PH.D. PROGRAM IN CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA

The Clinical Psychology Program at UND is designed to prepare students to function as scientist-practitioners in a variety of employment settings. Accordingly, emphasis is placed on the routine application of the scientific method, the acquisition of empirically-supported clinical assessment and intervention skills, and the integration of science and practice in addressing problems facing individuals, families, and communities. We encourage students to seek careers which support the application of behavioral science research in the delivery of psychological services. Although our program has the flexibility to allow students to tailor their training toward careers emphasizing either the science or practice of psychology, the faculty emphasizes the integration of science and practice (i.e., applying science to practice and practice to science) as the defining feature of our training model. Graduates are expected to manifest their scientist- practitioner identities in all aspects of their professional behavior no matter the career choices, job titles, role responsibilities, and/or daily activities that they subsequently embrace. Our program educates scholars, researchers, and clinicians who serve the people of North Dakota as well as the rest of the nation and world through our teaching, research, and application of behavioral science. Our first Ph.D. clinical psychology graduate was in 1960. The Ph.D. program in clinical psychology has been accredited by the American Psychological Association since 1969 (750 First Street, Washington, D.C. 20002, 202-336-5979).

The Clinical Psychology Program and UND is augmented by the Department's Instructional Skills Training Track which was established to increase the emphasis on training graduate students to be effective instructors. The program consists of two content courses, a supervised teaching experience, and a teaching placement. The intent is to provide experiences that develop necessary skills for effective instruction and allow the faculty to document a student's progress in obtaining these skills. The Instructional Skills Training Track provides our clinical program with a vehicle to enhance student interest and ability in teaching psychology at the college level.

Our department was selected by the American Psychological Association and subsequently mandated by federal legislation (Indian Health Care Improvement Act, 1992) to be the home of the Quentin N. Burdick American Indians in Psychology Program. As a result of this legislation, our department has developed the Indians into Psychology Doctoral Education or INPSYDE (pronounced inside) program as a vehicle for meeting the objectives of this federal initiative. Our INPSYDE program seeks to: a) increase awareness of, interest in, and motivation for training and careers in mental health among Native American students, b) build and maintain pipelines between tribal colleges and the University of North Dakota, c) recruit Native American students for undergraduate and graduate study in psychology, d) provide academic, financial, personal, and cultural support for Native American students, e) provide psychological services to under served Native American communities, and f) develop new, and enhancing current, culturally-relevant courses and field-based experiences in clinical psychology. Our INPSYDE "program" is both a funded federal project (providing opportunities for all enrolled clinical graduate students) as well as a specialized track of the clinical Ph.D. program with usually two American Indian clinical students admitted annually (9 presently in the student body).

Re-accreditation of Clinical Program

The accreditation of the Ph.D. program in clinical psychology at the University of North Dakota has been extended until 2017 by the American Psychological Association at their 2010 annual meeting in July. This reaccreditation period represents the maximum time permitted by the APA for clinical training programs and indicates that this UND Ph.D. program continues to provide quality education in the field of clinical psychology. Dr. Alan King, director of clinical psychology training at UND, indicated that the program maintains roughly 40 students in doctoral training at any point in time with a program faculty of eight clinical psychology members. The UND Ph.D. program in clinical psychology has been fully accredited since 1969 and represents one of older accredited scientist-practitioner training programs in the nation today. The program receives over 100 applications each year from prospective students around the nation with only 7 students selected for enrollment. Over the accreditation review period the student body was comprised of students from over twenty states with about half from this region. A large percentage of these clinical psychology graduates decide to remain and practice in North Dakota as licensed psychologists.

About 25% of the clinical psychology program is comprised of American Indian graduate students which makes UND the national leader in training emerging American Indian license-eligible clinical psychologists. The graduation rate among American Indian scientist-practitioner clinical psychology Ph.D. students at UND approximates that of all other similar national training programs combined. Dr. Doug McDonald is the long-term grant recipient of federal money earmarked specifically to assist UND in this American Indian recruitment and training effort with almost all of those graduates entering professional practice upon graduation in underserved reservation-based settings.

The doctoral clinical program and Department of Psychology were visited by a team of three APA site visitors on March 22nd and 23rd of this year. The quality of the program’s students, faculty, supervisors, administrators, research scholarship, training clinic, regional practicum placements, student and faculty morale, financial support, and other aspects of program functioning were evaluated closely during the two day visit. The site visit culminated in a favorable report, and a final decision was made in July by the Commission on Accreditation to reaccredit the program without the need for another site visit until 2017. This decision represented the best possible outcome for the UND Ph.D. program in clinical psychology.

Student admissions, outcomes and other data

APA accredited programs are expected to offer certain descriptive statistics associated with the admissions process and student outcomes. These and other statistics are provided in a linked document available to all interested parties.

The American Psychological Association can be contacted (750 First Street, Washington, D.C. 20002, 202-336-5979) if more information is desired regarding the accreditation status and/or requirements of this doctoral clinical training program.

Clinical Psychology Ph.D. Program Contact Information

Department of Psychology (701-777-3451)
University of North Dakota 
Post Office Box 8380 
Grand Forks, ND 58202-8380

Director of Clinical Psychology Training (alan.king@email.und.edu) 
Department Chairperson (mark.grabe@email.und.edu)