Clinical Psychology

How can mental health problems such as anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and grieving problems best be studied and treated? How do psychological theories relate to research and clinical practice? How can we prevent the disorders from occurring, improve treatment results and prevent relapse? You will address these and similar kinds of questions in the Master’s programme Clinical Psychology.

Studying questions of mental health

Driven by research and clinical experience

In the Clinical Psychology Master’s programme you will acquire and develop fundamental knowledge of relevant theories and skills in evidence-based psychotherapies and become familiar with prevailing research methods in the field of clinical psychology. The lecturers from this Master’s programme work in clinical practice and/or do state-of-the-art theoretical or applied research at Utrecht University. This integration of science and practice forms the basis of the teaching approach in this programme.

Objective of the programme

This programme will enable you to develop into an academic professional. You have broad knowledge of contemporary scientific theories and instruments as well as skills related to prevention, psychotherapeutic treatment and policy formation in the area of psychological aspects of health, illness and psychopathology. You are familiar with research methods in mental healthcare and can translate that knowledge to practice. You know what it’s like to work in a multi-disciplinary team.

Learn to work in a multidisciplinary way

Clinical psychology is always interacting with other disciplines due to the context in which behavioural and health problems arise. Examples are medicine, biology, neurology, pharmacology, economics, sociology and social psychology. This will therefore be a considerable focus of attention. Some lectures will also be taught by (guest) lecturers from diverse disciplinary backgrounds. And finally, you will often work in a multi-disciplinary context during your internship as well. This means that clinical internships need to be done in native language organisations, which for international students often necessitates doing the internship abroad, generally in their home country. For them it is strongly suggested to try to acquire an internship position immediately after application.

International character

The Clinical Psychology Master’s programme will mainly be taught in English. Some skills-oriented tutorials will be taught in English and Dutch. Our programme’s content and context have a strong international character and you will have the opportunity for international orientation (thesis, internship, symposiums). On top of that, our student population is a true mix of people from different countries and cultures. This provides a strong basis for the international and diversity-oriented character of our programme and our community. 

Postgraduate training programmes 

The clinical Master’s degree offers Dutch-speaking students the opportunity to apply for different postgraduate programmes (Healthcare psychology; in Dutch: GZ-psycholoog) or pursue a PhD position. For international students, formal accreditation needs to take place at an individual level by the national union of psychologists.
Be aware that the vLOGO certificate is a pre-requisite to work in the Netherlands in clinical practice. For more information, please check: Certificaten en registraties na je bachelor en je master (in Dutch).

Science and practice

Our teachers are nationally and internationally renowned scientific experts and have extensive experience in clinical practice and academic research. This is reflected in the programme, for example the expertise in;

• cognitive behavioural therapy
• the study of grieving (loss) and psychotrauma (war, violence, disasters)
• experimental psychopathology (in relation to anxiety)
• treatment of complex anxiety disorders
• treatment of depression
• culture and health(care)

Utrecht University is a great university not only because of its professionalism and expertise but also because of its great atmosphere of mutual respect and egalité!

World-class university in a lively student city

Choosing Utrecht University means choosing one of the best universities in the country with several renowned international rankings  and twelve Nobel Prize laureates. 

Located in the middle of the Netherlands, Utrecht is a medieval city with a centre small enough to explore on foot, yet large enough to host world-class festivals, fashionable shops, modern architecture and fascinating museums. Find more about what student life is like in Utrecht!