Clinical psychology

Doctoral Degree Program

Graduate opportunities

The Clinical Psychology program in the Department of Psychology provides doctoral level training in conducting research as well as provision and evaluation of clinical services.

Our training leads to a Doctor of Philosophy degree and prepares you to work to alleviate a wide range of mental, emotional and behavioral symptoms. The program’s philosophy is best described as a student-centered scientist- practitioner model. The core values are:

• Commitment to excellence
• Genuine integration of science and practice
• Respect for the individual

The commitment to excellence requires that high standards of research and clinical practice be maintained. These high expectations enable you to be highly competitive at the national level for prominent positions in science and practice settings. We empower you to meet or exceed our expectations by providing high quality, well-supervised training in a supportive environment.

Our faculty members are active researchers and are recognized as experts in their field, earning recognitions and grants from nationally and internationally prominent organizations. For example, the quantity and quality of research conducted within our program earned high marks in a recent independent study of the American Psychological Association’s 234 accredited programs. Our program ranked:

• 14th nationally (top 6 percent) on its number of publications in the most influential assessment journals
• 6th nationally (top 3 percent) on its impact as measured by its

A second index for measuring impact, the h-Index, places the program 5th nationally.

Outstanding research opportunities

Our research courses and research teams emphasize the clinical relevance of scientific inquiry. The clinical courses and practica are grounded in theory and informed by empirical research. Incorporating needs for research excellence with individual choice, we expect you to actively participate in research with one of the department’s research advisors immediately upon entering the program. Although not bound to a formal mentorship model, we believe that a mentorship climate is conducive to close faculty-student collaboration and effective modeling of the scientist-practitioner paradigm.

The UNT Psychology Clinic offers professional services to the campus and surrounding areas while providing supervised training to our students. One of the largest training clinics in the country, the clinic includes dozens of assessment and intervention rooms with digital recording for use in supervision, training and applied clinical research.

Attending UNT

Admission requirements

Admission to the program is not determined by one criterion or quantitative measure of achievement. We assess your training needs and goals with how well you fit with the areas of research and clinical expertise among our faculty members. Motivation, aptitude and self-awareness are highly valued, as are communication skills, research skills and scientific writing skills. You must meet the specific admission requirements for the Toulouse Graduate School, which are outlined at gradschool.unt.edu. Other requirements are:

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in psychology or a related field (If you have only a bachelor’s degree, you can receive a master’s degree within the program en route to the doctoral degree.)
• Minimum 3.0 GPA on all undergraduate work or a 3.5 GPA on the last 60 undergraduate semester hours
• Minimum 3.5 GPA on all graduate semester hours if you have a master’s degree

Additional information about admission criteria and the application process is available at psychology.unt.edu using the graduate programs link.

Degree requirements

The doctoral degree program requires a minimum of 90 semester hours beyond the bachelor’s degree and includes a one-year supervised clinical internship.

The maximum amount of transfer credit for appropriate master’s degree work is 30 semester hours. Students entering with a master’s degree or equivalent may transfer a maximum of 12 semester hours beyond the master’s degree with approval of the clinical committee. This course work must have been completed in a department offering a doctoral degree in psychology.

You must also demonstrate a reading knowledge ofa foreign language or competency in a research tool subject approved by the department and the Graduate Council. Most students meet this requirement by completing research courses offered by the department.

A breakdown of the course work is:

• 12 semester hours of required general core courses
• 29 to 30 semester hours of required clinical psychology courses
• 6 semester hours of electives
• 6 semester hours of remaining graduate-level psychology courses or in a minor field outside the Department of Psychology

Remaining credits are distributed across clinical practica and research experiences.

Financial assistance

Financial assistance is available to incoming students. Information on these opportunities is available at gradschool.unt.edu or financialaid.unt.edu. In addition, you may apply for department funded teaching assistantships, research assistantships, fellowships and part-time clinical externships during your doctoral studies. The psychology department seeks to provide at least partial support for most doctoral students. Competitive scholarships are available from the graduate school and other sources. To become eligible for these awards, students are expected to enroll in 9 to 12 semester hours each regular semester.