Training Philosophy

This two-year full time Masters program is designed to qualify students to provide mental health services in diverse settings, including but not limited to, community mental health centers, schools, hospitals, private practice, and managed care environments. Our clinical training philosophy emphasizes learning through doing. We believe theories of normal development and the development of psychopathology only come to life when clinicians work with real people with real life difficulties. For this reason, our students begin practicing within the first few weeks in the program. We also emphasize close relationships between faculty mentors and clinical trainees, which is facilitated by limiting each incoming cohort to 8 students. We feel that the best way to develop as a competent mental health clinician is for clinical trainees to work closely with their faculty supervisors, so that they can both understand themselves and their clients. Although we do not require it, we also strongly recommend that beginning therapists engage in their own individual therapy.

This training philosophy means that we very much value life experiences (including diverse life experiences and backgrounds) and clinical practice experiences when we evaluate applicants to the program. Since incoming students begin their clinical practice just weeks into the program, our program requires that incoming students have solid clinical practice experiences (either through volunteer or paid positions) to gain admission into the program.