About the area (taught in Hebrew)
The clinical area affords its students a theoretical and practical infrastructure that allows them to learn and develop as therapists with responsibility, concern, and understanding in therapeutic fieldwork and in the emotional processes that stand at its foundations. Our hope is that alumni of the area, as they continue down their professional paths, will contribute to the promotion of thought and practice in the field. The area's program encourages the development of the skills required to that end. Acquiring this infrastructure is accomplished through the combination of intensive fieldwork with close guidance, theoretical courses that allow for the learning of clinical skills, observing the emotional processes that are at the core of therapeutic work, and the acquisition of theoretical and empirical tools for investigation. Moreover, the research experience that the students must undergo during the course of their studies contributes to this aim. Our program is unique in that the research can be empirical (quantitative or narrative) or theoretical and clinical.
All of the educators and instructors in the area are experienced, senior clinical psychologists who are continuously and actively involved in treatment and diagnosis.
The area excels in two central branches of psychotherapy: psychodynamic psychotherapy and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).
We are proud that the heads of the five clinical areas in the different Israeli universities (in 2010, for example) are alumni of the clinical area in Jerusalem. In addition, all the heads of psychological services in mental health institutions in Jerusalem (the city with the most mental health institutions in the country) are also alumni of the area at Hebrew University.
Instructors in the area
Area Coordinator: Prof. Orya Tishby, orya.tishby@mail.huji.ac.il
Prof. Eytan Bachar
Prof. Jonathan Huppert
Prof. Nilly Mor
Prof. Eyal Kalanthroff
Prof. Iftah Yovel
Dr. Laura Canetti
Dr. Gal Lazarus
Program of study
The program of study is based on two consecutive years of theoretical studies and a practicum and cannot be divided. The program is built in a way that allows for the completion of all the academic requirements during those two years and we encourage our students to complete them in this timeframe in order to be free to continue their training in the framework of the clinical internship and/or doctoral studies.
The Masters degree in Psychology is awarded with the completion of the requirements of the program, which is necessary, according to the internship regulations of the Psychologists Board next to the Health Ministry, in order to complete the internship in clinical psychology and work as a therapist.
Theoretical studies
The number of credits required for the degree in this area is 56 credits.
Required courses:
Required clinical courses (including courses in psychotherapeutic intervention, foundations of clinical thought, psychopathology, interviewing and diagnosis.)
Clinical training in psychotherapy and psychodiagnostic diagnosis
Clinical workshop
Course in research methods common to all of the areas
Elective courses:
Elective clinical courses include courses in specific topics and techniques, like group therapy, short-term therapy, self psychology, Winnicottian therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy in anxiety disorders, and more.
Writing a research seminar paper
Each Student is required to write one seminar paper. The writing of the seminar paper (in the first year) is done as part of a seminar paper course with personal guidance, by the supervisor of the dissertation
Writing the thesis
For details regarding the thesis, please press here (information in Hebrew).
Practical studies (practicum)
The practical part of the area's program is based on an intensive clinical practicum. The sites that are chosen for the practicum are among the best clinics and hospitals that deal with mental health in Jerusalem. The practicum is done only in those frameworks in Jerusalem that were chosen for that purpose by the area. During the first year, students will spend 12 weekly hours in the clinical framework and in the second year about 20 weekly hours in the same framework. The continuity is intended to allow for lasting learning and therapeutic experiences, and to minimize difficulties adjusting to frequent transitions. The educators and instructors in the area, in coordination with the mentors at the practicum sites, emphasize the developmental, growth and personal learning processes and the experiences the students go through, each person at his own pace and as a group.
Alumni of the clinical area in Jerusalem:
A. Gain vast clinical experience due to the fact that this the only area in which the practicum lasts for two consecutive years and in the same clinical framework.
B. The chance to finish the thesis relatively quickly is given to them. There is a variety of possibilities for writing the thesis in the department, which is characterized by excellence in research.
Doctoral studies
Students who have fulfilled the criteria of qualifications and achievements may start the "PhD Track for Outstanding Students” already during the first or second year of the M.A. See the Doctorate page for further details.
Acceptance to the area
See details regarding acceptance to the M.A. (information in Hebrew)