NURG 767 psychotherapy hours: 75 in the plans, 60 in the catalog
NURG 767 Psychotherapeutic Frameworks and Modalities is the first PMHNP course at Samford that carries clinical hours, and Samford's own documents give two numbers for it. Every current PMHNP plan of study lists 75 hours; the 2025-2026 Graduate Catalog asks for "a minimum of 60 hours" with "a Samford approved preceptor." Plan for 75, and get the figure for your course confirmed in writing.
Need a preceptor for NURG 767?
Tell us your PMHNP track and the term NURG 767 falls in. We plan to the full 75 hours.
Two Samford documents, two numbers
The disagreement sits between the plans of study and the catalog, and neither document mentions the other. Here is what each one says.
| Source | Edition | NURG 767 hours |
|---|---|---|
| BSN to MSN PMHNP plan of study | Dated December 2025 | 75 |
| ADN to MSN PMHNP plan of study | Dated December 2025 | 75 |
| MSN to DNP PMHNP plan of study | Dated December 2025 | 75 |
| PMHNP post-graduate certificate plan | Dated December 2025 | 75 |
| Samford Graduate Catalog | 2025-2026, the newest graduate edition | A minimum of 60, with a Samford approved preceptor |
The plans print the course as Psychotherapeutics Frameworks and Modalities with 75 hours beside it, and every one of them totals 750 clinical hours. The catalog entry treats 60 as a floor and ties the hours to a preceptor Samford approves. When we checked in September 2026, no 2026-2027 graduate catalog had been published to settle the difference.
Why 75 is the safer number
Three reasons point to 75. The plans are dated December 2025, partway through the 2025-2026 catalog year, so they are the more recent statement. They are also what Samford's 750-hour figure rests on: 75 plus the 150, 225 and 300 hours of the three psychiatric clinicals makes 750, while 60 would leave the total at 735 (our arithmetic, not a Samford figure). And the catalog frames 60 as a minimum, which 75 meets anyway.
What settles it for you is the course itself. The syllabus in Canvas, your course faculty and the NP Clinical Manual in the Nurse Practitioner Homeroom set the requirement for your term. Ask early, ask in writing, and keep the reply with your clinical records.
Ask your preceptor to commit to the full 75 hours from the first conversation. If the course accepts 60, the extra sessions are experience you keep; if it needs 75 and your preceptor agreed to 60, you are negotiating for more time in the middle of the semester.
Where NURG 767 sits in your track
NURG 767 comes before the three psychiatric clinicals in every PMHNP option, so it is the first preceptor you need. For MSN to DNP students it lands in the very first fall, which means the search has to start before classes begin.
| Track and start | Term for NURG 767 | Same-term courses | Next clinical |
|---|---|---|---|
| BSN to MSN, May start | Year 1 spring | NURG 769, NURG 771 | NURG 788, Year 2 summer |
| ADN to MSN, August start | Year 2 spring | NURG 769, NURG 771 | NURG 788, Year 2 summer |
| MSN to DNP, August start | Year 1 fall | NURG 766, NURG 769, COHS 500 | NURG 788, Year 1 summer |
| Post-graduate certificate, August start | Year 1 spring | NURG 771 | NURG 788, Year 1 summer |
Seventy-five hours across a semester of about 15 weeks comes to roughly 5 hours a week (our estimate), the lightest clinical load in the PMHNP sequence. That makes NURG 767 a good moment to build a relationship with a site that could host a later rotation. The full ladder is on the PMHNP clinicals page.
The right preceptor for a psychotherapy course
The course is about psychotherapeutic frameworks and modalities, so the best fit is a clinician whose own practice includes psychotherapy, not medication management alone. The catalog's only stated condition is that the preceptor be Samford approved.
Alabama's nursing board lets advanced practice students learn from APRNs, from physicians, and from other licensed clinicians whose focus matches the patient population. Whether a licensed therapist who is neither an APRN nor a physician can precept this course is a question for your course faculty before anyone commits. The Alabama rules page explains that definition, and preceptor requirements covers what Samford looks at.
Setting matters as well. Outpatient mental health practices, community mental health centers and group practices that offer therapy are natural places to look. If the site is not already under one of Samford's hundreds of affiliation agreements, request a new one as soon as the preceptor says yes; affiliation agreements explains how that works.
Tracking the hours and finishing on time
Samford keeps NP hour-logging instructions in the course and the NP Clinical Manual rather than on a public page, so use the format your course sets from the first session. Record each session the day it happens, note the modality and the population you saw, and keep your own copy. If a session is canceled, write that down as well, so a shortfall shows up in week six rather than week fourteen.
If the term ends with hours still owed, Samford's Incomplete grade comes with conditions: most of the coursework passed, a request made before the final exam, and the remaining work finished in the following term. An Incomplete also blocks progression to the next nursing course without permission, and NURG 788 follows closely in every plan. Behind on clinical hours walks through the options.
How we line up your NURG 767 preceptor
Samford PMHNP students bring us in early because NURG 767 is where the psychiatric sequence begins. Your placement advisor treats it as the first of four rotations, with the later ones in view from day one.
- Confirm the term and the targetWe check your plan of study for the semester and plan to 75 hours, so your preceptor's commitment covers either reading of Samford's documents.
- Find a therapy-focused preceptorWe reach clinicians near you whose practice includes psychotherapy and whose schedule fits about 5 hours a week.
- Prepare the approval detailsWe put together the preceptor and site information Samford checks, and if the practice has no agreement with Samford yet, we say so at the outset.
- Look ahead to NURG 788Where your course allows it, we ask whether the site could host a later psychiatric rotation, so the next search starts with a warm lead.
- Stay on callIf your preceptor steps away mid-term, a replacement search starts that day and the new details go to Samford as soon as they are ready.
Questions Samford students ask
Do the extra 15 hours in NURG 767 count toward Samford's 750?
On the plans, yes: the 750-hour total includes 75 hours for NURG 767. If your course accepts 60, Samford has not published whether the difference must be made up in another course, so ask your course faculty before you rely on the lower figure. Planning to 75 removes the question.
How many credits is NURG 767?
Two credits in every PMHNP plan of study, the same as NURG 788. The credit load is light next to the practicum's six, but the clinical hours still need a Samford approved preceptor, an approved rotation request and current compliance before the first session.
Can I complete NURG 767 hours where I work?
Samford publishes little on NP clinicals at a student's own workplace; the closest written rule is the Nurse Leader DNP's requirement that practicum hours sit outside employment duties. Ask your course faculty before proposing your employer, and read clinicals where you work for how to frame the request.
Who approves my NURG 767 preceptor?
The catalog says only that the preceptor must be Samford approved. Public documents do not name the approving office; Samford's directory lists a Coordinator of Clinical Education in the Nurse Practitioner Department, and the NP Clinical Manual holds the track's rules. Your course faculty can point you to the right person.
Is NURG 767 the same in the PMHNP certificate and the DNP?
The hours are. All four PMHNP plans list 75 hours for NURG 767, and all four total 750 clinical hours. What changes is timing: MSN to DNP students take it in their first fall, while the BSN entry, ADN entry and certificate plans place it in a spring semester.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against Samford's own program pages, plans of study, the 2026-27 Graduate Nursing Student Handbook and Alabama rules. Your course, your program coordinator and Graduate Student Services have the final word.
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Tell us your Samford track, where you live and when your next clinical course starts. We find preceptors near you who fit the course and prepare the details Samford needs to approve the rotation, including a new affiliation agreement where one is needed.
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