What is the Clinical/Developmental Training Program?
The primary goal of the Clinical/Developmental training program is to provide graduate students in Psychology with training in the area of developmental psychopathology. Developmental psychopathology is concerned with the origins and progression of patterns of adaptive and maladaptive behavior across the lifespan. Training in this area is based on the following principles:
- Maladaptive functioning or disorder results from a failure to successfully negotiate developmentally-appropriate tasks.
- The behavioral difficulties resulting from a particular stressor may differ depending on when the stressor happens.
- Knowledge of normal developmental processes is essential for understanding the emergence of a disorder, associated impairments, and accumulating comorbidities over time.
- Understanding adaptation over the life course requires the integration of several scientific traditions, including developmental psychology and clinical psychology.
Integrating research and theory from both child clinical psychology and developmental psychology, developmental psychopathology requires a knowledge base in both areas and provides a framework for studying typical and atypical developmental processes.
What are the Program Requirements?
Students completing the Clinical/Developmental Psychology program will meet the requirements for both the Clinical program and the Developmental subprogram (see Table below for a complete list of program requirements). These additional requirements will generally result in an additional semester of coursework. Only the program in clinical psychology has been reviewed and approved by the APA.
For both the Master’s thesis and dissertation, Clinical/Developmental program students must complete a project that is grounded in a developmental psychopathology perspective, in theory, design, and/or analyses. Committees for these defenses must include at least one faculty with a primary appointment in the Clinical Psychology program and one faculty with a primary appointment in the Developmental Psychology program.
How do I apply for the Clinical/Developmental Training Program?
Faculty who have elected to be involved in the Clinical/Developmental Training Program are listed below as Affiliated Faculty. If you are interested in applying to work with these faculty, you will be asked to indicate whether you would like to apply for the Clinical/Developmental program on your application materials. Many graduate students who work with affiliated faculty members complete either the Clinical or the Developmental program; it is not necessary for students working with affiliated faculty to complete the Clinical/Developmental program. Incoming students who plan to complete the Clinical/Developmental program must be approved by the faculty of both programs (Clinical and Developmental).
What if I am interested in enrolling but would like additional training in the area of Developmental Psychopathology?
Interested students in either the Clinical or the Developmental program who would like an introduction to training in the area of developmental psychopathology are welcome to complete a Developmental Psychopathology Specialization. The Developmental Psychopathology Specialization involves the completion of a core set of courses in the area of developmental psychopathology. The Developmental Psychopathology Specialization is intended for students who would like to gain exposure to a developmental psychopathology perspective through coursework but do not wish to meet the additional requirements of the Clinical/Developmental Training Program.
If you are a current graduate student interested in pursuing this option, please contact Profs. Abaied, Murray-Close, and Schermerhorn for more information about this option.
Faculty
- Jamie Abaied
- Rob Althoff
- Keith Burt
- Betsy Hoza
- James Hudziak
- Masha Ivanova
- Annie Murray-Close
- David Rettew
- Alice Schermerhorn
- Tim Stickle
Program Requirements
| Department | Course Number | Course Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|---|
| PSYS | 6000 | Advanced Statistical Methods I | 3 |
| PSYS | 6005 | Advanced Statistical Methods II | 3 |
| PSYS | 6XX | Two additional developmental seminars | 6 |
| PSYS | 6900 | History of Psychology | 3 |
| PSYS | 6010 | Seminar in Psychological Research Methods | 3 |
| PSYS | 6015 OR 6020 | Analysis of Longitudinal Data OR Structural Equation Modeling | 3 |
| PSYS | 6400 | Biobehavioral Proseminar | 3 |
| PSYS | 6500 | Social Proseminar | 3 |
| PSYS | 6600 | Developmental Proseminar | 3 |
| PSYS | 6705 | Child Psychopathology | 3 |
| PSYS | 6720 | Adult Psychopathology | 3 |
| PSYS | 6710 | Child and Adolescent Psychological Assessment | 3 |
| PSYS | 6725 | Adult Psychological Assessment | 3 |
| PSYS | 6715 | Child and Adolescent Behavior Therapy | 3 |
| PSYS | 6730 | Adult Behavior Therapy | 3 |
| PSYS | 6735 | Cross-Cultural Clinical, Intervention and Research | 3 |
| PSYS | 6740 | Professional Affairs & Ethics | 3 |
| PSYS | 6220 | Advanced Clinical Practicum | 4-6 |
| PSYS | 6991 | Internship in Clinical Psychology | 0 |
| PSYS | 6391 | Master’s thesis credits | 6 |
| PSYS | 6393 | Developmental Cluster* | 0 |
| PSYS | 7491 | Ph.D. thesis credits | 20 |
| GRAD | 499 | Dissertation Defense | 0 |
| Developmental Preliminary Exam Completion | 0 | ||
| Clinical Preliminary Exam Completion | 0 |
**Clinical/Developmental students are encouraged to attend Developmental Cluster meetings throughout their time in the program but are not required to register for cluster credits.