Clinical Psychology

Program Overview

The Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology is a practitioner-scholar doctorate for Christian leaders whose work brings them alongside people in psychological distress. Pastors, chaplains, care directors, and educators are consulted about depression, anxiety, trauma, psychosis, and addiction long before a clinician is involved, and what they understand about those conditions determines whether their response helps, delays help, or does harm. The curriculum builds genuine psychological literacy. Students study psychopathology and the current diagnostic system, including its history, its revisions, and the serious debates about categorical diagnosis; assessment and psychometrics, covering reliability, validity, standardization, structured interviewing, and the responsible reading of a psychological report; and the major evidence-based interventions — cognitive behavioural, acceptance and commitment, dialectical behaviour, psychodynamic, and trauma-focused approaches — examined for mechanism, evidence, and fit. Professional ethics receives sustained attention: competence and its boundaries, confidentiality and its limits, informed consent, multiple relationships, and the specific hazards that arise when a caregiver holds spiritual authority as well. Multicultural and contextual factors, the integration of psychological and theological accounts of the person, and research design and program evaluation complete the work. The doctoral research project addresses a real question in the student's setting — a care protocol, a referral system, a training curriculum, an outcome study. Graduates teach psychology in Christian institutions, direct care and chaplaincy programs, consult on mental health strategy for churches and agencies, and write for church audiences that badly need accurate material.

Core Courses

• CPS 801 — Psychopathology and Diagnosis (6 credits)
• CPS 812 — Assessment and Psychometrics (6 credits)
• CPS 824 — Evidence-Based Interventions (6 credits)
• CPS 836 — Professional Ethics and Scope of Practice (6 credits)
• CPS 848 — Culture, Context, and the Person (5 credits)
• CPS 860 — Research Design and Program Evaluation (4 credits)
• CPS 899 — Doctoral Research Project in Clinical Psychology (24 credits)

Admission Requirements

• Master's degree in psychology, counseling, ministry, or a closely related field
• Prior coursework in psychological theory, human development, or research methods
• Experience in care, education, chaplaincy, or human services
• Statement of purpose naming the population and question your research will address
• Current curriculum vitae
• Official transcripts from prior institutions when available