Assessment Psychology students are exposed to a wide variety of clinical problems and procedures during the second year clinical practicum. While the emphasis is on psychotherapy, assessment is an integral part of the training provided. Brief assessments are conducted with all adult clients, and more comprehensive assessments are conducted with selected clients. Students can select a third year specialty practicum that focuses on personality and neuropsychological assessment.

Students interested in the Assessment Psychology research focus are expected to complete departmental and clinical core course requirements. In addition, they should register for elective assessment courses related to their research interests and career goals. Advanced courses include Child Assessment, Behavioral Assessment, and Neuropsychological Assessment. Some other elective courses may be waived to give students more time for involvement in additional research projects.

Assessment research focuses on the development and validation of ways to gauge important individual differences. At Kent State, we concentrate on widely used psychological tests designed to assess personality and psychopathology in adults and adolescents (MMPI-3, and MMPI-A-RF) and neuropsychological tests to determine the impact of age and disease on brain function and behavior. Students are involved in grant-funded studies and have opportunities to present their own research at national scientific meetings.

• Dr. Yossef Ben-Porath studies the assessment of personality and psychopathology.
• Dr. John Gunstad studies neurocognitive functioning, particularly as it relates to medical conditions.
• Dr. Angela Neal-Barnett studies the development of anxiety and anxiety related disorders in African Americans.
• Dr.

Dr. Jeffrey Ciesla - The processes and course of depressive disorders.

Dr. Karin Coifman - Emotion processing and emotion regulatory strategies in the development and persistence of psychopathology in stressed populations.

Dr. William Lechner - The effects of neurocognitive deficits and psychopathology in addiction.

Adult psychopathology students have obtained excellent clinical internships.  Most students have gone on to complete postdoctoral fellowships, and all graduates have subsequently obtained academic, research, and/or clinical positions in the field.  

Students in this research focus complete their practicum requirements by taking the general practicum in their second year, and selecting an adult advanced or specialty practicum in their third year. It is recommended that students choose a third-year specialty practicum related to their research focus, if one is available. In addition, students may request that they be assigned cases related to their area of interest when it is possible and feasible for the Clinic to do this.

All students in the Adult Clinical Specialty take classes related to adult psychopathology and receive training in adult assessment and treatment as part of the core program. Students may elect to pursue advanced training in adult psychopathology by choosing it as a research focus. The adult psychopathology research focus is defined by related coursework and clinical training experiences. Students complete all departmental and clinical core course requirements, as well as the clinical program's requisite number of elective credits.

Psychopathology research is broadly defined as investigation into the nature and origins of mental disorders, and into the factors that affect the course and outcome of these disorders. The training for the research focus in adult psychopathology involves engagement in research, in collaboration with a faculty mentor, on a topic related to adult psychopathology. During the course of graduate training, a student in this research focus works toward identifying and developing a particular research interest area of his/her own within the general area of the mentor's expertise.