Ph.D. in Psychology: Clinical

Wayne State's Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology offers intensive training in clinical neuropsychology and child/adolescent clinical psychology, with additional opportunities in clinical health psychology, clinical/community psychology, substance abuse/dependence and trauma psychology. Our extensive network of affiliated faculty and facilities provides research and clinical training in many other areas, including infant mental health, gerontology, rehabilitation, forensics and primary care.

Ever since its initial accreditation by the APA in 1960, the Wayne State University Ph.D. program in clinical psychology has been widely recognized as a leader in the scientist-practitioner tradition. We proudly follow that model, as we educate highly skilled psychologists who competently provide a broad range of professional services, contribute to scientific development by conducting research and disseminate knowledge effectively by educating and training others.

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Program benefits

Our students are prepared first as psychologists, second as clinical psychologists and third as clinical psychologists with specific expertise. Thus, all students receive:

• Discipline-specific knowledge about the biological, social, cognitive, affective and developmental bases of behavior, along with the history of psychology.
• Profession-wide competencies, including didactic and clinical training in psychopathology, ethics, psychological assessment and intervention across the age range and with diverse populations, and research methods and statistics.
• Clinical training at our in-house Psychology Clinic, external placements and an accredited predoctoral internship.
• Research training in faculty laboratories and sometimes at external training sites.

All of the above are conducted with substantial exposure to and training in individual and cultural diversity, ethical and legal standards and communication and interpersonal skills.

Wayne State clinical psychology graduates routinely take positions of leadership and innovation in dealing with clinical problems within the context of the individual, family and community. Our urban setting and commitment to addressing the needs of the underserved allow us to offer clinical training and research opportunities in numerous clinical settings with a wide variety of health problems across a broad spectrum of socioeconomic, ethnic and cultural populations.

About the program

Our Ph.D. program is year-round, intensive and full-time; students often spend 60+ hours per week in program-related activities. Most of our students spend five years in residence before conducting a year-long internship in their sixth year, at the end of which they graduate. Students entering with a master's degree in psychology may spend one year less in the program (i.e., four years in residence and one year on internship). Wayne State strives to ensure that all students who are making good progress are funded (a stipend plus almost all of their tuition) for the first four years and students are routinely funded in their fifth year as well.

The Clinical Psychology Graduate Student Handbook provides extensive information about our program. We invite you to review this to learn more about our program. Applicants who are made an offer of admission to our program are expected to read this handbook and endorse its content (including ethics policies) as a condition of admission.

More

• Accreditation

  As a member of the Council of University Directors of Clinical Training (CUDCP), our program adheres to CUDCP's policies and guidelines for graduate school admissions, offers and acceptance. For additional information about these policies, see the summary of CUDCP policy. More information about clinical psychology and application tips also can be found at clinicalpsychgradschool.org, offered by CUDCP.

  The Ph.D. program in clinical psychology at Wayne State University is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of the American Psychological Association through 2028. Questions related to the program's accredited status should be directed to the Commission on Accreditation:

  American Psychological Association
  Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation
  750 First Street, NE
  Washington, DC 20002-4242
  202-336-5979, apaaccred@apa.org

• Professional licensure program disclosure

  Federal regulations require Wayne State University (WSU) to publicly disclose, for each educational program designed to meet the educational requirements for a specific professional license or certification required for employment in an occupation (or advertised as meeting those requirements), information about whether program completion would meet those requirements in a state. These public disclosure requirements apply to all programs, regardless of their modality (i.e., in-person, remote/online, and hybrid programs).

  The university has determined that the curriculum of the program leading to the Ph.D. in Psychology: Clinical at Wayne State University meets the educational requirements for licensure or certification in all states except California, Hawaii, Kentucky, New Jersey, New York and Oklahoma. In these states, students might need to take one or more additional courses beyond those completed for the curriculum leading to the Ph.D. in Psychology: Clinical at Wayne State University.

  The information stated above is based on state educational requirements that were available to the program on June 24, 2024. WSU will continue to update, by program, which of its programs fully meet the requirements of other states for professional licensure and/or certification. Consequently, those students wishing to pursue licensure, who live in a state other than Michigan or those states not listed above, should consult with the licensing board in their state to determine specific requirements of the program and whether the completion of the Ph.D. in Psychology: Clinical at Wayne State University would meet those requirements.

  All current and prospective students are also encouraged to connect with the applicable professional licensure/certification boards in their respective states for additional information regarding non-educational requirements for professional licensure/certification, including, but not limited to, work experience, outside agency examinations or background clearance.

Admissions

• Selection criteria

  Admission to our clinical psychology Ph.D. program is competitive. Each year, we receive about 200 to 250 applications, interview about 35 applicants and admit about 10 to 14 applicants to obtain an incoming class of seven or eight students. Admitted applicants' undergraduate (or master's program) GPAs are always above 3.0 (and usually much higher) and they show evidence of strong language and writing skills as well as quantitative abilities (e.g., good grades in statistics or other math courses or evidence or statistical skill in their research).

  Research leaning

  Although we are a scientist-practitioner program, we're more research-oriented than many programs that follow this model; thus, experience in conducting research and interest in continuing to do so are vital and weigh heavily in admissions. Student matches with our program's philosophy and specific faculty research areas are also very important considerations. Potential applicants should consider the interests and expertise of our faculty, compare them to their own educational goals and discuss this in their personal statement as well as identify potential mentors of interest on the application portal.

  Portfolio review

  We review applicants' entire portfolio to obtain a holistic picture of their backgrounds and unique characteristics. We seek applicants who demonstrate not only strong academic, research and clinical potential but also initiative, resilience and leadership characteristics. We seek applicants who are committed to improving the lives of urban populations, including ethnic/racial minorities and the socioeconomically disadvantaged. We also encourage applications from individuals whose backgrounds are under-represented in clinical psychology.

• Fall 2025 incoming class

  We expect to recruit seven or eight new students into the clinical psychology program for fall 2025. These core clinical psychology faculty are open to recruiting new graduate students:

  • Julia Felton
  • Lisa Rapport
  • Emily Grekin
  • Paul Toro

  In addition, these faculty in other areas of the Department of Psychology are open to mentoring the research of graduate students who are in the clinical psychology program. Students working with one of these faculty have a clinical area faculty member on their mentoring team to serve as a clinical area advisor:

  • Ana Daugherty

  These clinical psychology faculty are not recruiting students:

  • Douglas Barnett
  • Mark Lumley
  • Sarah Raz
  • Valerie Simon
  • Christopher Trentacosta
  • Rheeda Walker
  • John Woodard

  Note that the GRE General Test and psychology subtest will be accepted as optional or supplementary material to your application for fall 2025 admission. You may submit one or both sets of scores for consideration if you wish. We will review all applications, with or without GRE scores.

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Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology curriculum

• Coursework

  In addition to the department's general requirements and curriculum for the Ph.D. degree, students in the clinical program must satisfy additional criteria established by the APA for accredited programs in health service psychology. Clinical program students are required to take History and Systems, at least one course in each of four discipline-specific knowledge areas, and an advanced, integrative course.

  Clinical students also complete the following series of courses:

  • Psychopathology
  • Psychological Assessment I and II
  • Research Methods in Clinical Psychology
  • Practicum in Psychological Assessment (three semesters)
  • Therapeutic Interventions I and II
  • Practicum in Therapeutic Interventions (three semesters)
  • Ethical Issues in Clinical Psychology (three one-hour seminars)
• Research training

  At a minimum, all clinical psychology graduate students complete a formal master's thesis (unless transferring in one from another graduate program) and a doctoral dissertation. Yet, our scientist-practitioner program encourages and supports students' efforts to enhance their research skills and productivity by participating in activities beyond those that are required. We have extensive collaborations with many research institutes, hospitals, schools, and community organizations as well as other faculty in the psychology department to provide students with a broad array of opportunities in research.

• Supervised clinical training

  Clinical training consists of practicum courses, internal and external practicum training, and a predoctoral internship. The internal practicum courses in assessment and psychological intervention operate as part of the Psychology Clinic, which is run by our training program. The Wayne State University Psychology Clinic is used for training purposes throughout students' graduate years. Clinical graduate students learn about the Clinic and how to conduct assessments in their first year. In their second year, they conduct a psychological assessment practicum, and in their third year, an intervention (therapy) practicum. Students often pursue advanced training in dialectical behavior therapy and other approaches and participate in supervision training in their last year on campus. Supervision is provided by our core clinical faculty (rather than outsiders), who maintain many different theoretical orientations to both assessment and intervention. The clinic serves a very ethnically diverse, socioeconomically challenged population of children, adults, couples, and families from the community.

  Students' clinical training also is greatly strengthened by a network of approximately 25 external practicum placements. Students are required to conduct at least one such externship but usually conduct at least two, usually in their third and fourth years of the program. These external placements range from one day to three days per week, and some of them pay the student a stipend directly to the student. Many of these placements are noted below. Students apply for these placements in January and usually participate in them for a year, starting in September.

  Finally, the required predoctoral internship consists of one year of full-time training in an APA-accredited internship program. Successful completion of the internship is required for the conferral of the doctoral degree.

Concentrations in clinical psychology

• Clinical neuropsychology

  Our program has long been a national leader in clinical neuropsychology training. We are affiliated with APA Division 40 (neuropsychology) and provide education that is consistent with the Houston conference guidelines for training in clinical neuropsychology. Our program collaborates with Wayne State's Institute of Gerontology and is a member of the Council of Professional Gerontology Training Programs.

  Students interested in this concentration are expected to complete courses in the biological basis of behavior, clinical neuropsychology, neuropsychological assessment and may take other courses such as neuroscience and neuroanatomy. These students receive clinical neuropsychology training at various placements in the Detroit area, such as the Rehabilitation Institute of Medicine, Ann Arbor VA, the University of Michigan Medical Center, Beaumont Hospital, Henry Ford Hospital and Children's Hospital, where they are supervised by neuropsychologists. Research related to neuropsychology is usually mentored by Drs. Lisa Rapport or John Woodard (and occasionally by Peter Lichtenberg) and for those interested in child/pediatric neuropsychology, by Dr. Sarah Raz.

• Child clinical psychology

  Our program is a member of the Clinical Child and Pediatric Psychology Training Council (CCaPPTC). Students who wish to pursue a career working with children or adolescents typically complete advanced courses in child psychopathology and various courses related to developmental psychology.

  Student research in child clinical psychology is usually mentored by Drs. Christopher Trentacosta or Valerie Simon, as well as developmental psychologists Marjorie Beeghly, Ty Partridge or Hannah Schacter.

Other training foci

• Health psychology

  Our program is a member of the Council of Clinical Health Psychology Training Programs (CCHPTP). Students who wish to pursue careers in medically-oriented settings or health-related problems typically will take Health Psychology I and II and Biological Bases of Health Psychology. These students receive clinical training (and often conduct outside research) at Beaumont Family Medicine, Henry Ford Hospital, Beaumont Pain Clinic and Wayne State Life Stress Center. Student research in health psychology is usually mentored by Dr. Mark Lumley and social health psychologist, Dr. Samuele Zilioli.

• Community psychology

  Students wishing to focus on community-based problems such as homelessness, poverty, serious mental illness and related issues will usually complete Community Psychology or Theories and Methods of Program Evaluation, as well as courses outside the department (e.g., public health). These students receive clinical training in settings such as the Michigan Forensic Center, the Wayne State Counseling and Psychological Services center and local community mental health organizations. Student research is usually mentored by Dr. Paul Toro.

• Substance abuse/dependence psychology

  Students interested in this topic usually conduct research with Dr. Emily Grekin and possibly with other departmental faculty such as social psychologists Antonia Abbey, Catalina Kopetz, or Tim Bogg. Clinical training is typically conducted at Wayne State's Tolan Park Substance Abuse Program, which usually includes clinical research opportunities. Coursework in addictions can be taken in the psychiatry department.