Department Overview
Since 1991, CIIS’ Clinical Psychology department has provided advanced and specialized training in clinical psychology that combines the principles of integral education with the clinical efficacy of contemporary psychodynamic psychotherapy.
Clinical psychology at CIIS bridges the rich tradition of depth psychology with the dynamic world of clinical psychology, paying particular attention to culture and the relational aspects of context and positionality. In the exploration of depth psychology, our students focus on the psyche, human development, personality formation, and individuation; and explore the subtle, unconscious, and transpersonal aspects of human experience.
Graduates of our clinical psychology Psy.D. program are eligible to become licensed psychologists in the state of California as well as engage broadly in the ever-expanding field of clinical psychology in professional careers that include: therapy and assessment, supervision, management, administration, consulting, research, advocacy, and public policy.
Our faculty have a wide range of research interests among them: the many intersections between psychodynamic psychotherapy and humanistic, existential, somatic, and transpersonal psychotherapies.
Learn More About Our Program
Our Approach
Our distinctive approach to doctoral education in clinical psychology is guided by a vision of psychotherapeutic clinical practice that emphasizes holism, depth, and difference.
We teach the value of open inquiry and multiple ways of knowing, emphasizing that knowledge is contextual. At the center of this kind of inquiry are whole persons enlivened through a matrix of relationships, including those with essential others, nature and spirit, and communities, power structures and cultural meaning systems. Our students create and explore their definitions of psychological healing in the context of these crucial relationships.
Our faculty view the educational process itself as holistic and relational, encouraging an environment that is creative, inclusive and transformative on both personal and professional levels.
Throughout the coursework, clinical work, and research components of the program, students strive to connect abstract principles (e.g., holism, justice, diversity) and interpersonal virtues (e.g., curiosity, respect, receptivity) with the textured, profoundly personal experience of their psychotherapy clients.
How to Apply
Fall 2022 applications are now closed
Questions? Contact us.
We are here to help! If you have any questions about applying to a program or registering for an Info Session, please reach out to the Admissions Office.
