California School of Professional Psychology

The California School of Professional Psychology (CSPP) was founded in 1969 under the auspices of the California Psychological Association. CSPP was the first free-standing school of professional psychology in the nation.[2]

The goal of CSPP is to train doctoral level psychologists in professional practice models and to assure that its students and faculty are as diverse as the State of California. At its founding CSPP, worked out of borrowed or rented space with a volunteer (unpaid) faculty, but had a large number of student applicants who were attracted to the new training model.[2]

The founding president of CSPP was Nick Cummings, PhD, who was succeeded by John O'Neill and subsequently by Judith Albino, PhD. (Mary Beth Kenkel, PhD and Rodney L. Lowman, PhD also served as interim presidents.) During the 2000s, under Albino's tenure, CSPP was renamed Alliant University and the four separately accredited campuses in Fresno, Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco were combined into a single WASC-accredited institution. The name was subsequently changed to Alliant International University after Alliant merged with (acquired the assets of) U.S. International University, based in San Diego. USIU was known for their faculty of humanistic psychologist that included Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow, Victor Frankl, and Igor Ansoff.[7] Today, CSPP is one of several schools that make up Alliant International University including a school of education, forensic psychology, a school of management and a law school. CSPP remains the largest of the schools.

CSPP became accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) in 1977. By the mid-1980s all of its Clinical Psychology programs became accredited by the American Psychological Association and its Marriage and Family Therapy programs are accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT). Each psychology doctorate degree program (Ph.D. or Psy.D.) on each campus is accredited individually by the American Psychological Association.[8]

CSPP degree programs:[9]

• Clinical Psychology – PhD and PsyD
• Marriage and Family Therapy – MA and PsyD
• Clinical Counseling Psychology – MA (licensure as LPCC)
• Industrial-Organizational Psychology (Organization Behavior/ Development) – MA, PhD, PsyD
• Psychopharmacology – MS
• Doctoral Respecialialization in Professional Psychology

• Alliant International University is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC)[10]
• Clinical Psychology Psy.D. and Ph.D. programs are individually accredited by the American Psychological Association at every campus.[10]
• Marriage and Family Therapy programs is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT).[10]

The Los Angeles PsyD in Clinical Psychology program was the 2010 recipient of the Suinn Minority Achievement Program Award from the American Psychological Association for excellence in recruitment, retention, and graduation of ethnic minority students, and for its overall commitment to cultural diversity in all department activities.[11][12]

Current and former professors include:[13][14]

• Phil Barnhart, member of the Oregon House of Representatives[15]
• Judy Chu, first Chinese-American woman elected to the United States Congress[7]
• Robin Corsiglia, former Olympic swimmer, sports psychologist at University of Southern California (USC) University Park Health Center[16]
• Christine E. Dickson, American cognitive psychologist
• Peggy Drexler, Cornell University professor and author[7]
• Lisa Firestone, author, editor of PsychAlive, and Director of Research and Education at The Glendon Association[17]
• Gordon Muir Giles, psychologist and researcher, professor at Samuel Merritt University, known for his research in traumatic brain injury
• Debra F. Glaser, former and first female Chief Psychologist for the Los Angeles Police Department, first psychologist to be an ABPP Board Certified in Police and Public Safety Psychology, professor at Alliant International University[18]
• Nathan Hare, author, activist, former associate Professor at Howard University, member of the NAACP team that argued Brown v. Board of Education
• Marc Kern, author and addiction treatment specialist[19]
• Davina Kotulsi, author and LGBT advocate
• Glenn S. Lipson, Director of Program Forensic Psychology Department Alliant International University San Diego Campus[20]
• Kevin F. McCready, psychologist, founder, and Director of the San Joaquin Psychotherapy Center and the non-profit Recovery for Emotionally Abused Children (R.E.A.Ch.)
• Rose Weahkee, Director Division of Behavioral Health, Indian Health Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)[7]
• Matt McGovern, CEO Silver Creek Energy, former CEO Cypress Creek Renewables, CFO Paramount Equity and Gehrlicher Solar America Corp., avid surfer and skateboarder

• CSPP official website