The CCP Program was founded on the combined efforts and resources of the Department of Psychology within the College of Arts & Sciences and the Department of Counseling & Instructional Sciences in the College of Education & Professional Studies. The Department of Psychology had offered a terminal master’s degree program in applied and experimental psychology for over 30 years. The Department of Counseling and Instructional Sciences had offered a graduate training program in Clinical Mental Health Counseling for 30 years. The founding faculty of the CCP recognized that despite the availability of these master’s programs and other applied training programs in the region, there remained limited availability of mental health services in lower Alabama and the Upper Gulf Coast. In response to the lack of mental health providers in the region, the faculty within these departments submitted a proposal to the Alabama Commission on Higher Education (ACHE) for the creation of a new doctoral training program in Combined-Integrated (C-I) Clinical and Counseling Psychology to be administered by both departments and their respective colleges. The proposal was approved in the spring of 2008 and the Program By-Laws adopted on June 30, 2010. The first cohort of CCP students began the program in the Fall of 2009. The first cohort of six students graduated in August of 2012.
Accreditation of the CCP Program
The CCP program is accredited by the American Psychological Association’s Commission on Accreditation. The CCP program completed its most recent accreditation renewal in 2023 and was approved for a period of 10 years. The program's next review for renewal of accreditation will occur in 2033.
Questions related to the program’s accredited status should be directed to the Commission on Accreditation:
Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation
American Psychological Association
750 1st Street, NE
Washington, DC 20002
Phone: (202) 336-5979
Email: apaaccred@apa.org
Web: https://www.accreditation.apa.org/
The Clinical and Counseling Psychology (CCP) Doctoral Training Program (herein after referred to as the Program) is a collaborative effort between the Department of Psychology in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Department of Counseling & Instructional Sciences (formerly the Department of Professional Studies) in the College of Education & Professional Studies. This Program prepares professionals to provide the most effective types of psychological care for individuals and communities. The program combines an asset-strength model from Counseling Psychology with a health/wellness model from Clinical Psychology. The core faculty for the Program is a group of mental health researchers, who are also licensed psychologists, dedicated to the creation and dissemination of knowledge and training to the next generation of mental health care practitioners. The Program is committed to furthering our understanding of the mind and behavior through the scientific method, as well as to the development of applications of the science of psychology to better the human condition and that of individual persons. In keeping with the mission of the University of South Alabama, the Program is committed to helping students acquire knowledge of psychological theories, research findings, and the methods used by both basic and applied mental health researchers. The Program sees its mission as serving graduate students by providing them with an understanding of the importance of the scientific approach in addressing issues of human behavior through the model of Evidence-Based Behavioral Practice for assessment and psychotherapy. The Program also sees its mission as training students to be researchers who dedicate themselves to the pursuit of knowledge, even as they use their training as scientist-practitioners to contribute to the solution of pressing human problems. The Program Faculty sees that an important part of our mission is to ensure students internalize the canons of ethics within the profession of psychology. The Program also values and promotes diversity of its students and faculty.
The Philosophy and Training Model of the CCP Program
The CCP Program adheres to the Scientist-Practitioner philosophy (also called the Boulder Model), which emphasizes that students are both scientific researchers and clinical practitioners. This training model dictates that students must develop skills in both scientific investigation and clinical practice to become competent psychologists. These domains are integrally connected and to a large degree inseparable. This model guides the CCP program in overall structure, the delivery of courses, and the requirements to successfully complete the program.
The CCP Program adheres to the Combined and Integrated (CI) Training Model. CI programs emphasize a combination of two or three of the following domains: (a) clinical psychology, (b) counseling psychology, and/or (c) school psychology. The CI approach was outlined in the Consensus Conference of Combined and Integrated Doctoral Training in Psychology in 2003 and disseminated through a special series in the Journal of Clinical Psychology (2004, Volume 60, Issues 9 & 10). The CCP Program does not include separate training tracks. Rather, the CCP Program combines and integrates aspects of research and practice that are associated with both clinical and counseling psychology throughout all aspects of the program. For example, students are trained in scientific methods and must produce multiple empirical research products throughout their residence in the program. This type of training and skill development has more often been associated with clinical psychology. However, students are also expected to develop knowledge and skills in multicultural competence, clinical consultation and supervision skills, group and systems theory and intervention skills, and advocacy; these are domains that have more traditionally been associated with counseling psychology. Regardless of which substantive area of practice students are trained, they are expected to develop their skills through an evidence-based practice (EBP) approach, as articulated by the APA Task Force and adopted as APA policy in 2006.
To put this model into practice, the CCP Program is guided by five overarching goals. Each goal is related to specific training objectives and associated competencies as listed below. In line with the CI and scientist-practitioner model, the program’s goals focus on a broad and general training in psychology. This training includes competence in:
1. Science & Inquiry Methods
2. Psychological Assessment & Prevention/Intervention Practice
3. Cultural Humility in Service Delivery
4. Commitment to Lifelong Learning
5. Ethical Reasoning & Practice
Emphasis Areas of the CCP Program
Health Service Psychology
USA hosts one of Alabama's two medical schools, and Mobile is the health care hub for the central gulf coast region. Consequently, the CCP program is able to offer clinical training and research opportunities that intersect with the broad field of health and wellness psychology. The CCP Program takes advantage of the University’s health-education and health-care programs and facilities with courses, clinical experiences, and research focused on health, wellness, and illness. The structure of the CCP Program fosters collaboration between students, CCP Program faculty, and the Colleges of Medicine, Nursing, and Allied Health. Students and faculty have opportunities to participate in research and clinical experiences uniquely aimed at mental health issues related to the prevention and treatment of physical illness.
Community Psychology
The CCP Program identifies community integration and participation as one of its central values. Accordingly, the Students and Faculty are active members of the Mobile, AL community. CCP Faculty collaborate with a variety of community agencies and partners, including those focused on veterans mental health, intimate partner and family violence, youth violence, juvenile delinquency and corrections, and school- and community-based programs and interventions, among others. Such partnerships afford Students opportunities for research and clinical experiences across a variety of community-based settings as well as training in community consultation, needs assessment, program development and program evaluation.
Clinical Supervision
All students are required to take a doctoral course in clinical supervision. Students will learn theoretical and evidence-based principles of supervising the assessment and therapy practices of trainees. After completing the supervision course, students can perform supervision duties (under their own supervision in conjunction with a licensed faculty member) in their third-year practicum or assistantship placements. Psychologists are increasingly called upon to provide administrative and clinical supervision in the field, and supervision practice is a core identity area of Counseling Psychology