Applied Psychophysiology, Ph.D

Admission Requirements

Students entering the Applied Psychophysiology doctoral program must have completed a master’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university prior to enrollment. Doctoral students must complete a minimum of 76 credits. Applicants to the Clinical Psychophysiology specialization must document a current healthcare or mental healthcare license or completion of a licensable healthcare or mental healthcare degree.

Students entering the program who have not taken undergraduate courses in general biology or general psychology must take any they are missing during their first semester: APH 5001 General Biology, 1 credit; APH 5002 General Psychology - 1 credit.  Students showing weaknesses in academic writing skills must take Graduate Academic Writing, a 3-credit course. Depending on prior education, they may need to review learning modules provided by the department covering areas including electronic circuitry, mathematics, psychological assessment, and medical information needed to perform psychophysiological assessments.

By approval, Saybrook may accept up to nine graduate transfer credits into the PhD degree in Applied Psychophysiology from other regionally accredited colleges and universities prior to entrance. Transfer credits must be from courses substantially similar to those offered by the Department. They are applied to reduce the required number of elective or required courses for degree completion. Alternately, they may be waived without granting credit so students can take other electives in place of the transferred courses.  Suitability of the proposed courses for transfer to the intended degree are determined by the Department Chair.

If a student has taken more than nine credits of past graduate courses matching required courses, or can demonstrate learning equivalent to a required course, the required course(s) may be waived without credit, and students will take additional elective(s) in their place. For further details regarding transfer credit policies, consult the Institutional Transfer Credit Guidelines section of the University Catalog.

Students who have earned a Saybrook MS in Mind-Body Medicine, the MS in Integrative and Functional Nutrition, or the MA in Integrative Wellness Coaching, and who are admitted into the doctoral degree in Applied Psychophysiology, can generally transfer all master’s degree credits that match either a required course or an elective in the PhD program. The exact amount depends on which master’s degree the student has completed, and which PhD specialization the student selects. These students must fulfill the doctoral degree requirements not completed at the master’s level, including the remaining required courses and the dissertation or project.

For further information on admission into the PhD in Applied Psychophysiology program after completion of a master’s degree at Saybrook University, contact the Applied Psychophysiology Department Chair.

Note, this program is not a clinical psychology program. However, it can offer more flexibility in program planning to those wishing to enhance and further develop their clinical knowledge and expertise, but who do not intend to use the degree to qualify for licensure.

Degree Requirements

Students in the PhD degree program in Applied Psychophysiology pursue a 25-credit sequence of core courses in Applied Psychophysiology, 18 credits in specialization courses, and 12 credits of psychophysiologically relevant elective courses. This training prepares graduates for a broad range of employment opportunities in medical and mental healthcare, stress management, optimal functioning, sports and mental health coaching, and wellness education. Students in the PhD in Applied Psychophysiology also complete a 21-credit sequence of research courses, culminating in a doctoral dissertation and oral defense of the dissertation. Students carry out several original research projects, including the doctoral dissertation, on topics relevant to psychophysiological assessments and interventions in areas such as optimal functioning and health care.

Each of the doctoral specializations is described separately with its coursework and career applications, following discussion of the core PhD degree in Applied Psychophysiology.

Notes:

• The degree completion time for a student following the default course sequence will average between 4 and 5 years. Some students may complete degree requirements in fewer terms and some may require more terms to complete the degree.
• Acceptable elective credits must be psychophysiologically relevant courses.
• This is a structured cohort program and the sequence of courses is different for students who start in the fall than for students who start in the spring.

Residential Conferences

Throughout enrollment in the program, students attend several monthly synchronous web based seminars and attend three in-person training sessions per year. Each session is approximately five days long. Two occur during Saybrook’s residential conferences and one during the annual meeting of the professional organization, The Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback. Students attend the residential conferences until they complete all coursework other than the dissertation.

Preliminary Exams

All psychophysiology doctoral students will take a remotely monitored or in person preliminary exam at the end of their fifth semester to determine whether the students can demonstrate the ability to (a) write and organize at a level expected of second year doctoral students and (b) synthesize material from several courses. The purpose of the exam is to give the faculty and dean of students an opportunity to identify and support students with writing and synthesizing problems as possible. Students will be given a sample of the exam at least two weeks before the exam is scheduled so they understand the type of writing and depth required for the exam. Students will be given a topic to write an approximately 700 word essay about which is related to material from one of the courses. Students will have two hours to write the essay after being given the topic while being observed by either a program such as “Zoom” or in person to preclude the students getting personal or electronic assistance. The student will not be permitted to use programs such as Grammarly. The essay will be graded pass-fail by two writing experts from among the team which assesses admission writing samples using a set of predetermined criteria based on grammar and organization. If the experts disagree, the essay will be graded by a third expert. After the essay, the student will be given a topic to write on drawn from a minimum of two courses the student has passed which requires the student to synthesize material from the courses in order to pass the exam. The exam will be graded by two faculty in the psychophysiology department. If the two disagree, a third member will grade the exam. Failure of the exam results in the student not being able to take additional courses until the exam is passed on a second try. A third failure results in automatic dismissal from the program. Students can reapply to the program but must be able to pass the exam before being readmitted.

Comprehensive Exams

After completion of all coursework and prior to the dissertation defense, each student has to pass a written comprehensive examination. The comprehensive examination is made up of open ended questions covering each of the courses in the student’s doctoral studies in psychophysiology.  For each comprehensive examination, each professor who has taught a lecture course to the student submits two essay questions for each of the lecture courses they teach in the program. The student selects one of the two questions for each course to answer. The questions will test the student’s understanding of a crucial basic concept and the student’s ability to apply that concept to applied psychophysiology rather than requiring a list of facts. Students must consult with the Department Chair for approval to be registered in APH 5124 - Psychophysiology Department Comprehensive Exam  (0 credits).

The student must pass 80% of the questions to pass the exam. A student who fails the comprehensive may attempt questions from the failed subject areas twice with not less than one month between each attempt. Different questions are supplied to the student for each attempt. If the student does not pass on the third attempt (the original and two retries), the student will be dismissed from the program. 

Dissertation

Students develop their dissertations with the assistance of a mentor and a dissertation committee. Dissertations are designed to produce novel information related to psychophysiology based on a study performed using subjects and to be of adequate quality so its results could be published in a peer reviewed journal. Students must orally defend both the protocol the dissertation study is based on and then of the dissertation’s results when it is completed to the members of the dissertation committee.

Career Outcomes

Licensed healthcare professionals who complete this doctoral degree with the clinical specialization will strengthen their already existing careers, utilizing evidence-based psychophysiological assessments and interventions within their practice areas to see a greater variety of patients and enhance outcomes with current patients. They are prepared to excel in medical and mental health settings, integrative medicine, and a variety of allied health professions. Graduates in the optimal functioning specialization who do not have healthcare licenses will be prepared to work in wellness coaching, sports coaching, stress management, and optimal performance training as consultants, educators, and employees in corporate and medically based health promotion and wellness programs.

Specialization Requirements

In consultation with the Department Chair, students may choose to complete a generalist option which requires 18 credits of APH elective coursework. Students must discuss this option with the Department Chair and design a course of study with their assistance. The generalist option may be the best option for some students.

APH Elective 1 - as approved by Department Chair

APH Elective 2 - as approved by Department Chair

APH Elective 3 - as approved by Department Chair

APH Elective 4 - as approved by Department Chair

APH Elective 5 - as approved by Department Chair

APH Elective 6 - as approved by Department Chair

Specialization Requirements

Students selecting the Clinical Psychophysiology doctoral specialization will complete 18 credits in specialized coursework including coursework in mind-body science (anatomy and physiology, psychophysiology), the application of integrative medicine strategies, and additional clinical skills, such as biofeedback, hypnosis, stimulation technologies, and consulting skills. As part of their required coursework, they may complete Saybrook University certificates in biofeedback / neurofeedback, hypnosis, stress management, or psychophysiological studies. 

Psychophysiologically oriented electives include courses in pelvic floor disorders, behavioral assessment and intervention for pain, QEEG, advanced topics in EEG, neuromuscular rehabilitation, neuropsychophysiology, advanced hypnosis, impact of hormones on behavior, and impact of genetics upon behavior.

Specialization Requirements for 2019-2020 Academic Year have been approved by the CIMHS Degree Program Committee.

Notes:

• The degree completion time for a student following the default course sequence will average between 4 and 5 years. Some students may complete degree requirements in fewer terms and some may require more terms to complete the degree.
• Acceptable elective credits must be psychophysiologically relevant courses.
• This is a structured cohort program and the sequence of courses is different for students who start in the fall than for students who start in the spring.

Specialization Requirements

Students selecting the specialization in optimal Functioning will take an additional 18 credits, to prepare them for careers in such areas as wellness, stress management, sports coaching, mental health coaching, and optimal functioning in business, sports and educational environments. Psychophysiologically based electives include optimal functioning in the sports environment, optimal functioning in the business environment, stimulation technologies, pain assessment and intervention, hypnosis, and neurofeedback.

Notes:

• The degree completion time for a student following the default course sequence will average between 4 and 5 years. Some students may complete degree requirements in fewer terms and some may require more terms to complete the degree.
• Acceptable elective credits must be psychophysiologically relevant courses.
• This is a structured cohort program and the sequence of courses is different for students who start in the fall than for students who start in the spring.

Career Outcomes

All the specializations in Applied Psychophysiology support career and professional goals across a broad spectrum of academic, healthcare, and organizational environments. The learning outcomes and career outcomes for the Optimal Functioning specialization include:  the application of applied psychophysiological knowledge and interventions in wellness coaching, health education, stress management, corporate wellness, and sports applications.

Whether you are a mid-career professional seeking to enhance your existing skills or an individual seeking to transition to a new career path, the optimal functioning specialization provides a comprehensive overview of the wellness and performance fields combined with core skills training.

If you are currently pursuing a career in one of the occupations below or aspire to do so, this degree program and specialization can help you make a difference and advance along your chosen path.

• Stress Management
• Sports Trainer
• Integrative Wellness Coach
• Health Educator
• Clinician