California Graduate Institute

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The California Graduate Institute is the first independent graduate school of professional psychology in the country, founded in 1968 expressly to expand the scope of traditional graduate study in psychology, marital and family therapy, and psychoanalysis. It is allowed to operate and grant higher degrees in psychology within the state of California through approval by the California Bureau of Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education (BPPVE).^[1]

1 Degree programs
- 1.1 Master of Arts
- 1.2 Doctor of Psychology
2 Licensure
3 CE programs
4 Affiliations
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Degree programs

CGI provides the following Clinical Degree Programs:

[edit] Master of Arts

Master of Arts in Psychology

Master of Arts in Psychology with Emphasis in MFT

[edit] Doctor of Psychology

PsyD in Psychology

PsyD in Psychology with Emphasis in MFT

[edit] Licensure

The California Board of Psychology allows individuals who have earned psychology doctoral degrees from California's state-approved schools, including the California Graduate Institute, to take the exam.^[2]

According to the California Board of Psychology, the two-tiered system was developed after World War II in order to "expand vocational education opportunities for returning veterans".^[1] It was later expanded to also apply to four-year colleges and universities as well as graduate schools that offer doctoral degrees.

Since its inception in July 1968 as the first professional school of psychology in the nation, California Graduate Institute (CGI) has continuously offered degree programs that academically qualify candidates for state licensure as psychologists or marriage and family psychotherapists. The Institute continues as a fully approved graduate-degree school meeting all standards that the California Department of Education and California Bureau for Private Postsecondary & Vocational Education (BPPVE) require. These standards operate at the core of any successful graduate school: quality of faculty, curriculum, facilities, governance, financial stability, and accomplishments of its graduates.

Our institutional mission declares that California Graduate Institute is an innovative professional school of psychology and of marital & family therapy. We are a learning community dedicated to developing well trained, skilled graduates who are ready to enter the next phase of the profession they are pursuing.

The majority of CGI psychology graduates are licensed and practice in California. Many have moved to other states and have obtained licenses to practice there. Our graduates have also practiced psychology in their country of origin, for example, Germany, Israel, and Japan. CGI graduates are providing a wide range of psychological and administrative services to clients. Earning a doctorate degree and becoming licensed however is not enough to make one successful. What one does with that preparation, how one pursues career goals, how one networks and advances with new opportunities—these are the drivers for success.

CGI graduates are members of international, national, state, and local professional organizations, depending on their professional interests. In the past, (before the California oral exam was discontinued in 2002), many of our graduates served as Commissioners for the California BOP, conducting oral exams for licensure candidates. Based on data from the most recent Alumni Survey, our graduates report working in California, other states, and foreign countries, working in many diverse professional settings and capacities, with varying professional titles, for example:

Clinical settings—independent private practice (majority); mental health centers; counseling centers; state hospitals; residential treatment centers; geropsychiatric hospitals; outpatient clinics; and pain management centers.

Academic settings—public and private universities, colleges, and graduate schools; and public and private schools, grades pre-K through 12.

Industrial-organizational settings—federal and state government offices, foundations, corporations, public and private service agencies, and large and small businesses.

Position titles—clinical psychologist, senior clinician, supervisor of mental health services, director, staff psychologist, program coordinator, school psychologist, clinic administrator; professor, associate professor, assistant professor, adjunct professor, lecturer, academic administrator, president; mediation hearings officer, manager, personnel officer, independent contractor, and consultant.

CGI graduates take their exams along with graduates from regionally accredited universities. The BOP exams are scientifically standardized. They are required to be objective and unbiased. This means that our graduates pass the same exams that candidates from regionally accredited institutions pass. This is an independent seal of approval that can neither be manufactured nor gratuitously set aside. It strongly supports CGI’s case for equivalency of training and competency.

CGI has maintained its state approval status for over 3 decades, and continues in that mode.

Effective 2001, California law requires the California Graduate Institute is thus mandated to provide each prospective psychology license seeking student a disclosure form that states:

"Prospective students should be aware that as a graduate of an unaccredited school of psychology you may face restrictions that could include difficulty in obtaining a teaching job or appointment at an accredited college or university. It may also be difficult to work as a psychologist for some federal government or other public agencies, or to be appointed to the medical staff of a hospital. Some major managed care organizations, insurance companies, or preferred provider organizations may not reimburse individuals whose degrees are from unaccredited schools. Graduates of unaccredited schools may also face limitations in their abilities to be listed in the National Register of Health Service Providers or to hold memberships in other major organizations of psychologists"^[1]

[edit] CE programs

California Graduate Institute is approved for continued education (CE) in various subjects by the following organizations:

Veteran Administration - approves for GI Bill inclusion a wide range of educational programs (including graduate level education) .^[3]
National Association of Social Workers (NASW) - a member association that offers approval of social work programs in continuing education for its members. However, the association's approval program (NASW CE approval) is not approved by the official Social Work Licensure Boards in several states, including California. ^[4]
California Board of Registered Nursing - approves registered nursing and advanced practice nursing programs in California.
California Board of Behavioral Sciences - approves continuing education providers (such as schools, associations, health facilities, governmental entities, educational institutions, extension programs, individuals, etc) in behavioral science in California.^[5]
Division of Allied Health Professions of the Medical Board of California - approves research programs in Psychoanalysis, the first such program approved by the Allied Health Professions is offered at CGI.^[6]
California Psychological Association - a professional association in California which approves sponsors for continuing education for psychologists. The individual courses are approved by the MCEP Accrediting Agency.^[7]
American Psychological Association (APA) - approves sponsors of continuing education for psychologists. Graduates of unaccredited state-approved schools such as CGI are limited to associate membership in APA.^[8]

[edit] Affiliations

California Graduate Institute is an accredited member in the Society of Modern Psychoanalysis, a corporation in New York which accepts membership from institutes after review by an Institute Membership Committee. On approval, the institute becomes an accredited member of the corporation.^[9]