PsyD Clinical Training and Research

Welcome to Northwest’s PsyD Counseling program’s Clinical Training and Research Page. Here at Northwest, our PsyD program is dedicated to training effective, ethical, and culturally competent psychologists. We utilize the Practitioner-Scholar model which focuses on the integration of theoretical knowledge with practical, theory-informed, evidence-based skills.

Clinical training is accomplished through rigorous academic coursework, research and dissertation, as well as supervised field placements. Practicum and pre-internship sites are vetted by the DCT to provide organized, cumulative, and sequential experiences that are graded in complexity. Students are expected to apply to and attend APA accredited internships. Applications are submitted through the national Association for Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Center (APPIC) match system.

Program Sequence

• Year 1 - Individual Therapy (10 hours), Theoretical/Scientific Foundations, Annual Assessment
• Year 2 – Pre-Practicum Training, Psychological Assessment, & Research Methods Series, Cultural Immersion Trip
• Year 3 –Clinical Skill Training, Practicum, Dissertation Prep, Qualifying Exams (Written & Clinical)
• Year 4 – Clinical and Supervision Coursework, Dissertation, Pre-Internship/Advanced Practicum
• Year 5 - Internship

Training Opportunities

Clinical Training Sites

PsyD Research Policy

Consistent with the practitioner-scholar model on which our training is based, the PsyD program attaches a high value to scholarship that contributes to the field of psychology. In particular, we strive to carry out original, empirical research that extends the knowledge base of psychological science. We also pursue testing of innovative therapeutic approaches that address a variety of human needs. Moreover, we value the exploration of how individuals conduct making sense of their world, experiences and culture.

Our scholarship is driven by the pursuit of truth, that is, to expand psychological science as an authority source of knowledge about the world. However, we also recognize additional sources that offer facets of truth from alternate lenses. Brown’s (2004) resonance model asserts five domains of authority: experience, traditions, rationality, scripture, and science. These authority sources are viewed as bodies of information that together offer greater resonance of truth, by complementing what is offered through a single source. Understanding of a phenomenon is therefore fine-tuned through information from multiple domains, with more harmonious resonance suggestive of a closer intersection toward truth.

Viewing science through the resonance model aligns well with our Judeo-Christian heritage. Whereas research is a critical endeavor in the pursuit of truth, it does not preclude the importance of sacred authority that the biblical text holds for us. Our reasoning, logic, and ethical decision-making are essential tools for evaluating truth. Furthermore, human traditions and experience are greatly valued as truths for individuals, communities, and cultures.

The PsyD program, faculty, and student researchers are afforded a measure of academic freedom to conduct research that meets the expectations of rigor and ethics of psychological science. Yet as our pursuit of scholarship occurs within an institutional context, Northwest University’s mission serves as an important guiding principle that eclipses individual academic freedom (Ostrander, 2018). Our research is designed to contribute to engaging with human need while remaining grounded in the Christian beliefs that define who we are as a university—a body of Christ-followers joined in a learning community to seek truth and yield the next generation of citizens, professionals, and contributors to our society.

Faculty Research Interests