Whether your goal is to be a practicing psychologist in a clinical practice, a research psychologist investigating the mysteries of the mind, or something in between, there is a psychology doctoral program in New York for you. In fact, you can pursue your degree in any number of fields, ranging from clinical to school to counseling psychology and beyond.
New York is also home to some of the most respected psychology doctoral programs in the nation. And with partnerships with renowned organizations, you can get field training that prepares you well for your future career. Below are some of the popular options that provide these benefits–and many more!
Psychology PhD and PsyD Programs in New York
Listed below are some of the popular schools offering psychology PhD and PsyD programs in New York:
- City College of New York
- Fordham University
- Long Island University
- St. John’s University
- National University
- The Chicago School
- Walden University
- University of Arizona Global Campus
To find out how we select colleges and universities, please click here.
City College of New York
Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology
The City College of New York offers a Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program that is considered to be one of the top programs in the U.S. The program is also accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA). As a student in this program, you’ll be trained from a psychodynamic perspective that emphasizes both scholarship and clinical practice. In other words, you’ll learn about the science of psychology and how to contribute to the body of knowledge in this field while also mastering methods and techniques that enable you to be a top clinician.
This degree requires you to complete 90 credits (though you can transfer up to 15 credits from an accredited master’s in psychology). The curriculum is spread over a six-year calendar during which you complete critical coursework, conduct research, and complete an internship.
The coursework in year one has two primary focuses – psychological research and foundational psychology training. On the research side, you’ll take classes like Statistical Methods in Psychology and Research and Scholarship. On the foundational side, you’ll take classes like Psychoanalytic Theories, Ethical and Legal Issues for Psychologists, and Lifespan Development.
The first year also includes more clinically-focused courses. For example, you’ll take Integrative Foundations of Psychotherapy, which introduces you to psychotherapeutic concepts, methods, and techniques that allow you to provide competent treatment to clients. You’ll expand your knowledge in this area by completing a Practicum in Interviewing and Personality Appraisal, which focuses on honing your skills for intaking new clients. You may choose to work with adult or child clients for this practicum.
Other classes and activities you are required to complete during the first year include the following:
- Psychodiagnostics
- Psychometric Methods
- Psychopathology
- First Doctoral Exam
Moreover, you’ll participate in a clinical residency during your first year. This field experience takes place at The Psychological Center, where you’ll work in a supervised setting with clients with varying mental health needs.
Year two of the program focuses more on clinical foundations and practical work. For example, courses like Adult Psychopathology, Biological Basis of Behavior, and Cognitive and Affective Aspects of Behavior offer insights into why people behave the way they do. Meanwhile, classes like Diversity Issues in Clinical Psychology explore less clinical themes and more on the human experience and how it differs from one person to the next.
Other milestones in year two include the following:
- Neuropsychological Assessment
- Neuropsychological Testing
- Evidence-Based Psychodynamic Treatment
- Clinical Practicum
- Clinical Residency
The program’s third year includes coursework, research, and dissertation work. Regarding coursework, you’ll explore broader themes that help you become a more effective clinician. For example, you’re required to take Sex and Gender or Health of Lesbians, Gays, and Bisexuals as part of a multicultural focus. Likewise, you’ll take a class dedicated specifically to Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, which you can use as a primary treatment method for all sorts of psychological disorders with clients of all kinds.
Furthermore, you’ll continue your participation in a Research and Scholarship Group. Your work in this group focuses on building a better sense of the science of psychology and how you can use psychological research as a tool for becoming a better clinician. In addition to that, you’ll focus heavily on your dissertation work, including initiating your dissertation proposal for approval.
Years four through six are the advanced candidacy years, during which you finish any remaining coursework and zero your focus on completing your dissertation. In fact, you must submit and defend your dissertation in year five before you apply for a clinical internship. The internship is a year-long placement during the sixth year of the program, during which time you work as a full-time clinician in a supervised clinical psychology setting.
The following criteria must be met before applying:
- Have a bachelor’s degree in any field from an accredited college or university. You must have at least 15 credits in psychology, including one semester in statistics and one semester in experimental psychology with a lab.
- Have a satisfactory academic record.
- Submit at least two letters of recommendation from references who can speak to your academic and professional abilities.
- Submit official transcripts from every college or university you’ve attended.
- Submit a personal essay in which you discuss your past education and experience.
- Submit a supplemental essay in which you discuss your personal and professional characteristics.
- Submit a curriculum vitae.
- Submit official GRE General and Subject Test scores.
- Provide evidence of clinical and research experience.
Fordham University
Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology
The Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Fordham uses the Boulder Scientist-Practitioner training model to prepare you for clinical practice. The Boulder standards espouse that you should integrate scientific study and research with your clinical work. As such, the program heavily emphasizes the acquisition of proper research techniques that inform the original research you must conduct within the program as well as your future clinical work.
You can choose from four primary areas of emphasis:
- Child and Adolescent Psychology
- Forensic Psychology
- Neuropsychology
- Health Psychology
Whichever emphasis area you choose, you’ll complete coursework, research, and clinical training in preparation for applying for New York State psychologist licensure. Let’s use Child and Adolescent Psychology as a prime example.
This area of study concerns the behavioral and psychological issues that are common in children and adolescents. Your studies won’t just be defined by investigating the effects of mental illness on children, though. Instead, you’ll explore how childhood mental health affects the larger family unit.
This major area requires you to take three courses in addition to the broader training discussed below. Two of these courses must be Child Psychotherapy and Developmental Psychopathology. You can choose the third class from the following list:
- Trauma and Family Violence
- Behavioral Assessment with Lab
- Psychology and Juvenile Justice
- Child Neuropsychology with Lab
Furthermore, you must complete one externship in a child, adolescent, and family therapy setting.
As for the general coursework you’re required to complete, you’ll begin with basic courses on Research Methods, Psychopathology, and Psychological Statistics. You must also take Regression Analysis and participate in two Research Colloquia, which is reflective of the Boulder Scientist-Practitioner model of the program.
However, these research requirements are joined by topic-focused classes that ready you to work with clients of all ages and types. For example, you’re required to take Cognitive Assessment, which discusses various types of assessments and how to administer them to different age groups. Likewise, you’ll take Psychotherapy Theories, which informs you of historical and modern psychotherapeutic techniques for addressing a range of mental health concerns with your clients.
Additional topical studies include the following:
- Ethics in Psychology
- Psychopathology
- Identification of Child Abuse
- Introduction to Neuroscience
- History and Systems of Psychology
The master’s thesis and doctoral dissertation are also important components of your training. You’ll begin work on your thesis during the summer semester of the program’s first year. You must have the thesis completed by the end of the summer term of the second year. That’s because you’ll begin your work on your dissertation in the third year with another research colloquium. You’ll continue working on the dissertation project until you orally defend it in the spring semester of the program’s fifth year.
Of course, you’ll also undergo extensive field training. The internship allows you the time and supportive space to hone your clinical skills. You’ll be interviewed for and placed in an internship location that aligns with your chosen area of emphasis. You’ll then work full-time in that location beginning in the summer of the program’s fourth year. The internship lasts until the end of the summer session in the program’s fifth year.
The admissions requirements for the program are as follows:
- Have a bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited college or university.
- Submit official transcripts from every college or university you’ve attended.
- Provide a 12 to 25-page original sample of your writing.
- Provide a 900-word statement of intent in which you address questions related to your academic and career goals, your past coursework, and how this program will prepare you to achieve your goals.
- Submit a 500-word supplemental essay in which you explore how your professional, educational, personal, and clinical experiences have prepared you.
- Submit a resume or curriculum vitae.
Long Island University
Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology
The APA-accredited PsyD program from Long Island University is a professional clinical psychology degree that trains you to work specifically with underserved populations. As such, you are required to select a concentration area from a number of options, including:
- Interventions With High-Risk Families
- Assessment and Treatment of Substance Use Disorders
- Synthesizing Psychotherapy
In each case, you only need to complete two elective courses to earn the specialization.
Your general PsyD training is led by the university’s experienced and distinguished psychology faculty. The faculty with whom you’ll work has both theoretical training and clinical expertise. In particular, the faculty’s expertise revolved around the psychodynamic and cognitive-behavioral approaches. By getting a thorough education in both approaches, you’ll have an advantage when applying for externships and when seeking employment after you graduate.
The curriculum focuses mostly on foundational coursework during the program’s first year. After that, you’ll carry a load of courses while also completing clinical training as an intern in an approved clinical facility. For example, during your second year, you’ll train at LIU’s Post Psychological Services Center, where you’ll provide low-cost clinical mental health services and preventative care to community members.
During the third and fourth years of the program, you’ll work at an offsite location of your choosing (though the site must accept you, too). You can choose from more than 50 training sites in the greater New York City area that provide outpatient, inpatient, and community mental health services.
In amongst your clinical training, you’ll also work on a case presentation that you present as part of the Clinical Competency Evaluation (CCE). The evaluation’s purpose is to ensure you are able to appropriately conceptualize cases, conduct case consultations, and reflect on your work. Your case presentation is evaluated by the CCE committee. Other research-related opportunities include a master’s thesis and a doctoral dissertation. You’ll write and defend the thesis during the fourth year of studies; the dissertation defense comes at the program’s end.
Your clinical training starts early on in this program and extends through the fifth year. In fact, the fifth year is fully dedicated to a clinical internship. All told, you must complete 115 credits to earn your doctoral degree.
This program is extremely competitive – only 30 students are chosen each year. While it’s helpful to have an undergraduate degree in psychology and have some clinical experience, this is not a requirement. Instead, you must have a bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited college or university as a minimum level of education.
Additional admission requirements are as follows:
- Have a competitive GPA of 3.0 or higher for all undergraduate work. You must have at least 18 credits of psychology, including coursework in statistics, research design or methods, or abnormal psychology.
- Submit official transcripts from every college or university you’ve attended.
- Submit GRE general test scores.
- Provide evidence of fieldwork experience in clinical psychology.
- Submit a curriculum vitae or resume.
- Provide a personal statement.
- Provide a statement of research.
You can apply online if this APA-accredited program sounds like a good fit for your needs.
St. John’s University
Psy.D. in School Psychology
Another popular PsyD option in New York is the School Psychology Doctor of Psychology from St. John’s University. This program is APA-accredited and is also accredited by the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP). As such, the curriculum is both relevant and rigorous. As a graduate of this program, you’ll have all the skills, knowledge, and tools necessary to provide competent services to school-aged children.
You’ll complete coursework, research, and clinical training in preparation for applying for NY school psychologist licensure.
The curriculum for this five-year, full-time, residential program offers either a general track or a bilingual track. The obvious difference is that the latter focuses on preparing you to work with children for whom English is not their native language. The program also offers an advanced standing track if you already have a master’s degree in a relevant field.
During your first year of study, you’ll take basic school psychology courses like Psychoeducational Assessment, Psychopathology Across the Lifespan, and Introduction to School Psychology. You’ll also take Child and Adolescent Personality Assessment, which is a critical course for developing your understanding of personality development in children. Furthermore, the expertise you gain in this class will enable you to make more accurate diagnoses of children who display symptoms of certain personality disorders.
Another important early course in this curriculum is Behavior Therapy: Assessment, Treatment, and Consultation. This wide-ranging class examines the hallmark tenets of behavioral therapy and walks you through the procedures of intaking a client, administering assessments, and devising a thorough treatment plan. You’ll also learn about the importance of case consultations with other educational professionals to ensure you’re meeting the specific needs of each child.
During the program’s second year, you’ll continue taking developmental coursework that helps you build a strong foundation of psychological knowledge. Some of these courses include the following:
- Statistical Design in Research
- Research Methods in School Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Cultural Diversity in Psychological Services
- Physiological Psychology
You must also complete two Psychological Assessment Practicums, which focus on observing and participating in the assessment process of children in the field. You’ll work closely with a supervisor with experience in this area who will walk you through the ins and outs of school-based psychological assessments.
The third year in the program continues this theme of completing the necessary coursework. Some of the classes you’ll take in the third year are Psychometrics and Social Basis of Behavior. You’ll also complete a School Psychology Intervention practicum that focuses on techniques and methods you can use to work with children with an array of mental health concerns. You’ll also participate in an Internship Seminar that focuses on intervention methods.
The fourth and fifth years focus mostly on research and your clinical assignment. On the one hand, you’ll wrap up your doctoral research in the fourth year and take a comprehensive examination that reviews what you’ve learned to this point in the program. On the other hand, You’ll also engage in a year-long internship at an approved site, where you’ll work with school-aged children on matters of emotional, social, behavioral, and mental health. During your time at the internship site, you’ll work full-time and have consistent supervisory activities with your onsite supervisor and university faculty.
To apply, you must meet these criteria to apply:
- Have a bachelor’s degree with at least 24 credits of psychology coursework, including Introductory Psychology, Statistics, and a lab course.
- Submit official transcripts from every college or university you’ve attended.
- Provide three to five letters of recommendation, one of which must be from a reference who can address your potential in psychological research.
- Provide two writing samples from psychology courses or practical experiences, at least one of which must be a laboratory or research-related paper in APA style.
- Provide a statement of your educational and professional goals.
- Submit scores from the GRE general test. You can also use a passing score on the PRAXIS exam if you are an advanced-standing student.
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