Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical Psychology

The higher degree research programs in Clinical Psychology are highly competitive and there are many more applicants than places available. Therefore, at Griffith there is a highly structured application process. Admission to all Clinical Psychology programs is restricted to students who are registered Psychologists or who are eligible for provisional registration with the Psychology Board of Australia. The application process involves three stages.

Stage 1: The application

All applicants are required to demonstrate their capability for training in Clinical Psychology as follows:

• Academic Achievement/Intellectual Ability: Applicants must have completed an Honours degree in Psychology (which involves an individual research project) at the level of First Class or Second Class (Division A) Honours and accredited by the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council (APAC). Candidates will also be considered if they have completed a Masters degree in Psychology if the Masters training program was APAC accredited and included a significant research component. Applicants who have completed comparable training and degrees outside Australia will be considered for admission but are advised to submit an academic transcript to the Australian Psychological Society (APS) which will assess whether their training is equivalent to an Honours degree from an Australian university. It is also highly recommended that students will have completed courses or units that are relevant to clinical psychology (for example, Abnormal Psychology, Counselling Psychology or Health Psychology). The Grade Point Average in the undergraduate degree, fourth year and relevant courses will be taken into account.
• Interpersonal and Counselling Capability: Given the interpersonal sensitivity and awareness required for effective clinical practice, successful applicants will be expected to demonstrate a high level of interpersonal skills. This may be demonstrated by evidence of previous counselling training and relevant volunteer or work experience.
• Personal Statement: For assistance with this statement, see the Position description for a Clinical Psychology trainee and the Self-assessment / Colleague-assessment checklists.
• Support from Referees: Three referee reports are required - two from academics who know your work well and a third from a professional referee who can attest to your interpersonal and counselling capabilities. See below for the Australian Psychology Postgraduate Program Reference Request System process.

Stage 2: The interview

Please note that, given the competitive nature of this program, only those applicants who have been evaluated by a panel of the clinical team as having demonstrated their suitability for training in clinical psychology (according to the above criteria and ranked sufficiently high enough relative to others) will be shortlisted for an interview. Applicants who are not shortlisted for an interview for the PhD in Clinical Psychology may still be considered for a PhD (research only) in Psychology.

The interview itself consists of a multi-station assessment process. Applicants are required to attend a face-to-face session that takes around half a day to complete. Applicants will be required to demonstrate sound interpersonal and emotion management skills as they respond to the various tasks at each station. Tasks include, for example, responding to an ethical dilemma, roleplaying an interview, roleplaying a supervision session, discussing research, responding to questions relating to their own reasons for applying for training in clinical psychology and a written task.

Applicants are assessed by a panel of clinical program staff in the multi-station interview process for selection into the clinical component of the program. Applicants will be ranked according to their performance at each station. For those ranked highly enough, a recommendation will be made to the Dean, Griffith Graduate Research School for admission to the PhD in Clinical Psychology program.

Stage 3: The selection

First round selection into the clinical component of the program will be made by mid-November to applicants who are ranked at a sufficiently high level. A waitlist of applicants will be retained as second and third round offers may be made as late as January. Unsuccessful applicants will be advised as soon as is practically possible.

Offers of admission to the PhD Clinical Psychology Program (or the PhD research only program) will be issued by the Griffith Graduate Research School.

Successful applicants are admitted on a conditional basis with continuation in the training program being dependent upon satisfactory performance and progress.

Students should refer to the HDR Convenor prior to enrolling to confirm their study program.

The following University policy will apply to Higher Degree Research (HDR) programs:

• Higher Degree Research Policy

Applicants wishing to commence in Research Intake 1 should lodge their application prior to the closing date listed at the top of this page. Applicants applying to commence at any other time should submit their application at least four months before their preferred intake date. Refer to the Scholarship Key Dates for further information.