Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical Psychology

The higher degree research programs in Clinical Psychology are highly competitive and there are many more applicants than places available. Therefore, at Griffith there is a highly structured application process. Admission to all Clinical Psychology programs is restricted to students who are registered Psychologists or who are eligible for provisional registration with the Psychology Board of Australia. The application process involves three stages.

Stage 1: The application

All applicants are required to demonstrate their capability for training in Clinical Psychology as follows:

• Academic Achievement/Intellectual Ability: Applicants must have completed an Honours degree in Psychology (which involves an individual research project) at the level of First Class or Second Class (Division A) Honours and accredited by the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council (APAC). Candidates will also be considered if they have completed a Masters degree in Psychology if the Masters training program was APAC accredited and included a significant research component. Applicants who have completed comparable training and degrees outside Australia will be considered for admission but are advised to submit an academic transcript to the Australian Psychological Society (APS) which will assess whether their training is equivalent to an Honours degree from an Australian university. It is also highly recommended that students will have completed courses or units that are relevant to clinical psychology (for example, Abnormal Psychology, Counselling Psychology or Health Psychology). The Grade Point Average in the undergraduate degree, fourth year and relevant courses will be taken into account.
• Interpersonal and Counselling Capability: Given the interpersonal sensitivity and awareness required for effective clinical practice, successful applicants will be expected to demonstrate a high level of interpersonal skills. This may be demonstrated by evidence of previous counselling training and relevant volunteer or work experience.
• Personal Statement: For assistance with this statement, see the Position description for a Clinical Psychology trainee and the Self-assessment / Colleague-assessment checklists.
• Provide three referee reports - two from academics who know your work well and a third from a professional referee who can attest to your interpersonal and counselling capabilities. See below for the Australian Psychology Postgraduate Program Reference Request System process.  

Stage 2: The interview

Please note that, given the competitive nature of this program, only those applicants who have been evaluated by a panel of the clinical team as having demonstrated their suitability for training in clinical psychology (according to the above criteria and ranked sufficiently high enough relative to others) will be shortlisted for an interview. Applicants who are not shortlisted for an interview for the PhD in Clinical Psychology may still be considered for a PhD (research only) in Psychology.

The interview itself consists of a multi-station assessment process. Applicants are required to attend a face-to-face session that takes around half a day to complete. Applicants will be required to demonstrate sound interpersonal and emotion management skills as they respond to the various tasks at each station. Tasks include, for example, responding to an ethical dilemma, roleplaying an interview, roleplaying a supervision session, discussing research, responding to questions relating to their own reasons for applying for training in clinical psychology and a written task.

Applicants are assessed by a panel of clinical program staff in the multi-station interview process for selection into the clinical component of the program. Applicants will be ranked according to their performance at each station. For those ranked highly enough, a recommendation will be made to the Dean, Griffith Graduate Research School for admission to the PhD in Clinical Psychology program.

Stage 3: The selection

First round selection into the clinical component of the program will be made by mid-November to applicants who are ranked at a sufficiently high level. A waitlist of applicants will be retained as second and third round offers may be made as late as January. Unsuccessful applicants will be advised as soon as is practically possible.

Offers of admission to the PhD Clinical Psychology Program (or the PhD research only program) will be issued by the Griffith Graduate Research School.

Successful applicants are admitted on a conditional basis with continuation in the training program being dependent upon satisfactory performance and progress.

Students should refer to the HDR Convenor prior to enrolling to confirm their study program.

The following University policy will apply to Higher Degree Research (HDR) programs:

• Higher Degree by Research Admission Procedure

Inherent requirements

There are some essential skills and abilities you'll need to perform to meet the core learning outcomes of your program and courses. They're not something you need to gain admission into the program, but they'll be assessed throughout your program, and they'll be required for you to succeed in your career when you graduate.

Discover more about the inherent requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical Psychology.

To prepare for completing your application online, you will need to:

• Review the information above relating to Stage 1 of the application process;
• Complete the Personal Statement;
• Provide three referee reports - two from academics who know your work well and a third from a professional referee who can attest to your interpersonal and counselling capabilities. See below for the Australian Psychology Postgraduate Program Reference Request System process.  
• Check the Admission and English Language Proficiency requirements to find out if you are academically qualified to apply for this program;
• Check any program fees applicable to you if you were to undertake this program;
• Develop a proposed Research Topic and Research Proposal in your area of interest;
• Identify at least one potential Griffith supervisor who has reviewed your Research Proposal and has agreed to supervise you - it would also be advantageous to have identified a potential associate supervisor;
• Attach a Curriculum Vitae (CV).

More detail on each of the above preparation steps, including what to feature in your Research Proposal or CV and how to find a supervisor, are outlined on the Higher Degrees Research - How to apply webpage.

Applying

Once you are ready to apply, you can add this program to your shortlist at the top of this page or apply for this program now (a maximum of three preferences is allowed).

Griffith will assess your first preference and will only assess subsequent preferences if you are not successful.

Once you have submitted your application, you will be sent an email about how to track your application.

For a full list of your incomplete or submitted applications, please view your application list.

Scholarships

Applicants wishing to commence in Research Intake 1 should lodge their application prior to the closing date listed at the top of this page. Applicants applying to commence at any other time should submit their application at least four months before their preferred intake date. Refer to the Scholarship Key Dates for further information.

English language requirements apply to International applicants and other applicants whose previous study was undertaken in a country other than Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Republic of Ireland, United Kingdom, the United States of America or South Africa or undertaken in a language other than English. The minimum English language requirements for such applicants for admission to this program are as follows:

• A minimum overall band score of 7.0 on IELTS (Academic) with a minimum of 7.0 in each sub-score;
• OR the (OET) with a minimum score of B in each of the four components (listening, reading, writing and speaking);
• OR an internet-based (iBT) TOEFL score of 94 (minimum score of 24 for listening and reading, 27 for writing and 23 for speaking);
• OR a minimum overall score of 65 in the Pearson Test of English (Academic) with no score less than 65;
• OR successful completion of at least two years of secondary education and your entire tertiary studies in psychology taught and assessed solely in English from a recognised country*; completed within the last 5 years;
• OR successful completion of at least six years (full time equivalent) continuous education, including your tertiary qualifications in psychology, that were taught and assessed solely in English from a recognised country* completed within the last 5 years.

English test results must be no more than two years old.

* Recognised countries: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Republic of Ireland, South Africa, United Kingdom and the United States of America.

Applicants should refer to the Psychology Board of Australia website for the English Language Skills Registration Standard that is required for registration or provisional registration as a psychologist.

The Direct Entry Program (DEP) pathway is not accepted for this program.

Applicants who have not completed Grade 12 in Australia or have not completed six years of continuous education in a related field and recognised country must meet the Ahpra English language requirements. Please visit the Psychology Board of Australia website for further English language requirements information.

Griffith University grants credit and recognition of prior learning which may relate to prior formal learning or prior informal and non-formal learning. For more information, please visit the following website:

• Credit transfer

Griffith's innovative Credit Precedent Database allows you to find out what credit decisions have been made in the past. These precedents will give you an idea of what you can expect.

• View credit precedents for this program

Credit for coursework may only be awarded if a substantially similar course has been completed in an Australian Psychology Accreditation Council (APAC) accredited postgraduate program.

Credit for placements cannot be awarded unless the placement has been completed as part of an Australian Psychology Accreditation Council (APAC) accredited postgraduate clinical psychology program and the credit application has been approved by the HDR Convenor.