Graduate Student Handbook for Clinical Psychology, Department of Psychology (2025-2026)
Graduate Student Handbook, Clinical Psychology
Section 1: Handbook Overview
Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program Manual – Policies and Procedures (2025-2026)
Introduction
Congratulations on your admission to the Clinical Psychology Program at Washington State University (WSU)! We are glad that you decided to pursue a doctorate with us. This document summarizes some of the important procedures and regulations that will govern your activities as you proceed toward your degree. When you first read this document, you may feel overwhelmed by the many “rules” governing your graduate career. However, it is our experience that having clear goals, objectives, and procedures help to ensure that students complete the doctoral degree in a timely fashion. Indeed, in recent years, most of our students have completed their doctorates within roughly six years of entering the program.
The material contained herein is not intended to substitute for or otherwise modify the regulations that are contained in the current Graduate Catalog, the Graduate School Policies and Procedures Manual, or other official University documents. Rather, this document supplements and extends more general university- and departmental-level requirements as they might apply specifically to the graduate program in clinical psychology. This Policy and Procedures Manual will be updated periodically. Relevant policy memoranda that appear between publications will be incorporated into subsequent editions. If you judge a section of this Manual to be unclear, or if you identify additional topics that you believe warrant inclusion in the next edition, please inform the current Director of Clinical Training (DCT), Dr. Walter Scott.
A copy of this document is always available on our program website. You will be asked to read this document in the first week of your training in the clinical psychology doctoral program as well as to sign a form to indicate that you have read this document and have had the opportunity to ask questions about its contents. You will be notified (via e-mail on our listserv) annually when the document is updated. Please download and read the updated document as soon as possible after receiving notification of an update. A reread will get you up to date on changes and will serve as a good reminder of the general policies.
Program Philosophy and Mission
The Clinical Psychology Program at Washington State University is based on the scientist- practitioner model of training. The Program is designed to integrate theory, research, and clinical practice in the training of students. Thus, students are involved in research and clinical practica each semester in the Program, for practica beginning in the third semester until the start of the 12- month internship. The overarching goal of the program is to train highly competent clinical psychologists who will obtain high quality APA-accredited internships and, with graduation, make positive contributions to the field of clinical psychology (see WSU Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program Student Learning Outcomes; Appendix A). Given that our graduates potentially can make contributions to clinical psychology in academic, research, medical, clinical, or community settings dependent on their interests and goals, the Program provides broad, general clinical training during the four-to five years students are at the University. Areas of interest within the Clinical Psychology Program include: Health Psychology, Neuropsychology, Adult Psychopathology, Child and Adolescent Psychopathology, and Diversity. The Program is accredited by the American Psychological Association. Questions related to the program’s accredited status should be directed to the Commission on Accreditation:
Contact the American Psychological Association’s Commission on Accreditation:
Address: Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation
American Psychological Association
750 1st Street, NE,
Washington, DC 20002
Phone: (202) 336-5979
E-mail: apaaccred@apa.org
American Psychological Association’s Commission on Accreditation (www.apa.org/ed/accreditation)
Program Aims
The program’s three broad aims, which follow from our philosophy and training model, are to train scientist-practitioners who will:
- have broad knowledge of scientific psychology and psychological research methods;
- provide evidence-based clinical services that are consistent with ethical and professional standards, including knowledge of and sensitivity to issues of diversity; and
- be capable of contributing to current knowledge in clinical psychology.
To accomplish these aims we expect all students to achieve discipline specific knowledge in:
- The history and systems of psychology,
- Basic knowledge in scientific psychology,
- Integrative knowledge in scientific psychology, and
- Methods of inquiry and research; and
- To demonstrate profession-wide competencies (PWCs) in the areas of:
- Research
- Ethical and legal standards
- Individual and cultural diversity
- Professional values, attitudes, and behaviors
- Communication and interpersonal skills
- Assessment
- Intervention
- Supervision
- Consultation and interprofessional/interdisciplinary skills
People
Clinical Training Committee (CTC)
The Clinical Training Committee (CTC) consists of all psychology faculty members who are active in the program and is chaired by the Director of Clinical Training (DCT). Admissions, annual student evaluations, curriculum changes, and disciplinary actions, as well as other program-related issues, are all decided by the CTC. During the fall and spring semesters, the CTC generally meets once or twice each month to discuss issues relevant to the clinical psychology training program. During the summer semester, the committee meets as needed. All program decisions that require a vote are passed when a simple majority of the eligible faculty (not faculty present) votes in the affirmative. An outline of each CTC meeting agenda is maintained by the DCT.
Student’s Advisor (Major Professor)
Each student admitted into the program is assigned to the faculty member who most closely matches their research and clinical interests, who serves as the student’s advisor/major professor. This faculty member will assist the student in planning their program of study. The advisor serves as the chair of the student’s master’s thesis, preliminary examination, and doctoral dissertation committees. Although not typical, students may change advisors as well as their research interests during their studies in the clinical program. In addition, it is possible for students to be involved in the research programs of more than one faculty member. Likewise, sometimes students will work in the labs of other faculty members on specific, time-limited projects that may help them gain additional research experience or clinical hours. Students should obtain approval from their major professor before volunteering for additional work in another professor’s lab to ensure that they do not become overloaded and are staying on track for their independent research projects. If you have any questions about these issues, please discuss them with your major professor or the DCT.
In cases in which a student wishes to identify a new major professor, the student should first discuss this change with both the current and prospective mentor. Although a student may discuss options with another faculty member before pursuing a mentor change, ideally, the reasons for wanting to change major professors will be discussed with the current major professor before deciding to make such a change. However, in matters involving discrimination or discriminatory harassment under a protected class or those involving sexual harassment or sexual misconduct, students can report directly to Compliance and Civil Rights (CCR ). In such cases CCR will assist the student in facilitating interim safety measures as appropriate, which may include changing major professors. Otherwise, if there is a conflict in the working relationship, resolution following the outlined procedures for grievances and conflict resolution should be attempted before severing the mentor relationship. If the student is not comfortable discussing these reasons with the major professor, the conflict resolution chain via the DCT and department chair can be followed. It is also possible to set up an initial meeting with both the major professor and the DCT if the student requests it. If it is determined that a change will be made, the student must next notify the DCT of the change in writing. The DCT will contact the current and proposed major professors to confirm the proposed change in mentors and will then notify the CTC of this change. Students should note that if a student elects to leave their mentor’s lab, it is the student’s responsibility to obtain a new mentor from the list of eligible mentors for clinical psychology doctoral program committees. Finally, students should note the Graduate School Policies and Procedures Manual (Chapter Seven – Master’s Degree Requirements and Chapter Eight – Doctoral Degree Requirements) indicates: “The student is responsible for establishing and maintaining a faculty advisory committee. WSU faculty have the right to decline to serve on any specific student’s committee.”
Graduate Program Coordinator
The Graduate Program Coordinator (Stacy Gessler) for both the clinical and experimental doctoral programs is located in the Department of Psychology (JT 233B, 335- 2633). It is important that all new clinical graduate students provide her with a local mailing address, telephone number(s), and e-mail address. All clinical students, new and continuing, should also keep her advised of any changes of local address, telephone number(s), or e-mail address that might occur. If you are a new student, please introduce yourself to her when you arrive on campus.
Graduate Student Mentor
Once accepted to the clinical psychology doctoral program, you will be assigned a graduate student mentor by the CPGSO, typically based on your preferences concerning the goals of this mentoring relationship and availability of potential mentors. The graduate student mentor will be available to answer general questions about the program as well as specific questions about your transition to Pullman and WSU. Although we want all new students to feel supported by the entire program, the graduate student mentor provides students with a peer who can provide information, support, and advice about how to succeed in the program.
Graduate Student Representatives
Each year, two clinical psychology graduate students are elected by their peers to serve as student representatives to the CTC. The representatives are elected at the end of the summer semester and serve a one-year term. To ensure representation across the student body—as well as awareness of and attention to the various concerns that students at different stages in training may have—one representative is elected from the incoming first-year class or rising second-year class, and one is elected from the rising third-year class and beyond. Students must be in residence for the upcoming year to be on the ballot. Students who previously served as a student representative are eligible for election if they remain in residence. At the end of the summer semester, all current students (incoming first years through internship class for the upcoming year) vote for both representative positions for the next academic year. Students who are completing internship and who will graduate in the current year are not eligible to vote. The student with the most votes from their peers for each of the two positions will be the student representative for that position if the student agrees to accept the position.
Regardless of the number of votes from peers, a student must be in good standing in the program to serve as a student representative.
The student representatives will also participate in part of the CTC meetings to receive program updates to share with their fellow students, participate in relevant discussions, and present any program-level student concerns. They communicate related information to the full student body via CTC meeting minutes, distributed through the clinical listserv. Student representatives are not voting members of the CTC. Of course, the student representatives will be excused for discussions in which it would be inappropriate or unethical for them to be present (e.g., discussions of student performance, annual evaluations, review of data for admissions decisions, practicum placement decisions). The student representatives may also meet with the DCT as needed to discuss any concerns brought to their attention that are relevant to the training program at any time. Additionally, student representatives are appointed each fall semester to serve on various committees in the department (e.g., Search Committees; Graduate Admissions Committee; Diversity Committee).
Other Faculty, Staff, and Affiliated Supervisors
In addition to the core clinical psychology program faculty and the graduate coordinator, there are a number of additional faculty, staff, and supervisors affiliated with the clinical psychology doctoral program. Faculty from the experimental doctoral program teach many of the required courses in the discipline specific knowledge areas. They also may serve on thesis, preliminary examination, and dissertation committees as do designated and approved faculty from other departments (such as educational psychology, nursing, and medicine). Our program has a number of external supervisors who supervise clinical work in practicum placements/externships in community settings.
The department’s secretary senior (Sarah Bauer) can assist with questions regarding facilities (e.g., issuing office keys) and often shares general information with the department (including the Monday Memo, to which you should refer weekly). She is also a point person for administrative assistance when teaching a course. The clinic’s program specialist (Rachelle Simons) oversees the clinic’s front office and assists the director and associate director in managing the clinic (see Psychology Clinic Policies and Procedures Manual). She will be a point person when working in the clinic. Other staff who will be helpful to you along the way include our information systems/information technology staff (Francis Benjamin and Brian Coughenour), who assist with facilities, hardware, software, and systems in the department offices, labs, and clinic. They also fulfill project requests, such as printing posters for conferences. Finally, our department’s undergraduate advisors may interact with you regarding undergraduate students in your courses. It is good to know who they are—and where they are located—in case you need to refer an undergraduate student for assistance.
New Clinical Psychology Graduate Students and Beginning of the Year
Each year’s incoming cohort of clinical psychology graduate students represents the emerging future of our program. We want you to become integrated as part of the team right away! As part of a welcoming spirit, the department has a longstanding tradition of hosting a beginning-of-the-year picnic, held early during the fall semester. In addition to bringing everyone together to kick off the academic year, this gathering allows the faculty and current graduate students to meet the new students. Watch for the announcement early during the fall semester!
Clinical Psychology Program Students
Without the doctoral students there would be no clinical psychology doctoral program. As a faculty, we appreciate you and are dedicated to training you as future clinical psychologists and scientists. We are committed to supporting your professional growth and offering you a variety of training opportunities. In turn, we expect a lot from you! We selected you from a large group of applicants as the students we believe are best suited for our research teams and our clinical program’s training mission. Certainly, we have high expectations, but we know you can meet them. While doing so, we want you to get the most out of your experience and to be an active participant in making the program increasingly better. We value your input and often seek it out. For example, you will be asked to be involved in the admissions process—meeting and interviewing applicants and helping with behind-the-scenes arrangements. Like an exemplar of how our program operates, our admissions interview process is successful because our current students play such an important role. Welcome to the team!
Psychology Program Alumni
It may be difficult to consider yourself as a future graduate of the clinical psychology program when you are just starting out or working through the various requirements, courses, and experiences of the program. However, graduation day will arrive sooner than you think! The clinical psychology doctoral program has produced stellar scientist- practitioners, and the faculty are proud of our graduates and the professional positions that they hold. Know that you are our graduate students of today but are our research leaders of tomorrow. You are our practicum supervisees now but soon you will be our future students’ internship supervisors. As colleagues, we hope to maintain professional and academic relationships and collaborations with you. As a program, we also hope to stay in touch with you and the important work you are doing. After you have graduated, we will also ask you to report your ongoing roles to us for annual reports to the American Psychological Association for accreditation purposes. In short, you will have a lifelong connection to WSU’s doctoral program in clinical psychology, and we are dedicated to making that connection a positive one.
Graduate Students’ Obligation to Ethical and Professional Behavior
Ethical Principles and Code of Conduct of the American Psychological Association
You will be governed by the applicable principles of the current version of the American Psychological Association’s Ethical Principles and Code of Conduct during the time you are in graduate school. You will be asked to read this document by the second Friday of the incoming semester of your training and to sign a form to indicate that you have read this document. You will abide by its standards throughout your training at Washington State University (and beyond).
The APA Ethics Code will be formally discussed in PSYCH 530: Professional, Ethical, and Legal Issues, including implications and applications for graduate students in training. Students will also have many formal opportunities for discussion of ethical principles throughout their coursework, research, and clinical experiences as well as have the opportunity to apply these principles in a variety of settings.
Academic Honesty
Plagiarism is scholarly theft, and it is defined as the unacknowledged use of secondary sources. More specifically, any written presentation in which the writer does not distinguish clearly between original and borrowed material constitutes plagiarism. Because students, as scholars, must make frequent use of the concepts and facts developed by other scholars, plagiarism is not the mere use of another’s facts and ideas. However, it is plagiarism when students present the work of the other scholars or from sources other than one’s own (e.g., Generative AI) as if it were their own work. Plagiarism is a serious offense. An act of plagiarism within a course may lead to a failing grade on the assignment, paper, or exam—or a failing grade for the course itself—as well as other sanctions. An act of plagiarism in a thesis, dissertation, or other research contribution will also be met with severe consequences that may include termination from the program.
Interpersonal Communication
We expect of faculty and students to be respectful and professional (i.e., ethical and responsible) in their interpersonal communication with others, including staff, clients/patients, research participants, undergraduate students, and fellow graduate students when engaging in curriculum, clinical, research, teaching or other professional activities as part of their training in the clinical psychology doctoral program. Interpersonal communication includes written and oral communication related to these training activities, wherein we value accountability, ethical engagement, self-reflection, civility, collaboration, and cultural humility. Our goal with this expectation is to maintain a respectful and positive educational community.
Intellectual Property
As was outlined for faculty members above, students also are expected to recognize faculty contributions to projects as part of that faculty member’s intellectual property. That is, when a faculty member invests a significant amount of time and contributes ideas to a project, they should be considered to be part of that project unless they voluntarily withdraw. If there is a division between contributors to a project where the contributors are no longer going to continue on a project together, the decision about the work products for that project must be determined through a mutually agreed upon process. If this decision cannot be resolved between the faculty member and the student, a decision should be made following the program’s conflict resolution and/or grievances procedures. Regarding authorship, note that faculty members and students should consult the APA website at Publication Practices and Responsible Authorship. In addition, having paper authorship agreements outlined in advance can help clarify contributions, timelines, and expectations. This expectation regarding intellectual property has also been added to the section on Graduate Students’ Obligation to Ethical and Professional Behavior.
General Professional Behavior
Students are expected to attend all classes, TA/RA meetings, team meetings, program meetings, and scheduled clinical (client therapy and assessment) and supervision sessions. Students must receive permission from their instructor for any absences except in the case of illness or other emergency. Students are also expected to respond to emails or other messages from the DCT, other program faculty, or their supervisors in a timely manner.
Public Professionalism – Websites, Blogs, Email, and Voicemail
Increasingly, as information becomes more widely available through the internet, lines between public and private information are blurring. Many students have websites, blogs, social media accounts, email signature lines, and voicemail messages that are entertaining and reflect their personal preferences and personalities. However, students should be thoughtful about how their online/social media presence intersects with their professional identities and image. For example, if the student uses their telephone, social media, email account for professional purposes, clients, research participants, and potential employers may be able to access these, and they may affect one’s professional image. Also, according to information collected by the Council of University Directors of Clinical Psychology, clients, graduate and internship programs, and potential employers may all conduct internet searches and use the resulting information in decisions about therapy, or job interviews or offers. Legal authorities also view websites for evidence of illegal activities.
Students should also note that if they identify themselves as a graduate student in the program or reveal information relevant to the graduate program in their email signatures, voicemail files, or website/blog information, then this information becomes part of their program-related behavior and may be used in student evaluations. For example, if a student reports doing something unethical or illegal on a blog or on social media or uses a website to engage in unethical or unprofessional behavior (e.g., disclosing confidential client or research information), then the program may use this information in student evaluation, including decisions regarding probation or termination.
Students are encouraged to consider the use of personal web pages and blogs, email, social media, and other electronic media carefully. They should attend to what content to reveal about themselves in these forums, and whether there is any personal information that they would not want program faculty, employers, or clients to read or view. Anything on the internet is potentially available to the public. Students who use these media should also consider how to protect the security of private information.
Title in Email Signature or Other Uses
If you use an email signature or are otherwise identifying your title, do not identify yourself as a “doctoral candidate.” Doctoral candidacy is a specific designation by the Graduate School that comes late in your graduate career (i.e., you are not formally admitted to doctoral candidacy until after the doctoral comprehensive exam is passed). Furthermore, this term can be confusing to the lay public. You should use the term “doctoral student” or “graduate student” if you choose to identify yourself as such in your email signature.
Use of Laptops in Class
Student use of laptops is permitted in class insofar as they are used for notetaking, referencing materials for discussion, and in compliance with course syllabi and instructor guidelines. The use of laptops for other purposes (e.g., emailing, Facebook, instant messaging, video chat, playing games, internet browsing), except as explicitly authorized by the course instructor, constitutes unprofessional behavior. The use of other electronic devices during class is prohibited. Although laptops are generally allowed in class, it is up to the discretion of the instructor, and any instructor may determine that laptops are not permitted in general—or during specific class meetings. Certainly, computers do not need to be accessed during all activities of a class. For example, if classmates are delivering a presentation, there is no reason that other students should have their laptops open. Students misusing laptops or using other electronic devices during class (e.g., texting on cell phones) may be dismissed from class and may receive other disciplinary consequences at the discretion of the instructor and/or the CTC. Professional behavior constitutes an important domain in faculty evaluation of student performance.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) Use Policy
As artificial intelligence (AI) tools become increasingly available in academic settings, the Department of Psychology at Washington State University recognizes their potential to assist with select aspects of research, clinical, communication, and professional development. However, AI use must be consistent with the values of academic integrity, ethical research and clinical activity, and the development of independent scholarly ability. This policy outlines the approved and prohibited uses of AI by graduate students in the program. Note that for all coursework you must abide by the AI policies set forth in the syllabus.
I. Permitted Uses (With Prior Faculty Mentor or Supervisor Approval)
Graduate students may use AI tools for limited academic and administrative purposes, only with prior approval from their faculty mentor. These approved uses include:
- Brainstorming and Conceptual Development: Assisting with early-stage development of themes in qualitative research or items for psychological instruments. Use for this purpose needs to be disclosed and your faculty mentor needs to review and approve the transcript from AI.
- Reference and Citation Management: Formatting citations and bibliographies (e.g., APA style) and organizing reference lists.
- Statistical Programming Support: Writing or refining code in statistical software platforms (e.g., R, SPSS, Python), provided the student can explain and interpret the code and results. Use for this purpose needs to be disclosed and your faculty mentor needs to review and approve the transcript from AI.
- Administrative and Communication Tasks: Summarizing or drafting notes from meetings for personal or research group use; Assisting in the drafting of professional emails (e.g., scheduling, inquiries), while maintaining professional tone.
- Some limited clinical activities: AI systems can recommend books, articles, or exercises based on diagnostic categories or treatment goals. AI may also be used to create or deliver educational content for psychoeducational purposes. AI may be used for scoring psychological tests for assessment reports, if approved by your supervisor.
II. Prohibited Uses
All other uses of AI are prohibited. The following are examples of unacceptable uses, which include but are not limited to:
- Drafting, editing, or generating content for master’s theses or doctoral dissertations
- Using AI to prepare any aspect of preliminary exams
- Composing or revising manuscripts intended for peer-reviewed publication
- Conducting literature reviews or summarizing research findings
- Interpreting data or drawing conclusions from research results
- Drafting or rewriting any academic work that is meant to demonstrate the student’s independent scholarly contribution.
- In clinical activities, AI must not be used for clinical decision-making tasks, including test interpretation, diagnostic classification, treatment planning. AI is also strictly prohibited for writing assessment reports or clinical notes.
- Uploading or sharing with AI any confidential information (e.g., client records, student information, participant information).
Such uses are considered violations of this policy and may also violate the university’s standards of academic integrity.
When in doubt students are expected to exercise good judgment. If uncertain whether a particular use of AI is permissible, students must consult their faculty mentor, supervisor, and/or the DCT before using the tool.
All AI use must align with this policy and the broader ethical standards of the discipline. Violations may constitute academic misconduct and will be handled in accordance with the Washington State University Academic Integrity Policy.
The Department of Psychology is committed to preparing students as ethical, independent scholars. This policy is intended to support the responsible integration of emerging technologies while safeguarding the integrity of academic work.
Consensual Relationships
The WSU policy on consensual relationships between faculty and students can be found at:
Keep in mind that this policy applies to you both in your role as students, but also in your role as teaching assistant, research assistant, or course instructor.