About

Our Accreditation

Our Clinical Science program has been continuously accredited by the American Psychological Association since March 2, 1948. In February 2014, we were accepted into the Academy of Psychological Clinical Science, denoting our program officially as a clinical science program. In January 2020 we became accredited by the Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System. 

Questions related to the program’s accredited status by APA should be directed to:

 

Questions related to the program’s accredited status by PCSAS should be directed to:

 

Core Program Principles and Values

The central goal of the Michigan State University Clinical Science Area is to train the next generation of clinical scientists and generate and disseminate culturally responsive clinical science knowledge that will further the phenomenological and etiological understanding of mental health and inform prevention and treatment.

We Value….

• Intellectual curiosity
• Diverse voices and perspectives
• Critical thinking
• Collaboration

Core Guiding Principles:

• Cultural responsivity
• Lifespan development
• Dimensional assessment
• Multiple levels of analysis

Core Activities of the Faculty:

• Generate culturally responsive psychological clinical science research
• Broadly disseminate psychological clinical science knowledge
• Mentor and promote the development of the next generation of clinical scientists
• Engage in innovative teaching methods to instill intellectual curiosity in undergraduates across disciplines 
• Provide service to the department, university, and profession

Core Training Principles:

• Cultural responsivity
• Empirical approach
• High-quality research
• High-quality clinical application
• Integration of research/science and application

Core Activities of the Students:

• Developing expertise in culturally responsive clinical science research and application  
• Engage in generating clinical science research
• Engage in clinical science application with a diverse clientele
• Disseminate clinical science to professionals and public

Core Scientific Areas 

Consistent with our program principles and values, we have recruited highly productive faculty and students who exemplify these core principles and cluster within a limited, yet inter-related, set of scientific domains:

• Individual Differences across Social Contexts

  A core research focus in our Clinical Science program is on individual differences in biological, environmental, and personological factors that underlie and explain clinically relevant variation in human behavior. Researchers in this area apply quantitative and qualitative analyses of multi-method assessments (e.g., behavioral observation/coding systems, biological assays, neurophysiological instruments, questionnaires, standardized interviews) to understand the implications of individual differences in biological, psychosocial, and developmental processes, both on their own and in response to environmental and social contexts (e.g., genotype by social context interactions).

  This focus provides a bridge to the Social/Personality Area, which includes a number of international leaders in the area of basic personality science who regularly collaborate with faculty and students from the Clinical Science program. An individual differences framework also informs coursework and clinical training in the form of training emphases on diversity issues and quantitative methods. 

  For more information on research within the individual differences domain, please see the Clinical Science faculty web pages of Alex Burt, Brooke Ingersoll, and Jason Moser.

• Social and Biological Bases of Behavior

  Several Clinical Science faculty research the extent to which social, psychological, relational, environmental, genetic, and neurobiological factors contribute to the development, maintenance, and course of behavior. Faculty in this area use innovative study methods (e.g., observational, psychophysiology, behavioral genetic, neuroendocrine, neuroimaging, and cognitive neuroscience approaches) to disentangle biological, psychological, and environmental processes of behavior across the lifespan and the spectrum of pathology. A strong emphasis is placed on understanding how interactions between biological, psychosocial, environmental, and contextual risk factors predict dysfunction. 

  This research focus provides key bridges to several other areas within the MSU Psychology Department, including the Behavioral Neuroscience Area, the Cognition & Cognitive Neuroscience Area, as well as the Ecological/Community Area. These areas include a number of international leaders who regularly collaborate with faculty and students from the Clinical Science program. The integrative framework also informs coursework and training related to research and clinical work, as we emphasize students’ understanding of the biopsychosocial model and the ways in which diverse risk factors interact and coalesce in the manifestation of behavior. 

  For more information on research within the social and biological bases of behavior domain, please see the Clinical Science faculty web pages of Anne Bogat, S. Alexandra Burt, Brooke Ingersoll,  Kelly Klump, Alytia Levendosky, Jason Moser, and Katharine Thakkar.

• Treatment, Development, and Implementation across Settings

  Several of our faculty members conduct research on interventions, including treatment process and outcome research, the development of novel interventions, as well as the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based practices across service settings.

  Our work in this area spans the translational science spectrum. The work spans clinical treatment and implementation science, yielding knowledge about treatment processes, efficacy and effectiveness, as well as the adoption, implementation, and sustainment of evidence-based practices in community settings.  Throughout this research, faculty members emphasize gathering community stakeholder perspectives to ensure that this work is meeting community needs, fitting with community services and settings, and is feasible for families and providers to utilize.  The ultimate goal of this work is to improve individual and public health, by increasing access to effective psychosocial interventions and reducing mental and behavioral health disparities.

  In this work, we emphasize students’ understanding of rigorous qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method designs and a range of treatment research designs (e.g., single case experimental designs, quasi-experimental designs, and randomized controlled trials).

  Faculty members have key collaborations with faculty across several of MSU's Psychology Department areas, the College of Education, and the College of Human Medicine. In addition, our faculty members have ongoing collaborations with researchers at a number of other universities. For more information on research within the treatment research and dissemination and implementation domains, please see the Clinical Science faculty web pages of Brooke Ingersoll, Amy Drahota, and Alytia Levendosky.

Serving the public

The Clinical Science Area at MSU is committed to understanding and promoting mental health in an increasingly diverse society. To train our students as culturally responsive clinical scientists, we have integrated a cultural responsivity approach into our coursework, research, and clinical training.

Our specific goals for our students are for them to develop the following skills: (1) recognition of cultural variation in causes and expression of mental illness and psychopathology, and (2) the ability to interact successfully as a professional with individuals from diverse backgrounds; as well as the elements articulated above (i.e., a-b) in research and clinical training.

Faculty research on access, opportunity, and excellence issues, as well as relevant area activities, are described on individual faculty websites. Below, we highlight program policy and position statements. All of our program position statements are reviewed regularly by Clinical Science Area program members to ensure that they reflect current state-of-the-science and clinical and ethical practice. Please note that these activities described below are not exhaustive, as many didactics and training activities are included in our coursework and practica as well.

• Policies Related to Training Clinical Scientists to Serve the Public

  Our program faculty, students, and staff are united in our commitment to uphold the aspirations articulated in the APA Multicultural Guidelines: “To recognize and understand that as cultural beings, psychologists hold attitudes and beliefs that can influence their perceptions of and interactions with others as well as their clinical and empirical conceptualizations. As such, psychologists strive to move beyond conceptualizations rooted in categorical assumptions, biases, and/or formulations based on limited knowledge about individuals and communities” (APA, 2017). We further recognize that psychological science, including clinical science, has historically excluded the perspectives of those with less power, privilege, and status, which may create personal and professional “blind spots” for working with individuals from diverse backgrounds. Therefore, our training ensures that graduate students are provided the opportunity to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to work effectively with all members of the public. We believe the provision of an equitable, supportive, and inclusive environment for all clients, faculty, students, and staff is foundational to our training mission.

  In support of our mission, our program provides opportunities for students to examine how their own attitudes, beliefs, and values may affect their professional competencies in treating members of the public. Because integrating personal beliefs and values with professional competence is a developmental process, supervisors work together with students to identify instances when it may not be in the client’s and student’s best interest to work together. Ultimately, however, students cannot choose to avoid working with specific client populations or refuse to develop professional competencies solely on the basis of the students’ attitudes, beliefs, or values, and students may be assigned to treat clients who challenge their perspectives, experiences, or beliefs. In these instances, we support students in finding a belief- or value-congruent path that allows them to work in a professionally competent manner with such clients. Failure to meet levels of competence set forth for serving a diverse public are addressed like other instances in which professional core competencies are not met.

  Adapted, with permission, from the statement written by Pennsylvania State University's Clinical Area Equity Committee.

• Community Outreach and Engagement Committee (CORE)

  The Community Outreach and Engagement Committee (CORE) is open to all faculty and students in the CSA, and involves regular meetings for students and faculty in the program who wish to foster an inclusive community through collaboration and discussion to promote cultural responsivity and to create initiatives and explore opportunities to engage our broader community in achieving goals related to mental health access, inclusive excellence and opportunity.

  Over the past few years, we partnered with Haven House, a local nonprofit serving families facing homelessness in the greater Lansing area, to do a training on trauma-informed care as well as organized a supply drive for them.  We also developed and gave a presentation on caregiver stress to organizations in the community (i.e., Gilda’s Club of Grand Rapids and the Mid-Michigan Autism Association).  We wrote letters advocating for bills addressing food insecurity in the Michigan legislature as well as letters to our Senators and Congresspersons in D.C. about science funding.  In 2025-2026, we are developing a partnership with the Refugee Development Center (RDC) in South Lansing and planning projects that will serve their work with immigrants.  We began in Fall 2025 with a supply drive for the RDC.

  In the CSA, we also work with our Brown Bag committee to develop a yearly theme for our brown bags in order to foster more discussion and engagement around access and inclusive excellence.  For example, in 2024-2025, our theme was on the measurement and consequences of poverty.  In 2025-2026, we are focusing on disability and ableism in our brown bag theme series.

  Finally, each year of CORE, those who attend help to determine and plan the projects for the year, such that projects are relevant and responsive to the members of the committee.

• Admissions Interview Day Student Life Panel

  Our program hosts a Diversity and Student Life panel discussion during our Graduate Admissions Interview Day.

  Graduate students organize and facilitate the panel discussion about diversity in our clinical program, at MSU, and in the surrounding community. Applicants are encouraged to ask questions about diversity and inclusion issues (e.g., “What is the climate for Asian students in this program?”, “Are there sufficient numbers of Black individuals in the local community to conduct my research on depression with this population?”, “Are there opportunities to conduct therapy with Spanish-speaking clients in the clinic?”). The panel also addresses general questions about life in graduate school (e.g., "What is a typical day for a graduate student in this program?", "What is the work-life balance like?", "What are some fun activities to do around the East Lansing area?"). 

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