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
| Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | ||
| Practicum | Advanced Practicum | Pre-Internship | Internship | |
| Clinical experience hours | 450 hrs minimum (includes 100 hrs of supervision) | 500 hrs minimum (includes 100 hrs of supervision) | 500 hrs | 1500 hrs minimum |
| Direct client contact hours | 150 hrs | 50% of clinical hrs | 60% of clinical hrs 25% of clinical hrs (minimum) | |
| Supervision | 100 hrs | 100 hrs | 2 hrs per 20 hrs of clinical exp.(1:10 ratio) | 2 hrs per 40 hrs of clinical exp. (1:20 ratio) |
| Supervisor credentials | At least one Licensed Psychologist | At least one Licensed Psychologist | At least one Licensed Psychologist | At least one Licensed Psychologist; > 2 Psychologists on site |
| Concurrent coursework | Practicum I, II, III | Adv. Practicum I, II, III | Pre-Internship I, II, III | Internship I, II, III |
NUhope Community Center
One of the Practicum, Pre-internship, and Internship training opportunities is at NUhope Community Center. The mission of NUhope Community Counseling Center is fourfold: first, to provide exemplary clinical training to graduate students in psychology; second, to train students to engage with human need by providing compassionate and evidence-based counseling and high quality assessment services; third, to provide an environment in which students will grow in providing culturally competent care through the integration of psychology, culture, and social justice as they reach out to people in the community with diverse counseling needs; and fourth, to provide high quality affordable counseling to members of the community.
Learn More About Our Community Clinic
NUhope does require that students sign Faith, Principles, and Community Standards Agreements. There are many equivalent training opportunities available to students from partners in the community who have provided exemplar supervision to our PsyD students over the years.
Clinical Training Sites
| Name | Type | Services | Clients Served |
|---|---|---|---|
| Affordable Counseling | Community Mental Health | Individual Therapy | Children, Adolescents, Adults |
| Bellevue Child Behavioral Center | Behavioral Health | Individual Therapy, Assessment | Children, Adolescents |
| Dayspring | Behavioral Health | Individual and Group Therapy, Assessment | Children, Adolescents, Adults |
| Everett Clinic | Behavioral Health | Individual Therapy | Children, Adolescents, Adults |
| Familywise | Parenting services | Group Therapy | Children |
| Healthpoint Community Health Centers | Behavioral Health | Individual Therapy | Children, Adolescents, Adults |
| Hope Central | Autism clinic | Community-based intervention | Children, Adolescents |
| Meier Clinic | Outpatient clinic | Individual Therapy | Adults |
| Monroe Correctional Complex | Correctional | Individual and Group Therapy | Adults |
| NUhope | Community mental health | Individual Therapy, Couple’s Therapy, Assessment | Children, Adolescents, Adults |
| Pacific Behavioral Health Center | Community mental health | Individual, Couples, and Group Therapy | Adults |
| Pacific Lutheran University | College counseling | Individual Therapy | Adults |
| Sandbox Therapy Group | Community mental health | Individual and Group Therapy, Assessment | Children, Adolescents |
| University of Puget Sound | College counseling | Individual Therapy | Adults |
| Western Washington University | Inpatient Hospital | Individual and Group Therapy, Assessment | Adults |
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
| Research Areas | # Faculty |
|---|---|
| Faith-integrated psychology practice and training | 1 |
| Marriage/Couples | 2 |
| Eating Disorder | 1 |
| Adolescent/Adolescent substance use | 2 |
| Cultural Immersion Trips/Study Abroad | 1 |
| College Students/First Gen College Students | 2 |
| Social Justice | 1 |
| Women's Studies | 1 |
| Health Psychology | 1 |
| Correctional Psychology | 1 |
| Underprivileged Populations | 1 |
| Trauma | 2 |
| Men's Studies | 1 |
| Financial Management | 1 |
| Sense of Self | 1 |
| Resilience | 1 |
| Academic Achievement | 1 |
| Social Cognitive Theory | 1 |
| Motivational Theories | 1 |
| Clinical Applications | 1 |
| Acute/serious mental illness | 1 |
| Criminal Justice | 1 |
| Public Health and Service | 1 |
| Substance Abuse and Addiction | 1 |
Clinical Opportunities:
- Acceptance/Acceptance & Commitment Therapy
- Adjustment
- Adolescents/At-Risk Adolescents/Delinquency
- Advocacy/Public Policy
- Affective Disorders/Depression/Mood Disorders
- Aggression/Anger Control/Impulse Control
- Aging/Gerontology
- Anxiety Disorders/Panic Disorders
- Assessment/Testing
- Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
- Autism/Developmental Disabilities
- Behavioral Therapy/Analysis
- Child Abuse/Neglect
- Child/Pediatric
- Chronic Mental Illness
- Cognitive/Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
- College-University Counseling/Psychotherapy Centers
- Community Psychology
- Conduct/Disruptive Disorder
- Consultation
- Correctional Psychology/Prisons
- Crisis Intervention
- Day/Partial Treatment
- Developmental Disabilities/Intellectual Disability
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy
- Disabilities/Disabled Persons
- Divorce/Child Custody
- Early Intervention
- Eating Disorders/Body Dysmorphia
- Emergency Services
- Evidence-Based/Empirically Supported Treatments
- Family/Family Therapy/Family Systems
- Forensic
- Group Therapy
- Health Psychology/Behavioral Medicine/Stress
- Homelessness
- Immigrant/Refugee Populations
- Interpersonal Therapy
- Interprofessional/Interdisciplinary
- Learning Disabilities
- Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender
- Marriage/Couples/Intimate Partner Violence
- Medical/Inpatient/Hospital Services
- Men’s Issues
- Military/Armed Forces
- Mindfulness
- Minority/Cross-Cultural/Multicultural
- Motivational Interviewing
- Native American Health Services
- Neuroimaging
- Neuropsychology
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
- Oncology/Cancer Care
- Organizational
- Pain Management
- Parent–Child Interaction/Parent Training
- Person-Centered Therapy
- Personality Disorders
- Play Therapy
- Positive Psychology/Resilience
- Prevention
- Primary/Integrated Care
- Private Practice
- Psychiatric Clinic/Inpatient Mental Health
- Psychoanalytic/Psychodynamic Therapy
- Rehabilitation
- Religion/Spirituality
- Residential Program/Treatment Center
- Rural Mental Health/Psychology
- Severe Mental Illness/Psychosis/Schizophrenia
- School/Educational
- Sexuality/Sex Therapy/Sexual Offenders
- Sleep Disorders
- Spanish-Speaking Clients
- Sports/Performance Psychology
- Substance Abuse/Addiction
- Suicide/Suicide Prevention
- Supervision
- Tic Disorders
- Torture
- Trauma/Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder/Disaster
- Traumatic Brain Injury
- Underserved Populations
- Veterans Medical Center
- Victim/Violence/Sexual Abuse
- Vocational/Career Development
- Weight Management/Obesity
- Women’s Issues
APA Accredited
Northwest University’s doctoral program in Counseling Psychology is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of the American Psychological Association (APA)*, effective 10/28/18.
Questions about this program?
I would love to answer any questions about the Doctor of Psychology in Counseling Psychology program that you may have.
Daniela Steinkamp, M.A.
Director of Student Services
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
425-889-5249