Clinical Child Track

APPIC Program Match Number: 150913

Number of Internship Positions: 3

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 clinical placement. Interns spend four days per week at their primary site (Close to Home Centers), ½ day per week participating in a clinical rotation, and the other ½ day engaged in didactic experiences. Within their primary clinical placement, interns provide both psychological assessment services and outpatient therapy. In addition to traditional assessment and therapy experiences, interns are provided the opportunity to participate in assisting with an Incredible Years parent training group to provide exposure to this empirically supported group parent training intervention for disruptive behavior disorders. Clinical services may be delivered in person or through telehealth.

The clinical rotation experiences are designed to enhance interns’ efficacy as outpatient clinical child psychologists in training by increasing skills in areas that commonly present in the context of outpatient care. The rotations provide experiences in specialty clinics such as autism/developmental assessment, interdisciplinary evaluation of sleep and gastroenterology, integrated primary care, and within a psychiatric crisis department.

Outpatient Therapy

Interns are expected to spend 50 percent of their client contact hours per week providing outpatient therapy. Interns have the opportunity for long- or short-term individual 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 an evidence-based group therapy and have the opportunity to assist in implementing this intervention during their training year.

Psychological Assessment

Interns are expected to spend 50 percent 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.

Sample Weekly Schedule

Clinical Child Supervisors

• Courtney Cleminshaw-Mahan, PhD
• Ben Fields, PhD
• Michael Flores, PhD
• Della Loflin, PhD
• Molly Meers, PhD
• Elizabeth (Lisa) Linstedt, PhD
• Ijeoma Osigwe, PhD
• Raisa Ray, PhD
• Sydney Risley, PhD
• Allison Siroky, PhD
• Alexandra (Lexi) Smith, PhD
• Lisa Sperle, PhD
• Kelly Wesolowski, PsyD
• Lynda Wolfe, PhD

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

Successful Applicants

Applicants who have been invited to interview for the Clinical Child Track typically have the following:

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