I am strongly considering applying to Duquesne University's clinical PhD program, which advocates an existential/phenomenological/humanistic/psychodynamic approach to psychology. While I find this and the research being conducted at Duquesne extremely interesting, I am curious how others view a degree from the university. What is its reputation among all you/ at other universities? I ask because I hope to get a job in academia at some point, although I am attracted to private practice/hospital work as well. Thank you
Duquesne University
- Thread starter McClinas
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I believe that Duquesne emphasizes some less than established therapeutic orientations, in addition, its qualitative research emphasis may limit you in the academic route. And to clarify, I am not bashing qualitative work (it certainly can be helpful in some contexts), but a lack of training in quantitative research would really hurt an aspiring academician. Of course I'm not sure how much Duquesne emphasizes qual. vs. quant., but in the past I thought it has been mostly qual.
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Take all the standard advise you would find here on SDN, as well as all of the principles espoused by all of the major psychology departements in the United States, throw it out the window, and you have Duquesne! Duquesne trains its students to be psychodynamic oriented therapists and nothing more. The students are encouraged to be in analysis themselves. They maintain in their literature that they are engaging in qualitative research. For them, this amounts to writing philosophical papers about non-empirical theories of psychology. One of the Psychology departments main professors specializes in studying German poetry and another is an expert on Lacan. The one plus of the department is that it has funding. If you want to go to Duquesne, expect to become a therapist not a professor.
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If you know all about Duquesne and you're still interested in going, I say go. There is not another program like it in Clinical Psych in the entire US. There's Dallas, Seattle, West Georgia, and BYU, but none of those integrate theory and clinical work like Duquesne. The honest truth is that all APA-accredited clinical programs have to meet very explicit standards in terms of coursework, so those things won't vary much from program to program. The important thing is finding a match with a professor. If you can be passionate about your research than you are several steps ahead of the game when it comes to having a career in academics.
I too am considering Duquesne. The program definitely has a phenomenological and psychoanalytic focus. Before you apply, I would try to either take a class in these areas or at least do some reading on your own to see if you mesh well with these theoretical foci. If you don't, this program would probably be a bit painful for you! With that being said, there is also a course offered in cognitive and behavioral psychotherapies, and you can always arrange an independent readings course if there is no official course offering in an area you're interested in. I would suggest looking through the course offerings to see if they spark your interests. In general though, if you aren't that into philosophy, this probably won't be a great program for you. But if you are, this program is amazing and one of a kind. I just hope they keep their accreditation. Hope this helps a bit 😉
