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Welcome!

               Thank you for your interest in Radford University's Doctor of Psychology Program.  We hope the material on the various pages helps you get a sense of us and what we have to offer.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Program Director, Dr. James Werth, Jr., at the following address:

Department of Psychology
Radford University
Box 6946
Radford, VA 24142
(540) 831-6817
psyd@radford.edu or jwerth@radford.edu

Program Overview

Radford University offers a Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.) in Counseling Psychology with a focus on rural mental health and additional emphases on cultural diversity, social justice, and evidence-based practice in psychology. The Psy.D. degree in Counseling Psychology is designed for persons interested in careers as psychologists in mental health settings and institutions where clinical supervision and the direct application of counseling, therapy, and psychological assessment are required. The program follows the practitioner-scholar model with an emphasis on clinical training and the application of research to practice. Students will complete a 1,800-2,000 hour internship approved by the program faculty. Applicants must have completed a Master’s degree from a regionally accredited institution of higher education, in a human services field, where they provided face-to-face counseling services for at least a total of 60 hours, working with multiple clients, under the supervision of an appropriately credentialed professional (except under unusual circumstances), by August of the year in which they wish to enroll in the Psy.D. Program.

This Program’s first cohort of five students started in the Fall of 2008. The program is not yet accredited by the American Psychological Association; however, we expect to apply for accreditation during the 2011-2012 academic year, when the first students go on internship.

recent developments

We are excited about several recent developments associated with the Psy.D. Program. We will highlight them below and will be happy to discuss them further.

·        This Spring we were notified that the Program was accepted for listing in the 2009 edition of the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards / National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology Doctoral Programs Meeting Designation Criteria (see http://www.nationalregister.org/designate.htm for information about the Designation program). The Program’s listing can be found at http://www.nationalregister.org/designate_VA.html#MADISON   The following is the language that we can use to explain the implications of being listed as a Designated Program:

This program meets the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards / National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology "Guidelines for Defining 'Doctoral Degree in Psychology.’" Therefore, graduates of this designated program who decide to apply for licensing as a psychologist typically will meet the educational requirements for licensing. However, in each jurisdiction there are additional requirements that must be satisfied. For exact information, please contact the state or provincial licensing board in the jurisdiction in which you plan to apply. Additional information including links to jurisdictions is available on the ASPPB's web site: www.asppb.org.

Once licensed, graduates are eligible to apply for credentialing as a Health Service Provider in Psychology. Graduation from a designated program ensures that the program completed meets the educational requirements for credentialing by the National Register. However, there are additional requirements that must be satisfied prior to being credentialed by the National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology©. For further information consult the National Register's web site: www.nationalregister.org.

  • We received permission to collaborate with our colleagues in the School Psychology Ed.S. Program to develop a Center for Assessment Psychological Services in the Department. This first year the School Psychology students will be conducting assessments for the University’s Disability Resource Office and next year the third year Psy.D. students will join the School Psychology students in performing assessments.
  • We have established an arrangement with the Mental Health Association of the New River Valley where we will place our first year practicum students in their sites, including a newly established location in an underserved rural county that may become a multidisciplinary training site. More information about this is on the Program Emphases page, in the Social Justice section.
  • We have been selected to host the 2010 Southeastern Region Counseling Psychology Conference. We are working on the dates and keynote speakers and will post updates on the Events page.
  • We are finalizing the arrangements to publish an online Journal of Rural Healthcare and Culture. The Editorial Board is comprised of experts from a variety of disciplines. We hope that we can publish the first issue in the Spring of 2010.
  • The Virginia Board of Psychology will be proposing changes to the regulations pertaining to licensure that will allow practicum training that meets certain requirements to count toward licensure. Our practica will meet the proposed requirements and we project that students will earn more than the 1500 required hours. Therefore, we anticipate that our students will be able to become licensed in Virginia immediately upon graduation (after passing the national licensing exam) instead of having to work for a year to earn the 1500 hours.

 

We anticipate that all admitted students will receive graduate assistantships and will not have to pay tuition while they are enrolled full-time in classes on campus, maintain good academic standing, and receive positive assistantship evaluations.

. . .

 

As we discuss in both the Accreditation page and the first section of the FAQs page, the Radford University Psy.D. Program is not yet accredited by the American Psychological Association. If you have questions about the accreditation process for doctoral programs in psychology, you can contact the APA via the following means:

American Psychological Association
Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation / Commission on Accreditation
750 First Street, NE
Washington, DC 20002-4242
Phone: 202-336-5979
TDD/TTY: 202-336-6123
Fax: 202-336-5978
E-mail: apaaccred@apa.org
Internet Webpage: http://www.apa.org/ed/accreditation

 

http://www.radford.edu/~psyc-web/psyd/psyd2/home_page.htm

Last Updated 10/23/2009

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