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PhD Program in Clinical Psychology

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General Admission Contact The New School for Social Research Office of Admission 72 Fifth Avenue, 1st floor New York, NY 10011 212.229.5600 or 800.523.5411 [email protected]

Admissions Liaison [email protected]

Department of Psychology The New School for Social Research 80 Fifth Avenue, 7th floor New York, NY 10011 212.229.5727 x3119 or x3223 (for Clinical Psychology) Fax: 212.989.0846

Department Chair William Hirst

Department Secretary Janiera Warren

Clinical Secretary Nichelle Horlacher

Director of Clinical Training Sam Winer

Assistant Director of Clinical Training Jennifer Hunter

Director of Clinical Student Affairs Trisha Toelstedt

Safran Center for Psychological Services Inga Blom , Interim Director Donna Mulcahy , Manager

Student Advisors First-Year MA: Hong Nguyen Continuing MA: Olivia Cadwell Clinical PhD: Lindsay Siegel CSD PhD: Starlett Hartley

Psychology Departmental Handbook

Psychology Labs Handbook

Concentration in Substance Abuse and Mental Health Counseling Handbook

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The PhD in Clinical Psychology is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of the American Psychological Association. It is one of the few clinical programs that combine a psychoanalytic emphasis with adherence to the scientist-practitioner model.

It also recognizes the importance of understanding the roles of culture and context in mediating healthy psychological development, psychopathology, and psychotherapeutic change.

• Degree Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
• Credits 90 credits
• Format Full-time or part-time, on-campus
• Start Term Fall

View current tuition and fees View fellowship and funding opportunities

The mission of the Clinical Psychology doctoral program at The New School for Social Research is to train scientist-practitioners who:

• Are competent in clinical practice, including diagnostic assessment, case formulation, and intervention
• Are engaged in contributing to scholarship in all its forms 
• Are grounded in the broader field of scientific psychology and can integrate scientific knowledge with clinical research and practice 
• Can communicate about psychology effectively with a wide range of individuals
• Are respectful of the influence of context, culture, development, and individual differences
• Act ethically throughout their professional conduct

While introducing students to full range of evidence-based practice, we provide a foundation in psychodynamic theory and practice, whose core tenets we identify as 1) recognition of the importance of context and development for psychological trajectories; 2) acknowledgment of intrapsychic influences on behavior which may lay outside awareness; 3) appreciation of the fact that individuals attempt to manage difficult emotions through complex means; and 4) respect for the impact of relational factors on the amelioration of distress, including the therapist’s and client’s reactions to each other. It is expected that graduates will implement these skills in a variety of settings.

Consistent with The New School for Social Research’s institutional goals, we value progressive social thought, critical analysis, pluralism, diversity, and interdisciplinary dialogue and recognize the importance of pursuing and maintaining integration between scholarship and real-world concerns.

Approach to Training

Our overall ethos is a realistic take on the challenges to the scientist-practitioner model: Researchers sometimes fail to take into account the realities of clinical practice, and as surveys indicate, many practitioners are not interested in research findings. An important goal is thus to train students to think critically about the causes of the researcher-practitioner gap and to explore ways of reducing it. We attempt to create an atmosphere in which a critical spirit will flourish. Ongoing questioning and dialogue are encouraged, formally and informally, not only in classes and seminars but also at guest lectures, case conferences, research conferences, and various faculty and student meetings.

The program achieves mission through three primary modes of educational experiences: coursework, clinical placements, and research mentorship.

Coursework:  Students in the MA program undertake broad, foundational, and graduate-level study of psychological science, in the areas of affective, biological, cognitive, social, and developmental psychology, as well as research methods and statistics. As they move into the doctoral program, they integrate their acquired basic science learning into clinical skills coursework.

Clinical Placements and Supervision: In clinical placements, doctoral students participate in didactics on up-to-date clinical research, which their supervisors then help them incorporate into their interventions. An important element of the integration of science and practice is the clinical experience in the Safran Center for Psychological Services, in which students employ evidence-based interventions and actively participate in psychotherapy process and outcomes research.

Research Mentorship: Students are guided by mentors in their research labs in generating research that integrates the theoretical and clinical implications of their proposed research and its subsequent findings.  

For full details of the program curriculum, as well as all policies and procedures, please see the Psychology student handbook .

Program Ethos

Psychodynamic Roots: Many of our basic clinical skills courses have a broad-based psychodynamic emphasis. Others have a cognitive-behavioral emphasis. Students are also exposed to other therapeutic orientations, such as humanistic and existential approaches. They are encouraged to approach clinical practice with an open and inquiring mind and avoid a doctrinaire outlook.

In its clinical training, the program is pluralistic, with an emphasis on psychoanalytically informed practice. The psychoanalytic legacy of our program can be traced back to 1926, when Sándor Ferenczi, one of Freud's closest colleagues, taught a course at The New School. Other psychoanalytic pioneers who have taught at The New School include Alfred Adler, Ernst Kris, Karen Horney, and Erich Fromm. Our psychoanalytic legacy can also be traced to the World War II–era origins of The New School for Social Research, of which a number of founding faculty members were interested in the synthesis of social and political thought, psychoanalysis, and the humanities.

Critical Thinking: Critical inquiry and debate are encouraged, and students seek out training experiences in a range of different orientations during externship placements. Students are exposed to diverse orientations and taught to examine similarities, differences, and points of complementarity between them. They are taught to think critically about the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches and to explore different approaches to integrating both interventions and theories from different perspectives (e.g., technical eclecticism, theoretical integration, common factors approaches, assimilative integration).

Integration of Science and Practice: In accordance with the scientist-practitioner model of training for clinical psychology, we are committed to teaching our students to integrate research and practice in a meaningful way. We teach them to view the activities of conducting research and engaging in clinical practice as mutually enhancing—that is, to understand that clinical practice generates important questions and insights that can have a significant influence on the conceptualization and execution of research and that both research findings and the process of conducting research can have an important impact on clinical practice.

Consistent with the National Conference on Scientist-Practitioner Education and Training for the Professional Practice of Psychology, the emphasis in our training model is on the integration of science and practice in all activities a clinical psychologist undertakes. From this perspective, the hallmark of the scientist-practitioner model is not publishing in scientific journals but rather bringing the integrative perspective of the scientific-practitioner model to all professional activities.

Many of our graduates choose to work in clinical settings, and when they do, we expect them to approach their work with the critical sensibility that is the hallmark of science; to value and seek out up-to-date information, including expertise in both clinical techniques and empirical findings regarding assessment, psychopathology, and therapeutic methods; and to evaluate this information critically. When they do research, we expect them to be attuned to real-world clinical concerns and to use their clinical experience to generate meaningful hypotheses.

We also believe it is important for students to be aware from the outset that the practice of clinical psychology often falls short of the ideals of the scientist-practitioner model, and that there is an increasing recognition in the field of a gap between researchers and clinicians. Researchers sometimes fail to take into account the realities of clinical practice, and, as surveys indicate, many practitioners are not interested in research findings. An important goal is thus to train students to think critically about the causes of the researcher-practitioner gap and to explore ways of reducing it. We attempt to create an atmosphere in which a critical spirit will flourish. Ongoing questioning and dialogue are encouraged, formally and informally, not only in class and seminar rooms but also at guest lectures, case conferences, research conferences, and various faculty and student meetings.

A full account of degree requirements and procedures is contained in the Psychology student handbook .

PhD candidates must earn 60 credits in addition to the 30 credits taken in the General Psychology MA program, for a total of 90 credits. 

Once admitted to the Clinical Psychology doctoral program:

• Students are expected to take courses in clinical theory and technique, diagnostic testing, evidence-based practice, culture and ethnicity, ethics, and statistics, and others
• Students must also complete a practicum at the program's training site, the Safran Center for Psychological Services, in their first year, followed by two full years of externship and externship seminars
• The clinical component of training culminates in a paid, full-time, APA-accredited internship, procured through a national match process. 

Timeline to Completion:  It is possible to complete the PhD degree in four years (not including the two-year MA program). The program is structured so that students spend three years completing academic and practicum requirements and one year completing an APA-accredited pre-doctoral internship. It is not unusual for students to take longer than four years, given the many concurrent academic, clinical, and research experiences that the program affords, and given many students' desire to gain additional clinical experience in light of the current internship match imbalance.

Graduate Minors

Students can use elective courses toward completing one of the university’s  graduate minors . These structured pathways of study immerse master's and doctoral students in disciplines outside their primary field and expose them to alternative modes of research and practice. Completed graduate minors are officially recorded on students' transcript.

Dissertation

The dissertation itself consists of two separate but related portions:

• Literature Review: The first portion is a stand-alone literature review article that is submitted in a form that is potentially acceptable to a peer-reviewed journal. This article should be approximately 10,000 words or 25-30 double-spaced pages in length (including references), and will review theoretical and empirical research relevant to the topic on which the dissertation research focuses.
• Empirical Article: The second portion consists of a stand-alone empirical article written in a form that would be acceptable to a peer-reviewed journal. This article should be approximately 10,000 words or 25-30 pages double spaced in length (including references). Students should familiarize themselves with the types of articles that appear in quality journals relevant to their area of research, and use these as models when writing their dissertation.  

See Dissertation Requirements in the Psychology student handbook for complete information.

Assistantships

A limited number of research and teaching assistantships are available in the Psychology department. Teaching assistantships are usually restricted to doctoral candidates.

Faculty Research Interests

The following Clinical Psychology faculty members typically serve as the primary research supervisors for Clinical Psychology doctoral students. However, all Cognitive, Social, and Development Psychology faculty members may also serve as primary research supervisors.

The most recent American Psychological Association site visit, in December 2013, resulted in the PhD program's accreditation for a full seven years. The program continues to be accredited, with its next site visit scheduled to take place in 2021.

Site visitors commented on the excellence of the program's training in scholarship, research, and practice, and on our success in integrating the three realms. 

To quote the site visit report:

“The focus of the program is not only on present knowledge available but on understanding the value of developing a stance of lifelong scholarly inquiry and the basic value of science as an important part of clinical practice. There is an emphasis on the constant change in knowledge and ideas that occur in the field and on the importance of both being aware of these changes and of being involved in them. The advanced students appear to have developed a very strong attitude of lifelong learning and also assist in the development of this attitude by being models and passing on the attitude to the new students.

"The program excels in the area of clinical training. The New School Psychotherapy Research Program provides a strong beginning to the students' clinical experience. A wide range of agencies are used for advanced practica and all are required to provide adequate supervision and appropriate professional supervisors. The clinical training experience is integrated with all appropriate courses. The practica from the very first year New School Psychotherapy Research Program placement on throughout the program are designed to fit with and be part of developing competencies and to meet both immediate and long term training during each year of the program. Since practicum training is part of the training during each year in the program, the amount, intensity and breadth of experience is well beyond what is expected by most internship sites.

"The program tracks placements of its graduates and is justly proud of the excellent jobs its students regularly obtain. In our interviews with supervisors in sites that support student placements and internships we learned that most of them consider New School graduate students to be the best graduate students they see."

Questions related to the program's accredited status should be directed to:

Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation 750 First Street NE Washington, DC 20002-4242

202.336.5979 [email protected] apa.org/ed/accreditation

Detailed policies and procedures for admissions can be found in the Psychology student handbook .

Students begin their studies toward the PhD by obtaining an MA in General Psychology, which includes courses in cognition, social psychology, developmental psychology, neuroscience, psychopathology, and research methods and statistics, as well as three electives. For these electives, students may take the three-course module in Substance Abuse Counseling and Mental Health. In the middle of the second year of the MA, students with a GPA of 3.50 or higher, who are also pursuing research with faculty guidance, may apply for admission to the Clinical Psychology doctoral program. The Clinical program admits approximately 15 students per year. Successful completion of the MA in General Psychology does not guarantee admission to the PhD program.

Students with MA degrees in psychology from other universities  may be eligible for "Advanced Standing" status in the New School for Social Research MA program. Accepted students are informed of whether or not they will be admitted with Advanced Standing status prior to beginning the MA program. Once accepted, eligible students may apply to enter the Clinical Psychology PhD after at least one semester of study here at the MA level, depending on how many of their credits transfer and assuming they have successfully completed requisite courses to meet eligibility for doctoral application. Students in this situation should consult the "Advanced Standing" section in the department handbook for additional information.

Admission Data

Time to Completion for All Students Entering the Program

Also, please describe or provide a link to program admission policies that allow students to enter with credit for prior graduate work, and the expected implications for time to completion. Please indicate NA if not applicable: N/A.

Program Costs

3  Internship Placement Table 1

Internship Placement Table 2

  Licensure

This program has been designed to meet educational requirements for professional licensure or certification in New York State. As such, a determination has not been made regarding whether this program will meet educational requirements for licensure or certification in other states or U.S. territories. Students who are considering enrolling in this program and who intend to pursue professional licensure or certification in a state other than New York should contact the appropriate agency to seek guidance and information confirming licensing or certification requirements before beginning the program. Students should be aware that licensure and certification requirements are subject to change periodically and may include educational or degree requirements, professional examinations, background checks, character and fitness qualifications, work experience, fingerprinting, and other requirements.

Disclaimer: The links below lead to websites created and maintained by other organizations. These links are provided for the user’s convenience. The New School does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of this outside information. Furthermore, the inclusion of these links is not intended to reflect their importance or to endorse the organizations sponsoring the websites nor to endorse the views expressed or the products or services offered on the websites. Please note that privacy policies on these websites may differ from those of The New School. Psychology Licensure Information by Profession

New School for Social Research Psychology faculty members regularly discuss their research in the media and receive honors for their work. Examples include:

• New School press release on the appointment of Miriam Steele to the Alfred J. and Monette C. Marrow Professorship in Psychology
• New York Times article , "What Can Be Learned From Differing Rates of Suicide Among Groups," featuring Lillian Polanco-Roman, assistant professor of psychology
• USA Today article , "Hurricane Fiona, natural disasters expose mental health crisis in Puerto Rico," featuring Daniel Gaztambide, assistant professor of clinical practice
• VeryWell Health article , "People With Mental Health Conditions Should Be Screened for Heart Disease Earlier," featuring McWelling Todman, professor of clinical practice
• New School News article , "Trauma and Global Mental Health Psychology Lab Partners with Danish Red Cross to Provide Short-Term Mental Health Interventions to New Yorkers," featuring Adam Brown, associate professor of psychology and vice provost for Research
• New School News article , "Psychology Professors Miriam and Howard Steele Discuss How Families Can Cope with Grief and Stress During the Pandemic," featuring Miriam Steele, Alfred J. and Monette C. Marrow Professor of Psychology, and Howard Steele, professor of psychology
• Psychology research conversation  between Wendy D'Andrea, associate professor of psychology, and Nadia Nieves, PhD Clinical Psychology '20

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Doctor of Philosophy Clinical/Counseling Psychology

The principles underlying our Clinical/Counseling Psychology doctorate are a combination and integration of models traditionally associated with clinical psychology–including health, wellness, and psychological science–and models traditionally associated with counseling psychology–including strength- and asset-based, social justice-oriented, and multicultural perspectives.

Degree Details

Official degree title.

PhD in Clinical/Counseling Psychology

Clinical/Counseling Psychology PhD Program Online Info Session

Individuals interested in learning about and applying for the Doctoral Program in Clinical/Counseling Psychology in the Department of Applied Psychology at New York University will have the opportunity to hear from the Chair of the Admission Committee, Dr. Anil Chacko, about the process. This will include information about the mission of the program, requirements for applying, and what makes for a successful candidate/application. There will also be an opportunity for Questions & Answers.

October 23rd, 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm (ET) - RSVP Link

About the Program 

The program follows the basic pattern of a scientist-practitioner model. The major components of the Clinical/Counseling Psychology doctorate are course work, clinical training (practica, externships, internship), and research training (including dissertation). Solid training in teaching and mentoring, giving students the professional background toward a career in academics, is another key feature of our program. Across all components, attention is given to the integration of practice, theory, and research. The program prepares students to engage in empirically-informed and social justice-oriented clinical practice as well as clinically-informed research. Special attention is paid to honoring the individual differences and cultures of those students with whom they work (in clinical work and in research), as well as understanding the structural and systemic forces that impact their well-being.

Licensure and Accreditation

The PhD in Clinical/Counseling Psychology was first registered with the New York State Department of Education for the professional preparation of psychologists in 1971. Graduates of the program become fully qualified psychologists with specialized training in counseling and are eligible for licensure by the state. Learn more about licensure requirements in those states in which students are doing learning placements.

The Clinical/Counseling Psychology program has been fully accredited since 1981 by the American Psychological Association, Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation, 750 First Street, NE, Washington DC 20002-4242 (202-336-5979). Questions related to the program's accreditation status may be directed to this office.

The program is currently accredited by the APA as Counseling Psychology program, with a reaccreditation visit scheduled for 2025 to become officially accredited as a combined Clinical/Counseling Psychology program.

Center for Counseling and Community Wellbeing

The Center is part of the teaching and training program in Clinical/Counseling Psychology and provides services to meet the local community's social, emotional, and behavioral health needs. We provide a range of services to children, adolescents, adults, and families.  Learn more about the Center , an important part of the Department of Applied Psychology at NYU Steinhardt.

Admissions Information

Careers and outcomes.

CNPS Student Handbook

Clinical/Counseling Psychology Doctoral Program Online Info Session

Individuals interested in learning about and applying for the Doctoral Program in Counseling Psychology in the Department of Applied Psychology at New York University will have the opportunity to hear from the Chair of the Admission Committee, Dr. Anil Chacko, about the process. This will include information about the mission of the program, requirements for applying, and what makes for a successful candidate/application. There will also be an opportunity for Questions and Answers.

Registration Required. 

GRE Requirements: 

The GRE (both the general test and the GRE subject test) is not a requirement for applications to the Clinical/Counseling Psychology PhD program. Even if GREs are submitted, they will not be considered.

Research Mentors:

The doctoral program in Clinical/Counseling Psychology at NYU is a small, individualized scientist-practitioner training program; thus, we pay close attention to the match between the candidate and the program’s faculty and resources. In particular, we seek to admit students whose professional interests align with the program as a whole and whose research interests are well-matched with those of one or more faculty member. Each new student will be matched with a primary research mentor and will also be supported by secondary faculty mentors in other research and clinical roles.

The faculty who are available to serve as primary research mentors for the Fall 2025 admissions cycle are:

• Anil Chacko
• Shabnam Javdani
• William Tsai
• Jordan Wright  

Other faculty are potentially available to serve as secondary mentors, so we encourage you to write about your interests and experiences that demonstrate that you are a good match with the program as a whole as well as with your potential primary mentor. Please note, because of the volume of interest, while these faculty members will be accepting applicants, they will not be able to respond to individual emails or meet with prospective students.

Questions: 

If you have questions regarding admission requirements, please review our How to Apply  page.

If you have any additional questions that are not addressed on the "How to Apply" page, please contact us at  [email protected] .

NYU Steinhardt offers a competitive funding package for PhD students who study full time.   Learn more about Steinhardt's funding opportunities .

Our program will prepare you for diverse roles in academia, social research, and clinical practice. In the academic arena, our students can go on to jobs in schools of psychology, public health, and public policy. In the area of social research, students are prepared to obtain positions in research, advocacy, and social service organizations. 

Additionally, our students are well-positioned for jobs in private-practice and healthcare organizations. Indeed, there is increasing demand for evidence-based strategies in health and social service organizations and our students are qualified to contribute to the design and implementation of such strategies, and the delivery of evidence-based interventions.

Learn more about Students Admissions, Outcomes, and Other Data .

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• Clinical Psychology

Integrated Learning

Join a program that offers integrated training in contemporary clinical science and clinical assessment and intervention. You’ll learn from leaders in the field—professionals pursuing a broad range of dynamic research projects.

Advance Your Education in Clinical Psychology

Our top Master of Arts program is designed for applicants looking to strengthen their academic background prior to applying to doctoral programs across the country.

Clinical Training

Our clinical training has an ongoing psychodynamic tradition with increasing opportunities for supervision and didactic work in Cognitive-Behavioral, Interpersonal, Family Therapy, and other modalities. Our doctoral students are prepared for careers in clinical settings, hospitals, private practice, teaching, and research.

Welcome to the Clinical Psychology program

The Clinical Psychology Program provides rigorous training in both contemporary clinical science and clinical assessment and intervention. Our students develop hands-on research and clinical experience through the several labs at Teachers College — which examine risk and resilience in veterans; clinical intervention in diverse sociocultural and geographic contexts; psychotherapy methods; suicidality; and more — and at placements at other leading mental health facilities in New York City. Nationally known as the premier program for Clinical Psychology, our M.A. program is suited for applicants interested in strengthening their academic background in psychopathology, treatment, theory, and research methods prior to pursuing highly competitive doctoral programs.

Our Degrees

Master of arts in psychology in education.

Our Master of Arts degree is formally titled “Psychology in Education” for historical reasons, but is today well-known as a premier M.A. program for students interested in the field of Clinical Psychology.

Doctoral Program

The Ph.D. program in Clinical Psychology provides rigorous training in both clinical science and clinical assessment and intervention. Research includes studies of risk and resilience; adjustment across diverse sociodemographic contexts; religious and spiritual development; emotional regulation; emotion and coping with trauma; suicidality; and psychotherapy process and outcomes.

Student Admissions, Outcomes, and Other Data

Graduate Studies in Spirituality Mind Body

The Spirituality Mind Body (SMB) Area of Focus Graduate Studies at Teachers College, Columbia University is the first Ivy League graduate program dedicated to merging spirituality and evidence-based research within the context of clinical psychology.

Sexuality, Women, and Gender Advanced Certificate

Join educators, researchers, practitioners, and activists dedicated to enhancing the well-being of LGBTQ individuals and women.

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Admissions Information

Application requirements.

• Psychology in Education: General Psychology
• Psychology in Education: Spirituality Mind Body Area of Focus
• Sexuality, Women and Gender in Psychology and Education [Program is not accepting applications for the 2025 cycle.]

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Teachers College, Columbia University 328 Horace Mann

Contact Person: Rebecca Shulevitz

Phone: (212) 678-3267 Fax: (212) 678-8235

Email: shulevitz@tc.columbia.edu