Choosing between a Clinical Psychology PhD and a Behavioral Neuroscience program can be a tough decision for those interested in pursuing a career in the field of psychology or neuroscience. Both paths offer unique opportunities and challenges that cater to different interests and career goals.
In 500 words or less, please explain your interest in the joint Ph.D. program offered between Public Policy and an Allied Discipline. Highlight how your research interests and past experiences lie at the intersection between Public Policy and the Allied Discipline and how participation in the joint program will facilitate your professional goals after receiving your degree. Each semester, students enroll in a psychology course that provides a weekly forum for presenting new research and discussing current topics. Exploring neural activity, molecular mechanisms, and complex cognitive and social behavior in preclinical animal models, the SOCIAL Neurobiology Lab aims to identify novel therapeutic targets. Their research focuses on sensitive development periods, gene-environment interactions, and neuromodulators in cerebellar pathways.
Many of the twenty clinical area faculty, along with numerous clinical psychologists from other campus departments, community clinics, and hospitals settings, contribute to clinical supervision. Clinical training experiences typically include four and a half years of part-time practicum placements in the Psychology Clinic and local agencies. The required one-year full-time internship is undertaken after the student has passed the clinical qualifying examinations and the dissertation preliminary orals.
Clinical Psychology PhD:
SARI@PSU requirement is fulfilled through 5 hours of discussion-based ethics training (in part in PSY 501), and certification of CITI course completion. 12 or more elective credits from a list of courses maintained by the Neuroscience Dual-title Committee. Given you are lucky enough to be offered a spot at one program or a few, it is time to decide if their stipend, program, research, location, etc. will be something you are happy with for at least 5 years. If you do not get any offers, it is time to decide if you want to go through this again and if so, start preparing for next year.
Modern research facilities are situated close to each other to promote interactions between laboratories, faculty, and students. The behavioral neuroscience research floor includes state-of-the-art anatomical, electrophysiological, optical imaging, neurochemical, virtual reality testing, and human physiology testing facilities, along with behavioral equipment and an AAALAC accredited animal housing facility. EduRank.org is an independent metric-based ranking of 14,131 universities from 183 countries. We utilize the world’s largest scholarly papers database with 98,302,198 scientific publications and 2,149,512,106 citations to rank universities across 246 research topics.
Most students admitted into the Ph.D. program receive a graduate assistantship for research or teaching. Students can also apply for other scholarships, fellowships, and awards based on financial need and academic merit, as well as interdisciplinary graduate training programs. Each year the Department admits 2-5 clinical graduate students, which will result in approximately 25 students being advised by our faculty at one time. As of August, 2023, our faculty advise a total of 23 students receiving clinical training, (8 males and 15 females, 6 of whom are from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups). This program is accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA) and by the Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System (PCSAS). Our program has a strong history of training based on the scientist/practitioner (Boulder) model and more recently has adopted a clinical science model of training in which the science of psychology and its clinical application are mutually interdependent and mutually evolving.
A Clinical Psychology PhD program focuses on training students to become licensed clinical psychologists who work with individuals suffering from mental health issues. This program emphasizes therapy techniques, assessment tools, and research methods to provide effective treatment to patients.
You will be trained in basic brain sciences, including neuroanatomy, behavioral research techniques, statistical analyses of data and research ethics. Advanced topics may cover topics such as behavioral endocrinology, neuroinflammation, behavioral pharmacology and psychoneuroimmunology. The behavioral neuroscience and comparative psychology specialization is committed to training the future trailblazers of scientific discovery and academic leadership. Typical due dates for clinical psychology applications are either November 15th or December 1st.
- Focus: Human behavior and mental health.
- Career options: Licensed psychologist, therapist, counselor.
- Typical coursework: Psychotherapy, clinical assessment, research methods.
Behavioral Neuroscience:
Behavioral Neuroscience programs explore the biological basis of behavior and cognition through studying the brain and nervous system. This field combines elements of psychology and biology to understand how the brain influences behavior and mental processes.
- Focus: Brain function and its impact on behavior.
- Career options: Research scientist, neuroscientist, academic professor.
- Typical coursework: Neurobiology, cognitive neuroscience, neuropsychology.
FAQs:
- Which program is right for me?
- Can I switch between programs?
Consider your interests and career goals. If you enjoy working directly with individuals and providing therapy, a Clinical Psychology PhD might be the best fit. If you are more interested in understanding the biological mechanisms behind behavior, consider a Behavioral Neuroscience program.
While it may be possible to transition between programs, it’s important to consider the differences in coursework and career paths. Speak with advisors from both fields to determine the best course of action.
