GRADUATE PROGRAM
Our PhD program prepares psychologists for a range of careers in science, health, and industry.
Graduate Study
Graduate students work on research teams with primary mentors, complete coursework, and engage in experiential training tied to their field of study and individual career goals. At the completion of training, graduates earn a Ph.D. in Psychology with a specific concentration - Clinical, Clinical-Community, Clinical-Neuropsychology, Community, or Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience.
Clinical Psychology
Clinical psychology is the science of behavior for the promotion of human betterment and relief of suffering; it is characterized both by its integration across many fields (medicine, public health) and by its specializations, such as neuropsychology. The Clinical Psychology Program at Georgia State is based on the scientist-practitioner model and is designed to train clinical psychologists who take a scientific approach for contemporary and innovative careers in research, practice and/or teaching.
The Clinical program area directs the Clinical Psychology (CLG) concentration and co-directs the Clinical-Neuropsychology (CLN) concentration with the Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neuroscience program area and co-directs the Clinical-Community (CLC) concentration with the Community program area.
The program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of the American Psychological Association. Inquiries may be directed to: Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation The American Psychological Association 750 First Street, N.E. Washington, D.C. 20002-4242 Phone: 202-336-5979 E-mail: [email protected] Web address: accreditation.apa.org/
Student Admissions, Outcomes and Other Data
CUDCUP Policy on Offers and Acceptances
APA-Accredited Internship Match Rates by Program (2011-2014)
Virtual interviews for selected applicants to the clinical (CLC, CLG, CLN) concentrations will be in the beginning of February 2023.
Clinical Faculty
Associated Faculty
Concentrations
Clinical Psychology (CLG) Concentration
The Clinical Psychology concentration is designed to fill the requirements for doctoral training in clinical psychology and prepare students to be eligible for clinical licensure following graduation. Clinical psychology is the science of behavior for the promotion of human betterment and relief of suffering; it is characterized both by its integration across many fields (medicine, public health) and by its specializations, such as neuropsychology. The Clinical Psychology concentration at Georgia State trains psychologists committed and equipped to improve the human condition and alleviate suffering through transdisciplinary scientific inquiry. Our students are trained as scientists who can critically evaluate and integrate information, generate hypotheses or alternative explanations that are grounded in the research literature, develop methods to evaluate those hypotheses or explanations and communicate effectively in scholarly and lay contexts.
Clinical-Neuropsychology (CLN) Concentration
Students in the Clinical-Neuropsychology (CLN) concentration have general clinical psychology training as well as specialized clinical neuropsychology training consistent with an APA major area of study. Clinical neuropsychology is a scientific discipline that has “special expertise in the applied science of brain-behavior relationships” (National Academy of Neuropsychology, 2001). Clinical neuropsychology advances and utilizes evidenced-based assessment and interventions for healthy individuals as well as those who have difficulties as a result of central nervous system disease or disruption. The CLN faculty have wide-reaching interests across the lifespan, various neurological and clinical populations, and complementary scientific methods. The training requirements for CLN students are consistent with guidelines developed by the Houston Conference on Specialty Education and Training in Clinical Neuropsychology, so that students are eligible for clinical licensure following graduation and well prepared to become ABPP certified in clinical neuropsychology (see American Academy of Clinical Neuropsychology website for details). Georgia State CLN students have formed an active interest group in the Association of Neuropsychology Students in Training (ANST), the trainee organization of the Society for Clinical Neuropsychology (APA Division 40).
The concentration is jointly administered by the Clinical Psychology program area and the Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neuroscience program area. This reflects the joint emphasis on training in clinical psychology and cognitive and affective neuroscience. Students participate in both the Clinical Psychology and NCN program areas.
Faculty are clinical neuropsychologists and psychologists with joint affiliations in both the Clinical and Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neuroscience program areas who serve as advisors for CLN students. Clinical neuropsychology requires an integration of these fields and specialty expertise in approaches to research, evaluation and intervention. Joint advising with a CLN faculty member is also possible.
Clinical-Community (CLC) Concentration
Students in the Clinical-Community (CLC) concentration seek training in both clinical and community psychology and aim to be eligible for clinical licensure following graduation. Dual enrollment is thus designed to provide a strengths-based, culturally competent approach to mental health and healthy development that emphasizes theory, research and practice at multiple levels of analysis – psychological, sociopolitical, and ecological. Dually enrolled CLC students receive training that is informed by the traditions of prevention and social justice in community psychology and by the focus on assessment and individualized mental health interventions in clinical psychology. In addition to being qualified for clinical licensure, dually enrolled students will receive training in the range of indirect services necessary for interventions at the institutional and community levels: consultation, program development and evaluation, social policy, and action research. Students accepted for dual enrollment participate in both the Clinical Psychology and Community Programs.
Cognitive Sciences
The Cognitive Sciences program area oversees the Cognitive Sciences (CGS) concentration, which encompasses interdisciplinary interests in experimental psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, computer science and translational science. With cognition as its unifying thread, the program area provides opportunities to specialize in research and training in basic or applied cognitive psychology, cognitive neuroscience, social cognition, language and cognitive development, psycholinguistics and comparative cognition.
The research methods include noninvasive behavioral and cognitive testing with children, adults, and non-human primates, as well as electroencephalography (EEG), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI and fMRI), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), eye-tracking, virtual reality/virtual environment testing, neurogenomics and cognitive neuroinformatics.
We accept students with wide-ranging interests across the cognitive sciences for the terminal PhD program. Students shape their own programs of research in consultation with their advisors. Prospective applicants should contact faculty for more information about individual research programs.
Specific faculty interests include learning and memory; language acquisition and use, including the roles of experience, gesture, specific brain structures and processes; economic decision making; attention and executive functioning (e.g., metacognition, planning, cognitive control); false memories and eyewitness accuracy; decision making, including speeded judgments, economic decision making, and reasoning; inequity perception and response; comparative cognition; individual and group (e.g., species, race, gender, diagnostic category, age) differences; cooperation and prosocial behavior; and brain-behavior relations that underlie various cognitive competencies.
Cognitive Sciences Faculty
Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neuroscience
The goal of the Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neuroscience program area is to bridge psychology and neuroscience in the scientific study of brains and behavior. This program area administers two distinct concentrations: 1) the Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (CAN) concentration and 2) the Clinical Neuropsychology (CLN) concentration, which is jointly administered with the Clinical program area.
The Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neuroscience program area maintains strong inter- and transdisciplinary collaborations and scientific training. Students in the CAN or CLN concentrations work on a broad array of topics in cognitive neuroscience and neuropsychology studying healthy human function and clinical populations across the lifespan. The various research projects aim at understanding both functional and dysfunctional brain-behavior relationships at various levels and provide in-depth training for careers in basic or applied research. Descriptions of each faculty member’s research interests can be found at the links above.
An example of the multidisciplinary expertise and collaborations is how the NCAN students (CLN and CAN) and faculty with neuroimaging research interests are involved in the TReNDS Center with regular presentations and speaker series, collaborative projects and research initiatives.
Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neuroscience Faculty
Associated Faculty
Concentrations
Clinical-Neuropsychology (CLN) Concentration
Students in the Clinical-Neuropsychology (CLN) concentration have general clinical psychology training as well as specialized clinical neuropsychology training consistent with an APA major area of study. Clinical neuropsychology is a scientific discipline that has “special expertise in the applied science of brain-behavior relationships” (National Academy of Neuropsychology, 2001). Clinical neuropsychology advances and utilizes evidenced-based assessment and interventions for healthy individuals as well as those who have difficulties as a result of central nervous system disease or disruption. The CLN faculty have wide-reaching interests across the lifespan, various neurological and clinical populations, and complementary scientific methods. The training requirements for CLN students are consistent with guidelines developed by the Houston Conference on Specialty Education and Training in Clinical Neuropsychology, so that students are eligible for clinical licensure following graduation and well prepared to become ABPP certified in clinical neuropsychology (see American Academy of Clinical Neuropsychology website for details). Georgia State CLN students have formed an active interest group in the Association of Neuropsychology Students in Training (ANST), the trainee organization of the Society for Clinical Neuropsychology (APA Division 40).
The concentration is jointly administered by the Clinical Psychology program area and the Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neuroscience program area. This reflects the joint emphases on training in clinical psychology and cognitive and affective neuroscience. Students participate in both the Clinical Psychology and NCN program areas.
Faculty are clinical neuropsychologists with joint affiliations in both the Clinical and Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neuroscience program areas who serve as advisors for CLN students. Clinical neuropsychology requires an integration of these fields and specialty expertise in approaches to research, evaluation, and intervention. Joint advising with a CLN faculty member is also possible.
Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (CAN) Concentration
The Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neuroscience (NCN) program area oversees the Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (CAN) concentration.
CAN focuses on the neural bases for cognitive and affective processes in humans and typically uses a combination of psychological experimental methods and non-invasive imaging techniques in healthy populations. Our NCN faculty are unique in that some faculty also focus on clinical populations or the translational components of noninvasive nonhuman primate-based research, but the focus of this work is on its either direct or translational value to human cognition and emotional systems. That said, the CAN concentration does not provide clinical training nor is the primary work in behavioral neuroscience. Students interested in neuropsychology and pursuing clinical licensure should apply to the Clinical Neuropsychology (CLN) concentration. Students interested in behavioral neuroscience and/or research on basic model organisms should apply to the Neuroscience Institute.
The CAN and other faculty with neuroimaging research interests are involved in the TReNDS Center with regular presentations and speaker series, collaborative projects and research initiatives.
The CAN concentration is administered by the NCN program area. Faculty with affiliations in NCN, Clinical, and Cognitive Sciences program areas usually serve as mentors and advisors for CAN students and joint advising with two faculty members is also possible. We have a rich neuroscience community that fosters collaboration among our colleagues in the Neuroscience Institute and the Georgia State/GaTech Center for Advanced Brain Imaging.
Community Psychology
The Community Psychology program area administers a concentration in Community Psychology (COR) and jointly administers (with the Clinical program area) a concentration in Clinical-Community Psychology (CLC). In addition, the Community Psychology program area administers a dual degree M.P.H./Ph.D. program in collaboration with Georgia State’s School of Public Health.
Across these offerings, doctoral students obtain training in the science and practice of social intervention in diverse settings. Social intervention is defined as research, programs, or policies that impact the resources accessed by communities and/or individuals. Our students and graduates use theory and empirical research from psychology and related disciplines to develop, implement, evaluate, and advocate for effective social interventions that promote the well-being of diverse populations, in diverse settings, in the United States and internationally. The training we provide is guided by the following values: (1) A research informed perspective; (2) Interdisciplinary scholarship, and (3) Collaborative relationships.
Our faculty share a common perspective as researchers rooted in psychology and informed by related disciplines, such as education, public health, sociology, and women’s studies. We share an emphasis on changing resources, social norms, and public policies that affect individuals and the contexts surrounding people’s lives (e.g., social institutions, neighborhoods, families). We are involved at the local, state, national, and international levels and work with community and governmental organizations to design, implement, and investigate the efficacy of social interventions using a variety of research methods ranging from rigorous experimental designs to qualitative case studies. We collaborate with community partners to evaluate and improve existing programs.
Specific curricular requirements vary across the COR and CLC concentrations and the dual M.P.H./Ph.D. program; however, across all of these areas, graduate students take core courses in community psychology, human diversity and quantitative and qualitative methods. They work in the community during at least three semester-long practica, in which they gain hands-on experience with grant writing, program development, policy advocacy and other professional skill
Community Faculty
Associated Faculty
Concentrations
Community (COR) Concentration
Students in the Community concentration seek training that will enable them to conduct research and collaborate with communities to improve the well-being of individuals and social settings. Community psychologists may work as educators, professors, program directors, consultants, policy developers, evaluators; and researchers in community organizations, universities, or government agencies to promote mental health and community well-being.
Clinical-Community (CLC) Concentration
Students in the Clinical-Community (CLC) concentration seek training in both clinical and community psychology and aim to be eligible for clinical licensure following graduation. Dual enrollment is thus designed to provide a strengths-based, culturally competent approach to mental health and healthy development that emphasizes theory, research and practice at multiple levels of analysis – psychological, sociopolitical and ecological. Dually enrolled CLC students receive training that is informed by the traditions of prevention and social justice in community psychology and by the focus on assessment and individualized mental health interventions in clinical psychology. In addition to being qualified for clinical licensure, dually enrolled students will receive training in the range of indirect services necessary for interventions at the institutional and community levels: consultation, program development and evaluation, social policy and action research. Students accepted for dual enrollment participate in both the Clinical Psychology and Community Programs.
Community-Public Health Dual Degree (MPH-PhD)
The dual MPH-Ph.D. in Public Health and Community Psychology is designed to provide professional and graduate students with a solid and well-rounded background across two disciplines. Successful candidates will earn a Master of Public Health degree (MPH) upon completion of the graduate health behavior & promotion concentration or the epidemiology concentration offered by the School of Public Health and a Doctor of Philosophy degree (Ph.D.) upon completion of the community psychology (COR) concentration.
Because health is determined by a complex interplay of biology, genetics, lifestyle, environmental factors, social and political conditions, multi-disciplinary professional expertise is needed to address the growing challenges to the public’s health and welfare. Both community psychology and public health professionals attempt to address these conditions, but take different yet complementary approaches. Many community psychology professionals work within public health with a focus on social change, activism, reducing oppression and empowerment while public health professionals focus on assessing prevalence and incidence as well as identifying risk and protective factors (EPID), and changing individual health behavior (HPMB).
Candidates for the dual degree program must meet the admissions requirements and follow the application procedures of both the community psychology (COR) concentration and the School of Public Health (SPH). Admission into one degree-granting program does not guarantee admission to the other. When applying to the dual degree program, applicants should indicate “COR” in the application materials, then indicate that they are also applying for the dual M.P.H.-Ph.D. program and that they wish to be considered for the MPH concentration in Health Promotion and Behavior (HPMB) or in Epidemiology (EPID). Application materials will be forwarded for review by the admissions committee at the School of Public Health.
Applicants are encouraged to indicate on their application at least one faculty member in Psychology and one faculty member in the School of Public Health (SPH) that they are interested in working with during their training. Students in this program will be dually enrolled in SPH and Psychology until conferment of the MPH and then will be enrolled in Psychology for the remainder of their training. The expected role for School of Public Health (SPH) faculty is to serve as academic advisor regarding the MPH curriculum and thesis advisor (or co-advisor with a faculty member in Psychology). In some cases (e.g., availability of funding), SPH faculty may also serve as research mentors or co-mentors through conferment of the Ph.D.
Developmental Psychology
The Developmental program area oversees the Developmental (DEV) concentration. The Developmental program area is relatively small and offers personalized training in the concentration for its students. The concentration trains scholars in the methods and the science of normative as well as atypical paths of development from infancy through adolescence. The curriculum is designed individually by the student in conjunction with faculty advisors.
Our collective goal is to prepare doctoral level scientists to serve as faculty in university and other research or applied settings and to prepare professionals who will advance the science and practice within developmental psychology.
Areas of particular concentration include typical and atypical development of communication and language and issues surrounding school achievement and policy. Both basic and applied foci are reflected across research laboratories. Genetic, neuropsychological, perceptual, cognitive, communicative, linguistic, methodological, social context and policy concerns are represented in the coursework and research programs. Understanding development within diverse populations is central to our research and training.
Developmental Faculty
Associated Faculty
Contact Us
Department of Psychology
Office Hours (Available Remotely):
Monday - Friday
8:30 a.m. - 5:15 p.m.
Office Hours (In Person):
By appointment
11th Floor, Front Desk:
7th Floor, Front Desk:
Frequently Asked Questions
Have a question? Get an answer.
Office/Delivery Address
Department of Psychology
Georgia State University
Urban Life Building
11th Floor
140 Decatur Street
Atlanta, GA 30303-3083