Program Requirements

The PsyD in Clinical Psychology degree program requires the successful completion of 98 credit hours, distributed as follows: assessment requirement, 12 credit hours; psychology foundations requirement, 15 credit hours; individual differences requirement 9 credit hours; diversity requirement, 6 credit hours; clinical interventions and psychotherapy requirement, 24 credit hours; methodology requirement, 6 credit hours; ethics and professional conduct requirement, 5 credit hours; practicum requirement, 12 credit hours; elective requirement, 6 credit hours; and Clinical Research Project requirement, 3 credit hours. Students must also complete a full-time internship or its equivalent.

Professionalization Group Requirements

The Professionalization Group, which meets on a weekly basis, will provide first-year students with important direction and assistance as they begin their education and training. Through readings and discussions led by a faculty member, students begin to develop professional identities and become familiar with current issues in clinical psychology. The groups provide a comfortable environment in which students can freely exchange concerns, questions, and issues relevant to their studies and future training and development as a clinical psychologist.

Practicum Requirements

The practicum is the first opportunity provided to students for clinical field training. During practicum training, students are given the opportunity of working under supervision with a clinical population within a mental health delivery system. Students can learn to apply their theoretical knowledge, implement and assess the efficacy of clinical techniques, and also can develop the professional attitudes important for the identity of a professional psychologist. The practicum is an essential part of clinical training, and all students are required to participate in the  practicum experience. Full-time doctoral degree program students are normally placed in practicum during their second and third years of study. Students must begin practicum when they meet the eligibility requirements.

For registration purposes, the practicum and seminar are treated as a course. The practicum/seminar carries 3 credit hours per semester and 6 credit hours per academic year. Each two semester practicum sequence (Practicum I and II; Practicum III and IV) requires a minimum of 650 hours (approximately 20 hours per week) of clinical training with a minimum of 200 hours of direct client service per semester. Students should be aware that while this is the minimum required to graduate, students are encouraged to complete more practicum hours in order to be competitive for many internship sites that may require more than the 1300 minimum hours required for graduation. Practicum usually begins in September and continues through mid-June.

Some sites require a 12-month versus an academic year commitment. A practicum may not take place in a student’s place of employment, nor is any student exempt from the practicum requirements. Students with extensive clinical backgrounds are placed in practicum sites where they have an interest and do not have previous experience. Students may not register for two practicum simultaneously nor may students repeat any practicum site for a second year, except as advanced practicum.

All students placed on practicum must be covered by professional liability insurance that is purchased through the school. This coverage in mandatory even if the student is otherwise insured. Payment for insurance coverage is made through the Student Services Department at the time of practicum registration. Doctoral  degree program students complete two training sequences focusing on assessment or psychotherapy skills, or an integration of the two. Psychological assessment should cover the comprehensive evaluation of clients, including initial intake work, diagnostic interviewing of collateral informants as indicated, appropriate psychological testing, and the development of specific clinical treatment recommendations that evolve from a case formulation of the client’s problems.

Psychotherapy skills include development of an appropriate therapeutic relationship, problem resolution, and implementation and evaluation of a treatment plan. In keeping with the broad based approach of the Texas Shool of Professional Psychology at Argosy University, Dallas degree program, it is expected that during the course of the year students will experience diversity in the kinds of clients seen, in the clinical interventions used, and in exposure to multidisciplinary input in the delivery of mental health services.

Practicum Seminar Requirement

All students enrolled in practicum must also be concurrently enrolled in a practicum seminar. The seminar meets weekly through the fall and spring semester. Students enrolled in a summer session practicum must also register for a practicum seminar. The seminar allows time for the student to reflect on various practicum experiences and to acquire additional skills and attitudes useful in field training and in preparation for the clinical presentation evaluation and the clinical competency examination. The specific content and emphasis of the seminar varies according to the practicum setting, the focus of the enrolled students, and the professional expertise of the faculty member.

Practicum Prerequisites

All students who enter the practicum application process must be in good academic standing, have a minimum grade point average of 3.0 on a scale of 4.0, and have completed the academic  planning which will allow for all the practicum prerequisite courses to be completed prior to the beginning of the practicum. No student may begin a practicum without being in attendance at an Argosy University campus for a minimum of two semesters. Academic warning status will not render the student ineligible for participation in the practicum experience.

Clinical Competence Comprehensive Examination Requirements

At the conclusion of three years of professional studies and training in psychology, Argosy University and the clinical psychology faculty expect that students should be prepared and able to integrate the material they have learned into a cohesive and demonstrable form, characterized by breadth, depth, refined organization, and differentiated thinking required for successful completion of the Clinical Competence Comprehensive Examination. This examination is given to:

• Assist students with conceptual development, assimilation, and application of theory, clinical experience, and research learned from a curriculum in professional studies in psychology,  into an organized, diverse, yet integrated body of knowledge.
• Identify and affirm those students who have developed this knowledge base and can apply it successfully.
• Identify students who have neither mastered nor developed this body of knowledge, and therefore cannot successfully apply it, and to assist these students with remediation in order to facilitate successful mastery.
• Evaluate the success of the teaching and curriculum of the program

Clinical Competence Comprehensive Examination Prerequisites

Students are required to complete the courses listed below before attempting the Clinical Competence Comprehensive Examination.

Clinical Competence Comprehensive Examination Requirements

All doctoral degree program students are required to complete a Clinical Competence Comprehensive Examination (COMPS). The successful passage of this examination marks the official acceptance of the matriculated student as a doctoral candidate. The examination must be passed prior to applying for internship. Intention to sit for the exam must be declared in the spring semester prior to the August testing date or summer semester prior to the January testing date. Students who do not pass the COMPS will receive information concerning their performance, as well as assistance in constructing additional experiences and instruction to help them improve on areas of deficiency. The COMPS may be retaken twice for a total of three attempts.

If a student does not pass COMPS after three attempts, the student will be dismissed from the program of study.

The Comprehensive Examination is administered over two days. On the first day, students will be provided case material including a videotape of a clinical interview. Students will be expected to accurately diagnose the case and provide a detailed case formulation from two theoretical perspectives and to determine a Treatment Plan based on one of the formulations. The formulation and questions related to the formulation allow the student an opportunity to demonstrate understanding of the theory and ability to integrate the theory with the clinical material for cogent understanding of the case. At the end of the first day, students will be provided a working diagnosis for the case.

The second day of the examination will be scheduled typically within one week of the first day. During the second day, students will have to answer questions relevant to the case they reviewed on Day One. The questions will be designed to assess students’ understanding and knowledge of the required courses, as well as their ability to apply this knowledge to case materials. The questions on the second day will encompass the areas of assessment, diversity, professional ethics, scientific inquiry, treatment efficacy, the scientific bases of psychology, psychopharmacology, lifespan development, cognitive and affective processes, and physiological psychology. The questions will be designed to assess students’ understanding and knowledge of the required courses as well as their ability to apply this knowledge to case materials.

The COMPS is graded “Pass or Fail”. Students have three opportunities to receive a passing grade on each portion of the exam. After the first failure, students will receive an informal remediation plan developed by the faculty involved in the COMPS. After two failures, students will be referred to the Student Professional Development Committee (SPDC) for a formal remediation plan. After the third failure students will be dismissed from the program.

Eligibility

Students must submit a Comprehensive Examination Request form to the Program Chair during the spring semester prior to the August testing date or summer semester prior to the January testing date semester at a date designated by the Program Chair. Students must take their comprehensive examination at their earliest eligibility and must successfully complete the exam by their fifth year of matriculation.

Clinical Research Project Requirements

The Clinical Research Project (CRP) is the final step in the more formal research training sequence. The primary training objective of the CRP process is to help students develop the skills needed to become critical consumers of the literature in psychology and understand how to apply their knowledge to their experiences in clinical practice and other roles they will assume as professional. The CRP, which students work on during their last year prior to internship, provides them with the opportunity to do an independent piece of scholarship. This scholarly project demonstrates students’ ability to:

• Articulate a clearly operationalized clinical question or set of questions.
• Critically evaluate and synthesize the relevant theoretical, clinical, and empirical (qualitative and quantitative) literature across a range of studies.
• Analyze collected data in the light of the organizing question(s) and the prevailing knowledge in the area chosen for study.
• Write a scholarly and professional evaluation informed by the literature or investigation.

By becoming competent users of the psychological literature and critical thinkers about professional issues, students ground their work in the current scientific foundations of clinical  psychology. In addition, they acquire the requisite tools to keep abreast of the evolving body of scientific and professional knowledge and thereby keep their work up to date throughout their professional careers.

Students select the type of CRP with the approval of the chairperson and the CRP committee. It should be noted students may need to seek additional training (e.g. advanced statistics or computer applications) or resources external to the school (e.g. statistical consultation, research subjects) to complete other CRP options such as an empirical project. Students will be required to develop a plan identifying training and resource needs as part of their CRP proposal.

Grading the Clinical Research Project

Registering for a CRP is like registering for a course. Student’s progress is evaluated using ratings of “Progressing” or “No Credit” (“PR” or “NC”) by the chairperson based on the work the student has completed that semester. “Credit” (“CR”) is given only when the CRP is complete.

CRPs are not graded; they are either accepted or not accepted by the CRP committee as a sufficient demonstration of scholarly prerequisite. Students must have an accepted CRP in order to fulfill the requirements for the degree and are reminded that all requirements must be fulfilled within seven years of entry into the program.

Internship Requirement

All doctoral degree program students are required to complete a Texas School of Professional Psychology at Argosy University, Dallas-approved, one-year (12-month) internship as a condition for graduation. The student must complete at least  2000 hours of internship training. This intensive and supervised contact with clients is essential for giving greater breadth and depth to the student’s overall academic experience, and is required for licensure in the state of Texas. Typically, full-time students will begin the internship during their fifth year of enrollment, depending on the student’s progress through the curriculum. Meetings held each spring provide a comprehensive overview of the policies, procedures, and requirements of the internship. The internship must be completed by the end of the seventh year after entrance to the PsyD in Clinical Psychology degree program.

Internship Prerequisites

Students must complete the following requirements to be eligible to apply for internship:

• The student must be in good academic standing (3.0 on a scale of 4.0 with no more than two grades below “B-“and not on or eligible for probation).
• The student must have successfully completed both sections of the Clinical Competence Comprehensive Examination.
• The student must have a Clinical Research Project proposal defense.
• The student must have completed both required practicum or be enrolled in the Second Year Practicum sequence.
• The Clinical Training Department must approve the proposed internship sites. All students are encouraged to obtain an APA-approved internship. Internships not APA-approved but affiliated with the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (AAPIC) are acceptable to the Texas School of Professional Psychology at Argosy University, Dallas. Any other internship program must be approved by the Clinical Training Committee upon submission of documentation of the site’s internship program and a rationale for the site’s inclusion on the student’s application list.

The following additional requirements must be met before a student may begin an internship:

• The student must have successfully completed all coursework and practicum with no grades of “Incomplete”.
• The student must have completed four semesters of CRP enrollment.
• The student must be in good academic standing (3.0 on a scale of 4.0 with no more that two grades below “B-“ and not on or eligible for probation).

Course/Credit Transfer

In addition to the institutional requirements, the Texas School of Professional Psychology at Argosy University, Dallas requires that all graduate work submitted for transfer is completed within the last five years. If coursework was  completed more than five years prior to admission, then the student must provide evidence that they have remained current with the course’s subject area (e.g. attendance of continuing education workshops, supervision). Students may only transfer a total of 30 semester credit hours into the PsyD in Clinical Psychology degree program.

Non-Transferable Courses

Students requesting to transfer Cognitive Assessment (PP 7370 ), Objective Personality Assessment (PP 7371 ) or Projective Personality Assessment (PP 7372 ) must have both an approved course that meets the course transfer requirements and must pass a competency examination.

Two or more courses may be combined to transfer one Texas School of Professional Psychology at Argosy University, Dallas course if all other conditions are met. The total number of hours of the courses submitted for transfer must meet or exceed the total number of hours for the courses being transferred.

Students wanting to transfer credit should complete a Course Transfer form for each course and submit them to the Office of the Registrar. The Office of the Registrar will do an initial review and forward the request to appropriate faculty for decision. Students will be notified of faculty decisions and approvals will be recorded on transcripts. If a request is denied, all material will be returned to the student. Students may resubmit with additional information.

Transfer of Electives

The PsyD in Clinical Psychology degree program at the Texas School of Professional Psychology at Argosy University, Dallas requires 9 credit hours of electives. One elective course (3 credit hours maximum) may be transferred from a non-Argosy University program. The course must meet all of the other transfer requirements and must have been taken in a program that is explicitly labeled as psychology. Consistent with the practitioner-scholar orientation of the PsyD in Clinical Psychology degree program, the course must include appropriate theoretical, empirical, and practical knowledge and skills. According to Argosy University policy, transfer requests must be submitted during the first academic year of the student’s enrollment.  Transfer courses from other Argosy University campuses will follow the usual transfer policy.

Writing Program

The Writing program is designed to help students master the skills of writing psychological and research reports in an accurate, informative, and professional manner. All new students have an opportunity to complete a writing assessment at the time of orientation to evaluate their writing skills and needs in the areas of organization, clarity,  and  professional writing style. Based on the results of the writing assessment, or upon faculty referral, students may be required to enroll in a tutorial in the Academic Resource Center (ARC), where they work one-on-one with an advanced student in developing their skills.

Recommended Course Sequence for the Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology Degree Program at the Texas School of Professional Psychology at Argosy University, Dallas

Student progress through the PsyD in Clinical psychology degree program at the Texas School of Professional Psychology at Argosy University, Dallas is intended to be sequential and cumulative. Certain courses are offered to first-year  students that provide a theoretical and practical foundation for courses that will follow in subsequent years. In addition, certain advanced courses require the student to have  the background of more basic courses in order to benefit fully from the course experience. Students must satisfy all stated prerequisites for a course before a registration for that course can be considered official. This catalog and registration material contains the prerequisites for any given course.