Antioch University Santa Barbara provides high quality,
innovative undergraduate and graduate education for adults.
Through the integration of academic and experiential learning,
and by fostering creativity and independent thinking, an Antioch
education empowers students to act responsibly to effect
personal, social and environmental change. The PsyD program is at
the forefront of training highly qualified scholar-practitioner
psychologists.
The overarching goal of the program is to educate students to be
professional psychologists with expertise in clinical psychology
and the practice of psychology in diverse mental health settings.
Students are expected to develop and integrate the commitment and
expertise of the scientific and professional psychologist.
In addition to a solid generalist clinical training model, our
program provides an emphasis in Family Psychology which is built
into the curriculum.
Family psychology is a broad-based specialty that includes
working with individuals, couples and families in psychotherapy
and also working within other systemic contexts to provide
indirect and direct service in multiple settings, including:
school systems, primary health care, the justice system and
family businesses.
As part of their degree program, students also gain expertise in
family forensic psychology. This emphasis is designed to prepare
psychologists who are increasingly called upon to intervene with
families involved with the legal system. It also prepares
psychologists to work in a consulting capacity with legal
professionals. Future professionals learn to assess and intervene
with families who are facing divorce, child custody disputes,
elder care and conservancy, custodianships, parenting challenges,
adoption, family violence, community violence or involvement with
the juvenile justice system.
Program Goals
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The PsyD Program in Clinical Psychology develops well-trained
clinicians within a scholar-practitioner model using the core
competencies of the National Council of Schools and Programs of
Professional Psychology (NCSPP). The program builds on Antioch
University Santa Barbara's outstanding local reputation for
providing high quality undergraduate and graduate education.
Program goals are:
- To produce graduates who have the ability to integrate a
sound theoretical basis with clinical practice;
- To produce graduates for the roles of professional
psychologists encompassing intervention and psychological
assessment;
- To produce graduates who understand and apply the
socio-political impact of systems (family, community, and
cultural) on psychological functioning;
- To produce graduates who understand and appreciate the
diversity of human experience;
- To produce graduates with critical thinking skills.
Program Delivery
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The program is a full-time program and students are expected to
attend class sessions all day Thursday, and Friday until 3 pm. A
few mandatory workshops are scheduled on Friday afternoons,
evenings or Saturdays.
Program Components
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Coursework
Students entering with a bachelor's degree, complete the
program in five years. Four years are in the classroom and the
fifth year is a full-time internship. During their initial
year, students complete 150 hours of traineeship experience.
Upon successful completion of this Year 1 curriculum, students
will continue their studies with Years 2 through 5.
Students entering with a master's degree are given advanced
standing and enroll in Year 2 of the program. As a consequence,
they are able to complete the program in four years, with three
years in the classroom and a full-time internship during the
last year of enrollment. During Years 2-4, students complete a
minimum of 1000 clinical hours in community settings.
Clinical Hours
Students are required to accrue 1000 hours of clinical
experience prior to applying for the internship. The hours
slightly increase to 1,150 for post BA-track students. We
expect that most students will seek out clinical placements
early in their program and will take advantage of summers to
accumulate the required hours.
Clinical Dissertation
We are interested in stimulating student creativity, therefore
the options for completion of this project vary and students
are encouraged to develop a dissertation in an area of their
interest. Students begin working on their dissertation early in
their enrollment.
Internship
Students are required to complete a one-year full-time
internship during their final year of the program.
Comprehensive Examination
Students complete a take-home comprehensive examination at the
end of Year 3 of the program.
Professional Competence Evaluation (PCE)
During Practicum III, students will begin to identify and
conceptualize a case which might be developed for presentation
as part of the PCE. The PCE is intended to demonstrate
students' skill and knowledge in the field of psychology and to
integrate their academic and clinical learning. The PCE is to
be completed during the summer following Year 3 of the program,
prior to engaging in the application process for internship.
