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seeking employment and academic exchange. Each of the two portfolios and their
requirements are described in detail below.
The two components of the Portfolio process are:
1. Clinical Portfolio
2. Academic/Research Portfolio
Each portfolio is intended to address major training and academic goals of the program.
The portfolio process represents a steppingstone experience for students as they prepare
to undertake their internship or dissertation. Successful completion of each successive
portfolio indicates that the student is able to plan, undertake, and complete increasingly
sophisticated projects, requiring independence of both thought and motivation.
1.
Clinical Portfolio
The Clinical Portfolio is intended to provide an opportunity for students to demonstrate
their clinical competence, creativity, and theoretical clarity, in a manner and setting similar
to that which could be expected in a job interview situation. It is an assessment of the
student learning outcome associated with advanced clinical theory and practice. It should
be viewed as the culmination of the in-house clinical training aspect of the doctoral
program, and it is designed to allow students to demonstrate the full range and depth of
their clinical skills and theoretical knowledge. To submit a Clinical Portfolio for faculty
review, a student must have successfully completed the minimum of four (4) required
internal practicum courses, or be enrolled in the fourth. Student’s wishing to enhance their
clinical skills or theoretical knowledge may do so with additional practica, clinical work, or
supervision before submitting their Clinical Portfolio.
Clinical Portfolio Components
The following are the 4 components to the Clinical Portfolio:
Statement of Treatment Philosophy (5-7 pages, double spaced; APA formatted)
Case Study (Written, single case from inception to treatment completion/
evaluation)
Video presentation (45 min–1 hour, professional audience)
Statement of Treatment Philosophy
The Statement of Treatment Philosophy document should be between 5-7 pages, double
spaced, and should adhere to all applicable APA formatting conventions. In this document,
students should articulate their current overall philosophy of treatment as it applies to
their work in the field of marriage and family therapy. This philosophy statement assumes
that the student under review is still in a formative stage of development in terms of their
clinical skills. Thus, it is important for the student to talk honestly and openly about the
ways they assess their own current stage(s) of development. This statement may differ
from the case study or video materials presented in the other parts of the Portfolio, but if
it is, it would be important for the statement to address how these disconnects are part of
the overall development of the student. An important part of this statement is the
honesty, maturity, integrity, and clarity with which the student describes their journey
throughout the years of clinical training they have received in the course of the program,
as well as the accuracy of any theoretical assertions they make. The evaluation form for
this part of the written component is located on the SHSS website.
