Psychology majors at Mount St. Joseph University investigate human behavior and mental processes in a discipline that employers value.
The Psychology program (see reverse side for featured courses) provides excellent preparation for careers in mental health, child development, psychological research, human resources, education, and more. This major is also a strong choice if you plan to pursue graduate school in psychology or related fields, such as law, social work, or physical therapy. Our program develops strong skils in statistics and research. In fact, our seniors have won numerous regional and national awards from Psi Chi (International Honor Society in Psychology) for presenting exceptional research at professional conferences, which has given them a competitive advantage in obtaining jobs and admission to graduate school.
Why Choose the Mount for Psychology?
Psychology Tracks!
In addition to our general psychology major, you can choose to specialize in a specific area of psychology with our psychology advising tracks. We will help prepare you for a career and/or graduate school in one of the following tracks:
- Physical Therapy
- Occupational Therapy
- Public Health
A Place Where Psychology Students Climb Higher:
- MSJ Psychology seniors have won numerous regional and national awards from Psi Chi (the psychology national honor society) for presenting exceptional research at professional conferences.
- MSJ Psychology students can work at a variety of co-op placements, including the #3 ranked hospital in the nation (Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center).
- MSJ Psychology students can shape their education by pursuing their own passions. Current projects include Autism Awareness and investigation into Misophonia.
Career and Co-op Potential
Cooperative Education:
Students gain valuable experience with the Mount’s extensive cooperative education and internship programs. Many students receive job offers as a result of their co-op experiences. Gain valuable experience and earn money with the Mount’s extensive cooperative education program. Co-op placements have included:
- Assisting with group counseling in community mental health agencies
- Coordinating clinical research in local hospitals
- Providing education and support to children with developmental disabilities.
Hear Hanne Driscoll describe her co-op experiences in the video below:
Senior Thesis Projects:
In our Senior Thesis course, students get to design and conduct their own research project, which they can present at a professional psychology conference where they can meet researchers from across the country and the world. This experience gives our students a competitive advantage when they apply for jobs or graduate school.
- See Taylor Weber describe her thesis project.
- Listen to Kory Phelps describe his senior thesis and his experience presenting it at a professional conference in the video below:
Check out some of our Psychology Seniors presenting their Senior Thesis Posters:
Research with Faculty:
Students also have the opportunity to work with our award-winning faculty on their research projects. For example, listen to Kory Phelps describe his experience conducting research with Dr. Tracy McDonough related to The Schizophrenia Oral History Project, a project that has attracted international attention:
A survey of our recent psychology graduates showed that 100% of them had either obtained full-time employment or were pursuing graduate study.
Our psychology graduates have had incredible success in graduate school and in a variety of bachelors-degree careers, including:
- Mental health specialist
- Therapeutic service provider
- Clinical research coordinator
- Children's center supervisor
- Pretrial officer
- Human resources manager
- Boys and girls club director
- Professional recruiter
Students have pursued graduate degrees in clinical, school, and developmental psychology, as well as social work, law, and physical therapy. Visit our Alumni Careers webpage to see examples of our graduates’ careers.
Alumni Profile:
Dr. Debra Reisinger is Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics with a joint appointment in the Division of Child Development at the Indiana University School of Medicine and Riley Children's Hospital Child Development Center. She obtained her Ph.D. in School Psychology from the University of South Carolina, and she completed an internship at the prestigious Kennedy Krieger Institute and a postdoctoral fellowship at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. She is known for her research on neurodevelopmental disorders (e.g., autism, fragile X syndrome). Dr. Reisinger believes the Mount's psychology program continuously challenged, inspired, and guided her toward her current career path in psychology. She says “the faculty were exceptionally supportive and knowledgeable,” and that she was able to develop excellent research, clinical, and practical skills in her classes, co-op, and practicum at the Mount.
PSYCHOLOGY FACULTY
Tim Lawson
Ph.D. Professor
Tracy McDonough
Ph.D. Professor and Chairperson
Jim Bodle
Ph.D. Professor
Kory Phelps
M.S., B.S. InstructorInternationally Recognized Faculty:
- Dr. Tim Lawson, Dr. Jim Bodle, & Dr. Tracy McDonough have all won MSJ’s top teaching award and Ohio magazine’s Excellence in Education award.
- Dr. Lawson was recognized as one of the top psychology professors in country, winning the Robert S. Daniel Teaching Excellence Award from American Psychological Association. Dr. Lawson’s research has received international recognition and has been cited in more than 180 other publications. He is also recognized as one of the nation’s top contributors to the journal Teaching of Psychology.
- Dr. Lawson & Dr. Bodle’s work on psychological critical thinking has been incorporated into the American Psychological Association’s Guidelines for the Undergraduate Psychology Major.
- Dr. McDonough’s research with The Schizophrenia Oral History Project has been featured in The New York Times, U.S. News and World Report, the American Psychological Association’s Monitor on Psychology and several episodes of WVXU’s Cincinnati Edition. She has an international reputation for this distinctive project, collaborating with researchers in Europe and Asia.
Featured Courses
An introduction to psychological research emphasizing ethics and the integration of research design and statistics. Observational, correlational and survey research are explored in conjunction with descriptive and inferential statistical analysis.
A continuation of PSY 375. Use of more advanced research designs and statistical methods. Includes experimental design, single-subject research, and quasi-experimental methods.
INSTAGRAM NEWS
RECENT NEWS
NEWS AND UPDATES
Stay up to date with the most recent psychology program news and events; visit the Department of Psychology page.
PSYCHOLOGY STUDENTS IN THE NEWS:
Psychology Student Q&A: Robin Carpenter
Criminology and Psychology Student Q&A: Megan Winders
Psychology and Liberal Arts Student Q&A: Addaleigh Conley
Seniors Presentations at Professional Conferences
This year, four of our seniors--Kamryn Magee, Amber Reiner, Zenbech Seifu, and Leah Falco--all had their senior thesis projects accepted for presentation at a professional psychology conference (The Southwestern Psychological Association conference)! In addition, they won the following two awards:
- Zen Seifu – SWPA Student Research Competition Finalist (for being “an exemplar of high-quality student work”). Zen will present her thesis in a special Undergraduate Student Showcase session at the conference.
- Kamryn Magee – Psi Chi Regional Research Award (these awards are extremely competitive; out of hundreds of undergraduate students who submit projects to the conference, only 16 of these awards are handed out). Kamryn will present her thesis in a special Psi Chi Research Awards session at the conference.
FACULTY MEMBERS IN THE NEWS:
Dr. Tracy McDonough, Ph.D. was recently interviewed for PsychCentral: The History of Schizophrenia
PsychCentral: The History of Schizophrenia
Dr. Tim Lawson was recently interviewed about his beer brewing process and awards!
Dr. Tim Lawson's Beer Brewing Journey
Dr. Tracy McDonough, the new Chair of the Psychology Department, was recently featured twice on PSYCOM.net about Can I Inherit Schizophrenia? & What is Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder?
Dr. Tracy McDonough: The New Psychology Chairperson at Mount Saint Joseph University
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