Religious diversity and the training of North American clinical psychologists

The author examined the degree to which APA accredited North American doctoral programs in clinical psychology incorporate religious diversity into their training programs. The 212 clinical psychology doctoral programs that are accredited by the APA were surveyed via the Internet. Results indicate 81% of programs have no formal religious diversity training. Thus, clinical psychology programs in North America neglect to incorporate religious diversity into training despite a 1992 guideline by APA for religious diversity training. Logistic regression analyses were employed to explore the relationship between three factors and the availability of religious diversity training. Factors relating to the availability of religious diversity training were degree type (Ph. D. vs. Psy. D.), and affiliation of schools. Programs offering the Psy. D. were more likely to include religious diversity training than those offering the Ph. D. Religiously affiliated schools were also more likely to do so compared to private or state-related schools. Further analyses revealed "years since accreditation" was not significant as an independent predictor above and beyond the effects of degree type and affiliation of school. Implications for psychologists including those in the medical setting are discussed.