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CURRICULUM STANDARDS FOR APPLIED MASTER'S PROGRAMS
Applied master's degree programs in psychology should meet the following minimum standards:
I. The program should be identifiable as a psychology program. This is to be defined primarily in
terms of the disciplinary affiliations of those who teach in and administer the program.
II. The program must have a mission statement which guides the structure and content of the
curriculum. The mission statement should reflect a commitment to the CAMPP model of
practitioners who bring scholarship and reflection to their work, and an understanding of diversity
in clientele, methodology and application.
III. The program and its curriculum should have a coherent organization and structure that reflects its
mission statement.
IV. The program should be the equivalent of two academic years of full time study. This would
normally include 40-50 semester hours, or the equivalent, of program requirements.
V. Typically, the program will include evidence of graduate level education and training in the
following areas:
A. A base of general/theoretical psychology to include the following:
1) Biological bases of behavior to the degree that it is appropriate for the sub-discipline.
2) Acquired or learned bases of behavior
3) Social/cultural/systemic bases of behavior
4) Individual or unique bases of behavior
B. Understanding of methodology used to investigate questions and acquire knowledge in the
discipline. This could include study in research design and/or methodology, statistics or
critical thinking and scientific inquiry. At a minimum, there should be one course in research
methods and/or statistics as applied to psychological questions.
C. APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY
1) Coursework in the theory, history, and applications of psychological principles and theories
appropriate to the sub-discipline.
2) Significant supervised experience appropriate to the discipline
- For clinical/counseling programs, it is recommended that a program require a minimum of
700 hours supervised experiences of which 40% is direct client contact. Programs not
meeting this recommendation need to provide additional documentation of significant
supervised experience.
- Appropriate onsite supervisor: For clinical/counseling programs, on site supervisors should
have at least a master’s degree in a mental health field (i.e., psychology, mental health
counseling, social work, marriage and family therapy) and at least two years post-masters
experience. They should possess credentials appropriate to state requirements (licensure or
certification) where required.
- Supervision ratios and faculty compensation: When individual supervision is provided by
program faculty, supervision of five students is considered equivalent to the teaching of
one 3-student hour course. Group supervision should be considered a teaching activity and
receive teaching credit equivalent to a didactic course.
3) Ethical and professional standards
4) Sensitivity to social and cultural diversity, resulting in appropriate assessment and
intervention strategies and other professional behaviors
5) Teaching of assessment relevant to goals of the training program (e.g., interviewing
techniques, program evaluation)
VI. Entrance requirements for the applied master s program in psychology should reflect the responsibility that the program has to the public. Efforts should be made to ensure that students have the intellectual and personal capabilities required to perform as competent professionals in the sub- discipline.
VII. Programs will demonstrate that appropriate procedures are used to assess student competencies and professional behavior consistent with each programs mission statement and goals prior to the Completion of the program.
VIII. The program will have a sufficient number of appropriately trained faculty to accommodate the labor-intensive nature of teaching the Skills of applied psychology.
To contact us:
- For inquiries about CAMPP or the CAMPPSITE,
- please contact Dr. Jan Smith at jsmith@pittstate.edu