The Wright Institute

First Year

In the first year, students begin to build their knowledge base of the fundamentals of psychological science, clinical diagnosis and intervention. A first-year practicum provides an opportunity to begin integrating academic learning with practice from the very start of the program. The practicum provides a context in which courses in psychopathology, lifespan development, and biological bases of behavior are immediately relevant.

The Case Conference, Multicultural Awareness, and clinical intervention courses create a framework in which students can expand self knowledge in their professional roles and learn more about the ways in which cultural identity and world view influence their work and their clients.

Second Year

In the second year, fundamental clinical skills are expanded through a more extensive practicum experience. Students spend time working in one of the Institute's clinics or at a community agency. The Institute has a psycho- dynamically oriented clinic that has been providing mental health services to individuals for more than a quarter century and a cognitive-behaviorally oriented clinic that was started in 2006. Community agencies offer students opportunities to work in depth with clients from varied populations utilizing a variety of treatment modalities and theoretical orientations.

Students also build expertise in assessment and research methods through academic coursework. Building on knowledge and skills developed in the Research Methods sequence, students learn how to critically review the literature about clinical problems, along with methods of theoretically and empirically exploring those problems. The Research Methods sequence advances students toward becoming practitioners who understand the inter-relationships among theory, research, and practice. The third trimester of the second year prepares students for work on their dissertations.

In the second-year Case Conference, students refine their ability to conceptual- ize and present challenging cases. The Case Conference and Sociocultural Issues courses are especially useful in preparing students for the Qualifying Examination in the spring of the second year because they help students synthesize and balance the elements of the clinical endeavor. Those elements include theory, cultural and social sensitivity and an interpersonal awareness of the processes between clinician and client.

Third Year

The third year is a time for students to further integrate what they have learned and continue to refine their identities as professionals.

Students finish the Intervention sequence in their third year, completing courses in supervision and brief therapy. Students' enhanced knowledge of current treatment modalities prepares them to respond effectively to the changing demands of the American healthcare system.

The third year also offers students the chance to shape the basic Wright Institute program to suit their individual needs and interests by choosing electives that focus on areas of special interest. A broad and changing variety of courses is offered; some popular course offerings have centered on advanced courses in assessment or treatment, such as yearlong courses in neuropsychological assessment, child assessment, empirically supported treatments and object relations.

The Professional Development Seminar gives third-year students the chance to further integrate their clinical education with theoretical and practical considerations. In addition, the Seminar addresses students' tasks of taking up their professional identities through working on their dissertation proposals and preparing for their internships.

Fourth and Fifth Year

Students work to complete their dissertation in their fourth year. By mid-October of the fourth year students should have completed their dissertation proposal, and be engaged in the internship application process. Some students opt to continue gaining clinical experience by attending a non-required supplemental practicum. During the fifth year, students attend and complete their internship training. Students are able to take additional courses in their fourth year for no additional tuition. For example, students who want to emphasize assessment may take one of the two year-long advanced assessment courses (either Child Assessment or Neuropsychological Assessment) in their third year and the other in their fourth year.

Fourth-year Option

Students who are highly organized, motivated and prepared by previous background can complete the program in four years. In order to do this, the dissertation proposal will need to be completed by mid-October of the third year in order that the student be eligible to apply for a fourth year internship.

After successfully completing all coursework, the Qualifying Examination, the Dissertation, practica, and internship, students leave The Wright Institute Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology well prepared to function in the multiple roles that changing societal and healthcare structures will demand of them as practicing professionals. Wright Institute graduates are highly regarded in the professional world of the Bay Area and beyond as clinicians, supervisors, consultants, administrators, clinical researchers, and graduate-level faculty.

Structure

The curriculum is requirement based not unit based. Courses are offered sequentially within a fixed curriculum. Students are expected to take four courses each trimester. The Wright Institute uses a flat-rate tuition based on a full course load. The flat rate is paid whether a student adds an additional elective course or withdraws from a required course (click for tuition information).

Some students may be eligible to waive required coursework. Certain required courses, such as the Case Conference and Professional Development Seminar may not be waived. This is assessed on a case-by-case basis and to be eligible it must be graduate level coursework that has been completed within the last 5 years, from a regionally accredited institution, and is deemed equivalent in unit and content to a Wright Institute PsyD course. We do not place a limit on the number of courses waived; however, it is important to note that waived coursework will not result in shortening the length of the PsyD program as The Wright has a 3-year residency requirement prior to the 4th and 5th years designated for dissertation and internship requirements. Please note: evaluations of prior coursework will only be done if an applicant is admitted to our program. A copy of each course syllabus will be required for course evaluations.

Clinical Psychology Psy.D. Program of Study 2011 - 2012

* The length of the program is determined by how students choose to manage these last two program requirements.