After five months of working solely with on-campus student clients, the Oregon State University Psychology Training Clinic is now opening its doors to the broader community, accepting clients 18 and older for therapy and 14 and older for psychological assessments.
Clinic services are being offered at no cost until a sliding fee scale is finalized and approved.
The clinic is the practical training arm of OSU’s doctoral clinical psychology program, with six second-year Ph.D. students currently providing therapy under the supervision of licensed psychologists. With limited space and clinic hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays at this time, each Ph.D. student can take on three to four weekly clients for spring term.
Clients who choose the OSU clinic will benefit from the Ph.D. students’ access to the latest research on treatment modalities, extensive learning materials through OSU libraries and a team-based approach where supervisors and fellow students discuss cases and best practices, said Bridget Klest, clinic director and a clinical associate professor in the College of Liberal Arts.
“We only use evidence-based therapies, which means that everything we provide has been shown by research to be helpful,” she said. “Then there’s the fact that you’re not just getting one therapist; you’re actually getting the supervisor and potentially other student therapists helping contribute to case-planning and giving ideas about how the therapy might look better.”
In addition to currently having no waitlist, the clinic is also an affordable option for mental health care: Once the fee schedule is finalized, individual therapy appointments will cost approximately $10-50 depending on financial need, while group therapy sessions planned for this summer will be roughly $5-30 each. The clinic does not accept insurance.
With specific oversight by an assessment supervisor, student therapists are also offering assessments for ADHD and learning disabilities, as well as diagnostic assessments for conditions like depression and obsessive compulsive disorder, which can be necessary for securing accommodations at work or school. In the future, Klest said, the clinic will add autism assessment.
The doctoral clinical psychology program began in fall 2024 with its first cohort of six students. In fall 2025, second-year students began seeing OSU student clients referred to them by Counseling and Psychological Services, under rigorous oversight by clinic supervisors who watched every appointment and spent several hours each week discussing cases with the student therapists.
“The amount of growth that has happened is amazing,” Klest said. “The students are now feeling much more confident about providing therapy, because they’ve had the experience, and they’ve gotten the feedback, and they’re doing really well.”
Supervisors will still be closely involved in treatment planning and watch at least part of every session, but the student therapists have progressed to a point of greater independence and don’t need constant supervision anymore, she said. Still, there will always be multiple supervisors on site during clinic hours, available to answer questions or provide assistance whenever needed.
Because of the academic calendar, clinic hours will scale back significantly in mid-June when spring term ends, Klest said. Clients who have established individual therapy appointments can still continue in fall term, and there will be group therapy offered during the summer.
And in the not-too-distant future, she said, the clinic will open telehealth services so clients from around Oregon can access therapy.
How to become a client at OSU’s Psychology Training Clinic:
How to become a client at OSU’s Psychology Training Clinic:Reach out
Prospective clients can fill out a screening survey online or leave a voicemail on the clinic’s answering machine at 541-737-9745. The survey asks basic questions about individual versus group therapy, household income and language needs, then explains that therapy is provided by Ph.D. students, recorded electronically and observed by supervisors and other members of the training team.
Clinic reply
During clinic hours on a Tuesday or Thursday after receiving a client’s voicemail or survey, a student therapist from the clinic will call back. They’ll conduct a brief phone screening to learn why the client is seeking therapy and what their availability is to determine whether the clinic can be a good fit for their needs and schedule.
The clinic is currently limited to 10 a.m.-1 p.m. and 2-5 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so clients who are in crisis or need more full-time availability from a therapist would not be a good match and would be referred to other providers, Klest said.
The OSU clinic also does not currently have the capacity to treat patients whose primary treatment need is substance use or eating disorders.
There’s more scheduling flexibility with assessments, which can happen between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays or Fridays.
Intake appointment
If the student therapist determines a client is a good match for OSU’s services, they will schedule an intake appointment to speak much more in depth about what the client is seeking from therapy: what their current circumstances are, any symptoms they’re experiencing, coping mechanisms and more. The therapist and a supervisor will use this information to develop an individualized treatment plan for the client and then get started with individual therapy appointments.
By Molly Rosbach
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