The PGSP-Stanford Consortium's academic program is taught by an outstanding faculty drawn from PGSP and the Stanford University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry. The curriculum emphasizes three years of core course work that prepares the student in evaluating research, the use of empirically supported psychological interventions, psychological assessment, ethics, the impact of diversity and culture, and psychopathology; and also includes a solid foundation of coursework in psychological science.
The training program is a full-time, five-year training program; three years of academic course work, a year for the clinical dissertation and a year for a full-time pre-doctoral internship. The nine-month academic year runs on the quarter system with only a limited number of courses offered during the summer quarter; however some clinical practica may take place during summer months.
The Consortium provides a series of academic and applied experiences via coursework and practicum placements that build upon each other over the four-year training period. The goals of these didactic and experiential trainings are to prepare students for a pre-doctoral clinical internship and a career as a clinical psychologist.
Classes
In their first year, students are introduced to foundational material, as well as introductions to professional ethics, diagnostic and intervention skills. In Learning Psychotherapy: An integrative approach (3 quarters), students are introduced to the crucial elements of psychotherapy. In Foundations of Ethics and Professional Psychological Practice students are introduced ethical and professional guidelines, laws, principles, and practices that shape professional psychology in the 21st century.
In Psychopathology Across the Life Span: Adulthood students receive an overview of theory, etiology, base rates and co-morbidities of psychopathologies included in DSM-IV-TR. Students learn to apply DSM-IV-TR in order to make differential diagnoses, use diagnostic skills during clinical interviews and writing diagnostic reports. Similarly, in Psychopathology Across the Life Span: Child and Adolescent an overview is given of child and adolescent psychological disorders and developmental psychopathology addressing issues such as ethnicity, SES and gender differences throughout.
Critical Issues and Controversies in Clinical Psychology addresses practical issues of 21st century clinical psychology including controversies about empirically supported psychotherapies, practice guidelines, randomized clinical trials, self-evaluation of practices and prescription privileges for clinical psychologists. Culturally Competent Counseling is a survey course intended to present an overview of issues related to multicultural counseling and psychology. The central focus of this course is the interface of divergent identities and cultural experiences and the development of cross-cultural competency for clinicians.
Research Methods and Statistics (3 quarters) introduces clinical research methods utilized in the field of clinical psychology. Topics include the vocabulary and concepts of commonly used statistical methods, and the practical application of statistical software programs (SPSS) to analyze data. Students learn to interpret SPSS outputs and evaluate clinical research articles, and further hone critical evaluation skills. Neurobiologic Bases of Psychiatric Disorders provides an overview of the fundamentals of neuroscience involved in understanding the neurobiological bases for psychiatric disorders.
The assessment sequence courses, Testing and Measurement, Self-Report Inventories: MMPI-2, Psychological Assessment II: Projective Techniques and Psychological Assessment III: Integrative Batteries, cover psychological assessment, validity and reliability of testing and application of test findings to treatment planning. Students learn to take an assessment-related biopsychosocial history, administer and interpret assessment measures such as the WAIS-R, MMPI-2, Rorschach, etc., and how to write a clinical report. These courses begin in the 1st year and conclude at the end of the 2nd year.
Second year classes include courses that begin to detail specific types of interventions and disorders with courses such as Foundations of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy which introduces both brief and long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy, with an emphasis on the potential contribution of empirical research to theory validation and to the identification of efficacious treatment elements. Supervision and Group Work provides an introduction to the theory and practice of group psychotherapy including an historical overview of the development of group psychotherapy, particularly as it pertains to the emergence of the various approaches to group psychotherapy as well as an introduction to the theories and practice of clinical supervision. Similarly, Foundations of Cognitive Therapy provides an introduction to the concepts and theory underlying cognitive and cognitive behavioral therapy.
The Nature and Treatment of Anxiety Disorders includes an overview of current data regarding prevalence, clinical features, comorbidities, and treatment outcome of anxiety disorders in adults. Etiology, development and maintenance of anxiety disorders from a biopsychosocial perspective is presented and specific treatment procedures are reviewed for empirically supported treatments for Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, Social and Specific Phobias, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Mood Disorders I and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Mood Disorders II emphasizes the treatment of mood disorders, including comorbid Axis I and Axis II disorders, with CBT.
Behavioral Medicine details various clinical health psychology techniques for working with patients with a variety of behavioral medicine needs, including psychological factors associated cancer, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, smoking cessation, weight management or exercise, psychosomatic illness, pain management, women's reproductive health issues and genetic testing. Psychological Treatment for Substance Abuse provides a basic introduction to the pharmacology and history of alcohol and other drugs of abuse, as well as an introduction to the assessment and treatment of substance abuse.
Third year classes continue to focus students on specific interventions and clinical populations with courses such as Dialectical Behavior Therapy for the Borderline Patient: A Clinical Overview that provides a comprehensive overview of DBT including empirical evidence and applicability to Borderline Personality Disorder in adult and adolescent populations. Couple and Family Therapy covers the basic concepts of systems theory and reviews major theoretical premises of the family-systems approach to the assessment and treatment of couples and families, family systems interviewing, assessment, and treatment planning.
The Nature and Treatment of Eating Disorders provides students with a clinical overview of Bulimia Nervosa, Anorexia Nervosa, and Binge Eating Disorder. Psychosocial and cultural risk factors for the development of eating disorders are reviewed and treatment outcome literature that guides evidence based treatment is presented.
Practicum
Students are introduced to practica in their first year, and are required to successfully complete two full years of practicum in a community setting in their 2nd and 3rd years and may elect to complete a fourth year, for additional clinical experience. During the practicum sequence, students are introduced to supervision, consultation, and clinical organizational management (See courses for more information). The PGSP-Stanford Consortium seeks to provide extensive supervised practicum experience (i.e., approximately 2000 hours prior to internship) in diverse settings. Practicum placements give students the opportunity to apply, integrate, and expand skills learned didactically.
The PGSP-Stanford Consortium draws upon a diverse number of practicum sites to provide applied experience for students. The PGSP-Stanford Consortium is primarily generalist in approach, with a greater emphasis on the treatment of adult disorders, but students have the opportunity to work in settings that provide care to adults, adolescents, children and families. For example, we have forged a relationship with Stanford University's Children's Health Council and students will receive advanced experience working with children and families and receive videotaped supervision in this setting. Other community sites allow our students the opportunity to work extensively with LGBT populations (UCSF AIDS Health Project), Multicultural populations (Richmond Area Multi Service Agency), adolescents and young adults (San Jose Job Corps, San Jose State Counseling Center), individuals with serious mental health issues (Valley Medical Hospital Inpatient, Sanford Hospital Inpatient, Santa Clara Bi-Polar Project) and with a variety of community individuals, couples, and families (Youth and Family Enrichment Services, Community Counseling and Education Agency). Our community-based practicum sites give students exposure to a range of theoretical orientations, including CBT, DBT, brief dynamic, family systems, and a more eclectic, multi-systemic approach. We also have the opportunity to utilize the PGSP Gronowski Clinic as an excellent training site for students.
In addition, we place many students in the Palo Alto VA Health Care System (VAPAHCS). Presently, our students are training in the Anxiety Disorders Clinic and other mental health clinics, such as the San Jose Outpatient VA Clinic and the Monterey VA Outpatient Clinic. The training model involves intensive supervision of each student, including weekly observed live, videotaped or audio taped observation and discussion with a senior psychologist. Thus, each student placed at a VA site is observed so that the supervisory feedback closely fits his/her developmental level.
Dissertation
PGSP-Stanford Consortium students are required to complete a clinical dissertation project, which is defined by faculty as demonstrative of an applied and in-depth scholarly work, that contributes to the field of professional psychology. Doctoral Projects are varied in format and content, but generally focus on applied issues in the field of clinical psychology. Third year students participate in a dissertation research seminar for two quarters that is supervised by four Stanford faculty members. The dissertation seminar is designed to assist students with their conceptualization of a feasible dissertation project that contributes to the field of psychology. Students may pursue mentors from both institutions as well as additional committee members from other institutions and the community.
The PGSP-Stanford Consortium requires that graduates complete a pre-doctoral clinical internship. The predoctoral internship gives students the opportunity to immerse themselves in a professional clinical setting and employ the targeted skills/competencies and professional problem solving on a daily basis and with diverse populations.
Upon completion of all requirements for the Psy.D.program, students will earn their degree through the Pacific Graduate School of Psychology and upon completion of the five-year training sequence will be clearly identified as having completed all requirements of the PGSP-Stanford Psy.D. Consortium.