JSU Department of Psychology Graduate Program

Clinical Psychology
Doctoral Program
1400 J. R. Lynch Street
P.O. Box 17550
Jackson, MS 39217-0350
601.979.5990

In 1994, the Board of Trustees of the State Institutions of Higher Learning authorized the Department to begin a Ph.D. Program in Clinical Psychology and the first class of students was accepted in the fall of 1995. Jackson State University is presently the second historically black institution in the nation to offer a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology

The mission of the Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program at Jackson State University (JSU) is fourfold:

To produce highly skilled, license eligible graduates who can function as both scientists and clinicians.
To increase the awareness, knowledge, and skills of students, and professionals in the area of multicultural psychology.
To support the progress of ethnic minority psychologists.
To provide field experiences designed to meet the diverse psychological, health, and service needs of ethnic minority populations.

Participants in this program will be guided by a curriculum anchored in the cumulative body of psychological knowledge with a firm basis in statistics, research design, and experimental methodology. The Ph.D. program is designed to develop the knowledge and skills required for effective functioning as an empirically oriented clinical psychologist in diverse settings. This is accomplished through a sequence of formal clinical courses, distinguished by in-depth exploration of multicultural issues and exposure to ethnic minority communities, including interdisciplinary and inter-organizational collaboration and consultation.

The process through which this mission will be accomplished is consistent with the goals and mission of JSU as an urban university. Essential parts of the program include that students and faculty are committed to multicultural issues and are comfortable with objective assessment and systematic intervention on both an individual and community level. The department strives to support students and faculty involved in basic and applied research, while providing a challenging intellectual environment that welcomes excellence in teaching, research, and community service.