Orientation

Our APA- and CPA-accredited Graduate Program in Clinical Psychology at the University of Victoria provides high quality training in the knowledge base and clinical skills essential to effective psychological research and practice. The program adheres to the Boulder scientist-practitioner model of clinical psychology training, providing a balanced emphasis on (1) science and research, (2) application and practice, and (3) the meaningful integration of science and practice. Our ultimate goal is to train scientist-practitioner psychologists who will contribute to the scientific knowledge base in clinical psychology and who are prepared to offer effective and ethical professional services in response to the changing needs of diverse individuals, families, groups and organizations.

The Graduate Program in Clinical Psychology strives to develop psychologists with sound knowledge and evidenced-based clinical skills:

1. To assess, diagnosis, educate and intervene with individuals, families and groups experiencing adjustment challenges and mental health concerns;
2. To offer psycho-education and prevention services to those at high risk;
3. To consult and offer program development and evaluation services to mental health professionals, organizations, and policy-makers responsible for delivering services to clients;
4. To direct, conduct, disseminate and effectively use state-of-the-art basic and applied research in the field of psychology in a manner that will advance health knowledge and health care to the benefit of individuals and society;
5. To educate students and the public about clinical psychology and related fields, while reflecting the values of evidence-based practice, caring and social responsibility, and respect for and sensitivity to cultural diversity;
6. To educate, supervise, mentor and nurture psychologists-in-training and to model the values and practices of effective and ethical psychologists;
7. To adopt a balance of leadership and collaboration in working with colleagues in psychology and other mental health fields; and,
8. To participate in continuing education, personal-professional self-reflection, and careful observation of our constantly changing context in order to ensure effective and ethical practice throughout one's professional career.

The program prepares graduate students for clinical practice, academic, and/or research careers.

General program description

To meet these high standards and goals, all of our students are trained in the social, developmental, biological and cognitive bases of human behaviour, psychological assessment, diagnosis, intervention and prevention, psychopathology, ethics and professional issues, cultural diversity, research methods and evaluation, supervision and consultation. Students combine their training in these broad areas of clinical psychology with an emphasis in (1) Clinical Neuropsychology, or (2) Clinical Lifespan Psychology. Applicants should indicate that they wish to apply to either the Clinical Neuropsychology Emphasis or the Clinical Lifespan Psychology Emphasis of our Graduate Program in Clinical Psychology.

Regardless of the emphasis chosen, all of our students benefit from the strong developmental and neuropsychological perspectives that are a longstanding and rich scholarly tradition at the University of Victoria.

Faculty

Core clinical faculty

Core clinical faculty

• Marion Ehrenberg, Ph.D., Associate Professor & Director of Clinical Training
• Catherine Costigan, Ph.D., Associate Professor
• Tony Dugbartey, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
• Mauricio Garcia-Barrera, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
• Kimberly A. Kerns, Ph.D., Associate Professor
• Lara K. Robinson, Ph.D., Clinic Coordinator
• Marsha Runtz, Ph.D., Associate Professor
• Holly Tuokko, Ph.D., Professor
• Erica Woodin, Ph.D., Assistant Professor

All members of the core clinical faculty (above) are registered psychologists in British Columbia. Complementary departmental faculty (below), particularly those in the specializations of Lifespan Development, Cognitive Psychology, and Experimental Neuropsychology, may act as research supervisors to students in the clinical program. These faculty members are currently co-supervising clinical graduate students, teaching graduate seminars, or otherwise contributing to the education of our clinical psychology graduate students. Please check with complementary faculty before listing them as possible graduate supervisors. Applicants who are admitted to the Graduate Program in Clinical Psychology with a research supervisor who is not a core clinical faculty member, such as one of the complementary faculty members listed below, will be assigned a co-supervisor who is a core clinical faculty member. This co-supervisor will be available to guide the student in matters pertaining to clinical psychology program requirements.

Complementary faculty

Complementary faculty

• Daniel Bub, Ph.D., Professor
• Bram Goldwater, Ph.D., Associate Professor
• Fred Grouzet, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
• Clay Holroyd, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
• David Hultsch, Ph.D., Lansdowne Professor
• Michael Hunter, Ph.D., Associate Professor
• Bonnie Leadbeater, Ph.D., Professor
• Stephen Lindsay, Ph.D., Professor
• Stuart MacDonald, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
• Catherine A. Mateer, Ph.D., ABPP/CN, Professor
• Ulrich Mueller, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
• Ron Skelton, Ph.D., Associate Professor
• Tim Stockwell, Ph.D., Professor
• Jim Tanaka, Ph.D., Associate Professor

Facilities

Resources available for training and research...

The Department of Psychology has a clinic on campus that provides assessment and intervention experiences with children, adolescent adults and older adults. In addition, practicum experience is available at (1) the Victoria General Hospital, with pediatric services and a Traumatic Brain Injury program for adults; (2) the Queen Alexandra Centre for Children's Health; (3) the Psychology Department of the Royal Jubilee Hospital that provides facilities for adult psychiatric care; (4) three Community Mental Health Centres that provide a broad range of services, including an outreach team serving older adults ; and (5) Forensic Psychiatric Services, offering psychological assessment and treatment services to young and adult offenders. Practicum training may also be arranged in Vancouver and other locales.

Requirements

The Admissions Committee for will review applications based on (a) background, interests, research and volunteer experience; (b) competitiveness of transcripts; (c) Graduate Record Examination scores (the verbal, quantitative & analytic sections of the General test are required; Psychology GRE score may also be submitted but is not mandatory; (d) a personal statement of field of interest; (e) a personal interview; and (f) match with individual faculty. Trainee selection is competitive. Six to eight students are selected each year from about 100 applicants. Students may enter at either the Masters or Doctoral level, although preference is given to Masters level applicants. Advancement from the Masters to the Ph.D. program is not competitive, but is dependent on demonstrating appropriate academic, research, and clinical progress. In addition to substantial coursework, successful completion of the program requires 1200 hours of supervised practicum experience, successful completion of the candidacy examinations, successful completion of a master's thesis and doctoral dissertation, and a year-long, full-term clinical internship or residency.

Selecting Undergraduate Coursework to Prepare for Graduate Training in Clinical Psychology

Psychology undergraduate courses in areas such as Adult and Children's Mental Health, Neuropsychology, and Introduction to Clinical Psychology may be helpful to you in deciding whether graduate training in clinical psychology is really for you and also to prepare you for more in-depth graduate training in those areas. These clinical psychology focused undergraduate courses, however, must be balanced with a broad background in the scientific foundations of general psychology. Most APA- and CPA-accredited graduate programs in Clinical Psychology require graduate coursework -- or sometimes allow graduate equivalency based on excellent grades (A or A+) in upper level undergraduate courses — in the following FOUR areas. For each of these four areas, we have listed EXAMPLES of 3rd or 4th year undergraduate coursework that might prepare you for this graduate course work or possibly to be counted as equivalents.

1. Biological Bases of Behaviour (e.g., Biological Psychological, Physiological Psychology, Neuropsychology)
2. Cognitive Bases of Behaviour (e.g., Learning, Memory, Cognition)
3. Social Bases of Behaviour (e.g., Social Psychology, Special Topics Courses in Social Psychology)
4. Individual Differences (e.g., Abnormal Psychology, Developmental Psychopathology)

These examples are intended to assist you in preparing for graduate training in clinical psychology. However, we are not in a position to assess individual applicants' undergraduate coverage of these four general psychology areas.

Questions

If you have questions about the program, or would like more information, please contact Paul Taylor in the Psychology Department, Dr. Marion Ehrenberg, Director of Clinical Training, or contact directly one of the core clinical faculty with whom you are interested in working. Other sources of information include:

• University of Victoria - homepage
• Graduate Admissions
• Psychology Course Offerings

Documents for Clinical students:

• Clinical Manual
• Evaluation Form
• Student Feedback