Program Mission
Mission Statement
The mission of the MS in Clinical Psychology program (MSCP) is to train leaders in the field of clinical psychology by enhancing skills in clinical practice and data-analysis that is relevant to the social and behavioral health sciences. The program seeks to balance clinical training with statistics and research design to help students more effectively develop, evaluate, and improve upon clinical decision making in a variety of clinical settings. The MSCP program strives to encourage multiple and diverse opinions and perspectives as a means of pursuing a more complete knowledge that supports principles of equity and justice.
Collaborative Mentorship
Students in Cal Lu's MS Clinical Psychology program have the unique opportunity to work alongside doctoral students and doctoral faculty which is ideal preparation for future doctoral applications.
A Focus on Practical Research and Clinical Skills
Our philosophy is that research skills are best learned through hands-on practice. In their first year, students receive instruction in the application of the R statistical programming language. Using R, students learn the importance of data visualization and exploratory data analysis to answer research questions in psychology. Students are then provided with traditional training in statistical modeling (e.g., linear regression) considered foundational to any graduate psychology curriculum.
In the second year of coursework, students enroll in a semester long research seminar that guides them in a step-by-step process in conducting their own faculty-mentored independent research or thesis project. Students select a topic of their choosing and build their project from the bottom up in an intimate, small classroom setting with 1:1 faculty support.
Although each topic is unique, students are encouraged to explicitly incorporate elements of replication in their work in order to support psychology as a cumulative science that grows through replication and confirmation. Consistent with the values of open science, students also complete a pre-registration and openly share their material with the global research community.
Students also have the opportunity to participate in ongoing faculty led research or can support doctoral students in their own research. These projects often lead to professional presentations with students as co-authors. Such collaborative mentorship between faculty and students across all three graduate programs in psychology at Cal Lutheran and is ideal preparation for future doctoral applications.
Clinical training at Cal Lutheran is consistent with a scientist-practitioner model. Cal Lutheran students gain knowledge in evidence-based methods for clinical assessment, interviewing, and treatment. Cal Lutheran's on-campus community counseling clinic provides MS Clinical students with a unique opportunit to conduct "in-house" clinical research and program evaluation. *Please note, the coursework in the MS in Clinical Psychology program is not sufficient for licensure.
Career Options
A number of career options are available to graduates of the Clinical Psychology program. The curriculum is designed to prepare students who plan to continue their graduate studies in a doctoral program. The program is also designed for students who desire to complete a terminal master's degree in psychology and do not intend to become a licensed practitioner.
Many of our graduates choose this career path and are successfully employed overseeing treatment programs in mental health agencies. Graduates of the Master of Clinical Psychology program are qualified for employment in the community college system as instructors of psychology.