James Madison University

Training Approach

There are a number of key elements that guide the training philosophy of the C-I Doctoral Program and they include:

  1. a practitioner-scholar model of training;
  2. a focus on integration and unification;
  3. a scientific humanistic approach that emphasizes critical thought, self-reflective awareness and deep, authentic, meaningful relations with others;
  4. a meta-level view that emphasizes international, interdisciplinary, and interprofessional perspectives and collaborations;
  5. a respect for diversity; and
  6. an individualized approach to training that attends to the personal as well as professional development of students.

These elements are described in more detail below.

Practitioner-Scholar Model of Training

In accordance with the seminal contributions made by Donald Peterson (e.g., Peterson, 1991; see also Henriques & Sternberg, 2004), we see the field of professional psychology evolving from a pre-professional phase, to a scientific-practitioner phase, to a fully functioning and independent profession. In accordance with this, our program is based on the Vail Model of professional psychology, in which we view professional psychologists as scientific practitioners, in contrast to the more traditional scientific-practitioner model in which students are primarily trained in the methods and processes of conducting research and secondarily trained in practice. As trainers of practitioner-scholars, our focus is to produce practitioners whose psychological practice is informed by a solid theoretical base in scientific psychology. In accordance with this, the curriculum is divided into two broad domains of psychological foundational knowledge and applied clinical skills.

Focus on Integration and Unification

One of the defining principles of C-I training is an emphasis on integration, and our program exemplifies this in a number of ways. First, students are exposed to a wide variety of different supervisors with different backgrounds. Second, students work in a wide variety of different settings. Third, there is an explicit emphasis on the crucial role that beliefs and values play in what is promoted and legitimized and why, and this allows students a capacity to empathize with a wide variety of different perspectives. Fourth, the core faculty have played a leading role in defining new visions for training and for theoretically unifying the field (see Henriques & Cobb, 2004; Shealy, 2004).

Scientific Humanistic Approach

One of the most perplexing challenges for the field of professional psychology has been its struggle to navigate the tensions between the cold logic of science and the moral necessities of humanism. In tune with the focus on integration and unification, the core faculty have strong commitments to the need for scientific methodology and theory, while at the same time recognizing that applied psychology, with its prescriptions for change, require a clear moral value component that can not be legitimized solely through the application of the scientific method.

In keeping with a scientific humanistic approach, critical thinking, self-reflective awareness, and the development and maintenance of deep, meaningful relationships are three constants that guide the training philosophy of the program. Because an individual psychologist has the potential for great influence over others, and because clinical work and professional practice can be inherently subjective, it is essential that our students are willing and able to understand and critically explore who they are, what they believe and why, and what they must do—personally and professionally—to become highly knowledgeable, skilled, and competent practitioner-scholars.

An Interprofessional, Interdisciplinary and International Focus

The ability to effectively collaborate with clients and professionals is a key competency that our program emphasizes. One of the core faculty members, Dr. Anne Stewart, is the Interprofessional Coordinator for the Department and has extensive knowledge and experience of how to train psychologists in working in a wide range of diverse settings with a wide variety of different health and mental health professionals, agency and organizational leaders, and government officials.

Our program also emphasizes an international perspective. In particular, Core Faculty members Drs. Stewart and Shealy have extensive international experience and connections. For example, Dr. Shealy is the Executive Director of the International Beliefs and Values Institute (see http://www.jmu.edu/ibavi) through which students are afforded remarkable opportunities to visit other countries and dialogue with luminaries from across the world.

Respect for Diversity

Students in this program show great diversity in a number of domains including ethnic and cultural backgrounds, age, life experience, educational and work background, clinical knowledge and skill, and professional identity. The program values such variability among its students because it provides a rich interpersonal environment that is conducive to personal and professional growth and development.

Throughout the curriculum plan and program, students are encouraged to understand and appreciate the relevance and impact of sociocultural factors on clinical practice, theory, and research in the mental health field. Students have access to clients from a wide range of ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds in practicum (e.g., at the public schools, Mercy House, a homeless shelter for families, Roberta Webb Child Daycare, and at the Counseling and Psychological Services Clinic). In addition, a number of faculty in the C-I Program have research and professional interests in multicultural issues.

Core and Associate Faculty also comprise a diverse range of clinical, counseling, and school psychologists as well as other faculty (e.g., experimental), and the Department of Graduate Psychology's affiliation with the College of Integrated Science and Technology facilitates considerable sharing of intellectual resources. These collaborations allow our students to interact with diverse professionals from both applied and non-applied backgrounds, and widen the purview of their practice, scholarly, and professional possibilities.

Individualized Approach that Emphasizes Professional and Personal Growth

The core faculty recognizes the uniqueness of each student and the training model is designed to accommodate the needs of individuals already possessing advanced degrees in applied areas such as clinical, school, or counseling psychology (or closely related fields such as clinical social work) who are returning to graduate school to pursue the doctoral degree. Training proceeds along a structured sequence of activities that are individualized to the needs of students who enter the program with varying levels of professional experience. Excellent faculty to student ratios (3-4 on-campus students to each core faculty member) allows for intensive one-on-one time, and each student’s level of clinical skill and knowledge are thoroughly assessed as they proceed through the program.

It should be noted that students who have devoted a number of years and considerable effort to a specific applied area prior to entering the program can find it a challenge to learn about and apply new perspectives or practices that may directly contradict, revise, or extend the perspectives or practices of the student’s former field. However, we see such tensions and the capacity to effectively deal with them as crucial to personal and professional growth. Beginning formally with the initial advising process and continuing throughout the program, a strong emphasis is placed on identifying and evaluating each student’s unique strengths as well as his or her specific personal and professional needs as a doctoral-level student in professional psychology. In this way, the program strives to create program-congruent plans of study that are responsive to each student’s unique needs and objectives while avoiding unnecessary replication of previous education and training. This is achieved through strong faculty student relations and a particularly close student-advisor connection. Finally, the program has a strong commitment to the development of an integrated and coherent identity as a professional psychologist.