LSU Department of Psychology | Clinical Psychology

The LSU Department of Psychology's Clinical Psychology Training Program (CPTP) is an APA‡ accredited program that subscribes to the “scientist-practitioner” or “Boulder” model of clinical training. Specifically, it is believed that the optimal clinical psychologist is both an accomplished clinician and a research scientist. He or she is able to assess clinical procedures in a scientific fashion, evaluate the clinical literature from a scientist's perspective, call upon relevant empirical findings and principles in the creation and/or application of clinical procedures, and, ultimately, integrate basic and applied (clinical) Psychology into a suitable and sound personal frame of reference.

Graduates of our clinical Psychology program have accepted various positions, including university professorships, teaching or practicing in medical schools, private practice, or practice in psychiatric or mental retardation hospitals and clinics.

Program Structure
The CPTP consists of three major training elements: course work, research, and clinical experience.

Clinical Practicum
Clinical practica sites include the following:

LSU Department of Psychology, Psychological Services Center

Baton Rouge Health Center & Substance Abuse Clinic

Earl K. Long Hospital, LSU Medical School Unit

Psychology Consultation Service and Internal Medicine; Pennington Biomedical Research Center

Pinecrest Developmental Center and Northshore Supports and Services Center

The Baton Rouge Clinic, AMC

The active practicum teams follow several rules:

Four years of clinical practicum are required, with a year defined as a two-semester contiguous block of clinical practicum with the same supervisor. Summer-fall and spring-summer blocks, as well as fall-spring blocks are included. At least one practicum year shall include a summer.

Each of the eight semesters requires enrollment for at least three hours of PSYC 7688-7689, Practicum in Clinical Psychology. One credit hour equals five contact hours.

Students must complete one year of practicum with a Clinical Psychology faculty member who is not the student’s major professor.

Assessment Practicum

A practicum experience linked to the assessment course sequence (Psychological Assessment I and II) is required of students taking these courses. It is essentially a laboratory for the assessment courses.

Internship

All clinical students are required to take a one-year full-time clinical Psychology internship at an APA-accredited clinical Psychology internship facility. Rare exceptions are made with approval of the clinical faculty. Under hardship conditions, a student may be permitted to take an unapproved internship that meets APA standards. The student must notify the graduate secretary when they are going on internship. Each student must complete the General Examination and the minor (if applicable) before applying to internship. Also, each student must have approval of the clinical faculty and must have a support letter from the clinical director to each internship to which he or she applies.

Number of half-time internships
2007-2008 = 0
2008-2009 = 0
2009-2010 = 0
2010-2011 = 0
2011-2012 = 0
2012-2013 = 0

Licensure Data

Approximately 65% (n = 61) have obtained licensure of the 94 graduates from years 2002-2012.
Please note that these numbers under-represent the percent who will become licensed since a year of supervision post Ph.D. is required in most states along with completion of the EPPP and an oral exam. Thus, few, if any, graduates after 2010 will have become licensed at this point.

Placement of LSU Clinical Students for Internships

2007-2008

Kennedy Krieger Institute, Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD

University of Mississippi Medical Center
Jackson, MS

University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center
Albuquerque, NM

University of Florida
Gainesville, FL

Rush University Medical Center
Chicago, IL

Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, TX

Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL

2008-2009

Wayne State University School of Medicine
Detroit, MI

Kennedy Krieger Institute, Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD

University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
Oklahoma City, OK

University of California Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA
NE

2009-2010

Kennedy Krieger Institute at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Baltimore, MD

Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, TX

University of Florida
Gainesville, FL

Brown University, Clinical Psychology Training Consortium
Providence, RI

2010-2011

University of Mississippi Medical Center/VA
Jackson, MS

VA Medical Center
Atlanta, GA

Kennedy Krieger Institute/Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Baltimore, MD

University of Florida Medical Center
Gainesville, FL

Nationwide Children's Hospital
Columbus, OH

Brown University, Alpert Medical School
Providence, RI

Brown University, VA Medical Center
Providence, RI

University of Maryland, Baltimore School of Medicine/VA
Baltimore, MD

2011-2012

Marcus Autism Center
Atlanta, GA

Duke University Medical Center
Raleigh, NC

Beth Israel/Harvard Medical School
Boston, MA

University of Florida
Gainesville, FL

Pinecrest Services Center
Pineville, LA

University of Alabama VA
Birmingham, AL

Kennedy Kreiger Institute/Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Baltimore, MD

2012-2013

University of Tennesse Helath Sciences Center/VA
Memphis, TN

Northeast Florida State Hospital
MacClenny, FL

Kennedy Krieger Institute/Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Baltimore, MD

Devereux Foundation
Philadelphia, PA

University of Florida Health Sciences Center
Gainesville, FL

Marcus Autism Center
Atlanta, GA

Brown University/ Alpert Medical School
Providence, RI

Western State Hospital
Tacoma, WA

Arkansas Medical Center
Little Rock, AR

Evaluation of Students’ Course Work
The LSU Graduate School requires that all students maintain a 3.0 GPA (“A” = 4.0) to remain enrolled. Thus, all courses are graded on a 4-point scale.

The master's thesis and doctoral dissertation are evaluated by faculty committees in the context of the written document and oral thesis and dissertation defenses.

Performance in a practicum setting is evaluated by a CPTP student's practicum supervisor. A detailed questionnaire is provided for this purpose and feedback to the student is required. Faculty performance as a practicum supervisor is also evaluated by CPTP students. These evaluations are presented to the faculty in summary form by the director of clinical training.

A general review of each student's progress in those capabilities necessary for the practice of Clinical Psychology is conducted by the Clinical Training Committee (CTC) at the end of the spring semester each year. Feedback is provided to each student by his or her advisor orally throughout the year and at the end of the Spring semester via written feedback. (See “Evaluation of Student Progress Toward Departmental Goals” below.

Each student must pass the clinical internship, as indicated by letter or form from the internship program that he or she attended.

After graduation, each student submits to the Department of Psychology information regarding the place and nature of his or her post-graduate employment. This information is used by the CPTP to evaluate the degree of success in meeting its training objectives.

Evaluation of Student Progress toward Departmental Goals
Each student will be evaluated every academic year. Both the student and the major professor will sign the evaluation form after discussing the evaluation. The evaluation will show the student’s progress as well as inform students of what their goals should be for the coming year.

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