Psy.D. Clinical Psychology – New Orleans

Application to The Chicago School’s Clinical Psychology program at Xavier University of Louisiana is open to any person who has earned a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution and who meets other entrance requirements. Successful applicants typically demonstrate an undergraduate grade point average of 3.0 or higher.

Students applying to the Psy.D. Clinical Psychology program must submit the following:

• Application
• Application Fee: $50
• Resume or Curriculum Vitae
• Interview
• GRE Test Scores
• Official College/University Transcripts
  • Transcripts must reflect 18 hours of psychology credit with earned grade of C or better, including one course in Child/Human Development or Lifespan, Abnormal Psychology, and Statistics.

Send materials to:

Admissions Operations
c/o The Chicago School of Professional Psychology
203 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 1900
Chicago, IL 60601

Accreditation

The program is Accredited, Inactive by the American Psychological Association (APA) effective July 21, 2019.

Questions related to the program’s accredited status should be directed to the Commission on Accreditation:

The American Psychological Association
Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation
750 First Street, NE
Washington, D.C. 20002-4242
202.336.5979

Licensure

For information on whether a program at The Chicago School meets or does not meet licensure eligibility requirements for the state in which you wish to be licensed, please visit our licensure disclosures page.

Practicum Experience

The practicum is an integral component of clinical training. It provides a closely supervised clinical experience in which students use the knowledge obtained in the classroom to understand their clients and to develop skills in assessment, psychotherapy, and other discipline related areas. As such, the practicum serves to integrate the theoretical and practical aspects of the education of the professional psychologist. It allows students to become familiar with professional collaboration and consultation in a clinical setting.

All students are required to take six semester hours each of Basic and Intermediate Practica. The first three-semester practicum sequence is primarily devoted to training in psychological assessment. The second three-semester sequence is primarily devoted to psychotherapy.

Students are also required to take four semester hours of Advanced Practicum coursework. Advanced Practicum gives students the chance to focus more deeply on an area or population of particular interest, such as neuropsychology, children, or incarcerated persons.

Additionally, students participate in three years of organized, sequential, and well-supervised practicum experiences that increasingly expose them to the range of roles and responsibilities of a clinical psychologist.

The practicum requirements include:

Year 2: 600-hour basic practicum

Year 3: 600-hour intermediate practicum

Year 4: 600-hour advanced practicum

Internship

All students are required to complete an internship—consisting of a minimum of 2,000 hours of training over a 12 to 24-month period—following the completion of all course work, practica, and dissertation requirements. On internship, students integrate academic knowledge with clinical skills and demonstrate the effective and ethical use of these skills in clinical practice. Through intensive supervised training, students gain direct experience in applying their knowledge with a clinical population. The internship is a vital component of the educational experience and is never waived or transferred.

Comprehensive Examinations

Clinical Psy.D. students at our New Orleans location are required to pass two comprehensive exams, which evaluate the student’s knowledge of the theory, research, and practice of a chosen theory of intervention, as well as competency to practice that theory in an ethical and culturally sensitive manner.

• Clinical Qualifying Exam (to progress to Intermediate Practicum)
• Clinical Competency Exam (Written and Oral; administered as part of the Intermediate Practicum Seminar)

Dissertation

The dissertation is an essential aspect of a student’s academic experience. The dissertation affords students the opportunity to spend two years independently researching an issue of professional interest. As part of the dissertation, students conduct an exhaustive literature review, formulate hypotheses or questions to be answered, and create and execute a method to investigate.

Clinical and Diagnostic Interviewing

Techniques of clinical and diagnostic interviewing in health service psychology will be presented. Students will learn several techniques for interviewing, including listening skills, aids for giving and receiving feedback, establishing a relationship with a client, and motivational interviewing. Students also will learn ways of incorporating these techniques into models of diagnostic interviewing. Students will explore the applicability of clinical and diagnostic interviewing to various psychological health service settings including primary care. Consideration of cultural differences in establishing a relationship and conducting an interview is integral to this course. If available, students in this course may be co-taught with learners at comparable levels of training from other allied health professions.

Introduction to Clinical Psychopharmacology

This course focuses on the develop competencies in the use of psychopharmacological agents for the evidence-based treatment of psychological, and behavioral health disorders commonly encountered by health service psychologists practicing in interprofessional settings. Competency development will focus on several classes of medications, including psychostimulants, antidepressants, anticonvulsants, antipsychotics, and others. The course places special emphasis on interprofessional practice and consultations and the role of health service psychologists as part of interprofessional multidisciplinary teams where medications are used.

Gender and Global Human Rights

This course focuses on competencies regarding gender and human rights within the context of the international human rights system and in the context of global feminist, civil, liberation, and human rights movements. Students will acquire a foundation for understanding the human rights system and examine how gendered human rights violations, particularly those against women around the world impede the actualization of human rights, justice, and wellness for all. They will become knowledgeable regarding the interdependency of political, civil, social, economic, and cultural systems as they learn to understand issues of gender justice and human rights in general. Prevention, intervention, consultation, and advocacy competencies will be developed in several domains, including domestic violence, trafficking, genocide and gender, and genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) by applying scientific evidence to a number of historical and current cases from countries in different world regions.

The program is hosted by Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans, which was founded by Saint Katharine Drexel and the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, is Catholic and historically Black. The ultimate purpose of the university is to contribute to the promotion of a more just and humane society by preparing its students to assume roles of leadership and service in a global society.

Ethnically, culturally, and economically diverse, New Orleans offers tremendous opportunities for clinical psychology students to learn to become Health Service Psychologists working with underserved populations.

The Chicago School’s Psy.D. Clinical Psychology at Xavier University of Louisiana equips graduates with the skills necessary to work in a variety of professional settings, such as:

• Clinics
• Private practice
• Hospitals
• Government agencies
• Nonprofit agencies
• Educational institutions

The Chicago School is dedicated to keeping our academic programs accessible to anyone, regardless of financial status. In addition to the scholarships that may be available, our Financial Aid Department will provide you with information to determine what financial arrangements are right for you.

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