About: Clinical Psych at UA

In the University of Arizona Department of Psychology, our Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology follows a clinical science training model.

Our program prepares students not only for clinical practice but also to contribute to the advancement of knowledge in the field, and a core feature of our program is minor areas of study in health psychology and neuropsychology. (We also have a generalist pathway for students who do not choose one of these minors; the generalist pathway is a perfectly fine way to proceed through our program.) 

In May 2010, the Clinical Psychology Program received accreditation from the  Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System (PCSAS), an organization designed to accredit high-caliber clinical science doctoral  programs. PCSAS was created in 2008 to promote science-centered education and training in clinical psychology, to increase the quality and quantity of clinical scientists contributing to the advancement of public health, and to enhance the scientific knowledge base for mental and behavioral health care. The University of Arizona Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology was among the first three universities accredited by PCSAS. More information about PCSAS, including its goals and history, can be found at the following website: www.pcsas.org. In accord with the policies of our PCSAS accreditation, we provide the public with reliable and current information on the performance and  achievements of our students, graduates, and faculty. This information can be found with our Student Admissions, Outcomes, and Other Data.

Our clinical program has a long and distinguished history, and it has been accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA) since 1962. For information regarding the program’s accreditation status you may contact The Commission on Accreditation.

The University of Arizona’s doctoral program in Clinical Psychology is a charter member of The Academy of Psychological Clinical Science, which is a coalition of doctoral training programs that share a common goal of producing and applying scientific knowledge to the assessment, understanding, and amelioration of human problems. Membership in the Academy is granted only after a thorough peer review process. Its  membership in the Academy indicates that our program is committed to excellence in scientific training, and to using clinical science as the  foundation for designing, implementing, and evaluating assessment and intervention procedures.

Frequently Asked Questions: UA Doctoral Program and working with Dave Sbarra

  • No, not this year, I am sorry! I admitted two new graduate students who started working with me in the Fall of 2025. I am not in a position to be recruiting a new student for next academic year.

  • I am interested in working with students who have had substantial research experiences in the years prior to coming to graduate school. Typically, this means that most successful students have worked in at least two different laboratories and have gained a variety of different experiences relevant to conducting psychological science (including, but not limited to, working with one to several of the available statistical software packages, using REDCap info management system, learning about the IRB process and human subjects consenting, having a familiarity with the basic procedures of human data collection, and/or working on poster presentations or manuscript preparation — honors thesis, master’s thesis, or something else, etc.). Some of our work involves the assessment of autonomic physiological indicators, so any applicants with experience in autonomic psychophysiology would be especially welcome. In addition, we look for people with strong quantitative reasoning skills (backgrounds in math, statistics, computer science, etc.) who would like to pursue ideas related to the quantitative assessment of psychological change.

  • Yes! The GRE is optional for our graduate program and we hardly give it any consideration. We’re looking for a demonstrated research fit with our program and lab. The GRE is not the best way for us to assess your potential research fit or demonstrated experiences.

  • Of course, but you’re wasting your time. I am interested in working with people who want careers as producers of psychological science. This does not mean the people who work with me need to be research-oriented college professors, but this does mean that we look to train people who want to conduct research as their primary occupation. I realize that interests change over the course of graduate school, but you have little chance of being admitted here if you do not have a demonstrated background in research and a definite interest in pursuing a  research-oriented career. There are many fine places you can go to graduate school to pursue a clinically-oriented Ph.D. (click this link to find out more).

  • Highly unlikely. Many of our students also REALLY want to be therapists, but they want to do so in the context of conducting clinical science research. If you’re unsure of our general program-wide philosophies, click this link.

  • Yes, and yes! We’re looking for accumulated, relevant experiences combined with demonstrated academic potential. If you have these qualities, I don’t really care how you’ve gotten to this point.

  • Before I answer this question, let me make several qualifications. First, this is just my opinion, and I am sure other people much smarter and more experienced than me may advise you differently. Second, I think there are probably a handful of different activities that provide excellent experience and will prepare you well for graduate school (e.g., completing a senior honors thesis in the lab of an established researcher, taking a graduate statistics course, being a lab manager, being an intern at NIH during the summer, co-authoring a research paper, traveling South America by raft, etc., etc.). If I were to name just one thing that I believe is the best thing to do in preparation for graduate school, it would be this: Major or minor in math or statistics (or, connect yourself to a research program that specializes in research methodology); minoring in psychology and spending your undergraduate time majoring in an applied science is a great way to prepare for graduate school in clinical psychology. In my book, a very close second would be to spend over 12 months as the project coordinator on an R01-level research grant. This would provide tremendous relevant experience.

  • If you’re qualified and have an interest in a clinical science graduate program, your chances are good. If you do not have too much relevant research experience, your chances of being accepted with us are slim. Being a Tucson native does not provide you with any special benefit when you apply to our program.

  • I am sorry you feel this way; it’s not my intention to be negative. By providing you with a sense of what we’re looking for in applicants to our program, I am trying to save you time down the road. I see no reason why you should waste your hard-earned money applying to the UA  Graduate College if we’re not a good fit with your experiences and interests. Beginning around September of each year, I receive about two emails a week from folks who want to apply to our graduate program. In the end, only about 6% of these people are admitted. Therefore, I am hopeful that you can read these FAQs and decide for yourself if the UA and my laboratory are the right place for you to study clinical psychology.