We are convinced that the best way to train first-rate clinical scientists is to involve students intensively and continuously in doing collaborative research with established, productive investigators. This initial participation in research enables students to become proficient in specific research methods, to become knowledgeable about the issues and literature in a problem area, and to develop competence as an investigator.
Every effort is made to match the interests of students and research advisors.
Students may switch research advisors at any time, but for practical reasons, changes ordinarily occur at natural transition points, such as at the completion of a particular research study or at the end of a semester or year. As the student gains research experience in a particular problem area, it is expected that he or she will evolve into an increasingly independent and original investigator, and that by the time of the dissertation research, a student's relationship to the research advisor will have changed from that of an inexperienced assistant to that of a research collaborator and colleague. The various psychological problems experienced by human beings are the central reason for the existence of a sub-specialty in clinical psychology. The more popularized or visible aspects of the sub-specialty, such as psychological tests or psychotherapeutic techniques, only arise out of a more basic concern with analyzing and dealing with psychological aspects of human suffering. Therefore, the clinical program at IU is built around the study of specific clinical problems, and issues of assessment and treatment are considered within the context of such problems.