Clinical and Research Training

Clinical Training

Clinical training is organized into the following clinical emphases:

• Adult Clinical Psychology
• Behavioral Medicine (Health Psychology)
• Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology
• Clinical Neuropsychology

Clinicial emphases are generally independent from the research emphases, and are typically determined at the time of acceptance into the program (although changes are allowed based on strategic career decisions).  Although clinical emphases are independent from research emphases, and “mixing and matching” is encouraged, certain pairings are common.  For example, students in the Neuropsychology & Behavioral Neuroscience Research Emphasis are typically in the Clinical Neuropsychology Emphasis; students in the Behavioral Medicine Research Emphasis are typically in the Behavioral Medicine Clinical Emphasis.  Please review our Students page to understand the Research and Clinical Emphases of our current students.

Clinical training begins in the second year of the Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program in the form of intensive practicum placements.  Unlike many clinical psychology programs, students do not have to compete with other clinical psychology students for most practicum positions. Depending on their clinical emphasis, second year students are typically placed at:

• Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s Stone Mental Health Center
• The Diagnostic/Neuropsychological Testing practicum at Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago
• The Neurobehavior and Memory Health Clinic of the Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease Center (CNADC) at Northwestern Memorial Facutly Foundation.

Depending on their clinical emphasis, third year students are typically placed at:

• Counseling Services Department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
• The Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Outpatient Services Department at Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago
• Cook County Hospital (Stroger)
• Illinois Masonic Medical Center (Advocate)
• Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s Inpatient Neuropsychological Consultation Service (INCS)
• Northwestern Behavioral Medicine Practicum (click here for a description)

Students in their fourth year of training are strongly encouraged to take advanced practica placements that require greater independence and higher-level assessment, case formulation, and/or treatment skills.  These additional practicum can include, but are not limited to:

• Cook County Hospital (Stroger)
• Jessie Brown Veteran’s Administration Medical Center
• Illinois Masonic Medical Center  (Advocate)
• University of Chicago Medical Center (Cognitive Behavior Therapy Clinic, Neuropsychology)
• University of Illinois (Pediatric Mood Disorders Program, Urban Youth Trauma Center, Neuropsychology Service)
• Northwestern Behavioral Medicine Practicum (click here for a description)

In addition to providing direct training and experience in  assessing and treating patients, our practicum placements also provide case conferences, case review procedures, intake meetings, and other in-service programs organized at each facility. Students have the opportunity to work individually or in teams with psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, and various other health professionals. The student-staff ratio is low, allowing for ample supervision. Supervisors provide periodic formal evaluations to the Doctoral Program’s director of clinical training, who oversees student development and aids in planning comprehensive clinical experiences for each student.

Our students successfully compete for internship positions in the most competitive institutions nationally and locally. Indeed, the Doctoral Program has the highest 10-year match rate out of all 18 clinical psychological doctoral programs in the state of Illinois. By the end of the third year in the program, students complete the Clinical Qualifying Exam, which is designed to demonstrate competence in fundamental clinical skills, theory, and judgement. Click here to see a list of recent student internships.

Research Training

Doctoral students are accepted into a specific research lab at the time of admission to the Doctoral Program.  Students spend their first year in the program as a research apprentice in the ongoing investigative work of that faculty member. During the second year, the student begins to develop their Research Qualifying Paper (RQP), which is an original empirical study that is modest in scope, often uses existing data within the research lab, and is conducted with substantial support from the student’s research mentor.  A modified version of the RQP can be used to obtain a Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology on the way to obtaining the doctorate. The fourth year of training is focused on completion of the final research milestone, the dissertation.  The dissertation is an original empirical study that is more ambitious in scope and requires a greater level of independent functioning than the RQP.

The following faculty members serve as primary research mentors (see “Research Labs” for more information):

Behavioral Medicine Research Emphasis:

• Brian Hitsman, Ph.D. (Nicotine Dependence)
• Laurie Keefer, Ph.D. (Gastroenterology)
• David Mohr, Ph.D. & Michelle Burns, Ph.D. (Center for Behavioral Information Technology)
• Bonnie Spring, Ph.D. (Health Promotion & Evidence-Based Practice)
• Michael Wolf, Ph.D. (Health Literacy & Learning Program)

Neuropsychology & Behavioral Neuroscience Research Emphasis:

• James Reilly, Ph.D. (Laboratory of Cognitive Control and Clinical Neuroscience)
• Emily Rogalski, Ph.D. (Cognitive Neuroimaging in Aging and Dementia)
• Lei Wang, Ph.D. (Neuroimaging & Applied Computational Anatomy)
• Sandra Weintraub, Ph.D. (Clinical Neuropsychology)

Policy Research Emphasis:

• Neil Jordan, Ph.D. & Eugene Griffin, Ph.D., J.D. (Mental Health Services and Policy)
• Linda Teplin, Ph.D. & Karen Abram, Ph.D. (Program in Health Disparities and Public Policy)

Psychopathology and Treatment Research Emphasis:

• Jacqueline Gollan, Ph.D. (Stress and Depression Lab)
• Molly Losh, Ph.D. (Neurodevelopmental Disabilities Lab)
• Mark Reinecke, Ph.D., ABPP, ACT (Child and Adolescent Mood Laboratory)

Click here to see a list of recent student research publications.

Click here to see a list of recent dissertation topics.