Clinical Child Track

APPIC Program Match Number 150913

Cami Winkelspecht, Ph.D.
Track Coordinator
Cami.Winkelspecht@NationwideChildrens.org
(614) 355-9580

Clinical Child Track interns participate in a wide range of clinical activities in an interdisciplinary outpatient community mental health center setting.  Interns have frequent opportunities to consult with other professionals and respond to frequent requests for case-centered consultation with social workers, clinical counselors, psychiatrists, educators, and primary care pediatricians.

The internship is structured around a primary placement.  Interns spend four days per week at their primary site (Close to Home Centers), ½ day per week at a pediatric clinic (pediatric psychology rotation), and ½ day engaged in didactic experiences.  The pediatric psychology rotation is designed to enhance interns’ efficacy as an outpatient clinical child psychologists.  The rotations provide experience in outpatient medical specialty clinics such as autism/developmental assessment, interdisciplinary evaluation of sleep, and gastroenterology,  and with the crisis program and youth crisis stabilization unit.

Outpatient Therapy
Interns are expected to spend 50% of their client contact hours per week providing outpatient therapy. Interns have the opportunity for long- or short-term individual and group therapy with children, as well as parent behavioral management training. Interns maintain an active case load with a variety of psychological disorders that occur in children and families spanning across the entire age range from preschoolers to adolescents. Interns typically conduct one therapy intake for a new client each week. Interns receive specific didactic and supervisory experiences in evidence-based group therapies and have the opportunity to assist in implementing these interventions during their training year.

Psychological Assessment
Assessment is an integral component of training in the Clinical Child Track. Interns are expected to spend 50% of their client contact hours per week providing assessment services. Referral questions include ADHD, learning disability, and other behavioral and emotional difficulties. Evaluations involve evidence based assessment strategies and typically center on objective testing of cognitive, academic, and behavioral functioning. Interns typically complete two testing intakes for new clients each week. Over the course of the training year, interns typically complete more than 40 psychological assessments.

Research
Due to the clinical focus of the internship, research experiences are often difficult to secure and complete during the training year.  This is especially true if the interns’ dissertation has not been defended.  

Hours
Clinical Child interns work five days per week, and are expected to see clients two evenings during the week. There is no “on call” coverage and interns typically work 40-50 hours per week.
 

• Joe Hatcher, PhD., ABPP
• Jack Stevens, Ph.D.
• Kelly Wesolowski, Psy.D.
• Cami Winkelspecht, Ph.D.
• Lynda Wolfe, Ph.D.

Faculty across multiple tracks take part in each intern’s training to different degrees, including clinical supervision, mentoring, and/or didactic training.

• Direct supervised experience (e.g. live observation, audio or video taping) providing therapy and assessment services to school-age children, adolescents, and families.

• They have administered, scored and interpreted intellectual, achievement and behavioral/emotional assessment measures.  

• Experience integrating these interpretations into a minimum of eight comprehensive psychological reports.

• Familiarity with tenets of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) interventions and evidence-based treatments for school-age children, adolescents, and their families. 

• It is also beneficial if they have experience implementing these interventions with no less than five school-age clients.

• Applicants should have knowledge of and experiences in developing and implementing treatment plans.