Department of Psychology

Main Departmental Office
Terrill Hall, Room 316

Mailing address:
1155 Union Circle #311280
Denton, TX 76203-5017
940-565-2671
Web site: www.psyc.unt.edu

Donald Dougherty, Chair

The Department of Psychology affirms the importance of scholarship, research, and quality of education for all students, whether they are preparing for careers in basic research, applied research, teaching, or health service delivery. This training takes advantage of numerous resources within the department, including the Psychology Clinic and specific laboratories for statistics, psychophysiology, psychosocial health research, neuropsychology, and psychoneuroimmunology. Graduates of the department have gone on to distinguish themselves in research, administrative, teaching, and service careers in a range of settings, including universities, medical schools, hospitals, mental health centers, counseling centers, rehabilitation facilities, and private practices in consulting, therapy, and assessment.

Research

Faculty in the Department of Psychology are active researchers. Their programs of research offer students a variety of experiences, topics, and perspectives, using a number of different methods. Faculty expertise includes topics and methods traditional to subdisciplines and theories of psychology (e.g., assessment, mental health, psychotherapy, psychopathology, cognition, physical and psychological health). Some faculty conduct purely theory-based research using a variety of perspectives. Other faculty are expert in applied research, designed to address social problems (e.g., trauma, substance abuse, forensic psychology). Many faculty members have programs on the cutting edge of psychology (e.g., psychoneuroimmunology, sport psychology, cognitive neuroscience, memory). In addition, there are ongoing projects on ethical and professional issues, ethnic diversity, minority and women’s concerns.

From the time that students enter our graduate program they are given many opportunities and are encouraged to be actively involved in conducting research. Students gain competence in research through course work, vertical research teams headed by a faculty member, and informal research experiences. This involvement allows students to gain valuable skills from different faculty members while learning the substantive and methodological knowledge necessary for their future careers. A student’s research experience culminates in an independent doctoral dissertation that contributes to the knowledge base of psychology.

Centers

Center for Psychosocial Health Disparities Research.

The mission of the Center for Psychosocial Health Disparities Research is to 1) produce world-class research on psychosocial factors associated with health disparities, 2) provide services to the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex community, 3) provide a forum for interdisciplinary UNT scholars to collaborate on health disparities related research and intervention/prevention development, 4) train undergraduate and graduate students to be rigorous health disparities researchers, and 5) attract external financial support for the activities of the Center. The center partners with nonacademic local and state agencies in pursuing its mission. Moreover, it leverages emerging technologies (e.g., telehealth) to find creative ways to address health disparities. Its efforts are transparent and accountable.

Center for Sport Psychology and Performance Excellence. The Center for Sport Psychology and Performance Excellence (CSPPE) is a multidisciplinary center devoted to offering sport psychology interventions, research and training. The center combines knowledge, skill and expertise from psychology and exercise science to produce the most comprehensive and state-of-the-art sport psychology services available. In addition, through the center, graduate students are able to pursue specialized training in sport and exercise psychology.

Psychology Clinic. As part of the department’s Applied Training Unit, the Psychology Clinic is a training site for graduate students. Through the clinic, psychological services are offered to the community within the Dallas–Fort Worth region. Services available to the community include psychotherapy, vocational counseling, psychological assessment and biofeedback.

Degree programs

The department offers graduate programs leading to the Doctor of Philosophy with majors in clinical psychology, counseling psychology and behavioral science.

The doctoral programs in counseling psychology and clinical psychology have been accredited by the American Psychological Association (750 First Street NE; Washington, DC 20002-4242; 202-336-5500).

The counseling psychology doctoral program participates in the Federation of North Texas Area Universities.

The behavioral science curriculum is intended to provide a highly individualized program for the student interested in study and research in one of several specialized areas.

The doctoral curricula in clinical psychology and counseling psychology are designed to serve a variety of purposes that focus on the development of a well-rounded professional psychologist. These purposes include a thorough grounding in scientific methodology and an orientation to the profession, development of competency in psychological assessment and evaluation, and training in various psychotherapeutic and counseling techniques and skills.

All departmental PhD programs require successful completion of a doctoral dissertation.

Admission requirements

Before being admitted to the doctoral program, the applicant must meet the requirements for admission to the Toulouse Graduate School specified in the Admission section of this catalog.
Admission to graduate degree programs in psychology is competitive, as available facilities do not permit admission of all qualified applicants.

Applying is a two-part process. First, prospective applicants for graduate degree programs must file an application for admission to the UNT graduate school. Second, applicants for graduate psychology degrees must complete the department application process through the department submission portal at www.psychology.unt.edu. The application deadline for all psychology graduate programs is December 1 preceding the fall term/semester for which the student is applying. All academic prerequisites must be completed by the end of the spring term/semester preceding the fall term/semester for which the student is applying.
All applicants must submit competitive scores on the verbal and quantitative sections of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) prior to the application deadline. For standardized admission test requirements, contact the department or the Toulouse Graduate School . Undergraduates who plan to apply for graduate training should arrange to take the GRE during their senior year.
References and recommendations must be submitted by applicants for admission to the doctoral program in psychology. Applicants are required to provide contact information for three satisfactory recommendations via the department submission portal at www.psychology.unt.edu. Instructions on how to submit a recommendation will be emailed to the address provided for each recommender. Applicants must include one recommendation from their last professional employer (if they have had such previous experience) and one from the last academic institution attended.

In all cases, the Department of Psychology maintains the right to make independent inquiry of the applicant’s employers and the faculties of institutions previously attended, as well as to deny admission to an applicant who in its judgment fails to meet personal or academic admission standards.

Academic prerequisites

The minimum criteria for consideration for admission are 24 hours of psychology or other relevant course work (12 advanced hours) plus the following:

PhD minimum criteria for application requires one of the following six:

3.0 GPA overall on the BA
3.5 GPA on the last 60 hours of the BA
3.5 GPA in undergraduate psychology course work
3.5 GPA on a completed master’s degree (exclusive of practicum and thesis)
Completed doctoral degree in another field
First or second author on an article in a peer-reviewed scientific or professional journal

Applicants must submit their GRE verbal and quantitative scores.

Applying to more than one program is not encouraged. The student who elects to apply to more than one program must submit a separate department application for each program. Applications are submitted electronically. Each applicant must include a completed psychology department application, photocopies of transcripts, photocopies of GRE score reports, personal resume or CV, and a statement of goals. Separate letters of recommendation are required for each program to which the student is applying, and letters must have a program specified. We prefer that letters of recommendation are submitted electronically; however, they may be submitted under separate cover directly from the recommender. If they are not submitted electronically, these letters must be sealed and signed across the back flap by the referee. Materials submitted to the Graduate School do not need to be duplicated for each program to which the student applies.

Please refer to the department web site at www.apply.psychology.unt.edu for questions regarding department application deadlines, etc.

Graduate Record Examination (GRE)

Applicants must have taken the GRE general test prior to the application deadlines. The psychology subject test is not required but is recommended by some of our graduate programs. Applicants should submit a copy of the score report with the departmental application, if available. It is the applicant’s responsibility to make sure the department receives a copy of these scores. Official GRE scores should be sent by the testing agency directly to the Toulouse Graduate School.

Previous college

Applicants should list the names of all colleges attended, even if no degree was received from an institution. When applicable, the name of degree received, date degree was awarded or expected to be awarded, and major should be specified.

Required psychology prerequisites

Applicants should list specific undergraduate prerequisite courses or other relevant course work to be considered as prerequisites. These specific prerequisite courses cannot be waived and must be completed by the end of the spring semester for the application to be considered for the following fall term/semester.

Graduate programs in psychology admit students only to fall terms/semesters.

Applicants must have completed a statistics course.

Additionally, three of the following broadly named courses are strongly recommended as prerequisites:

Experimental Psychology or Research Methods/Design
Learning
Perception
Motivation
Cognition
Psychological Measurement
Physiological Psychology
Research Thesis

Applicants must include either a catalog course description (copy and paste from online catalog is acceptable) or syllabus course description for these specific prerequisite courses. A course in statistics from a department other than psychology could apply to fulfill the prerequisite requirement, and the grade points from this course would be included in the psychology hours GPA. However, such a course is not credited toward the required prerequisite psychology semester hours. To calculate Quality Points, multiply grade (4.0, 3.0, 2.0) by hours of the class (4.0, 3.0, 2.0, 1.0). Example: a grade of A (4.0) in a 3-hour class would equal 12 quality points.

Those doctoral applicants who hold a master’s degree with a major in psychology, but not an undergraduate degree in psychology may elect to use master’s course work to satisfy psychology prerequisites. If admitted to a graduate program, the courses used as prerequisites may not be used toward a degree plan as transfer work.

In addition to the specific courses outlined above, the applicant must also have 24 semester hours (12 hours upper level) of psychology or other relevant course work to be considered. Those applicants with a bachelor’s or master’s degree with a major in psychology would have completed, in the course of the degree, more than the required 24 semester hours. All these courses must be taken in a psychology or related department. Courses listed to fulfill the total number of hours requirements should be converted to semester hours using a four-point system.

Academic record

All GPA’s should be computed on a 4.0 scale (A=4, B=3, etc.). The Department of Psychology computes plus- or minus-grades as the straight letter grade. Applicants must meet one of these requirements based on the degrees held.

For doctoral applicants with a completed bachelor’s degree only:
- a GPA of at least 3.5 on the last 60 semester hours or a GPA of 3.0 for the entire bachelor’s degree.
- a GPA of 3.5 on all undergraduate major or minor course work in psychology.
For doctoral applicants with a completed master’s degree in psychology:
- a GPA of 3.5 on all graduate work, exclusive of practicum and thesis.

Applicants with completed bachelor’s or master’s degrees in a field other than psychology must meet the GPA requirements stated above and also have completed the minimum hours of prerequisite psychology courses with the minimum GPA requirements stated above.

Continuation in the degree program

A program committee has been constituted by the department to consider the possible separation from the degree program of any student who in the committee’s judgment appears unlikely to succeed professionally, regardless of grades earned. Students who do not make satisfactory and continuous progress may be dismissed from their program.

Licensing and certification

Students interested in becoming licensed and certified as psychologists or psychological associates in the state of Texas are required to have specified supervised experiences that are approved by the Department of Psychology. Departmental program directors should be consulted for details.

Programs

Doctorate

Courses

Psychology

Quicklinks

Catalog