PhD with a Specialization in Clinical Psychology
This programme will not admit new students until further notice. If you are interested in this programme, please also consider: PhD in the field of Clinical Psychological Sciences
Clinical Psychology is a scientific discipline that aims to understand, prevent, and relieve psychological distress and dysfunctions, as well as to promote well-being and personal development. Clinical Psychologists are mostly employed in hospitals, government sectors (e.g. Department of Health, Social Welfare Department etc.), counseling services units and voluntary organisations. Common duties of clinical psychologists include conducting psychological assessment, psychological intervention and counseling, giving public educational talks, providing staff training and consultation, as well as conducting scientific research. The Department of Psychology of HKU offers three postgraduate programmes in clinical psychology, including the Master of Social Science in the field of Clinical Psychology Programme, The Doctor of Psychology in the field of Clinical Psychology Programme and the PhD with Specialization in Clinical Psychology Programme.
The emphasis of the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) with a specialization in the field of Clinical Psychology is placed on a scientist-practitioner model of education to train professional clinical psychologists well prepared for research, university-level teaching, and clinical practice. We also offer a King’s College London and The University of Hong Kong joint PhD programme where high caliber PhD students are given opportunity to spend up to half of their time to be trained at each institution and be awarded PhD degrees from both universities on completion of this four-year programme
The curriculum of PhD with a specialization in the field of Clinical Psychology extends over a minimum of four-year full-time, including two years of coursework & clinical practicum. The courses cover theoretical and applied aspects of clinical psychology. Candidates are also expected to complete a doctoral level research dissertation presenting original scientific work in a chosen area of clinical psychology.
For 4-year PhD students admitted in or after 2016/17, they are required to complete 18 compulsory courses and 1 elective course. (3-year PhD students are not required to take PSYC6010 and PSYC6011.) in addition to satisfying the Graduate School coursework requirements.
Compulsory Courses
PSYC7024 – Induction Programme
PSYC7029 – Practicum I
PSYC7030 – Practicum II
PSYC8011 – Practicum III
PSYC8012 – Practicum IV
PSYC8013 – Practicum V
PSYC7002 – Assessment of personality and psychopathology
PSYC7003 – Individual psychotherapy I
PSYC7004 – Individual psychotherapy II
PSYC7005 – Psychopathology I
PSYC7006 – Psychopathology II
PSYC7009 – Clinical seminar I
PSYC7018 – Cognitive assessment
PSYC8001 – Clinical seminar II
PSYC8002 – Community and health psychology
PSYC8003 – Family and group therapy
PSYC8004 – Clinical neuropsychology
PSYC8005 – Ethics and professional issues
PSYC6010 – Conceptual and Methodological Issues in Psychological Research I
PSYC6011 – Conceptual and Methodological Issues in Psychological Research II
PSYC6025 – Postgraduate Seminar in Scientific Writing for Psychology
Elective courses
PSYC7021 – Postgraduate Seminar in Cognitive Psychology
PSYC7022 – Postgraduate Seminar in Social Psychology
PSYC7023 – Postgraduate Seminar in Developmental Psychology
For the course description of MPhil & PhD programmes, please click here.
For the course description of Master of Social Sciences ( Clinical Psychology ) programme, please click here.
To be eligible for admission to the PhD with a specialization in the field of Clinical Psychology programme, a candidate shall satisfy both the University admission requirement and the programme specific requirements as listed below:
- compliance with the General Regulations;
- holding an honour’s degree in Psychology or a recognized equivalent qualification; or
- having successfully completed the first-year curriculum of our MSocSc in Clinical Psychology programme (or its equivalent); and
- passing a qualifying examination prior to admission, if required; and taking other tests as may be prescribed, and have the score reports of such tests sent to the Programme Director.
Please refer to the website Graduate School and click “Prospective Students” and “Fees, Scholarships & Financial Support” for more details.
This programme will not admit new students until further notice. If you are interested in this programme, please also consider: PhD in the field of Clinical Psychological Sciences
Enquiries regarding the application process should be directed to General Office (Tel: 3917 2376, E-mail: rpsyc@hku.hk )
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