Program Objectives

The primary objective of this program is to prepare doctoral-level professional psychologists to develop, provide, supervise and evaluate high quality mental health services for citizens of the state of West Virginia. Through coursework, extensive field training and research experience, our goal is to prepare highly skilled generalists in professional psychology who are sensitive to the psychological and health-related issues confronting this area and are prepared to serve the communities in this region. The program will lead to the Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.) degree; this degree is recognized nationwide as reflecting a program with a primarily applied, professional focus. Graduates typically work in applied, service-oriented positions where they work directly with clients, as well as supervise and train other professionals.  All prospective students should be aware that successful progress through the program will require a major commitment, including enrollment for coursework during each summer of their time in the program; see also the description of Residency Requirements below. 


Psy.D. Program Model and Goals

The philosophy of the program follows a practitioner-scholar model of education and training; consequently, graduates of the program are trained as practitioners of clinical psychology as an empirically informed field.  Education and training within the program emphasize the importance of critical inquiry at all levels of clinical practice, including treatment planning for individual clients, assessment of program outcomes, and the design and execution of rigorous research.  The program is dedicated to educating students for professional practice careers; therefore, the Psy.D. degree is offered. The program faculty has set forth several pertinent goals and objectives to be obtained by students during their time in the program.  These goals and objectives are founded on the core competencies of clinical education and training stated by the National Council of Schools in Professional Psychology (NCSPP). 

The program exposes students to the following primary clinical orientations:  integrative behavioral, cognitive behavioral, and psychodynamic.  In the context of this exposure, we encourage each student to develop an orientation that is best suited to his or her style and situation.  We endeavor to support students in their development, whether they prefer to remain eclectic or choose to invest in a particular theoretical orientation.  The fact that the faculty represents a variety of orientations fits well with this model.  Although the perspectives of clinical faculty vary, they share a common mission to provide education and training that is solidly grounded empirically.  We also emphasize that multiple systemic and individual factors must be considered in developing a cooperative relationship between client and therapist that will ultimately lead to more positive life experiences for the client.  There is a sharp focus on the impacts of community and culture from a biopsychosocial model of influence on human development.  As such, the generalist orientation of the program serves as a model to students that the field of clinical psychology is as diverse as the human population it serves. 

Education and Training Goals and Objectives

1. The primary goal of the program is to provide high quality graduate education and training in clinical psychology with an emphasis on the role of empirical knowledge as it pertains to clinical practice.  As such, students will develop the specific competencies that are the foundation of the education and training model developed by NCSPP.

   Objective 1.1:  Relationship competence:  Students are expected to develop the ability to form productive partnerships with clients, peers, supervisors, faculty, and community members. 

   Objective 1.2: Assessment competence:   Students are expected to develop competency in clinical assessment as evidenced by knowledge of basic psychometric theory and sound test administration and interpretation skills.  In addition, students should be able to demonstrate the use of sound assessment methodologies that allow them to describe their client as a fully functioning person, to plan a course of intervention, and to assess intervention outcomes. 

   Objective 1.3:  Intervention competence:  Students are expected to demonstrate the ability to form a coherent, theoretically based, empirically-supported treatment plan that is refined during the course of intervention. 

   Objective 1.4:  Research and evaluation competence: Students must demonstrate the ability to conceptualize as appropriate a logical research question, frame it in terms of an operational definition, and develop a sound method for addressing the question.  Students must be able to execute the plan and analyze the quantitative and/or qualitative data in a rigorous and systematic manner.

   Objective 1.5:  Consultation and education competence:   A rural behavioral health practitioner may often find that the most important function s/he can serve is as a consultant within existing systems.  Students will demonstrate competence in distinguishing various types of consultation from direct intervention.

   Objective 1.6:  Management and supervision competence:  Students will become knowledgeable in the areas of organization and supervision of psychological services.  Students will demonstrate this knowledge in their ability to provide formal and information supervision to less experienced students.  They will also demonstrate this knowledge in their ability to function professionally in at least two different agency settings.

    Objective 1.7:   Legal and Ethical competence:  Students are expected to understand and abide by the APA Code of Ethics in all professional and academic settings.

    Objective 1.8:  Cultural/Diversity competence: Students will understand the significant impact cultural differences have on clinical practice and be able to articulate those impacts in reference to specific clinical cases.  Students will be able to identify cultural differences in an academic sense and demonstrate through program planning and service delivery that the differences are appreciated. 

2. The second goal is to ensure that the clinical training of students is thoroughly grounded in the broad scientific areas of psychology.

    Objective 2.1:  Students will demonstrate knowledge in the following broad areas of scientific psychology:  biological  aspects of behavior; cognitive and affective aspects of behavior; social aspects of behavior; history and systems of psychology; psychological measurement; research methodology; and techniques of data analysis;

    Objective 2.2:  Students will demonstrate knowledge in the following scientific, methodological, and theoretical areas of psychology:  individual differences in behavior, human development, dysfunctional behavior and analysis, and professional standards of ethics.

Program Goals and Objectives

1. The primary program goal is to enhance the scope and quality of services available in rural areas by increasing the likelihood that doctoral students graduating the program will choose to work in rural and underserved regions, particularly those regions in West Virginia. 

2. The second program goal is to promote an understanding of the impact(s) of rural culture, particularly Appalachian culture, on human behavior and behavioral health needs.