits	Course Number	Title
3	606	Supervised Practice (Use Supervisor’s Number)
3	-	Breadth Course
3	698	Research
0	587	Clinical Science Colloquium

 

Third Year

Fall Semester: Total 9 Credits

 

Credits	Course Number	Title
3	606	Supervised Practice
3	-	Breadth Course
3	-	Breadth Course (Can be taken in Spring)
0-3	698	Research
0	587	Clinical Science Colloquium

 

Spring Semester: Total 9 Credits

 

Credits	Course Number	Title
3	606	Supervised Practice
3-6	698	Research (Credits registered for will depend on whether a breadth course is taken this semester)
		Breadth Course (if necessary)
0	587	Clinical Science Colloquium

 

Fourth and Fifth Years

Fall Semester: Total 9 Credits

 

Credits	Course Number	Title
3	606	Supervised Practice (optional)*
6	699	Research

 

Spring Semester: Total 9 Credits

 

Credits	Course Number	Title
3	606	Supervised Practice (optional)*
6	699	Research

 

*If you will be on externship, or for some other reason not seeing clients in the Krasner Psychological Center (KPC), do not register for 3 credits of 606. If you will not be on externship, and you will be seeing clients in the KPC instead (not as part of the SBU Consortium Externship), do register for 3 credits of 606.

Internship Year

Fall Semester: Total 9 Credits

 

Credits	Course Number	Title
1	608	Internship
8	700	Dissertation Off Campus

 

Spring Semester: Total 9 Credits

 

Credits	Course Number	Title
1	608	Internship
8	700	Dissertation Off Campus

 

Summer enrollment/registration for all students:

All students MUST register for 0 credits of PSY 800 research every summer. This is to avoid loss of health insurance, student status, and authorization to be on campus.

Breadth courses:

Students must take three breadth courses in line with the departmental requirements:

(https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/psychology/_pdfs/breadth_course_pdfs/Breadth%20Course%20Rules%20Updated%20Dec-2022.pdf).

One of the breadth courses must be an advanced statistics or methodology course, typically either PSY 505 (SEM/Multivariate Statistics) or PSY 610 (Multilevel Modeling and Longitudinal Data Analysis), which should be taken as early in the program as possible.

Here is the list of departmental courses that can count as breadth courses:

https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/psychology/current_students/breadth_course_syllabi

For information about what courses will be offered in Fall and Spring during upcoming semesters, see:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1FibTDlnG4P-abf7u1ACyTjKrZc6x3T-b

SBU is part of a consortium that allows graduate students in their 2nd year and above to take graduate courses for free at some other universities in the New York metropolitan area, including Columbia and NYU (https://www.stonybrook.edu/grad/academics/consortium). These courses may count as breadth courses if they are approved by your advisor and the Director of Graduate Studies.

Internship and internship registration:

Internship is typically taken in the 6th year, although some students do so in their 5th year. Although the program has a very high match rate and, to date, all students have obtained an internship, the program cannot guarantee that all students will successfully match for an internship. Students who do not match will be assisted by the DCT and their advisor in finding a suitable alternative for the non-matched year. Every effort will be made to limit the financial burdens during the unmatched year and to develop a specific plan to assist students who go unmatched with educational, mentorship and training opportunities during the subsequent training year.

Students leaving on internship should NOT change their official address in SOLAR to be outside of NY, even if their internships are outside of NY.

International students on internship should sign up for dissertation research off-campus for Fall, Winter, and Spring, and the normal summer course for the summer. You will sign up for 0 credits for those winter and summer classes. 

Students on internship need to register for research credits the semester prior to graduation. Here are the details:

All students – both domestic and international – who are graduating in either the winter or summer semester need to carry a minimum of 1 credit (in the winter or summer semester), and this will be done by registering for 1 credit of GRD 800. A detailed explanation of this is provided below. Please review it carefully.

Note: GRD 800 is for graduating students only. No other students will register for this course.

The Graduate School will run a GTS report for all students in GRD 800, and eligible students will have one credit of tuition (and associated fees) paid.

Additional details: After advancing to candidacy and defending their dissertation proposal, to graduate

from the Clinical Psychological Science program, a student must (a) successfully defend their dissertation, (b) successfully complete their internship, and (c) submit all relevant paperwork by the relevant deadlines. Once a student completes all graduation requirements, their degree will be conferred at the next conferral date.

For the vast majority of students, the dissertation is successfully defended before or during internship, meaning that their final degree requirement is completion of the internship. Almost all internships begin in the summer and end the following summer. So, for almost all clinical students, they will complete their last degree requirement (internship) in the summer and their degree will be conferred in August. Students in this scenario would thus register for one credit of GRD 800 in the Summer when their internship is ending, for degree conferral/graduation in August. Note that these students can be hooded in the May doctoral hooding commencement ceremony.

In rare cases, a student might complete their internship prior to successfully defending their dissertation. In that case, they would graduate the semester of their successful defense—say, in December (Fall semester) or January (Winter semester), after their internship ends in July or August. Those students would Register for one credit of PSY 700 during the Fall or one credit of GRD 800 in the Winter semester (whichever one is appropriate based on when they will graduate), and their degrees would be conferred in either December or January, respectively.

It is advisable to confirm your registration with the Graduate Program Director and Administrator prior to graduation as policies change periodically.

Additional information for international student registration on internship: CPT

Students on F-1 Visas often are not able to do Curricular Practical Training (CPT) after defending their dissertations. However, for students who do defend their dissertations prior to internship, this is not an issue per Alison Eassa (Assistant Director of Visa and Immigration Services; email 3/19/24). Alison said:

“Because the internship is a year-long clinical rotation required for graduation, even though it may occur after the dissertation defense, it is acceptable [in this case to have CPT used for internship] since graduation is not possible without the year-long rotation. Furthermore, Clinical Psychology is given the exception for students to enroll in 0 credits when requesting authorization for CPT during the summer and winter session since a year-long-training is required. It's important to note that while 0 credits are allowable in this instance, enrollment is still required nonetheless.”

Note also that the clinical psychological science program has a STEM CIP code, meaning that international students may qualify for two years of employment after graduating.

REQUIRED RESEARCH AND SCHOLARLY ACHIEVEMENTS BEFORE ADVANCEMENT TO CANDIDACY

Graduate study is broadly divided into two parts. The first part is “pre-candidacy,” meaning that students are completing foundational coursework and experiences. Once students complete those benchmarks, they “advance to candidacy,” at which point they are formally a Ph.D. candidate and can begin the two remaining benchmarks (i.e., the dissertation and internship processes). This section details the pre-candidacy benchmarks.

Second Year Project

The second-year project involves designing, conducting, and writing up an empirical study which is (a) presented to the clinical students and faculty, and (b) approved by the student’s second year project committee. The committee consists of two members: the research advisor and one other faculty member with a full, research, joint, or adjunct appointment in the Department who is chosen by the student after consulting with the research advisor. At least one member of the committee must be from the core clinical faculty. Any joint or adjunct faculty member must be approved by the DCT. Students are advised to discuss the project with both committee members as early in the development of the project as possible and to confirm in writing all understandings reached. These discussions should include the substance of the project as well as the expectations of the committee members regarding a proposal (a formal proposal is not required by the program but one may be required by the committee). Upon completion of the project, the student will submit a manuscript in APA format to the committee for its approval. Approval forms may be obtained from, and must be returned to, the Psychology Graduate Office. Students are required to have the approval of both readers by the end of the last week of summer before the beginning of the Fall of the 3^rd academic year. Failure to do so will likely yield a remediation plan and possible future probation.

A l0-15 minute oral presentation of the second year project to the clinical science faculty and students is required during the fall semester of the third year in the context of the Clinical Science Area Colloquium Series. Arrangements for the second-year project presentations are made by the DCT.

Specialty Paper (Preliminary Exam)

The specialty paper is conducted in the third year of the program. Its goals are to: foster breadth of scholarship; foster continued development of independent research skills; foster manuscript development for publication; and evaluate overall readiness to advance to candidacy.

The specialties requirement should be completed by the end of the third year in the program (after the sixth semester) for a student to be on track, although it can be completed earlier. The specialties can take several forms, depending on the student’s area of graduate studies, but is typically a review or research paper suitable for submission to a refereed journal. The student should be the lead or sole author, and the paper should not yet have been submitted for publication. The paper must be presented to and defended before a committee.

For the clinical psychological science program, acceptable specialty paper forms include a review article, a meta-analysis, an empirical paper, or a grant proposal (e.g., NRSA). Other forms are possible, should be designed in collaboration with the students’ research mentor, and must be approved by the clinical psychological science program faculty. The decision about which option to choose to fulfill the specialty paper requirement should be made in collaboration with the faculty advisor and based on what will be most useful to the student’s professional development. The advisor is expected to play an active role in helping the student choose a topic area, selecting a target journal for eventual submission of the paper, and reading and commenting on drafts of the paper.

The specialty paper must be proposed and defended to a committee of three people. The committee must include at least two faculty members from the clinical science program (the mentor and another member) and may include one or more members from outside the University or program.

Committee members are selected by the student in consultation with their advisor. The proposal of the specialty paper must be approved by the committee, and it is the student’s and committee’s choice as to whether they meet as a group to facilitate this process.

Once the specialty paper is completed, the paper must be defended during a 1-hour oral defense conducted by the committee. During the oral defense, the committee will question the student about the paper and related topics. The questions will generally be broad and require the student to place the topic and findings in a broader context, discuss the topic from alternative theoretical perspectives, and comment on the implications of the findings for the broader field. The student’s performance must be evaluated as satisfactory by the specialty committee members.

Specialty paper committee approval and completion forms must be obtained from, and submitted to, the Psychology Graduate Office. The committee must be approved by the Graduate Office and the Graduate School prior to the specialties defense. The clinical science faculty, at its discretion, may allow a student who fails to satisfactorily complete the written and/or the oral portion of the specialty paper the opportunity to resubmit the written paper and/or retake the oral defense.

Supervised Direct Instruction (SDI)

The Department requires that all graduate students complete two semesters of Supervised Direct Instruction (SDI), which involves taking responsibility for preparing and teaching several classes of an undergraduate or graduate course under the supervision of the course instructor. One of the SDIs must include PSY 310 Research Methods. Students who have completed at least one SDI and taken the departmental seminar in teaching generally have the opportunity to teach their own undergraduate course if they desire (typically during the summer or winter sessions).

REQUIRED CLINICAL TRAINING (prior to the internship): 

Orientation to Starting Clinical Work in the 2^nd Year

In the summer, immediately prior to beginning their 2^nd year, and thus before beginning seeing clients, the rising 2^nd year cohort will be required to do the following:

1. Engage in a pre-semester self-study training that focuses on anxiety disorders (basic research and translation), clinical interviewing, introduction to youth/family intervention, and cultural humility. Self-study materials will be provided in June and students are expected to have completed the self-study before the start of the semester. In addition, a number of brief meetings to discuss the materials and answer questions may be scheduled during June, July, and August.
2. Attend the KPC training and orientation. This orientation is scheduled for the first three business days of August, and all rising 2^ndyear students are required to attend in person.Students must ensure they remain local and can attend this mandatory orientation.

Supervised Practice 

All required clinical training takes place at the Krasner Psychological Center (KPC):

http://www.stonybrook.edu/krasnercenter/        

You are required to have a minimum of 160 hours of supervised practice (direct contact with clients); you are encouraged to exceed this minimum, as many internship sites are looking for more hours. All students are expected to have a minimum of 80 contact hours at the KPC during their second year, and a minimum of 80 contact hours at the KPC during the third year. You must also complete a minimum of 3 integrated reports during the second and third year.

You are advised not to undertake any psychological practice (including therapy, testing, or interviewing), paid or non-paid, unless you are supervised by a qualified supervisor and have notified and received an approval from your advisor and the DCT in advance.

Psychological Assessment/Testing Requirements and Timelines

All students must complete three integrated reports by the end of the 3^rd year.

ADVANCEMENT TO CANDIDACY

All students are expected to advance to candidacy by the beginning of their 4^th year. Students will be advanced as soon as they have completed the following requirements: (1) the second-year project (including oral presentation to the entire clinical psychological science program faculty and students); (2) the specialty examination; (3) all departmental and area course requirements; and (4) at least 160 hours of supervised practice. Students who have met all these requirements must apply to the DCT for advancement to candidacy. Being advanced to candidacy is required for forming a dissertation committee and for filing applications for an internship. In addition, you must have been advanced to candidacy for one year prior to graduation. 

INTERNSHIP

A one-year internship is required for all clinical students before they can receive their doctoral degrees. The internship can be served half‑time (20 hours per week) over two consecutive years or full‑time in one year. To facilitate success in matching to an internship, the internship application process must be conducted in close consultation with the student's advisor and approved by the DCT.

THE DOCTORAL DISSERTATION

Composition of the Doctoral Committee:

The dissertation committee consists of at least 4 people. This committee must include at least two members of the clinical science area faculty, one member from a different area of the Department, and one member from outside the Department.

The dissertation chair must be a member of the department. If the dissertation chair is not a voting member of the department, a co-chair who is a voting member must be named.

The chair of the oral defense must be a voting member of the department and may not be the dissertation chair.

Clinical Psychological Science program policy regarding the dissertation proposal and final document:

Please review the Graduate Bulletin. Note that the Graduate School does not prescribe a specific format, saying only that the dissertation "...must convey in a clear and convincing manner the results of an original and significant scholarly investigation." 

The tradition in the clinical psychological science program is that the proposal and dissertation contain a scholarly review of the student's research area and topic, including a rationale for conducting the dissertation project and method, results, and discussion sections. Alternative formats may be utilized if all committee members agree. That agreement should be reached prior to writing the proposal if the proposal format is to be "nontraditional" and certainly before the student begins writing the final document. Alternative formats that could be considered include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Proposal is in grant proposal length and format; dissertation includes both the proposal and a journal-appropriate report of the project.
• Proposal consists of Psychological Bulletin or other review paper in a related and perhaps broader area than that addressed in the dissertation project plus a method description for the proposed project; dissertation includes both the review paper and journal-appropriate report of the project.
• Proposal is in traditional format; dissertation includes both the proposal and a journal-appropriate report of the project.
• Proposal is a method description of the project; dissertation is a book or monograph length report of the project.
• Proposal and dissertation are in traditional formats, and dissertation also includes journal-appropriate report of part or all of the project.
• Proposal is in traditional format; dissertation consists of a series of journal-appropriate reports with an integrative introduction and discussion.