Become a Psychologist

The Academy of Psychological Clinical Science is an alliance of leading, scientifically oriented, doctoral and internship training programs in clinical and health psychology in the United States and Canada. Academy membership is open to doctoral and internship programs with strong commitments to, and established records of, successful clinical science training.

The Academy has evolved in response to the challenges and opportunities confronting scientific clinical psychology, both now and in the foreseeable future. Among the biggest challenges are the changes in health care, in graduate and undergraduate education, in patterns of research funding, in the priorities of professional organizations, in licensing and accreditation requirements and procedures, in governmental priorities and policies, in career opportunities and preferences of students, in public demands for accountability and “truth in advertising, ” and in the scope and knowledge of clinical psychology. While such changes clearly represent significant challenges, they also represent exciting opportunities, especially for those committed to advancing clinical psychology as a science. These challenges force clinical scientists to reexamine, refine, and reaffirm their commitment to their values, mission, responsibilities, and goals. They also encourage clinical science training programs to build alliances based on shared values and to work together to shape the future of the discipline. In the process, such alliances should help member programs improve the quality of their training and the scientific contributions of their faculties and students.