Program Description
The Forensic Psychology concentration, within the Clinical Psy.D. program, provides students with knowledge and skills to apply psychology in the legal system, including an understanding of mental health law, and the treatment and evaluation of offenders. Students will also be introduced to testifying as an expert witness and forensic report writing as well as other psychological and legal principles.
Those specializing in this area will be among the highest in demand for the delivery of services to correctional facilities, law enforcement agencies, courts, attorneys, and lawmakers. Organizations, administrations, and development of programs in those organizations will be enhanced by the employment of those trained in the area of forensic psychology.
The Chicago School's Clinical Psychology doctorate program in Washington, D.C., is based on a practitioner-scholar model of training, which focuses on providing students with a broad knowledge of scientific and theoretical clinical psychology principles they can apply to a variety of clinical disorders in the diverse populations they will encounter in their professional practices.
Graduates are equipped with expert knowledge in theory, research, and practice in clinical psychology—preparing them to serve as lead practitioners and/or senior administrators in both educational and clinical setting. Chicago School's Clinical Psy.D. students achieve one of the highest internship placement rates in the country and are placed at hundreds of prestigious sites throughout the country.
Students are awarded master's degrees mid-way through the program, after completing 48 semester hours of required coursework, including two semesters of practicum. Graduates of this program will be prepared to pursue positions as licensed clinical psychologists provided they pass the appropriate licensure examination and complete any state-required post-doctoral residency requirements. Outside agencies control the requirements for taking and passing certification/licensing exams and are subject to change without notice to this campus.
Department
Clincal Psychology
Concentrations
Licensure
• Qualifies graduates to sit for national licensure examinations
Total Credits
106
Fieldwork Requirements
• Year 2: 600-hour basic practicum• Year 3: 600-hour intermediate practicum• Year 4: 600-hour advanced practicum• One-year, full-time internship
Sample Courses
Violence and Risk Assessment
Provides students with the fundamental aspects of conducting violence and risk assessment evaluations and the manner in which opinions are communicated. Students gain an understanding of empirically-based risk factors and assessment tools used to conduct violence and risk evaluations, as well as management strategies employed to ameliorate risk/risk conditions. Practical exercises drawn from actual cases are used to illustrate key concepts.
Evaluation and Treatment of the Offender
Explores psychological origins and dynamics of criminal behavior from the viewpoint of psychological theories. Students discuss treatment of the different types of offender populations (antisocial personality, female offenders, sex offenders, etc.) within the criminal justice system. It also explores psychological theories related to etiology, development and prediction of violent crime, and types of intervention possible within the criminal justice setting. Topic areas include special offender populations (sex offender, offenders with developmental disabilities, or those classified as mentally retarded).
Mental Health Law
Examines mental health law as it relates to civil and criminal practice. The relationship between psychopathology and crime, the insanity defense and other issues of criminal responsibility, competency to stand trial and otherwise participate in the legal process, involuntary hospitalization, and the clinician as expert witness are explored. Case studies and court reports are used to illustrate the key concepts of this course.
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