The Professional School of Psychology (PSP) in Sacramento offers a graduate seminar called "Ethics, Law and Psychology" that teaches students of clinical psychology about legal and ethical issues. It focuses on the mental health practitioner in clinical practice and their professional responsibilities concerning confidentiality and mandatory reporting laws, conflicts of interests and other issues. Actual case studies are reviewed and discussed.
Another postgraduate course in clinical psychology at PSP is called "Developmental Psychology." This course reviews the known theories of human development and how they can be adapted to the situations of current patients. It mainly explains how the events in a person's past affect the developments of later periods. The course further considers how history, culture and biology affect human development and psychology. Individual case studies and models are used as the basis of study as well as established theory, ideas and current knowledge.
Another California school, Vanguard University, which offers masters and doctorate degrees in clinical psychology, has a course called "Psychological Testing." Students are taught how to make evaluations and assessments with various testing tools. The course focuses on how to administer and score tests. Interpretation and application of test data is also a basic part of the course. In addition, students learn how to relate assessment tools to cultural issues.
Also at Vanguard University is called "Professional Skills in Clinical Practice" and its purpose is to teach writing, legal and professional skills associated with actual work in clinical practices and settings. This is a higher-level course for students who are currently placed in a field or practicum situation. Its purpose is to teach students about documentation, including case report writing and the proper writing of treatment plans while they are also learning clinical skills. Emphasis is placed on professionalism as well as legal requirements.