Program Description
Forensic psychology is one of the fastest growing areas of psychology and practitioners find work in a rapidly expanding range of settings, including child welfare agencies; forensic units in state mental health facilities, jails and prisons; community mental health centers; juvenile correctional facilities; government agencies; family courts; and private practice. The Clinical Forensic Psychology Psy.D. program prepares students to apply the science and profession of psychology to issues related to law and the legal system.
Students at the Chicago Campus have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience at The Chicago School Forensic Center, which provides high-quality forensic psychological services and programming to improve the health and well-being of individuals within diverse communities. Through a range of community partnerships, the center provides students opportunities to put classroom learning into practice in real-world settings—including victim-related trauma treatment for women, adult offenders transitioning from correctional facilities into the community, job readiness preparation for adult offenders, psycho-educational training workshops for parents who have abused or neglected their children, and Parent-Child Interaction Therapy to help reduce the risk of future incidents of abuse and neglect. Students also benefit from a range of applied learning experiences rarely available at other schools, which have included providing expert witness testimony in front of practicing judges and attorneys during a realistic mock trial experience and participating in a realistic hostage negotiation simulation with real FBI agents, police officers, and SWAT team members.
The program integrates the eight core competencies informed by the educational model of the National Council of Schools and Programs of Professional Psychology (NCSPP), helping prepare students to sit for the national licensure exam in clinical psychology. Students may tailor their coursework to meet particular educational and career goals. Graduates will have a mastery of knowledge in clinical forensic psychology, enabling them to bring psychology into the legal and public policy arenas in an ethical, academically focused, and research-based manner. Upon graduation, students are qualified to sit for national licensure as a clinical psychologist and to provide a broad range of assessment and treatment services for the criminal, civil, and family court systems.
Department
Forensic Psychology
Concentrations
• Adult
• Child and Family
• Forensic Neuropsychology
• Law Enforcement
Licensure
Prepares licensure students to sit for the national licensure exam in clinical psychology
Total Credits
104
Fieldwork Requirements
Sample Courses
Family Systems and Family Treatment
Introduces students to treatment within the major models of family therapy. Primary theorists, assumptions, and techniques of each family systems model are discussed and students have the opportunity to learn through video examples of various theoretical approaches. This course focuses attention on working with multi-stressed and diverse families.
Group Processes of Therapy
Explores the key concepts of the theory and practice of group counseling with particular emphasis on group therapy in forensic settings. Various theoretical approaches are discussed along with issues such as group development, group process, group leadership, and the use of group counseling with diverse client populations.
Diversity in Forensic Psychology
Engage students in a level of self-awareness through self-reflection to identify their personal value systems, culture, and biases. In addition, students gain knowledge with regard to the worldview of others in the context of psychological, socio-political, historical, privilege/power, and economic factors that form social identity. This course specifically addresses individual and group differences across racial, ethnic, gender, age, disability, social class, sexual orientation, and religious boundaries. Attention is given to diversity-related issues within the forensic context.
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