What are the steps to becoming a clinical psychologist?

First, check to see if your current grad school has a doctoral program. Since you can usually transfer some of your masters credits to the doctoral program, you have better luck if you remain in the same school. If not, then make sure you hold onto the syllabi from your masters courses. When you transfer to a new school, you will need these to transfer your credits.

The time required to complete a doctoral program depends on how many credits you are allowed to transfer. It could take three years. It could take five.

You will be required to complete the standard doctoral courses in clincial psych (assessment, psychopathology, ethics, different theoretical orientations, biological and developmental psychology) and electives with competency exams (I had six competency exams- clinical interviewing, cognitive assessment, Rorschach, integrative assessment, and two for my practicum). You also have one large comprehensive examination. You will be required to complete at least 600 hours of a practicum or externship on a part-time basis, as well as a very competitve full-time internship after you have completed your classes. You will also be required to write a dissertation (the requirements for this vary by school). Once you have successfully completed these steps, you usually graduate with your doctorate. Then, you have to complete 1-2 years of supervised postdoctoral training (depending on state requirements) and the EPPP (big, national licensure exam- hard), as well as other state required tests to earn licensure to practice clinical psychology independently.

Getting a doctorate isn't mandatory for scientific psychology. in case you finished an undergrad degree in psychology, you in straightforward terms want particular training courses (a graduate degree, which takes 2-3 years). in spite of the undeniable fact that, a Ph.D of Psy. D is an determination. They take approximately 5 years to acquire after 4 years of undergrad.

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