Doctor of Psychology - Program Aims

PsyD Program Aim One

To prepare doctoral level practitioners of health service psychology who can ethically deliver effective, evidence-based psychological services in a variety of settings with diverse populations.

• The program is designed to ensure that students have attained the necessary discipline-specific knowledge that provides a foundation for the practice health service psychology, including graduate level knowledge of:
  • History and Systems of Psychology
  • Affective Aspects of Behavior
  • Biological Aspects of Behavior
  • Cognitive Aspects of Behavior
  • Developmental Aspects of Behavior
  • Social Aspects of Behavior
  • Advanced Integrative Knowledge of Basic Discipline-Specific Content Areas
  • Research Methods
  • Quantitative Methods
  • Psychometrics
• The program is designed to ensure that students have attained the necessary profession-wide competencies for the practice of health service psychology, including competencies in:
  • Research
  • Ethical and legal standards
  • Individual and cultural diversity
  • Professional values and attitudes
  • Communication and interpersonal skills
  • Assessment
  • Intervention
  • Supervision
  • Consultation and interprofessional/interdisciplinary skills

PsyD Program Aim Two

To prepare practitioners who can articulate how religion and worldview intersect with psychological concepts, with a particular emphasis on the Christian faith.

• A view of spirituality and religion as important aspects of human diversity
• An ability to identify spiritual and religious experiences, practices, and beliefs that have the potential to positively and negatively impact psychological health
• Knowledge of how to effectively provide psychological services to clients from diverse spiritual and/or religious backgrounds, affiliations, and levels of involvement