what is research in clinical psychology

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Clinical Psychology Research Topics

Stumped for ideas? Start here

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Emily is a board-certified science editor who has worked with top digital publishing brands like Voices for Biodiversity, Study.com, GoodTherapy, Vox, and Verywell.

Clinical psychology research is one of the most popular subfields in psychology. With such a wide range of topics to cover, figuring out clinical psychology research topics for papers, presentations, and experiments can be tricky.

Clinical Psychology Research Topic Ideas

Topic choices are only as limited as your imagination and assignment, so try narrowing the possibilities down from general questions to the specifics that apply to your area of specialization.

Here are just a few ideas to start the process:

• How does social media influence how people interact and behave?
• Compare and contrast two different types of therapy . When is each type best used? What disorders are best treated with these forms of therapy? What are the possible limitations of each type?
• Compare two psychological disorders . What are the signs and symptoms of each? How are they diagnosed and treated?
• How does "pro ana," "pro mia," " thinspo ," and similar content contribute to eating disorders? What can people do to overcome the influence of these sites?​
• Explore how aging influences mental illness. What particular challenges elderly people diagnosed with mental illness face?
• Explore factors that influence adolescent mental health. Self-esteem and peer pressure are just a couple of the topics you might explore in greater depth.
• Explore the use and effectiveness of online therapy . What are some of its advantages and disadvantages ? How do those without technical literacy navigate it?
• Investigate current research on the impact of media violence on children's behavior.
• Explore anxiety disorders and their impact on daily functioning. What new therapies are available?
• What are the risk factors for depression ? Explore the potential risks as well as any preventative strategies that can be used.
• How do political and social climates affect mental health?
• What are the long-term effects of childhood trauma? Do children continue to experience the effects later in adulthood? What treatments are available for PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) in childhood ?
• What impact does substance use disorder have on the family? How can family members help with treatment?
• What types of therapy are most effective for childhood behavioral issues ?

Think of books you have read, research you have studied, and even experiences and interests from your own life. If you've ever wanted to dig further into something that interested you, this is a great opportunity. The more engaged you are with the topic, the more excited you will be to put the work in for a great research paper or presentation.

Consider Scope, Difficulty, and Suitability

Picking a good research topic is one of the most important steps of the research process. A too-general topic can feel overwhelming; likewise, one that's very specific might have limited supporting information. Spend time reading online or exploring your library to make sure that plenty of sources to support your paper, presentation, or experiment are available.

If you are doing an experiment , checking with your instructor is a must. In many cases, you might have to submit a proposal to your school's human subjects committee for approval. This committee will ensure that any potential research involving human subjects is done in a safe and ethical way.

Once you have chosen a topic that interests you, run the idea past your course instructor. (In some cases, this is required.) Even if you don't need permission from the instructor, getting feedback before you delve into the research process is helpful.

Your instructor can draw from a wealth of experience to offer good suggestions and ideas for your research, including the best available resources pertaining to the topic. Your school librarian may also be able to provide assistance regarding the resources available for use at the library, including online journal databases.

Kim WO.  Institutional review board (IRB) and ethical issues in clinical research .  Korean Journal of Anesthesiology . 2012;62(1):3-12. doi:10.4097/kjae.2012.62.1.3

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

What is a Clinical Research Psychologist

Clinical psychology research is a specialization within clinical research. It is the study of behavioral and mental health. In many ways, it is as important to the nation's health and well being as medical research.

In the same way that medical scientists work to understand the prevention, genesis, and spread of various diseases, clinical research psychologists conduct rigorous psychological research studies to understand, prevent, and treat the psychological conditions as it applies to individuals, couples, families, cultures, and diverse communities.

Empirical results gathered from psychological research studies guide practitioners in developing effective interventions and techniques that clinical psychologists employ - proven, reliable results that improve lives, mend troubled relationships, manage addictions, and help manage and treat a variety of other mental health issues. Clinical psychology integrates science with practice and produces a field that encourages a robust, ongoing process of scientific discovery and clinical application .

Clinical research psychologists integrate the science of psychology and the treatment of complex human problems with the intention of promoting change. The four main goals of psychology are to describe, explain, predict and control the behavior and mental processes of others. This approach allows clinical researchers to accomplish their goals for their psychological studies, which is to describe, explain, predict, and in some cases, influence processes or behaviors of the mind. The ultimate goal of scientific research in psychology is to illustrate behaviors and give details on why they take place.

Clinical psychologists work largely in health and social care settings including hospitals, health centers, community mental health teams, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and social services. They often work as part of a team with other health professionals and practitioners.

Salary and Education

The mean annual salary of a clinical psychologist is about $69,000, however, those with doctoral degrees can earn salaries of $116,343 or more. This industry is highly stable and growing, as psychological research becomes more important to various other industries.

If you want to become a clinical research psychologist, you need a master’s or doctorate degree. In these graduate programs, you will be trained at how to navigate this large body of research. In addition, many clinical psychology students are able to make significant contributions to the field during their education by assisting in labs and learning valuable field knowledge.

Research in clinical psychology is vast, containing hundreds if not thousands of topics. By engaging in research, we are investigating new ways to understand the human mind, and developing solutions to enrich the lives of all others, many students create current and up-to-date with psychology research at universities and research labs across the world.

Take courses from CCRPS and learn more on how to become a clinical research professional.

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Conducting research in clinical psychology practice: Barriers, facilitators, and recommendations

Kirsten v. smith.

1 Oxford Centre for Anxiety Disorders and Trauma, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, UK

Graham R. Thew

The combination of clinical psychologists’ therapeutic expertise and research training means that they are in an ideal position to be conducting high‐quality research projects. However, despite these skills and the documented benefits of research to services and service users, research activity in practice remains low. This article aims to give an overview of the advantages of, and difficulties in conducting research in clinical practice.

We reviewed the relevant literature on barriers to research and reflected on our clinical and research experiences in a range of contexts to offer practical recommendations.

We considered factors involved in the planning, sourcing support, implementation, and dissemination phases of research, and outline suggestions to improve the feasibility of research projects in post‐qualification roles.

Conclusions

We suggest that research leadership is particularly important within clinical psychology to ensure the profession's continued visibility and influence within health settings.

Practitioner points

Clinical implications

• Emerging evidence suggests that clinical settings that foster research are associated with better patient outcomes.
• Suggestions to increase the feasibility of research projects in clinical settings are detailed.

Limitations

• The present recommendations are drawn from the authors’ practical experience and may need adaptation to individual practitioners’ settings.
• This study does not attempt to assess the efficacy of the strategies suggested.

There is a growing body of evidence that conducting research in clinical practice not only improves the clinical performance of the service (Mckeon et al ., 2013 ) but can also lead to improved physical health outcomes and survival rates (Nickerson et al ., 2014 ; Ozdemir et al ., 2015 ; Rochon, du Bois, & Lange, 2014 ). Clinical psychologists in the United Kingdom are predominantly trained in the ‘scientist‐practitioner model’ meaning that we theoretically have the skills to both deliver psychological therapies and design, conduct, analyse, and interpret research (Holttum & Goble, 2006 ; Stricker, 2002 ). However, despite research output being a requirement of doctoral training, psychological research conducted in clinical practice post‐qualification is not commonplace (Mitchell & Gill, 2014 ; Morton, Patel, & Parker, 2008 ). In fact, it has been suggested that the modal number of publications for clinical psychologists, namely zero, has not improved in over twenty years (Barrom, Shadish, & Montgomery, 1988 ; Eke, Holttum, & Hayward, 2012 ; Norcross, Karpiak, & Santoro, 2005 ).

Clinical psychology trainees are required to produce a substantial and original piece of clinically‐relevant research as part of their training qualification. However, reports suggest that up to 75% of UK doctoral theses are left unpublished (Cooper & Turpin, 2007 ). One suggestion for these low publication rates is the lack of identification with the role of ‘researcher’ and rejection of the scientist‐practitioner model (Gelso, 1993 ; Newman & McKenzie, 2011 ). However, it seems important to broaden the conceptualization of the term ‘research activity’ to more than the production of peer‐reviewed publications and to include consuming research (e.g., reading literature, reviewing guidelines, staying up to date with recent field advances). While not falling under the formal definition of research, service evaluation (designed and conducted solely to define or judge current care) and audit (designed and conducted to inform delivery of best care by comparing current care against a predefined standard) could also reasonably constitute research activity given that they draw on similar skills (NHS Health Research Authority, 2014 ; see Table  1 for an overview of research types, their practical requirements, and general aims). Yet it has been suggested that even service evaluation and audit are not projects that clinical psychologists feel particularly comfortable undertaking (Cooper & Graham, 2009 ).

Types of research activity in clinical psychology, requirements, aims, and potential team member involvement

C = clinicians; M = managers; T = trainees; J = junior staff (e.g., assistant psychologists, research assistants, other junior staff members); A = administrative staff; E = external collaborators; S = statistical advisors; RCT = randomized controlled trial.

A recent study showed that Australian psychologists working in a large metropolitan public health setting reported higher perceived capacity to undertake research compared with other allied health professionals (Elphinston & Pager, 2015 ). However, psychologists also perceived their individual capacity to be greater than that of their team and overarching organization, which may suggest they do not feel research skills are sufficiently valued or harnessed by employers. Perhaps unsurprisingly, team research capacity was found to mediate the relationship between psychologists’ research skills and their current research activity. Consequently, psychologists working in teams where research training was encouraged, funds were allocated, and projects relevant to practice were supported were more likely to engage with research and employ their skills. This study is consistent with earlier research that found subjective norms (i.e., beliefs about how others would perceive ones’ engagement in research) to be an important mediator between research environment and research intention (Eke et al ., 2012 ; Holttum & Goble, 2006 ). Similarly, these findings were supported by a report on attitudes to research activity within the health and social care system in Ireland. This found that a lack of perceived skills, coupled with an organizational culture that did not value research, contributed to low research engagement (McHugh & Byrne, 2011 ). This underutilization of research training is troubling as it remains a unique selling point of clinical psychologists and an opportunity to provide intellectual leadership and influence policy within the health care profession. One explanation might be that, in the United Kingdom at least, research in clinical practice is so rare that there is limited opportunity for the benefits to be realized by wider teams, perhaps feeding the undervaluation of these skills.

However, this only partly explains the low research output of psychologists in clinical practice and unfortunately there is limited literature exploring the reasons for this. Some suggested barriers by McHugh and Byrne ( 2011 ) include the prioritization of clinical roles, lack of protected time, and lack of appropriate funding. In fact, over 80% of their participants cited either a lack of time or clinical work pressures as a factor preventing research activity. A recent report found that much of the research conducted within the National Health Service (NHS) was unfunded (Mitchell & Gill, 2014 ) with previous reports in the United States suggesting that as much as 40% of all research is carried out without adequate funding (Silberman & Snyderman, 1997 ), with 60% of unfunded projects being carried out in researchers’ own time (Schroter, Tite, & Kassem, 2006 ). Previous research found that competence in applying for funding was rated by both research active and inactive health professionals as their weakest skill. The authors suggested that insufficient practical experience due to limited funding opportunities may compound the lack of skill development (McHugh & Byrne, 2011 ). So it seems that we, as clinicians, have the difficult task of fitting research into limited time, with limited funds, often without the support or encouragement of our surrounding teams. Yet, as already mentioned, our research capacity enhances our professional visibility and influence within the field, as well as improving clinical performance and health outcomes.

In the light of the numerous benefits and difficulties, it is important to consider strategies that may facilitate research activity. We reflected on our clinical and research experiences in a range of contexts, aiming to outline key factors that can influence the successful set‐up and implementation of research in clinical practice. Relevant literature was consulted to consider the empirical support for these factors and to guide recommendations to overcome potential barriers.

Determinants of successful research – Recommendations from the field

Role specification.

One factor that can make research projects easier to implement is having them ‘built in’ to overall job roles. Where psychologists are looking for post‐qualification positions or looking to change posts, it is worth considering how research components or specific projects fall within job descriptions. Having research activity included within the overall framework of roles and responsibilities for a post not only facilitates it happening, but also demonstrates something of the service's attitude towards this aspect of clinical psychologists’ skills. Where research is not mentioned, we recommend asking about what opportunities might be available, as it is likely this may be feasible at least in some form. If psychologists are enquiring more routinely about research opportunities within posts, this may contribute to research skills being more widely recognized as a key component of what the profession can offer.

We note that this approach does not apply exclusively to those seeking new posts, and would encourage psychologists to consider research opportunities within the context of job planning meetings, writing job descriptions for vacant posts, or annual appraisals.

Scope of research project

A related point is the choice of research project itself. The size and setting of the service may mean larger‐scale studies are not practical in terms of resources, and original research studies will require formal ethical review, 1 which can be lengthy, so may be a less practical option. However, in our experience the projects that are most difficult to implement in routine clinical settings are those where the impact of the findings may not be immediately apparent. While many may argue that the development of new knowledge is inherently valuable, clinical services must balance a number of competing priorities, meaning they can only feasibly support projects that are likely to lead directly to improved service provision and/or service user benefit. As such, it is recommended that clinicians in the first instance design research projects on the basis of client needs, and/or those with a greater focus on service improvement, which are more likely to be supported by services and clinical teams.

Managerial support

In our experience, research projects in qualified practice hinge greatly on managerial support. Having team leaders, ward managers, or heads of service engaged with the project appears to make them much more feasible, especially in the planning and development stages. We would encourage clinicians to approach managers at the outset of a research project, and to elicit their ideas, interests, and priorities to help shape the project and foster further collaboration. Carving out adequate time for research may be a delicate subject to discuss with managers, especially with a busy caseload and clinical responsibilities. However, given the benefits outlined earlier, and it being among the core skills of our profession, we would encourage decisive advocacy for protected research time.

Previous research has shown that in a sample of research‐active health professionals in the North West of Ireland, almost half (45%) reported having to conduct their research mostly or completely outside of working hours (Research and Education Foundation, 2004 ). We would argue that it is not a reasonable expectation that research activity be subsumed into a schedule already at capacity, and doing this carries the risk of devaluing these skills within our profession. Therefore, we would suggest that managers are given a clear summary of the project, which should include (1) a description of the current problem or unknown issue, and possible implications of this; (2) a summary of potential benefits to service users, and the wider service if the project is done; (3) details of what methods will be used, including what time and resources are required, preferably with minimal impact on routine service provision; and (4) a timeline for the project and dissemination.

Making the most of research time

Finding the time to undertake research projects in the context of a busy clinical service is not straightforward. While we acknowledge that this can be hard to implement, as far as is practical we strongly recommend aiming to designate particular blocks of time in which to undertake research activities, and have found that an effective method to protect this time is to work elsewhere if possible. This helps to keep the research time more distinct and serves as a more concrete reminder of this for both the researcher and other staff members. This approach can also minimize distractions and interruptions, which can reduce perceived effectiveness (Kearns & Gardiner, 2007 ). Clinicians may also want to consider the use of tools such as shared calendars, which can further clarify to the wider team when research time has been allocated. If practical, having this scheduled on a fixed, regular day and time can help make research activity become a more established routine within the service.

It should be noted that it is not necessarily the case that psychologists’ research activity is fully separate from their clinical responsibilities. Some research projects, such as case studies or case series, service user interviews, or single‐case experimental designs, have much greater integration with routine clinical service provision and will therefore require less ‘distinct’ research time (e.g., see Kaur, Murphy, & Smith, 2016 ; Ladd, Luiselli, & Baker, 2009 ; Thew & Krohnert, 2015 ).

Project marketing

Research projects in clinical contexts will require a certain degree of marketing. Having sought and hopefully obtained managerial support, it is helpful to publicize the project, for example, through in‐house presentations, discussion with service users, and service newsletters, magazines, or social media accounts. We have found that projects benefit greatly from the extra visibility and, to some extent, legitimacy that this provides. The marketing approach needs to extend throughout the project to maintain this visibility, which can be achieved through giving brief updates on the status of the project, and taking the time to feed back the results, particularly to staff who may have been involved with recruiting participants or in other capacities. This is also critical to influencing the culture of a service to be more receptive to future research projects.

Some, although not all, projects will require at least some funding, for example, to purchase equipment or resources, to buy out part of a clinician's time, or to recruit a research assistant, and preparing a successful funding application in this competitive climate can be time‐intensive. While this can understandably be a barrier to research activity in some contexts, we would emphasize that funding is by no means required for a successful research project, particularly when there is interest and support from the immediate clinical team including assistants and trainees, or a skilled wider network.

Where funding is being sought, we note that a number of services and trusts have some funds available to support new research projects, particularly those looking to innovate, or deliver more effective and efficient interventions for service users. We recommend working closely with local Research and Development departments, who are able to advise on funding opportunities, and on various aspects of developing and running projects generally. Many charitable organizations fund psychologist‐led projects (examples include the following: MQ: Transforming Mental Health through Research; British Heart Foundation; Marie Curie Cancer Care; Mind; OCD‐UK). At a broader level, agencies such as the National Institute for Health Research, the Wellcome Trust, and the Alzheimer's Society offer more structured programmes of funding to support clinicians in undertaking research projects linked to a clinical or academic institution.

Collaboration

While the research projects conducted as part of clinical training courses tend to be solo efforts with a small number of supervisors, post‐qualification research is able to place a greater emphasis on collaboration. This could be within or across services, and links between clinical services and academic institutions can often be productive. Here, clinicians can benefit from academics’ research expertise and supervision, while academics can benefit from clinicians’ practical experience and knowledge, along with potential links to service users interested in contributing to research studies (Lampropoulos et al ., 2002 ). For example, involvement with academic departments could permit the independent evaluation of local clinical services and establish a protocol and methods for ongoing data collection. On a smaller scale, potential collaborations could include supervising the research projects of clinical trainees and postgraduate junior academics. While collaborations will help to reduce the demands on an individual researcher, they also can serve to maintain the momentum of a research project given multiple people are invested in its completion.

It may also be the case that individuals are willing to assist with the project in a more informal capacity, such as helping with recruitment or general administration. It can be helpful to discuss in the early stages of projects the level of involvement different collaborators will have, and to work out the practical elements of how best to keep people informed and updated with what they might be required to do.

Deadlines and monitoring progress

Although there may be an estimated timescale for the project agreed at the outset, we have found that setting deadlines for different stages of the project can help maintain progress, and prevent the project being overshadowed or neglected in the face of new service‐level priorities or responsibilities. Obviously, a degree of flexibility will always be required, but working to an agreed schedule, and if possible having someone who is more external to the project monitoring its progress, such as a manager or mentor, can be helpful.

Dissemination

Dissemination of project findings can often be a somewhat neglected part of the research process (Cooper & Turpin, 2007 ), but it can play a powerful role in facilitating subsequent service improvements, research projects, and future funding applications. Failing to share and publicize project findings can mean people are unable to see their value and implications, which can therefore hinder research projects from happening in the future.

Publication in peer‐reviewed journals is one effective route to share findings, but there are many others that should also be considered, including presenting at conferences, at team meetings, or directly to service leaders, service users, project participants, and where relevant, to those managing or funding services. To maximize dissemination effectiveness, it will be necessary to adapt the medium and language of your communications to suit a range of audiences. It may be possible to circulate written summaries or brief reports around local or regional professional networks and industry partnerships, and again making use of in‐house media/communication teams can facilitate this.

We note that for some larger projects, the time and effort invested in just obtaining the results can be significant, meaning that finding further time and/or motivation to apply to dissemination activities can be difficult. However, it can be argued that given most projects involve collecting data from participants in some form, who have therefore given their time and energy to assist with the aims of the project, we have a professional duty to make productive use of the findings and ensure that they are shared appropriately. We recommend including dissemination activity in the project timeline from the outset to avoid this being neglected or missed.

Feeling deskilled

Lastly, it is worth noting that for many psychologists, the idea of developing a research project may feel demanding or even daunting and that this may be the principal reason that research ideas do not get taken forward (Cooper & Graham, 2009 ). It is easy to feel that our research skills are no longer up to date, or that our projects will require too much time to be feasible.

Given that this may understandably encourage avoidance of research activity and that as psychologists we all recognize that avoidant strategies are not the most useful in the long term, we have found it helpful to remember the following: First, research projects do not have to use complicated methodology and large samples in order to have scientific merit and useful implications. Second, research activity can be quite closely tied into routine clinical work as described earlier. Third, seeking out potential continuing professional development (CPD) opportunities through workshops, conference attendance, and training activities can improve research skills and increase confidence. Fourth, no researcher knows how to do everything, and that collaboration can be a powerful tool for learning new skills, and lastly, psychologists already have a number of transferable skills from their clinical work, such as the ability to approach a problem logically and systematically, or the capacity to attend accurately and consider carefully what a client is saying, which are equally important and valuable within the research domain.

Despite a strong focus on research skills during clinical psychologists’ training, the evidence suggests that post‐qualification research activity within clinical settings is rare, even though there are tangible benefits to clients and services. While a lack of time to undertake research within clinical roles is perhaps the most obvious reason for this, we have outlined a number of other possible barriers and hope that some of our reflections and suggestions may prove useful to those clinicians who are considering undertaking research projects within their services.

Clinical psychologists’ combination of clinical expertise and research training means that they are in an ideal position to be conducting high‐quality research projects that aim to better understand and intervene across a range of clinical issues. From a professional perspective, these research skills are perhaps one of the key features of clinical psychologists that serve to distinguish us from many health professionals. In a context of financial pressures and cuts to clinical services and training places, it is possible that greater use of these research skills in practice will help to ensure the continued appeal and future utility of clinical psychology.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Dr Belinda Graham for her helpful comments on this manuscript. This work was supported by the Wellcome Trust (102176); and the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, based at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust, Oxford. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR, or the Department of Health.

1 Whether ethical review is required depends on the nature of the project and the participants involved. Ethical approval should be sought through the Integrated Research Application System (NHS REC), university review boards, or the Social Care Research Ethics Committee. In the case of independent practice where practitioners may not have access to an ethical review process, they should be able to demonstrate that they have adhered to the Code of Ethics and Conduct and the Code of Human Research Ethics outlined by the British Psychological Society (British Psychological Society, 2006 , 2014 ).

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(When and how) does basic research in clinical psychology lead to more effective psychological treatment for mental disorders?

Affiliations.

• 1 Department of Psychology, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany. Electronic address: [email protected].
• 2 Department of Psychology, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany.
• PMID: 35660924
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cpr.2022.102163

An important aim of basic research in Clinical Psychology is to improve clinical practice (e.g., by developing novel interventions or improving the efficacy of existing ones) based on an improved understanding of key mechanisms involved in psychopathology. In the first part of this article, we examine how frequently this translation has happened in the past by reviewing all 40 evidence-based psychological interventions recommended in current clinical guidelines for five important (groups of) mental disorders. Results show that only 23% of treatments showed a very strong link between basic research and the development of the intervention, and further 20% showed a strong link. These findings thus suggest that the route from basic research to clinical innovation may not be as strong historically as is commonly assumed. Important challenges for translational research in clinical psychology are reviewed, leading to the introduction of a new framework, and a discussion of possible solutions to overcome these challenges. Suggestions include increased attention to robust and replicable research findings, a stronger focus on experimental psychopathology research to establish causality of psychopathological mechanisms, a more systematic structural integration of basic and applied research in clinical psychology, a stronger emphasis on mechanisms of change and moderators of clinical interventions, increased attention to clinical subgroups, and emphasizing improvements to existing interventions over the development of novel interventions.

Keywords: Clinical interventions; Experimental psychopathology; Translational research.

Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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Clinical Psychology Research

Clinical psychology research is as important to the nation’s health and well being as medical research. In the same way that medical scientists work to understand the prevention, genesis, and spread of various genetic and infectious diseases, scientists conduct rigorous psychological research studies to understand, prevent, and treat the human condition as it applies psychologically to individuals, couples, families, cultures, and diverse communities.

Empirical results gathered from psychological research studies guide practitioners in developing effective interventions and techniques that clinical psychologists employ – proven, reliable results that improve lives, mend troubled relationships, manage addictions, and help manage and treat a variety of other mental health issues. Clinical psychology by definition marries science with practical knowledge, integrates the two, and produces a field that encourages a robust, ongoing process of scientific discovery and clinical application.

Trained at how to evaluate this large body of research, clinical psychology students continue to make significant professional contributions to the field even after graduation, staying current and up-to-date with psychological research taking place at universities and research labs across the world. Some decide to stay in research, investigating new ways to understand the human mind, and developing solutions to enrich the lives of all others.

Research in the area of clinical psychology is vast, containing hundreds if not thousands of topics. However, most of these research studies generally fall within one of three main areas integral to clinical psychology:

A large part of a clinical psychologist’s job, and therefore clinical psychology research, involves assessment – or developing valid and reliable tests. Assessments take the form of written tests, such as intelligence and achievement tests, vocational tests, and other tests designed to measure aptitude and skill levels for specific jobs, careers, interests, and personality types.

Clinical psychologists also interview individuals, review their medical records, and conduct clinical observations as part of the assessment process. A comprehensive assessment approach ensures that psychologists apply the most effective and appropriate psychological treatments and interventions.

In addition, assessment research in clinical psychology also involves developing valid and reliable ways to measure the outcome of specific treatments and interventions. Michael C. Roberts and Stephen S. Hardi state in their article, “Research Methodology and Clinical Psychology: An Overview,” that improvements in therapy and psychotherapeutic effects rest on targeted research informed by scientific methodologies.

“Measurement of treatment procedures, treatment integrity, behavioral changes, functional performance, objective measurements, perceptions of change, and satisfaction from a variety of sources, follow-up assessment, etc., are needed to establish the ‘scientific credentials’ of each therapeutic approach,” Roberts and Hardi state.

They also stress the importance of robust research assessments to measure the costs and benefits associated with psychotherapeutic outcomes and prevention interventions.

After gathering assessment data, psychologists consult the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-R), which lists criteria and standardized definitions for mental illnesses and conditions. Categories of symptoms differentiate one mental illness from another, and the usual course of each illness.

Beyond the DSM-IV-R, however, research in the area of diagnosing mental health problems remains one of the most exciting research areas in the field today – thanks to rapid advances in technology. Numerous brain imaging techniques that map brain structure and function now give researchers “images” of both normal and abnormal brain functioning. Scientists are using computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and positron emission tomography (PET) to come up with greater precision and accuracy in diagnosing various mental illnesses.

Psychotherapies

The number of psychotherapies – a set of procedures or techniques that evaluate psychological problems, and come up with alternative ways of thinking, behaving, or feeling – has exploded in popularity since the middle of the last century. Most psychotherapies fall within one of the four main psychotherapeutic frameworks:

What is Psychodynamic Therapy?

Psychodynamic therapy explores an individual’s unconscious, seeking reasons or explanations for the individual’s current behavior. This therapy, also called insight-oriented therapy, attempts to bring underlying factors grounded in early life to the individual’s attention, increasing self-awareness and self-understanding.

Psychodynamic therapy stems from Sigmund Freud’s focus on psychoanalysis, making it the oldest form of psychotherapy. As a result, a large body of research exists to either support or refute the effectiveness of this approach.

Because the results of psychoanalysis research are harder to measure than behavioral-oriented therapies, research methodologies and outcomes of treatment have been questioned – especially those of the earliest studies. Psychodynamic therapy requires long-term treatment, sometimes a year or more, also complicating the research process. However, researchers today apply the most rigorous scientific processes, including meta-analysis studies completed over a number of years, to study of efficacy of psychodynamic practice and techniques, and many studies report significant positive outcomes.

In 2008, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) used a meta-analysis process to examine studies published between January 1, 1960, and May 31, 2008, identifying the possible effects of long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy. JAMA reported positive outcomes – especially for those with complex mental disorders, such as patients with personality disorders, chronic mental disorders, multiple mental disorders, and complex depressive and anxiety disorders .

Current Sample Topics in Research Psychodynamic Therapy Include:

• Psychodynamic therapy with addicted individuals.
• Childhood neurosis and adult mental health.
• Dreams and emotions in situations of childhood abuse.
• Psychodynamic psychology and sexuality.
• Structure and function of the psyche.
• Psychoanalytic play therapy.
• Psychic suffering.
• The practice and art of psychotherapeutic dialogue.
• Treating schizophrenia with psychodynamic therapies.
• Individuation and wholeness.
• Psychodynamic psychology and human development.
• Transference and psychodynamic psychology.

What is Humanistic Therapy?

According to the Association of Humanistic Psychology (AHP) , humanistic psychology today emphasizes “the independent dignity and worth of human beings and their conscious capacity to develop personal competence and self respect. This value orientation has led to the development of therapies to facilitate personal and interpersonal skills, and to enhance the quality of life.”

Humanistic therapy, founded by psychologist Carl Rogers, grew out of a reaction to psychoanalysis and behaviorism, two schools of thought that Rogers considered too “pessimistic.” Through psychoanalysis, Freud dwelled on unconscious motivators for behavior, while behaviorism, which followed developments in psychoanalysis, attributed behaviors to learned conditioning processes.

Instead, Rogers believed in downplays the pathological dimensions to an individual’s life, and alternatively, focusing on healthy aspects or behaviors. Rogers emphasized human potential, inherent goodness, the ability to self-direct by making choices; his form of psychotherapy came to be known as client-centered therapy. Self-actualization and developing a strong “sense of self” became the groundwork for this psychological framework and area of research.

AHP also acknowledges that negative and destructive forces in society can affect the mind, causing harm and dysfunction. Therefore, many humanistic psychologists also stress the importance of social change, modifying institutions and organizations to support human development, and acknowledging and building connectedness throughout a globally interdependent world.

Research, therefore, in humanistic psychology focuses not only on finding appropriate interventions toward helping individuals find their purpose and meaning in life, but also on peace and social justice issues within communities, nations, and the world. Transpersonal and quantum psychology, metaphysics, politics, economics, neuroconsciousness, and the environment are examples of topics explored in humanistic psychology research.

Some of the Current Research Topics in Humanistic Therapy and Theory:

• Feminism and psychology.
• Issues of Identity.
• The self and authenticity.
• The connection between people, the environment and spirituality.
• The psychology of climate change.
• Diet: physiological, psychological, and spiritual growth.
• Creative, empathetic, and critical thinking with self-reflection.
• Finding meaning in one’s work and career.
• Finding meaning in suffering.
• The psychology of creativity.
• Community-building.
• Evolving consciousness.
• Spirituality and personal growth.
• Existential psychotherapy.

What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)?

As the name implies, this therapy addresses both cognition – thoughts, feelings, emotions – and behaviors, attempting to change dysfunctional ways of thinking or misguided thought patterns that often lead to dysfunctional and sometimes harmful behaviors.

The therapy focuses on the present, current thought patterns, identifying distortions, and applying interventions that specifically target those errant thoughts. These interventions and techniques are problem-solving solutions, first guiding individuals in how to evaluate and modify beliefs, and then, how to change correspondingly unhealthy behaviors and interactions. Metaphorically, CBT interventions resemble a step-by-step “how-to” manual, giving instructions, and then empowering the individual to follow the steps, observe how they feel, and report back to the therapist the successes or challenges encountered. Typically, this type of therapy is short-term and goal-oriented, with occasional “checkups” to gauge progress and help in correcting any missteps.

CBT is “evidence-based” therapy, meaning that psychologists seek interventions that have been proven empirically through rigorously controlled experiments. The National Association of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapists bases its definition of evidence-based therapy on the following explanation by Aldo R. Pucci, MA, DCBT:

• an approach to therapy that emphasizes the pursuit of evidence on which to base its theory and techniques, as well as encourages its patients or clients to consider evidence before taking action; or
• an approach to therapy is supported by research findings, and those findings provide evidence that it is effective.

Because cognitive behavioral therapists base their applications on evidence-based research, the amount of CBT research surpasses the amount of psychotherapeutic research in nearly all other areas.

Some of the Popular Research Topics that CBT Addresses:

• Controlling chronic pain
• Treating anxiety and panic disorders
• CBT techniques for criminal offenders
• Using CBT for substance abuse and addiction disorders
• Eating disorders
• Post traumatic stress disorder
• Trauma from abusive relationships and situations
• Seasonal Affect Disorder
• Agoraphobia

**In addition, CBT research often addresses the management and treatment of a number of medical conditions through cognitive behavioral therapies and interventions, including: side effects of cancer; sickle cell; disease pain; irritable-bowel syndrome; obesity; asthma; rheumatic disease pain; temporomandibular disorder; erectile dysfunction; infertility; chronic fatigue syndrome; pre-menstrual syndrome.

What is Family Systems Therapy or Family Therapy?

Family systems therapy is psychotherapy that treats families, couples, and close-knit groups of people or extended families, as a system. This means that the psychologist treats the family, couple, or group as a unit, which scientists believe function as one organism or system, operating with a distinct set of communication and interaction patterns, and internal rules – all directly affecting behaviors. Rather than focus on the dysfunction or problems of one individual, the entire system receives therapy.

Over the past 20 years, this form of psychotherapy that began with a focus on the traditional family unit has expanded to include therapy for all types of familial relationships, including gay and lesbian couples and families, extended families related through divorce and re-marriage, and other groups that resemble family systems, such as church or religious groups.

For this reason, researchers of family systems theory and therapy have experienced an exponential growth in the number of topics and issues for study and investigation.

Family systems research projects fall within the following categories:

• School and learning difficulties
• Adjustments to bereavement
• Adjustments to geographical location
• Adjustment to physical or mental illness or disability
• Marital or relationship problems
• Divorce issues
• Substance abuse and behavioral disorders
• Nutritional, physiological and health issues

Within each research category, researchers study specific issues, issues that often cross into other categories as well. Below are some additional research topics studied today in family systems therapy

Eating Disorders Research:

• Is family therapy or individual therapy most effective for treating adolescent anorexia nervosa?
• Does dysfunctional family communication and relationship patterns cause eating disorders? Or does the stress associated with raising a child with an eating disorder cause dysfunctional family problems?
• What is the impact of eating disorders on families?
• How do family dynamics affect individuals with eating disorders?
• How does the mother-infant relationship affect future eating disorders?
• How does the Maudsley Method of treating eating disorders work compared to other more traditional forms of family systems therapy? (Maudsley takes a behavioral approach of giving all family members responsibility of ensuring that the suffering individual eats, finishes each meal, and receives incentives and rewards for eating.)

School and Learning Research:

• How do learning disabilities of one family member affect the entire family? Parents? Other siblings? And how the family functions?
• Should the assessment and treatment of a person with ADHD ( Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ) occur in the context of an individual’s family system?
• What are effective family therapies for childhood behavioral disorders?
• What are the psychological effects on parents and families of autistic children?

Adjustments to Bereavement Research:

• What are the needs of bereaved families?
• What are the long-term effects of a child’s death on a family?
• How do social/cultural influences affect how families cope with the loss of a family member?
• How does disenfranchised grief affect families? (Disenfranchised grief is grief not acknowledged by society, such as loss of a pet, an aborted or miscarried pregnancy, the loss of a child to adoption, the death of a celebrity, or a fictional character.)

Adjustments to Geographical Location Research:

• Re-location effects on military children and spouses.
• Re-location effects on civilian children: social, behavioral and cognitive development.
• Immigration and family emotional process.

Marital or Relationship Research:

• Does emotion-focused couples therapy work and facilitate forgiveness?
• Does a couple-based approach work to reduce the effects of post traumatic stress disorder (ptsd)?
• How can couples restore emotional intimacy and passion?
• What are the most effective interventions for aiding better communication between couples?
• The interplay between healthy relationships and reproduction.
• Genetics, physiology and relationships

Substance Abuse and Behavioral Disorders Research:

• How does family structure and functioning affect drug abusers?
• How does drug abuse by a family member affect siblings/parents/family functioning?
• What is the importance of parent-child relationships on preventing drug use and abuse?

Adjustment to Physical and Mental Illness or Disability Research:

• Family involvement in the treatment of mentally ill relatives.
• Multimedia interventions for families where one or more members suffer with a genetic disease.
• What are the effects of family network support and mental health recovery?
• Family functioning and depression in low-income Latino families and couples.
• Implications of violence and abuse on the family.
• The effect of AIDS on the family.

Nutritional, Physiological and Health Research:

• Cancer prevention for families.
• Family functioning and the effects of obesity.

Divorce Research:

• Does therapeutic divorce mediation work? (Divorce mediation is a therapeutic intervention for helping highly conflicted parents resolve disputes about their children.)
• What are the effects of divorce on young children, adolescents, and young adults?
• Reconciliation issues after divorce.
• Inter-parental conflict and its effects on children of divorce.
• How to establish healthy co-parenting roles.

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The Science of Psychology

5 Experimental and Clinical Psychologists

Learning objectives.

• Define the clinical practice of psychology and distinguish it from experimental psychology.
• Explain how science is relevant to clinical practice.
• Define the concept of an empirically supported treatment and give some examples.

Who Conducts Scientific Research in Psychology?

Experimental psychologists.

Scientific research in psychology is generally conducted by people with doctoral degrees (usually the  doctor of philosophy [Ph.D.] ) and master’s degrees in psychology and related fields, often supported by research assistants with bachelor’s degrees or other relevant training. Some of them work for government agencies (e.g., doing research on the impact of public policies), national associations (e.g., the American Psychological Association), non-profit organizations (e.g., National Alliance on Mental Illness), or in the private sector (e.g., in product marketing and development; organizational behavior). However, the majority of them are college and university faculty, who often collaborate with their graduate and undergraduate students. Although some researchers are trained and licensed as clinicians for mental health work—especially those who conduct research in clinical psychology—the majority are not. Instead, they have expertise in one or more of the many other subfields of psychology: behavioral neuroscience, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, personality psychology, social psychology, and so on. Doctoral-level researchers might be employed to conduct research full-time or, like many college and university faculty members, to conduct research in addition to teaching classes and serving their institution and community in other ways.

Of course, people also conduct research in psychology because they enjoy the intellectual and technical challenges involved and the satisfaction of contributing to scientific knowledge of human behavior. You might find that you enjoy the process too. If so, your college or university might offer opportunities to get involved in ongoing research as either a research assistant or a participant. Of course, you might find that you do not enjoy the process of conducting scientific research in psychology. But at least you will have a better understanding of where scientific knowledge in psychology comes from, an appreciation of its strengths and limitations, and an awareness of how it can be applied to solve practical problems in psychology and everyday life.

Scientific Psychology Blogs

A fun and easy way to follow current scientific research in psychology is to read any of the many excellent blogs devoted to summarizing and commenting on new findings. Among them are the following:

Research Digest, http://digest.bps.org.uk/ Talk Psych, http://www.talkpsych.com/ Brain Blogger, http://brainblogger.com/ Mind Hacks, http://mindhacks.com/ PsyBlog, http://www.spring.org.uk

You can also browse to http://www.researchblogging.org , select psychology as your topic, and read entries from a wide variety of blogs.

Clinical Psychologists

Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. But it is also the application of scientific research to “help people, organizations, and communities function better” (American Psychological Association, 2011) [1] . By far the most common and widely known application is the clinical practice of psychology — the diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders and related problems. Let us use the term  clinical practice  broadly to refer to the activities of clinical and counseling psychologists, school psychologists, marriage and family therapists, licensed clinical social workers, and others who work with people individually or in small groups to identify and help address their psychological problems. It is important to consider the relationship between scientific research and clinical practice because many students are especially interested in clinical practice, perhaps even as a career.

The main point is that psychological disorders and other behavioral problems are part of the natural world. This means that questions about their nature, causes, and consequences are empirically testable and therefore subject to scientific study. As with other questions about human behavior, we cannot rely on our intuition or common sense for detailed and accurate answers. Consider, for example, that dozens of popular books and thousands of websites claim that adult children of alcoholics have a distinct personality profile, including low self-esteem, feelings of powerlessness, and difficulties with intimacy. Although this sounds plausible, scientific research has demonstrated that adult children of alcoholics are no more likely to have these problems than anybody else (Lilienfeld et al., 2010) [2] . Similarly, questions about whether a particular psychotherapy is effective are empirically testable questions that can be answered by scientific research. If a new psychotherapy is an effective treatment for depression, then systematic observation should reveal that depressed people who receive this psychotherapy improve more than a similar group of depressed people who do not receive this psychotherapy (or who receive some alternative treatment). Treatments that have been shown to work in this way are called empirically supported treatments .

Empirically Supported Treatments

An empirically supported treatment is one that has been studied scientifically and shown to result in greater improvement than no treatment, a placebo, or some alternative treatment. These include many forms of psychotherapy, which can be as effective as standard drug therapies. Among the forms of psychotherapy with strong empirical support are the following:

• Acceptance and committment therapy (ACT) . for depression, mixed anxiety disorders, psychosis, chronic pain, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
• Behavioral couples therapy. For alcohol use disorders.
• Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). For many disorders including eating disorders, depression, anxiety disorders, etc.
• Exposure therapy. For post-traumatic stress disorder and phobias.
• Exposure therapy with response prevention.  For obsessive-compulsive disorder.
• Family-based treatment. For eating disorders.

For a more complete list, see the following website, which is maintained by Division 12 of the American Psychological Association, the Society for Clinical Psychology: http://www.div12.org/psychological-treatments

Many in the clinical psychology community have argued that their field has not paid enough attention to scientific research—for example, by failing to use empirically supported treatments—and have suggested a variety of changes in the way clinicians are trained and treatments are evaluated and put into practice. Others believe that these claims are exaggerated and the suggested changes are unnecessary (Norcross, Beutler, & Levant, 2005) [3] . On both sides of the debate, however, there is agreement that a scientific approach to clinical psychology is essential if the goal is to diagnose and treat psychological problems based on detailed and accurate knowledge about those problems and the most effective treatments for them. So not only is it important for scientific research in clinical psychology to continue, but it is also important for clinicians who never conduct a scientific study themselves to be scientifically literate so that they can read and evaluate new research and make treatment decisions based on the best available evidence.

• American Psychological Association. (2011). About APA . Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/about ↵
• Lilienfeld, S. O., Lynn, S. J., Ruscio, J., & Beyerstein, B. L. (2010). 50 great myths of popular psychology . Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. ↵
• Norcross, J. C., Beutler, L. E., & Levant, R. F. (Eds.). (2005). Evidence-based practices in mental health: Debate and dialogue on the fundamental questions . Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. ↵

An academic degree earned through intensive study of a particular discipline and the completion of a set of research studies that contribute new knowledge to the academic literature.

The diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders and related problems.

A treatment that that has been shown through systematic observation to lead to better outcomes when compared to no-treatment or placebo control groups.

Research Methods in Psychology Copyright © 2019 by Rajiv S. Jhangiani, I-Chant A. Chiang, Carrie Cuttler, & Dana C. Leighton is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Engaging with research as a clinician

The following two articles consider the challenges and opportunities of engaging with research as an early career practitioner psychologist.

03 January 2023

How to become more research active

Dr Eleanor Chatburn's brief guide for Early Career Practitioner Psychologists

Are you an early career practitioner psychologist with a keen interest in research? Want to know how to become more research active but unsure where to start? Then this article is for you!

In this short guide, I share some top tips and resources that you can use to make your next steps into research. I have drawn on my own experiences of starting out on a clinical academic career pathway since I qualified as a clinical psychologist one year ago as well as the reflections of several research active practitioner psychologists who kindly shared their advice with me.

Why become more research active?

Becoming more research active in your role as a practitioner psychologist can have multiple benefits. For the individual practitioner, "being research active helps you to be the most effective therapist you can, and it also helps retain curiosity and enthusiasm in the work", Professor Barney Dunn, a research clinical psychologist at the University of Exeter, told me. "But equally importantly, practitioners bring a fresh, clinically grounded perspective", he added", "which helps ensure that the research that is being done in the field genuinely reflects the needs of the clients we serve and the services that are delivering care, closing the research practice gap."

Did you know that the value of clinical research is actually written into The NHS Constitution? It emphasises that one aspect of providing high quality care is "through the promotion, conduct and use of research to improve the current and future health and care of the population" (Department of Health, 2015). So far, so good. A big problem until fairly recently has been a scarcity of funding opportunities for allied health professionals or psychological practitioners to engage in research activity; many funding schemes prioritised medics which effectively shut out other practitioners from research (Newington et al., 2021).

But there is good news for practitioner psychologists. "There has been a real shift in the last few years", one research active Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) therapist* told me. "Both the academic side and the clinical lead side now recognise that there is a pool of talented, willing and interested clinicians in the field who could make a meaningful and patient-focussed contribution to research."

We now have a greater range of resources and funding streams available to practitioners who want to become research active such as the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Integrated Clinical and Practitioner Academic (ICA) scheme. I have collated a list of useful resources and weblinks where you can explore these opportunities further (see Box).

What are the challenges?

Although we have made some great progress in supporting practitioners to become more research active, there is still space for improvement. The literature documents that the common barriers to becoming more research active include funding issues, interference with work/life balance, a lack of clarity for the career path, and insufficient support for clinical academics (Deane & Clunie, 2021; Newington et al., 2021).

I decided to ask a small group of practitioner psychologists with a passion for research to tell me more about the barriers they had experienced to see what we could learn from their experience. Back in 2019, a group of us wrote an article for CBT Today about some of these challenges after we participated in a research workshop led by Professors Barney Dunn and Shirley Reynolds at the BABCP annual conference. At the time, many workshop participants reported a lack of knowledge about how to get started and limited time, money, or support for research activity (Dunn et al., 2019).

I followed up with some of my co-authors to check in on their progress three years later. One person had been awarded an NIHR fellowship, another had worked as a therapist on two research trials, and a third person was running their own small-scale research projects, but others told me they had struggled to make much progress. All the practitioners I spoke to were very clear how tough it can be to get involved in research. As one CBT therapist put it, "I must admit [the progress I have made] has predominantly been through perseverance".

Some specific barriers to research activity that practitioners described include:

• Lack of protected time or resources for research activity within a clinical role. Newly qualified practitioners in particular can be under considerable pressure to focus on clinical appointments, leaving no time (or headspace) within the working day to shift gear and work on any kind of research.
• Research not prioritised by senior leaders or service managers. One CBT therapist* told me that "the service just want me to get through the waiting list". Another therapist described a "lack of support by management structures with some research topics being discouraged".
• Limited specific clinical-academic roles and career structures within the NHS. Once a fixed-term research fellowship or trial therapist job ends, it can be a real challenge to maintain both your research and your practice unless you can get more funding.
• Isolation and difficulty making contacts. It can feel lonely trying to pursue research on your own in a service that is not supportive of this activity. Practitioners are also unlikely to have an extensive network of research contacts and may not know of a suitable supervisor within their chosen topic. "I had difficulties making links with academic research departments who did not respond to emails", one CBT therapist explained, and another told me that the researchers they contacted "were not willing to engage" with practitioners.
• Personal impact. Several practitioners reported they ended up having to work on their research passions in their evenings/weekends as realistically they were otherwise unable to make any progress. Some people even chose to drop some of their contracted hours to collaborate on research projects in an unpaid capacity which they described as not financially sustainable.   

It seems clear that there are some structural barriers to research activity for practitioner psychologists that are outside the control of individual practitioners, which require more action from our senior leaders and funders. I am keen to emphasise though that if you are passionate about research, there are some great resources and like-minded people out there who want to help you to navigate this challenging but hopefully rewarding journey. In the next sections, I have collated all the best advice that I could find for practical, doable ways that you can take that next step into research. 

Write up a case study. Prof. Dunn's top tip is to start by writing up some routine clinical work. "Add a little more methodological rigour to the routine outcome monitoring we typically do in therapy for example, by using a single case experimental design that tracks symptom change over time from a baseline to a treatment phase. This kind of paper can make a useful contribution to the literature in helping us to "characterise the individuals who present to routine services and how well their needs are met". You could submit your case study to a publication like The Cognitive Behaviour Therapist which also runs an excellent mentoring scheme for new authors.

Create opportunities within your current role. Looking for some "quick wins" can be a great starting point, advises Dr Tim Clarke, Principal Research Clinical Psychologist at Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust. You could take a lead on an audit or service development project and disseminate the results for example, as a poster at a professional conference, or in a professional magazine or peer-reviewed publication.

Publish any existing work. If you completed a Masters or Professional Doctorate thesis, then now is a great time to revisit your previous work and turn it into a publishable paper or present your findings as a poster or short talk at a conference. Your previous supervisor should be able to help you. Demonstrating output from prior research is important for some fellowship applications. 

Work with a trainee. Supervise or co-supervise a trainee's case study, service development or main research project. This can be a great way to learn new research methods and to link with staff at the trainee's academic institution. You could then collaborate with the trainee on any dissemination activities and outputs.

Get a mentor. Clinical psychologist Dr Maria Loades is an NIHR Development & Skills Enhancement Award Holder at the University of Bath. Her best advice? "Get mentorship from and link into a university department who are interested in a similar topic and/or method to you". In my experience, getting the right mentor makes all the difference and it is worth spending time speaking to a range of people to get the right 'fit' for you. If you end up working with an academic/research supervisor from a different professional background to you, I highly recommend also finding a research active practitioner mentor (even if they work on a different topic or population) who can help you to negotiate the dual role of researcher and practitioner.

Contact your R&D team. Most NHS Trusts have an internal Research and Development team who are a great source of information about current research projects that the Trust is supporting such as opportunities to get involved in recruitment for large multi-site studies.

Train as a P.I. The NIHR runs an Associate Principal Investigator (PI) Scheme where you can shadow a PI to learn about the role. You may want to then become a site PI on a study, which is a great way to develop skills with clinical recruitment and research governance. Some regional NIHR Clinical Research Networks (CRNs) also run a "Greenshoots" scheme that offers extra funding for clinicians who are involved in recruitment for a study. Ask your R&D team for more information.

Network. "Linking with colleagues and like-minded individuals" is essential, as one CBT therapist told me. Dr Loades also advised, "look out for special interest groups of relevance to your topic area and conferences that will help you link up with others with similar interests." Clinical research is not done in isolation, and in my experience you need a team of collaborators and supervisors around you to make progress. Do reach out to others to learn about their research, explain why you are passionate about their topic, and explore any opportunities to collaborate.

Collaborate on an existing project. Getting your own new project idea off the ground can be challenging without buy-in from more established researchers. You may choose to build your research skills and ideas first by joining an existing project and research team. You could ask the lead researcher if they have any existing projects where you could make a defined contribution (e.g., screening studies for a systematic review). Working as part of a team on a larger project can be a great way to learn different research methods. Once you have these links, you may decide you want to apply for a fellowship to develop your own spin-off project (perhaps using the same data set or drawing on their methodology) so you can continue working with your new collaborators.

Work on a trial. One newly qualified clinical psychologist* told me about their experience of working as a trial therapist. "As an early career psychologist this was a brilliant opportunity to continue to build on my developing therapeutic skills after training", they explained, and added "and it also gave me an insight into some of the 'behind the scenes' work on a trial". You may be able to take on some additional sessions within your current role or to apply for full-time trial therapist jobs when you see these advertised.  

Join a higher education institution (HEI). If you are passionate about teaching and supervising trainees, there are Teaching Fellow or teaching-track Lectureship roles on practitioner training programmes at many HEIs which often do not require much evidence of prior research activity. Once in post, you could then look for opportunities to supervise trainee research or to run small-scale projects. A good and supportive HEI should offer you career development support to apply for fellowships or to move across to a research-track position.  

Apply for your own funding. There are dedicated funding streams for clinicians and practitioners who want dedicated time for research (see Box). Be aware that completing an application for a fellowship is a time-consuming process! A full NIHR doctoral research fellowship could take up to one year to develop. Many fellowships schemes are also highly competitive, and you should be prepared to receive rejections or requests for extensive revisions. Funders have recognised some of these difficulties, and there are now predoctoral schemes that will give you funding to spend time with a supervisor to work up your initial project idea into a fully costed, detailed fellowship application.

I hope that this article has given you some ideas for practical ways in which you can take your interest in research to the next level. Good luck with your research endeavours!

Further reading

• The NIHR Incubator for Mental Health Research. A great resource for mental health professionals who want to explore opportunities in research. It includes career case studies and provides information on training, funding, and finding a mentor, plus it has a whole section with specific advice for practitioner psychologists. https://mentalhealthresearch.org.uk/advice-for-psychologists/
• NIHR Integrated Clinical Academic programme: https://www.nihr.ac.uk/explore-nihr/academy-programmes/hee-nihr-integrated-clinical-and-practitioner-academic-programme.htm
• NIHR Local Authority Academic Fellowship programme: https://www.nihr.ac.uk/explore-nihr/funding-programmes/nihr-local-authority-academic-fellowship-programme-and-associated-opportunities.htm
• Wellcome Trust PhD Fellowship for Health Professionals: https://wellcome.org/grant-funding/schemes/phd-fellowships-health-professionals
• Your regional NIHR Research Design Service (RDS). These services run useful careers and training events and offer one-to-one appointments with a research advisor to help practitioners who are drafting fellowship or grant applications. https://www.nihr.ac.uk/explore-nihr/support/research-design-service.htm
• Your regional NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC). There are 15 ARCs across England which support applied health and care research. ARCs can be a great way of linking up with other researchers in your region, and some of them run an annual research fellowship programme for practitioners: https://www.nihr.ac.uk/explore-nihr/support/collaborating-in-applied-health-research.htm
• There are some Health Education England (HEE) regionally funded predoctoral and postdoctoral bridging schemes. These tend to be advertised locally, for example, see Clinical Academic Careers East of England: https://www.claceast.net/
• The Healthcare Professionals in Research Facebook group: a peer-run group for early to mid-stage allied health professionals and practitioner psychologists interested in clinical academic careers. You will need to apply to the group's administrators to join:. https://www.facebook.com/groups/351873385356662/
• The Council for Allied Health Professions Research (CAHPR) is a national organisation with regional hubs, it runs events and shares useful information: https://cahpr.csp.org.uk
• The Cognitive Behaviour Therapist, a peer-reviewed journal run by the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP), offers a mentoring scheme for practitioners who are interested in publishing a paper but are unsure where to start. The journal is also recruiting experienced researchers to become volunteer mentors: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/the-cognitive-behaviour-therapist/tcbt-mentorship-scheme

About the author

Dr Eleanor Chatburn qualified as a Clinical Psychologist in 2021 from the University of Bath. She is a Lecturer at the Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychological Therapies, University of East Anglia and a Visiting Researcher at the Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge. Twitter: @eleanorchats

Key sources

Deane, J.A. & Clunie, G. (2021). Healthcare professionals in research (HPiR) Facebook community: a survey of UK doctoral and postdoctoral healthcare professionals outside of medicine. BMC medical Education, 21(1), 1-9.

Department of Health. (2015). NHS Constitution. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-nhs-constitution-for-england/the-nhs-constitution-for-england

Dunn B., Reynolds, S., Blacklock, J., et al. (2019). Turning research ideas into reality: How can we better support 'on the ground' clinicians to become research active?. CBT Today, 47(4), 18-20.

Newington, L., Wells, M., Adonis, A., et al. (2021). A qualitative systematic review and thematic synthesis exploring the impacts of clinical academic activity by healthcare professionals outside medicine. BMC Health Services Research, 21(1), 1-20.

Assistant Psychologists in clinical research delivery

Danae Palate with challenges and opportunities

Clinical research is essential for innovation in healthcare. The NHS is committed to promoting and conducting clinical research to provide the best patient care. Recent policy (The Future of UK Clinical Research Delivery: 2021 to 2022) has highlighted the need for more joined-up clinical research delivery across the NHS, including greater funding for academic institutions and third sector services, with the shared goal of better health outcomes for patients. This policy also details steps for more innovative clinical research, enabled by new digital data and tools.

One of the themes for the vision of UK clinical research implementation moving forward is a change in the culture of research within the NHS. Unfortunately, as pressures on the NHS have continued to increase, staff have needed to prioritise clinical contact over engagement with clinical research. Whilst this has been essential to make a dent in lengthy patient waiting lists, it means that research engagement has been neglected, even though clinical contact and research are both key to providing a good service and improving long term health outcomes.

Improving engagement with research

Assistant Psychologist roles are often undertaken by ECRs and include some level of clinical contact with patients as well as a research component. The job plan and experiences of Assistant Psychologists can vary enormously, and are dependent on both service pressures and the managing Clinical Psychologist.

Assistant Psychologists with primarily clinical roles can engage with the plan for clinical research delivery by being informed about the research relevant to the population(s) they are supporting. A searchable database of ongoing research has been developed by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) (Be Part of Research) which ensures that staff can remain informed about current research in their area. Clinical staff can then signpost eligible people they are working with to get involved with ongoing research projects.

Disseminating research

The processes for gaining permission to disseminate clinical research are often confusing and can deter staff from disseminating research findings outside of their specific team or NHS Trust. This means that by the time research is disseminated, it might be less current, relevant and meaningful for both patients and staff.

Ensuring research has a meaningful impact means working to identify the target audience for dissemination in the early stages of research planning. Assistant Psychologist posts are often limited by fixed-term contracts. Therefore, planning dissemination early makes it more likely that Assistant Psychologists will have the time and resources to appropriately disseminate their work, so that their research can create maximum impact. Research and development teams are being transformed under new policy plans, and the hope is that Assistant Psychologists will be able to draw on increased resources to support and plan their research. 

Increasing diversity in clinical research

New policy outlines the development of data and digital services to improve the diversity of study participants to include those groups that are often under-represented in research. There are also ongoing investigations to better understand how to reach under-represented communities.                                     

Patient, Public and service user Involvement (PPI) is needed to better understand the challenges preventing under-represented populations from engaging with research. The value of service-user insight has been recognised as making research more effective and relevant, although the process for reimbursing service users for their time and expertise has been challenging to implement.

Successful PPI engagement requires shared expectations to be established between service users and professionals. Assistant Psychologists might support this process by informing service users of opportunities for research engagement, and by seeking to establish a shared understanding between service users and professionals about what research collaboration involves.

In conclusion, the plans for improving clinical research in the UK and the steps taken so far are exciting from the point of view of Assistant Psychologists wishing to increase their engagement with research. As policy documents often focus on long term changes, Assistant Psychologists may feel like proposed changes are less relevant to them, due to their fixed-term contracts. However, as I have demonstrated in this article, there are ways in which Assistant Psychologists can meaningfully engage with plans for research delivery in the context of the barriers and opportunities they face.

Danae Palate moved to the UK to study her undergraduate in psychology, now holds Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership with the BPS, and works as an Assistant Psychologist in the NHS alongside training as a psychological therapist at the Centre for Psychological Therapies at the University of Edinburgh.

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30 March 2020

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Our Commitment to Research

Our faculty ranks include accomplished researchers who have made substantial contributions to the advancement of science in our field. The Department of Psychology and Neuroscience is consistently ranked in the top four departments in the College in terms of the external grant funding that is generated by the faculty and we were recently ranked 1st in the National Science Foundation survey for total Research and Development Funding. Read more about our reputation and accomplishments .

Behavioral and Integrative Neuroscience

The primary focus of Behavioral and Integrative Neuroscience is to understand the biological basis of behavior. A central research theme in our program is to understand biological mechanisms underlying drug addiction including neural mechanisms mediating drug-seeking behaviors, pharmacological mechanisms underlying the analgesic and rewarding properties of abused substances, and the effects of abused substances on the immune system. In this regard, faculty conduct research using state-of-the-art experimental approaches including sophisticated behavioral assays, molecular and cell biology techniques, neuroimaging, electrophysiology, electrochemistry, and molecular genetic tools. Read more about our faculty’s research interests .

Clinical Psychology

Faculty research in Clinical Psychology encompasses a wide range of topics, ranging from the causes of psychological disorders and the psychological mechanisms underlying symptoms, to applied domains involving the development and evaluation of intervention and assessment instruments. Several major themes emerge in faculty research, including the study of the nature of psychopathology, the effectiveness of psychotherapy interventions, prevention, and therapy, health psychology, interpersonal relationships, and the study of ethnic minority issues related to psychological health. Read more about our faculty’s research interests .

Cognitive Psychology

Cognitive Psychology is the scientific study of mental processes underlying behavior, a broad research area encompassing the study of attention, perception, memory, language, reasoning and problem-solving. These research areas are strongly represented by the faculty of the Cognitive Psychology Program along with research on cognitive aging and cognitive neuroscience. The primary research method is behavioral experimentation with humans (both college-aged adults and healthy older adults). Other important methods use neuroimaging technologies (such as fMRI and ERP), which allow us to correlate neural processing with cognitive function, eye-tracking technologies, which allow for the study of reading and visual perception, and experimentation with special neurological populations, whose cognitive deficits can inform our understanding of the effects of brain damage on normal cognition. Read more about our faculty’s research interests .

Developmental Psychology

Faculty in the Developmental Psychology Program are interested in many of the same cognitive and social phenomena as our colleagues in other Programs, but with a specific focus on how these phenomena emerge, stabilize, and change as a function of maturation and experience. Thus, we conduct research on infancy, childhood, and adolescence, using either cross-sectional designs in which age is an independent variable or longitudinal designs in which individuals are assessed over days, months, years, or generations. We imbed our research within the physiological context of neural, hormonal, and physical maturation, and within environmental contexts such as the parent-child dyad, the family, the classroom, and the community. Read more about our faculty’s research interests .

Quantitative Psychology

Internationally known for research and training in quantitative and statistical methods for psychological research, our Quantitative Psychology faculty have methodological interests in measurement theory, survey methods, and methods for analysis of correlational data. Our methodological research focuses on education diversity, structure of personality, issues in health psychology, statistical techniques for the study of change over time, and development and adaptation of modeling and analysis tools that are suited to evaluating linear and nonlinear dynamical systems models. All of our faculty are active in interdisciplinary substantive research in a variety of fields, including educational testing, substance abuse, child development, developmental psychopathology, and diversity in education. In this work, these faculty bring their quantitative and substantive expertise to enhance design and analysis of empirical research projects. Read more about our faculty’s research interests .

Social Psychology

Faculty research in Social Psychology encompass many core areas of the field, with a particular strength in affective processes as it relates to well-being, attitudes and stereotyping, and social judgment and decision-making. Faculty research interests are broad and include attitudes and attitude change, decision making, social cognition, emotions, stereotyping and prejudice, interpersonal processes, and group interactions. Read more about our faculty’s research interests .

Research Hypothesis In Psychology: Types, & Examples

Saul Mcleod, PhD

Editor-in-Chief for Simply Psychology

BSc (Hons) Psychology, MRes, PhD, University of Manchester

Saul Mcleod, PhD., is a qualified psychology teacher with over 18 years of experience in further and higher education. He has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Clinical Psychology.

Learn about our Editorial Process

Olivia Guy-Evans, MSc

Associate Editor for Simply Psychology

BSc (Hons) Psychology, MSc Psychology of Education

Olivia Guy-Evans is a writer and associate editor for Simply Psychology. She has previously worked in healthcare and educational sectors.

On This Page:

A research hypothesis, in its plural form “hypotheses,” is a specific, testable prediction about the anticipated results of a study, established at its outset. It is a key component of the scientific method .

Hypotheses connect theory to data and guide the research process towards expanding scientific understanding

Some key points about hypotheses:

• A hypothesis expresses an expected pattern or relationship. It connects the variables under investigation.
• It is stated in clear, precise terms before any data collection or analysis occurs. This makes the hypothesis testable.
• A hypothesis must be falsifiable. It should be possible, even if unlikely in practice, to collect data that disconfirms rather than supports the hypothesis.
• Hypotheses guide research. Scientists design studies to explicitly evaluate hypotheses about how nature works.
• For a hypothesis to be valid, it must be testable against empirical evidence. The evidence can then confirm or disprove the testable predictions.
• Hypotheses are informed by background knowledge and observation, but go beyond what is already known to propose an explanation of how or why something occurs.

Predictions typically arise from a thorough knowledge of the research literature, curiosity about real-world problems or implications, and integrating this to advance theory. They build on existing literature while providing new insight.

Types of Research Hypotheses

Alternative hypothesis.

The research hypothesis is often called the alternative or experimental hypothesis in experimental research.

It typically suggests a potential relationship between two key variables: the independent variable, which the researcher manipulates, and the dependent variable, which is measured based on those changes.

The alternative hypothesis states a relationship exists between the two variables being studied (one variable affects the other).

A hypothesis is a testable statement or prediction about the relationship between two or more variables. It is a key component of the scientific method. Some key points about hypotheses:

• Important hypotheses lead to predictions that can be tested empirically. The evidence can then confirm or disprove the testable predictions.

In summary, a hypothesis is a precise, testable statement of what researchers expect to happen in a study and why. Hypotheses connect theory to data and guide the research process towards expanding scientific understanding.

An experimental hypothesis predicts what change(s) will occur in the dependent variable when the independent variable is manipulated.

It states that the results are not due to chance and are significant in supporting the theory being investigated.

The alternative hypothesis can be directional, indicating a specific direction of the effect, or non-directional, suggesting a difference without specifying its nature. It’s what researchers aim to support or demonstrate through their study.

Null Hypothesis

The null hypothesis states no relationship exists between the two variables being studied (one variable does not affect the other). There will be no changes in the dependent variable due to manipulating the independent variable.

It states results are due to chance and are not significant in supporting the idea being investigated.

The null hypothesis, positing no effect or relationship, is a foundational contrast to the research hypothesis in scientific inquiry. It establishes a baseline for statistical testing, promoting objectivity by initiating research from a neutral stance.

Many statistical methods are tailored to test the null hypothesis, determining the likelihood of observed results if no true effect exists.

This dual-hypothesis approach provides clarity, ensuring that research intentions are explicit, and fosters consistency across scientific studies, enhancing the standardization and interpretability of research outcomes.

Nondirectional Hypothesis

A non-directional hypothesis, also known as a two-tailed hypothesis, predicts that there is a difference or relationship between two variables but does not specify the direction of this relationship.

It merely indicates that a change or effect will occur without predicting which group will have higher or lower values.

For example, “There is a difference in performance between Group A and Group B” is a non-directional hypothesis.

Directional Hypothesis

A directional (one-tailed) hypothesis predicts the nature of the effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable. It predicts in which direction the change will take place. (i.e., greater, smaller, less, more)

It specifies whether one variable is greater, lesser, or different from another, rather than just indicating that there’s a difference without specifying its nature.

For example, “Exercise increases weight loss” is a directional hypothesis.

Falsifiability

The Falsification Principle, proposed by Karl Popper , is a way of demarcating science from non-science. It suggests that for a theory or hypothesis to be considered scientific, it must be testable and irrefutable.

Falsifiability emphasizes that scientific claims shouldn’t just be confirmable but should also have the potential to be proven wrong.

It means that there should exist some potential evidence or experiment that could prove the proposition false.

However many confirming instances exist for a theory, it only takes one counter observation to falsify it. For example, the hypothesis that “all swans are white,” can be falsified by observing a black swan.

For Popper, science should attempt to disprove a theory rather than attempt to continually provide evidence to support a research hypothesis.

Can a Hypothesis be Proven?

Hypotheses make probabilistic predictions. They state the expected outcome if a particular relationship exists. However, a study result supporting a hypothesis does not definitively prove it is true.

All studies have limitations. There may be unknown confounding factors or issues that limit the certainty of conclusions. Additional studies may yield different results.

In science, hypotheses can realistically only be supported with some degree of confidence, not proven. The process of science is to incrementally accumulate evidence for and against hypothesized relationships in an ongoing pursuit of better models and explanations that best fit the empirical data. But hypotheses remain open to revision and rejection if that is where the evidence leads.

• Disproving a hypothesis is definitive. Solid disconfirmatory evidence will falsify a hypothesis and require altering or discarding it based on the evidence.
• However, confirming evidence is always open to revision. Other explanations may account for the same results, and additional or contradictory evidence may emerge over time.

We can never 100% prove the alternative hypothesis. Instead, we see if we can disprove, or reject the null hypothesis.

If we reject the null hypothesis, this doesn’t mean that our alternative hypothesis is correct but does support the alternative/experimental hypothesis.

Upon analysis of the results, an alternative hypothesis can be rejected or supported, but it can never be proven to be correct. We must avoid any reference to results proving a theory as this implies 100% certainty, and there is always a chance that evidence may exist which could refute a theory.

How to Write a Hypothesis

• Identify variables . The researcher manipulates the independent variable and the dependent variable is the measured outcome.
• Operationalized the variables being investigated . Operationalization of a hypothesis refers to the process of making the variables physically measurable or testable, e.g. if you are about to study aggression, you might count the number of punches given by participants.
• Decide on a direction for your prediction . If there is evidence in the literature to support a specific effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable, write a directional (one-tailed) hypothesis. If there are limited or ambiguous findings in the literature regarding the effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable, write a non-directional (two-tailed) hypothesis.
• Make it Testable : Ensure your hypothesis can be tested through experimentation or observation. It should be possible to prove it false (principle of falsifiability).
• Clear & concise language . A strong hypothesis is concise (typically one to two sentences long), and formulated using clear and straightforward language, ensuring it’s easily understood and testable.

Consider a hypothesis many teachers might subscribe to: students work better on Monday morning than on Friday afternoon (IV=Day, DV= Standard of work).

Now, if we decide to study this by giving the same group of students a lesson on a Monday morning and a Friday afternoon and then measuring their immediate recall of the material covered in each session, we would end up with the following:

• The alternative hypothesis states that students will recall significantly more information on a Monday morning than on a Friday afternoon.
• The null hypothesis states that there will be no significant difference in the amount recalled on a Monday morning compared to a Friday afternoon. Any difference will be due to chance or confounding factors.

More Examples

• Memory : Participants exposed to classical music during study sessions will recall more items from a list than those who studied in silence.
• Social Psychology : Individuals who frequently engage in social media use will report higher levels of perceived social isolation compared to those who use it infrequently.
• Developmental Psychology : Children who engage in regular imaginative play have better problem-solving skills than those who don’t.
• Clinical Psychology : Cognitive-behavioral therapy will be more effective in reducing symptoms of anxiety over a 6-month period compared to traditional talk therapy.
• Cognitive Psychology : Individuals who multitask between various electronic devices will have shorter attention spans on focused tasks than those who single-task.
• Health Psychology : Patients who practice mindfulness meditation will experience lower levels of chronic pain compared to those who don’t meditate.
• Organizational Psychology : Employees in open-plan offices will report higher levels of stress than those in private offices.
• Behavioral Psychology : Rats rewarded with food after pressing a lever will press it more frequently than rats who receive no reward.

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Navigating Clinical Psychology Ph.D. Programs: How To Choose The Appropriate Fit

If you’re interested in treating mental health disorders, a Ph.D. in clinical psychology is can be a significant step in your pursuit of a fulfilling and impactful career in mental health on your career path. The decision you make about where to pursue your clinical psychology doctorate can be pivotal, shaping not only your educational experience but also your future contributions to the field. As you consider the vast array of clinical psychology programs available, you're likely to face several questions and concerns.

The decision you make about where to pursue your clinical psychology doctorate is pivotal, shaping not only your educational experience but also your future contributions to the field. It's a decision that demands careful consideration., and that's where this comprehensive guide comes in.

This guide will help you navigate the complex landscape of clinical psychology Ph.D. programs. From understanding the various specializations and research opportunities to evaluating factors such as faculty expertise, program accreditation, and financial considerations, we'll provide you with the knowledge and insights necessary to make an informed choice.

This article will help you navigate the complex landscape of clinical psychology Ph.D. programs, whether you're a recent graduate eager to explore the field of clinical psychology or a seasoned professional seeking to advance your career. From understanding the various specializations and research opportunities to evaluating factors such as faculty expertise, program accreditation, and financial considerations, Whether you're a recent graduate eager to dive into the world of clinical psychology or a seasoned professional seeking to advance your career, we aim to empower you with the tools and information you need to embark on your academic journey with confidence. By the end, you'll have a clear understanding of how towe’re providing you with information that can help you choose the right clinical psychology Ph.D. program for you that aligns with your aspirations, ensuring a successful and fulfilling career in the field of mental health.

Understanding clinical psychology Ph.D. programs

Before we explore the specifics of choosing a clinical psychology PhD program, let's review what clinical psychology is all about. Clinical psychology is a field of study and practice that focuses on understanding and addressing mental health concerns. The goal of clinical psychology is to help individuals navigate their psychological challenges and improve their overall well-being. It seeks to understand the individual in their entirety, including their unique experiences, needs, desires, and attachments.

The goal of clinical psychology is to help individuals navigate and overcome their psychological challenges and improve their overall well-being. To achieve this goal, clinical psychologists use a range of assessment, intervention, and research techniques to provide evidence-based treatment and support.

A doctoral degrees allows adequate preparation can provide emerging clinical psychologists with the knowledge and skills necessary to excel in their practice areas. Additionally, a Ph.D. in clinical psychology equips graduates with the necessary skills and knowledge to conduct research that advances the field's understanding of mental health.

Pursuing a Ph.D. in clinical psychology is no small feat; it requires dedication , passion, and perseverance. As you work toward your PhD in clinical psychologyIf you decide to work toward this degree, you'll learn about various therapeutic modalities, treatment approaches, and theoretical orientations. You'll also also develop the critical thinking, research, and analytical skills necessary to understand complex psychological phenomena.

It's important to note that while clinical psychology is a broad field, it differs from other related disciplines like counseling psychology, psychiatry, and social work. Understanding these distinctions will can help you choose the right Ph.D. program for your specific career goals.

• Counseling psychology: Unlike clinical psychologists, who generally focus on address treating severe mental health conditions, counseling psychologists typically focus on helping clients with milder psychological concernslife challenges and milder psychological concerns. Counseling psychologists may work in university counseling centers or practice settings.
• Psychiatry: While clinical psychologists primarily use talk therapy to treat mental health disorders, psychiatrists are medical doctors trained to diagnose and treat mental illnesses using a combination of medication and, in some cases, psychotherapy and therapy.
• Social work: Although Like clinical psychologists, social workers may also provide therapy. Usually unable to diagnose conditions, however,, their primary focus is often on addressing societal and environmental issues that impact mental health. They often work in community-based settings.

While mental health professionals come from diverse backgrounds and disciplines, cThe academic rigor and practical training that clinical psychology Ph.D. programs offer a unique blend of academic rigor and practical training that preparescan adequately prepare graduates for their rewarding careers in mental health care in the field. Through specialized coursework, clinical practicum sexperiences, and research opportunities, these programs provide a comprehensive education that meets the highest standards of academic excellence.

Exploring specializations in clinical psychology

Within clinical psychology Ph.D. programs, there are various specializations that students can pursue. These specializations allow individuals to focus on specific areas of interest and develop expertise in those areas. Before choosing a Ph.D. program, it can be important to exploring explore the different various specializations clinical psychology specialties and considering consider which areas of focus best aligns best with your interests and career goals is important.

Some of the most common specializations within clinical psychology include:

• Neuropsychology: This specialization fNeuropsychologists focusocuses on understanding how brain function impacts behavior and cognition. Neuropsychologists They often work with individuals who have experienced a traumatic brain injury, stroke, or other neurological conditions.
• Child and adolescent psychology: As the name suggests, this specialization focuses on working with children and adolescents. This specialization involves addressing developmental disorders, behavioral challenges, or specific issues related to childhood trauma-related conditions, and other mental health concerns in children and teenagers.
• Geriatric psychology: This specialization focuses on geriatric psychologists understanding and treating address mental health concerns in older adults. Geriatric psychologists often work in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, or practice settings.
• Forensic psychology: This specialization focus area involves applying psychological principles in the legal system. Forensic psychologists may work with law enforcement, attorneys, and the court systems to evaluate individuals involved in legal proceedings or provide expert testimony.

These are just a few examples of specializations within clinical psychology; there are many others to explore. As you consider which specializations best fits your interestsyou’re interested in pursuing, you should also reflect on your personal experiences, strengths, and values. Choosing a specialization that aligns with these factors will not onlycan make your academic journey more fulfilling but also setand set you up for success in your future career.

How to pick the right clinical psychology Ph.D. program

Now that we have a better understanding of what clinical psychology is and the various specializations within the field, let's discuss how to pChoosingick the right Ph.D. program for you can help ensure you have a rewarding academic experience. In addition to researching programs online, you may want to take campus visits, ask to audit classes, and talk with professors and administrators. As with any major life decision, it's critical to approach this process thoughtfully and deliberately.

Here are some factors to consider as you evaluate different clinical psychology Ph.D. programs:

• Faculty expertise:  One of the most crucial elements to consider is the fFaculty members within the a Ph.D. program. These individuals will guide your academic and professional development, so it's paramount to, so consider researching their expertise and qualifications.
• Accreditation and reputation: It's also important to consider whether aYou may want to limit your search to programs has that have been accredited by reputable organizations like the American Psychological Association (APA) . You  may also want to researchcan also find information about a each program's reputation and ranking within the field.
• Financial considerations: Pursuing a Ph.D. is may involve a significant monetary investment, so it's it can be crucial important to understand the a program's tuition costs and available financial aid options. You'll likely also want to consider the how your potential long-term career prospects and how theywill align with your financial goals.
• Campus culture and environment: The campus cultureThe student life  and setting of a school can play a significant role in your academic experience. Consider factors like location, campus resources, and the overall atmosphere of the program.
• Research opportunities and resources: Since research is a vital aspect of clinical psychology, exploring the research opportunities and resources available within a program is a must. These resources may includeit can help to know the extent to which a program connects students with access to specialized labs, funding for research projects, and collaborations with faculty members.
• Personal preferences: Last but certainly not least, don't forgetRemember to consider your personal preferences and lifestyle factors when evaluating clinical psychology Ph.D. programs. Your happiness and well-being are just as important as your academic and professional successare important, so make sureensure the program you choose aligns with your values  and personal needs.

Finding the right clinical psychology Ph.D. program can requires a balance significant amount of research, self-reflection, and careful consideration. Accreditation status and faculty expertise are essential but don't forget toit can also be crucial to consider your personal passions and career goals. Remember that this is your journey, so choose a program that will support you in becoming the best clinical psychologist you can be. 

Making your decision and how to apply

Once you have thoroughly researched and evaluated different clinical psychology Ph.D. programs, it's time toyou may be ready to make your decision. Remember that this is a significant investment in yourself and your future, so take the time to weigh all factors carefully.

When it comes to actually applying for a program, here are some tips to keep in mind:

• Createing a structured decision-making process: Developing a structured approach tothorough  decision-making framework can help you stay organized as you choose a programnd make a well-informed choice. You might create a spreadsheet with criteria to evaluate each program school or simply make a list of pros and cons.
• Utilizing a decision matrix: A decision matrix is a helpful tool for evaluating and comparing different programs based on specific criteria. You can assign weights to each criterion and rank programs accordingly, which can help you visually seedecide which program schools aligns best with your personal and professional goals.
• Seeking advice and input: Don't be afraid to rConsider reachingeach out to mentors, advisors, and peers for their perspectives on different programs. They may offer have valuable insights or considerations that you hadn't thought of before.

Once you've chosen the a program that's right for you, it's time toyou can begin preparing your application. Your applicationThis may involve taking prerequisite courses, obtaining letters of recommendation, writing a personal statement or essay, and taking standardized tests like the GRE.

The Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation within the APA is an excellent helpful resource for understanding common application requirements and tips for crafting a compelling application. Additionally, it can be's beneficial to reach out directly to the department or school you're applying to for specific guidance on their application process.

Remember, don't be discouraged if you're not accepted into your top-choice program. It's normal for many applicants to apply to multiple programs and receive rejections before finding the right fit. Many schools also offer candidates the opportunity to reapply after they gaining have gained more experience or improving improved your their application materials. Patience and perseverance are can be key in this process. 

Additional resources and support for your journey

In addition to academia, it's important to remember that those considering a Ph.D. program or seeking guidance for other sources and support are available to assist with personal and professional development in the field of clinical psychology, support is available. Graduates who are beginning their careers in clinical psychology might find it beneficial to seek utilize support from professional organizations, mentorship programs, and education resources. 

Mental health professionals can benefit from seeking care themselves at times; and an online therapy platform like BetterHelp has become a significant part of mental health support can provide convenient, flexible means of receiving support, especially given recent global events. This mode of Online therapy provides access to mental health resources irrespective of location can connect you with mental health resources remotely, allowing you to work with a therapist through video call, voice call, or in-app messaging offering convenience and flexibility. As If you’re an emerging clinical psychologist or a busy professional of any kind, you may benefit from utilizing an online therapy platform to connect with experienced professionals and gain additional support and guidance participating in therapy on a schedule that works for you.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a well-established, evidence-based approach to mental health treatment often utilized in online therapy. Clinical studies indicate it may can treat a range of mental health symptoms and conditions. In a study on the effects of an online cognitive behavioral therapy program for healthcare workers, participants reported experiencing reduced stress levels, improved self-care, and an increased capacity to cope with their emotions . If a rigorous PhD program leaves you feeling overwhelmed, consider turning to CBT techniques and resources for support. Burnout can be a common issue among students in high-stress occupations, and CBT has been shown to be helpful in promoting overall well-being. 

Remember, it's important to prioritize your mental health and well-being throughout your journey as a clinical psychology PhD student. In the end, your personal and professional growth will benefit from taking care of yourself and utilizing the resources and support available to you. 

Clinical psychology offers a world ofan array of opportunitiesy for those passionate about understanding and supporting treating mental health concerns. With the right program, resources, and support, you can embark on an empowering journey to becoming a highly skilled and compassionate clinical psychologist. Remember that, it's also important to prioritize your own mental health and well-being throughout your journey as a clinical psychology Ph.D. student. In the end, your personal and professional growth will benefit from taking care of yourself and utilizing the resources and support available to you. 

Online therapy can also be a helpful tool for personal and professional development, so don't hesitate to utilize it as you navigate through your academic journey.

• What Are The Different Types Of Counseling Degrees? Medically reviewed by Melissa Guarnaccia , LCSW
• What Type Of Therapist Should I Be? Exploring Paths In Mental Health And Wellness Medically reviewed by Julie Dodson , MA
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Recently, Robinson was selected for a summer research fellowship through the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center. This nationwide competitive program selects three graduate students for a 10-week paid position to conduct veteran-focused research.

Robinson will be paired with a current VA faculty member to conduct research, attend trainings and seminars on professional development, writings, and statistics. She will also have the opportunity to mentor undergraduate students participating within the program and present her research by the time the fellowship ends.

The faculty at the Minneapolis facility study a range of questions related to veteran populations, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, suicide risk and prevention, traumatic brain injury, cognitive aging, severe mental illness, and more.

“I am incredibly excited to expand my professional network, receive mentorship training and experience, and strengthen my research skills,” said Robinson. “I am also very eager to represent and orient myself as a disabled researcher in a professional space as so few of us exist or are represented in the field.”

Her hope is to one day develop a career in research and clinical work to assist and advocate for survivors of interpersonal violence. “With a clinical psychology degree, I feel I will have the flexibility and training to assist survivors, examine effective interventions, and contribute to psychological research,” she said.

Interested in assisting with projects like Robinson’s? Check out Kendall College of Arts & Sciences’ Department of Psychology to participate in groundbreaking research.

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Clinical trials assistant position @ the institute for medical research, durham nc.

The Institute for Medical Research (IMR), an affiliate of the Durham VA Health Care System (DVAHCS), is looking for a  full-time Clinical Trials Assistant I – Clinic  that will be involved with the implementation and execution of a variety of clinical research projects including the recruitment and enrollment of research study patients, specimen collection, and data collection from medical records and questionnaires. These multiple functions require a significant degree of flexibility and independence to complete complex tasks. The successful candidate will be employed in the laboratory of Dr. Stephen Freedland, a nationally recognized leader in cancer and urology research.

Responsibilities:

Patient Outreach and Study Recruitment:

• Review patient’s electronic medical record information to determine eligibility to various research studies
• Contribute significantly to patient outreach, interaction, and successful recruitment to a variety of sponsored and non-sponsored research studies
• Conduct in-person approaches and phone screens for patient inclusion in research studies
• Interact with potential study participants in-person and remotely
• Appropriately catalogue and maintain strict recordkeeping any outreach or interaction undertaken with Durham patients, including communication via mail, phone, and in-person approaches
• Assist in preparing paperwork and ensuring smooth clinic workflow
• Obtain various measurements from participants including vital signs and waist and hip circumference
• Strive to meet patient enrollment goals

Data Quality and Compliance:

• Assist in collection and management of patient-oriented data used in support of analytical and/or research projects related to oncology and sponsor-funded studies
• Maintain study databases and other study-related spreadsheets and logs
• Perform efficient and accurate data abstraction and entry into various study database systems
• Adhere to all safety and compliance regulations, internal standards of procedure, good clinical practice, and other IMR/VA policies
• Maintain patient confidentiality at all times

Specimen and Laboratory:

• Attend phlebotomy training courses and complete in-person blood draw competency training
• Perform venipuncture on participants who enroll in studies needing blood draws
• Assist in the timely processing and/or shipment of study specimen (including but not limited to: blood, urine, stool, etc.)
• Assist with specimen organization, storage, and laboratory equipment maintenance

Teamwork and Motivation:

• Work effectively with other team members as part of a team
• Complete tasks independently and manage personal workflow
• Communicate diplomatically and professionally with administration, faculty, clinical and lab personnel, subjects, and other study team members

Non-critical Elements:

• Troubleshoot and modify protocol implementation when necessary
• Recommend new methods for data collection and documentation
• Assist other research personnel

Qualifications:

• Requires a bachelor’s degree  and 1 year of relevant experience.

Additional Requirements:

• This position requires an organized, task oriented, deadline-sensitive individual.
• Applicants must deal diplomatically and professionally with administration, faculty, clinical and lab personnel, and subjects.
• Demonstrated leadership, professional initiative and teamwork abilities are required.
• This position requires an applicant who is comfortable with processing human specimens such as blood, urine, and feces; in addition, undergoing phlebotomy training.
• Basic computer skills are required and familiarity with MS Excel and MS word are preferred.
• Prior experience with clinical research, lab work (specifically DNA extraction), FDA regulations, HIPAA considerations, and consenting process is preferred.

Click here for more information and to apply

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Admission criteria for graduate psychology programs are changing

There’s less emphasis on standardized testing and more on applicants’ lived experiences

Vol. 55 No. 4 Print version: page 23

Over the last few years, graduate psychology degree programs, both at the master’s and doctoral levels, have shifted their admission criteria from an emphasis on standardized testing to components that reflect applicants’ experiences. According to the most recent edition of Graduate Study in Psychology , 1 for 2022–23 applications, doctoral programs placed the highest importance on letters of recommendation (85%), personal statements (84%), and interviews (74%). Master’s psychology programs, by contrast, placed the highest importance on undergraduate GPAs (72%), letters of recommendation (71%), and statements of goals and objectives (68%).

In general, large percentages of graduate psychology programs reported that the GRE Verbal, Quantitative, Writing, and Subject scores were not criteria used in the admissions process for the 2022–23 admissions cycle. This represents a continuation of the trend of graduate psychology programs prioritizing criteria other than GRE scores in an attempt to remove potential systemic barriers and create a more equitable admissions process. 2, 3

View a full-size version with a detailed description of the importance of admission criteria for psychology doctoral programs infographic

View a full-size version with a detailed description of the importance of admission criteria for psychology Master's programs infographic

1 Data is from Graduate Study in Psychology , an annual survey conducted by APA’s Education Directorate. For the 2022–23 cycle, a total of 332 departments and schools in the United States and Canada provided responses on 893 graduate programs in psychology.

2 Assefa, M., et al. (2023, March). How the pandemic has impacted psychology graduate programs . Monitor on Psychology , 54 (2), 20.

3 Assefa, M., et al. (2024, January). Masters’ and doctoral program applications increase as GRE requirements drop . Monitor on Psychology , 55 (1), 26.

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