Curriculum
The PsyD program at Pacific University is typically a five-year pathway that includes the completion of a master of arts degree and a doctor of psychology degree. This includes four years in residence in Hillsboro devoted to coursework research, and practicum placements, and one year away on a doctoral internship.
Students who enter the program with a master's degree may transfer some coursework, but the program will still typically take five years of full-time participation.
Students do not complete the master's portion of the program as a standalone. The MA is not designed as a terminal degree but is part of the path to the PsyD degree.
The following is a sample course sequence for students entering with a bachelor's degree. For detailed course descriptions and degree requirements, please see the current Academic Catalog.
First Year | Second Year | Third Year | Fourth Year | Fifth Year |
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FALL | FALL | FALL | FALL | FALL |
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SPRING | SPRING | SPRING | SPRING | SPRING |
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SUMMER | SUMMER | SUMMER | SUMMER | SUMMER |
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Emphasis Tracks
Varied faculty interests provide students with exposure to a broad range of theoretical perspectives and assessment, intervention, research/evaluation, consultation/education, and management/supervision skills. Four tracks within the generalist program allow students to focus training on a specific area with its own defined curricula, research programs, and clinical practica.
Application for the primary tracks take place during admissions. Some tracks accept applications from advanced students (provided space/resources are available).
Clinical Training
Each student is required to complete three year-long practicum placements: Practicum I (three semesters), Practicum II (three semesters), and Advanced Practicum (three semesters). Each practicum experience includes a minimum of 500 training hours per year:
- at least 50%, and ideally 75%, in direct service to clients
- approximately 25% in supervision, training activities, and administrative duties related to service and training
Additional elective clinical training experiences are available (part-time or full-time placements). All training is designed to help students integrate theoretical knowledge with clinical application, and students gain supervised practice experience with a range of diverse client populations, age groups, and clinical problems. For example, students can pursue clinical training in child psychopathology assessment and treatment, neuropsychology, behavioral health, or adult psychopathology assessment and treatment, carried out in close mentoring relationships.
Practicum Sites
The School of Graduate Psychology maintains the Pacific Psychology & Comprehensive Health Clinic, a training clinic located at two sites. The Hillsboro clinic is located in Creighton Hall on the Hillsboro Campus; here, student clinicians provide services in both Spanish and English. The Portland clinic is located in downtown Portland. These clinics offer a wide range of psychological services to the community, serving clients of all ages and ethnicities, generally of low socioeconomic status. Client presentations include mood disorders, dysfunctional relationships, child abuse, personality disorders, interpersonal problems, physical and sexual abuse, and eating disorders, among others. Students participate in offering individual, group and family therapy, as well as psychoeducational groups, consultation and psychological assessment. All students gain practicum experience at one of these training clinics in their Practicum I year.
Other community sites in the Portland area are available for Practicum II and Advanced Practicum placements, allowing for exposure to varied sites and populations.
More than 100 clinical training sites are available, such as the following:
- Community mental health centers serving children, adolescents, adult, and/or geriatric populations, with a variety of racial/ethnic, gender-diverse populations represented. Client problems include moderate to severe family and individual dysfunction. Services provided include assessment and individual, family and group therapy. Some agencies focus on specific populations, such as patients with life-threatening illnesses or sexual minority clients.
- State hospital with adult clients representing a variety of racial/ethnic groups and including forensic populations and patients with severe and persistent mental illness. Diagnoses include any of the major mental illnesses, and treatment includes intermediate- and long-term inpatient treatment. Trainees may be involved in providing individual and group psychotherapy, behavioral treatment, assessment, and working with an interdisciplinary treatment team.
- Student counseling centers serving students ranging in age from late adolescence through their 60s. Counseling centers are in both small town and urban settings and serve college students from diverse backgrounds, a variety of racial/ethnic populations, and a wide variety of diagnoses (adjustment disorders, mood disorders, psychotic disorders, alcohol/drug problems, career decision making and learning disabilities). Trainees may participate in individual psychotherapy, group psychotherapy, outreach consultation, vocational testing and counseling, psychological and learning disability assessment, and sport psychology consultation.
- Residential treatment center and juvenile justice facility for youths. Students conduct assessments and therapy. The primary treatment modality is group therapy, but individual, family, and psychoeducational interventions are also used.
- Hospitals serving youths and adults. Students conduct diagnostic and neuropsychological assessments and individual and group therapy in clinics and may work with a variety of populations, including children, youths, and adults.
- Community medical clinics serving youths, adults, and families. Students conduct assessments and therapy, as well as behavioral health consultations. Individual, family, and psychoeducational interventions are used.
Internship
The clinical psychology internship is the culminating experience of the professional psychology program. It is among the last major tasks undertaken by the student prior to graduation, and it represents a significant commitment of time and effort. The internship provides an opportunity to use and refine clinical skills and knowledge and to consolidate one’s professional identity.
The internship requires either full-time supervised clinical experience for one calendar year or a comparable half-time supervised clinical experience for two consecutive years. Internship training must be taken at a site that is accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA) or meets Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Center (APPIC) criteria. Students apply for internships through the APPIC match procedure. The School of Graduate Psychology has an outstanding record of placing students in internship experiences across the United States and Canada. We also have our own APA-accredited internship training program.
Our current students (2024-2025) are placed all over the country. See Map for placements.
Doctoral Research Project
The doctoral research project provides evidence of scholarly competence representing an original contribution to psychology. In keeping with the practitioner-scholar model of the School of Graduate Psychology, doctoral research projects are not confined to traditional experimental studies, but may use a variety of formats:
- Single case experimental designs
- Case studies of individuals, groups or systems
- Program development or evaluation
- Experimental or correlational research
- A synthesis and extension of scholarly literature
The complete doctoral research project is defended in a public oral examination or presentation. Students are expected to work within the realm of our faculty's expertise.