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Professor Ernest Jouriles, Department Chair
Professor: Alan Brown; Associate Professors: Robert Hampson, Renee McDonald, Thomas Ritz; Assistant Professors: Georita Frierson, Alicia Meuret, Katherine Presnell, Lorelei Simpson, Jasper Smits; Visiting Professor: David Rosenfield.
Students are expected to conduct research throughout their enrollment in the clinical psychology doctoral program. To facilitate their involvement and training in research, the program will include several “research benchmarks” that students must complete prior to graduation. Research benchmarks must be completed in accordance with the Dedman College graduate catalog.
1. First-Year Research Project. Students must participate as a co-investigator with their faculty adviser in a research project. The first-year project will culminate in a manuscript submitted for publication or presentation at a professional conference. Faculty advisers will be responsible for determining whether or not their students meet the requirement for the first-year research project.
Note: The student’s first-year research project will be part of a project that the faculty adviser is conducting. This research experience will thus provide students with exposure to a research area and help shape the skills necessary to develop hypotheses, analyze data and communicate the results.
2. SMU Research Day. Second-year Ph.D. students and beyond must present a research poster for SMU Research Day. The student does not need to be first author (Another student can first-author the poster.). For first-year students, this research day presentation requirement is optional.
3. Thesis. By the end of their third year in the program (August 31), students will be expected to complete an empirical research project that will comprise their thesis. Students must complete an oral defense of a thesis proposal (prior to initiating thesis research) to a thesis committee consisting of three faculty members (with at least two of these committee members being tenured or tenure-track faculty from SMU’s department of psychology). The final thesis will be in the form of a manuscript (authored by the student) suitable for submission to a professional journal. Students must complete an oral defense of the completed manuscript to their thesis committee.
Note: The thesis will culminate in a manuscript submitted for publication or presentation at a professional conference. The publication or presentation of this research will most likely be done in conjunction with the faculty adviser. The thesis must be different from the first-year project.
4. Presentation of Research at a Professional Conference or Publication of Research in a Professional Journal. By the end of their third year (August 31), students will be expected, in conjunction with their faculty adviser, to present their research at a professional conference or have their research published in a professional journal. This needs to be research completed while they were a student in the clinical psychology doctoral program. Acceptance at one of these venues constitutes mastery of at least a portion of the fundamental conceptual and methodological knowledge in the student’s area of research interest.
5. Review Article. To demonstrate in-depth knowledge of their research area and to demonstrate their capability to interpret and synthesize theories and data, students will write a review article in the tradition of a Psychological Bulletin article. The final version of this review article will be completed by the end of their third year (August 31), with the first draft completed by May 31. Students are encouraged to consult articles by Bem (1995), Psychological Bulletin, 18, 172-177 on “Writing a Review Article for Psychological Bulletin and Maxwell & Cole (1995), Psychological Bulletin, 118, 193-198 on “Tips for Writing (and Reading) Methodological Articles.”
Students must form a committee to approve the review article. The committee must consist of at least two faculty members (with one being the student’s faculty adviser).
Students should submit an outline (no more than 10 pages) to the committee detailing the purpose and content of the review. Students may work closely with their faculty adviser in generating the detailed outline, which should then be presented to the review committee. Following the defense of the outline, the rest of the review article must be completed without faculty editing. Students and their faculty adviser should discuss the nature and conceptualization of the article at length, but, once writing has begun, there is no further faculty editing.
The review article should be submitted to the committee in manuscript form (authored by the student). The student should receive written feedback from the committee members about the review (in a form similar to a review of a manuscript submitted for publication). The faculty adviser will coordinate the review process. If it is deemed appropriate, the review article may serve as the basis for the introduction to the student’s dissertation.
Candidacy requirements consist of completion of the five research benchmarks (first-year research project, research day, thesis, presentation of research at a national conference or publication of research in a professional journal and review article). Students must also complete the core clinical courses to qualify for advancement to candidacy (Clinical Research Methods, Seminar in Adult Psychopathology, Theories and Methods of Psychotherapy, Psychological Assessment and Ethics in Psychology). Advancement to candidacy is necessary for students to initiate dissertation research and to apply for an internship. Students are required to complete their candidacy requirements by the end of their third year (August 31) in the program. An extension of one year may be granted by the dean upon submission of a petition endorsed by the department.
6. Dissertation The dissertation is comprised of an original empirical research project with the potential to contribute to the knowledge base in the area of clinical psychology.
Before approval to begin the dissertation, students must propose the project formally to the dissertation committee. The dissertation committee shall consist of (1) the faculty adviser, who will serve as chair, (2) at least two other tenured or tenure-track faculty from the department of psychology and (3) at least one external reviewer who is either a faculty member outside of the department of psychology, or with the approval of the department chair and the graduate dean, a scholar not associated with SMU. The faculty adviser must be a tenured or tenure-track faculty member.
Successful completion of the dissertation will be determined by an oral defense before the student’s dissertation committee.
Note: Students are required to obtain approval from the SMU IRB prior to initiating any research.
PSYC 6091-6098. Integrated Practicum Seminar.
PSYC 6191 – Psyc 6198. Clinical Practicum. (eight one-hour credits)
PSYC 6305. Quantitative Methods I.
PSYC 6307. Quantitative Methods II.
PSYC 6310. History and Systems of Psychology.
PSYC 6311. Seminar in Social and Personality Psychology.
PSYC 6312. Seminar in Developmental Psychology.
PSYC 6314. Seminar in Adult Psychopathology.
PSYC 6316. Seminar in Cognitive Psychology.
PSYC 6317. Seminar in Physiological Psychology.
PSYC 6324. Clinical Research Methods.
PSYC 6351. Theories and Methods of Psychotherapy.
PSYC 6353. Psychological Assessment.
PSYC 6355. Methods of Psychotherapy/Assessment. (summer lab)
PSYC 6357. Interviewing Skills.
PSYC 6360. Ethics in Psychology.
PSYC 6398. Thesis.
PSYC 8396. Dissertation.
PSYC 8111. Internship I.
PSYC 8112. Internship II.
These courses can be taken from psychology department courses at the 6000 level or above. Courses from other departments or schools can be taken with approval of the director of graduate studies.
Students will participate in practicum training beginning in their second year. Purposes of clinical practica are to:
In order to be in good standing in the Ph.D. program, each student is expected to obtain a B grade or better in each course. A course with a grade of C must be retaken. Two or more courses with a grade of C may result in dismissal.
Each student’s performance will be reviewed each year, assessing performance in research, clinical skills and assigned duties.
6091-6098 Integrated Practicum Seminar. All Ph.D. students enrolled in clinical practica participate in the seminar, which provides an integrated approach to diagnosis, interventions and assessment.
6191-6198. Clinical Practicum Credit. (Ph.D. students)
6305. Quantitative Methods I. Introduction to basic statistical procedures used for experimental research, including descriptive statistics, hypothesis testing, analysis of variance and nonparametric tests. Special emphasis is placed on understanding the theoretical basis underlying the statistical tests, as well as the use of packaged statistical programs.
6307. Quantitative Methods II. The application of multivariate statistical techniques to the analysis of psychological data. The techniques covered will vary, but may include multiple regression, multivariate multiple regression, logistic regression, ANCOVA, MANCOVA and mediation analysis.
6309. Seminar in Health Psychology. Current theories and research in health psychology.
6310. History and Systems in Psychology. Review of major historical and theoretical models and trends in the field of psychology.
6311. Seminar in Social Psychology. Current theories and research on the social influences of behavior.
6312. Seminar in Developmental Psychology. Current theories and research in developmental psychology.
6314. Seminar in Adult Psychopathology. Examines concepts, theory and empirical research regarding the nature, course and classification of adult psychopathology. Examines topics from a variety of perspectives, including issues of culture and diversity.
6316. Seminar in Cognitive Psychology. An in-depth examination of selected topics in the general areas of human learning, memory, thinking and related experiences.
6317. Seminar in Physiological Psychology. An integrative overview of the field of psychophysiology of the somatic and autonomic nervous system for the study of psychological processes in health and disease. Includes hands-on experience with measurement techniques.
6318. Seminar in Sensation and Perception. Physical stimuli, physiological receptors and psychological processes involved in extracting information from the physical world.
6322. Scientific Psychology Issues II. Advanced topics in analytic techniques for psychological data. Topics vary and may include longitudinal data analysis, HLM (MLM), survival analysis and/or structural equation modeling.
6324. Clinical Research Issues and Methods. A basic background in the tactics of research design. Focuses on nonstatistical issues such as external validity, internal validity and how to apply such knowledge.
6325. Psychological Research Methods and Assessment with Hispanic Populations. Methodological issues involved in conducting Hispanic-targeted research and assessment, such as ethnic identification, linguistic issues, sampling, instrument design, data collection, analysis and data interpretation.
6334. Seminar in Developmental Psychopathology. Advanced seminar examining theories and data on psychopathology in childhood and adolescence.
6340. Psychobiology of Emotion. An empirically-based foundation in the psychobiological processes involved in human emotion, including anger, fear, anxiety and depression. This knowledge will serve as an important foundation underlying interventions for clinically elevated levels of these emotions.
6351. Theories and Methods of Psychotherapy. Discussion of research concerning the efficacy and effectiveness of psychological treatments for adult psychopathology. Discussion about and training in the major theoretical methods of psychotherapy. Ethics of individual psychotherapy. Discussion regarding cultural variations in treatment.
6352. Theories and Methods of Group Psychotherapy. Discussion and major theoretical perspectives and training in techniques in group psychotherapy. Ethics of group psychotherapy.
6353. Integrative Psychological Assessment. Application of psychological methods to the study of the individual, rationale of test construction and interpretation, problems in the prediction of human behavior, and theory and practice in psychological assessment techniques to measure personality and behavior. Focuses on the integration of diverse sources of data to better inform psychodiagnostic decision making.
6354. Assessment Practicum. On-campus supervised experience in administration, scoring, interpretation and reporting of cognitive, achievement and objective personality measures for adults and children.
6355. Methods of Psychotherapy/Assessment. A summer lab course preparing students for interviewing and assessment skills prior to their off-campus practicum. This course also covers cultural differences in the delivery of services.
6356. Theories and Methods of Couple Therapy. Introduction to theories of couple relationships, theory and practice of empirically supported couple therapies and special topics in couple therapy, including ethics and diversity. Includes research in these areas.
6357. Seminar in Interviewing Skills. Students will be taught through didactic and experiential methods techniques and methods of client interviewing, basic supportive counseling skills, the importance of understanding multicultural issues and effective communication and planning of therapy sessions.
6358. Multicultural Diversity. Focuses on appreciation for cultural, ethnic, religious and sexual-orientation group differences while emphasizing mental health and counseling service delivery.
6360. Ethics in Psychology. Reviews the current ethical code of conduct followed by professional psychologists. Ethical principles will be discussed in terms of their legal, social and philosophical relevance.
6362, 7361, 7362. Advanced Special Topics.
6371, 6372. Research in Psychology. Supervised individual empirical research on selected problems. A research proposal must be submitted to and approved by the instructor before admission.
6398. Thesis.
7171. Research.
7172. Research.
7271. Research.
7272. Research.
7371. Research.
7372. Research.
8396, 8397. Dissertation.
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