Existing Policies and Procedures for Training Needs Among Clinical Psychology Trainees: An Institutional Policy Review

Students in professional psychology programs undergo 5 or more years of graduate training to prepare for autonomous practice as psychologists, with research, practica, and supervision as core components of these training programs. Many accredited clinical psychology programs utilize a clinical manual or handbook and related documents to share relevant information with students about expectations, training practices, and program policy. However, no research has comprehensively reviewed the extent to which accredited programs clearly outline training processes, expectations, and resources related to research, practica, and supervision. Using a coding system, the present study involved an institutional policy review of clinical psychology handbooks/manuals and related documents for 20 Canadian English graduate programs. Information within documents was coded as either "included," "partially included," or "not included." Fully included items ranged from 10% to 75% for the research domain, 20% to 95% for the practicum domain, and 10% to 85% for the supervision domain. This study highlighted that some available student information may lack the level of detail needed to fully or concretely addressed student training needs. Public Significance Statement Clinical psychology trainees often navigate stressors pertaining to research, practica, and supervision during graduate training. However, no studies to date have comprehensively reviewed clinical psychology student resource manuals to determine the extent to which written documents can provide guidance on concerns in each domain. The present study identified that while some requirements are frequently addressed in existing documents (such as the number of expected practicum hours), other topics are rarely addressed (such as navigating dual relationships in supervision).