Graduate Institute of Professional Psychology
Child &
Adolescent Proficiency Track
The burden of suffering experienced by children with mental health needs and their families has created a health crisis in this country. Growing numbers of children are suffering needlessly because their emotional, behavioral and developmental needs are not being met by those very institutions which were explicitly created to take care of them. It is time that we as a Nation took seriously the task of preventing mental health problems and treating mental illness in youth.
- Report of the Surgeon General’s Conference on Children’s Mental Health, January 3, 2001 -
INTRODUCTION
In the United States, approximately one out of every 10 children and adolescents suffers from a mental illness serious enough to interfere with their healthy development and functioning (U.S. Public Health Service [USPHS], 2000). Unfortunately, only one in five of these children will receive mental health treatment for these difficulties. The World Health Organization projects that by the year 2020, childhood neuropsychiatric disorders will rise by over 50% internationally, making it one of the five leading causes of morbidity, mortality, and disability among children.
The increased focus on, and concern about, children’s mental health issues by policy makers and organizations worldwide has created new opportunities for professional psychology. Psychologists are in a unique position t effect enormous positive change in children’s mental health. Psychology’s dual emphasis on empirical research and clinical practice prepares psychologists to serve this special population in a multitude of ways. As the diverse needs of this population steadily increase, acquiring the attitudes, knowledge and skills needed to work effectively with children and adolescents becomes more critical.
Today’s child psychologist must be prepared to execute a variety of roles. Along with traditional skills, child psychologists must be able to develop, implement, and evaluate new interventions, programs, and systems of care for children and families. Child psychologists are called to be advocates and supervisors, and must know how to negotiate, collaborate, and consult within numerous systems from community pediatric groups to schools, youth bureaus, and juvenile justice centers. Child psychologists are committed to utilizing the most reliable and swift means to identify, assess, and prevent mental illness and, when necessary, intervene in the most efficacious manner possible for the child and the family. Child psychologists also value the fact that the children and families they serve live in a diverse society, and may come from cultures and perspectives far different than their own. Therefore, cultural differences should be acknowledge, respected, supported and appreciated.
THE CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PROFICIENCY TRACK AT GIPP
Now, more that ever, psychologists need specialized training to work effectively with this challenging population. Believing that this training should begin at the doctoral training level, the Graduate Institute of Professional Psychology at the University of Hartford is pleased to offer its Child and Adolescent Proficiency Track in clinical psychology.
Students who elect to complete the Child and Adolescent Proficiency Track will complete the requirements of the generalist program. The GIPP believes that all students must have a solid foundation in the principal areas of general psychology before they can begin to fully appreciate and incorporate proficiency training. Students in the Child and Adolescent Proficiency Track will also gain supplemental learning experiences focused specifically on children and their families. Students will be introduced to both normal and psychopathological aspects of children and families through an integrated curriculum, supervised pre-practica, practica, and internship, professional practice and case conference seminars, and research and dissertation opportunities.
The Child and Adolescent Proficiency Track was designed utilizing several seminal resources to inform its guiding principles including the Clinical Child Psychology CRSPPP that served as the basis for the American Psychological Association’s recognition of Clinical Child Psychology as a formal specialty in professional psychology. The Report of the Surgeon General’s Conference on Children’s Mental Health (U.S. Public Health Service [USPHS], 2000), and informal and formal surveys of child practicum sites that train GIPP students were also used.
Even though the GIPP offers the Child and Adolescent Proficiency Track, due to the generalist nature of the GIPP program, we do not suggest that our students will become child “experts.” Rather, our goal is to provide students with well-rounded foundational experiences that will adequately prepare them for more intensive and dedicated training during their internship and post-doctoral years.
CURRICULUM
Students within the Child and Adolescent Proficiency Track will engage in coursework, research, and clinical experiences that will help them:
- ● Gain a clear understanding of normal child developmental processes and family functioning, as well as abnormal behavior and development, and child and adolescent psychopathology.
- ● Develop the assessment, intervention, and consultation skills needed to work with children, adolescents, and their families. This would include a competence in the assessment of intelligence, personality, achievement, and developmental and behavioral functioning of the child, as well as the ability to intervene in various treatment modalities.
- ● Appreciate the social and cultural contexts that influence children and adolescents. In addition, value principles of diversity and individual differences.
- ● Understand the numerous systems that may impact a child or family’s life such as schools, courts, communities, and church.
- ● Be aware of special ethical and legal issues that impact both the treatment of, and research with, children.
(These courses pertain only to the Child and Adolescent Proficiency Track. For a more complete program description, please see the GIPP’s Clinical Psychology Program Brochure).
ASSESSMENT
CPS 613 Psychological Assessment I
This course focuses on the proper administration, scoring, interpretation and reporting of commonly used intelligence measures such as the WISC-III, WAISS-III, WPPSI, K-ABC, and the Stanford-Binet
CPS 614 Psychological Assessment II
This course introduces students to a broad range of personality methods. The process of unconscious motivation will be explored from both psychoanalytic and cognitive perspectives. Students will be exposed to projective personality measures such as the Rorschach, TAT. CAT and House-Tree-Person. In addition, objective personality and adaptive measures such as BASC, Vineland, and Conner’s, will be taught.
CPS 615 Psychological Assessment III
This course focuses on the integration of assessment data, and the process of writing clear psychological reports for numerous referral sources.
CPS 710 Advanced Issues in Child Assessment
This is a required new course for students in Child and Adolescent Proficiency Track. Students will be introduced to neuropsychological evaluations and their role in detecting brain dysfunction in children. Students will also learn to assess for learning disabilities, developmental delays, and autism.
BASIC TREATMENT METHODS*
CPS 669 Child Psychotherapy
This course focuses on interventions of children and adolescents who have been diagnosed with common psychiatric disorders presenting for treatment on both an outpatient and/or inpatient basis.
CPS 800 Advanced Seminar: Systems Theory and Family Therapy
This course introduces students to various theoretical approaches and techniques of family therapy.
*While CPS 800 and 669 will focus heavily on child interventions, students will also be required to take foundational intervention courses in Individual Psychotherapy (CPS611) and Group Theory and Practice (CPS 810).
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
PSY 553 Clinical Child Development
This course introduces students to foundational developmental theory. It provides students with an understanding of normal human development, which will allow them to differentiate between abnormal social, emotional, and behavioral difficulties in children and families.
CPS 666 Advanced Psychopathology
The majority of this course will focus on the its etiology and descriptive criteria of adult psychopathology; however, students in the Child and Adolescent Proficiency Track will also focus on childhood pathology including the assessment, classification, and differential diagnoses of various childhood disorders.
CPS 849 Professional Seminar: Diversity
The purpose of this course is to enhance the student’s professional competency in consideration of issues of diversity and difference.
CPS 850 Professional Seminar: Ethics
Students in this course will be introduced to issues of ethics, which are important for all psychologists. Students in the Child and Adolescent Proficiency Track will also focus attention on issues that are unique to this population.
RESEARCH
PSY 510 Experimental Design
CPS 665 Advanced Research Design in Clinical Psychology
This course employs research methods and statistical analysis to explore issues of clinical relevance. Students in the Child and Adolescent Proficiency Track will complete the assignment for this class on child related topics.
CPS 852 Doctoral Dissertation Seminar
This seminar, taken in the first semester of the second year, is designed to help the student initiate the dissertation process. Students in the Child and Adolescent Proficiency Track will be assigned to a group with peers who are also interested in children to facilitate ideas and interest. The faculty member assigned to lead this seminar will also have a primary interest in child and adolescent research and/or clinical work.
The Doctoral Dissertation
The doctoral dissertations the capstone of the scholar component of the program. While some students may continue to maintain their Dissertation Seminar Leader as the Chair of their committee, other may choose to have another child faculty member fulfill this role. Students in the Child and Adolescent Proficiency Track must complete their dissertation on a topic that has relevance to children, adolescence, families, or systems that impact these individuals. However, the dissertation may take a variety of forms, including an empirical stud (quantitative or qualitative), a theoretical contribution/critique, a practice, a program development project, or a careful case analysis of a clinical problem.
ELECTIVES
CPS 607 Programmatic Interventions with Children
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to various systems that may have an influence on the life of a child or adolescent and/or his or her family. The student will learn the function of diverse child agencies and systems and how these organizations interface with one another.
CPS 861 Clinical Aspects of Adolescence
The intent of this course is to provide students with a strong background in both theory and practice in clinical work with the adolescent population. Topics will include: the biological contexts of adolescence; adolescent valvues and identity; adolescent relationships with friends and family; current topics of concern to adolescents; and the unique treatment issues for this population.
CPS 603 Forensic Aspects of Clinical Work with Children and Families
This course will cover important forensic issues that may impact children and their families such as psychologist’s role in custody evaluations and divorce mediation, understanding, and negotiating the juvenile court system, and successful treatment options for the juvenile offender and his or her family.
OTHER POTENTIAL CHILD ELECTIVES BASED ON STUDENT INTEREST AND APPROPRIATENESS
- Pediatric Psychology
- Child Psychopathology
- Play Therapy: Assessment and Intervention
- Childhood Trauma and Abuse
Pre-Practicum Placement. Students who enter the program with limited clinical experience are required to participate in pre-practicum clinical placements. This allows students to gain basic clinic skills in preparation for practicum placement.
Practicum Placement. In support of the development of clinical skills, two years of half-time practicum are required, beginning with the student’s second year. Students in the Child and Adolescent Proficiency Track will be required to participate in practicum training where at least 50% of their training experience is devoted to children and/or adolescents and their families.
PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE and CASE CONFERENCE SEMINARS
Practica training experiences are integrated with academic learning in Professional Practice Seminar (second year) and Case Conference Seminar (third year). These seminars will be taught by child experts. Professional training is enhanced by consideration of diversity in the context of clinical work and through exposure to different clinical populations in a variety of clinical and community settings under the supervision of doctoral level psychologists with a variety of theoretical orientations.
RECENT CHILD/ADOLESCENT PRACTICUM SITES
Advocates Community Counseling, Marlbor, MA
Baystate Medical Center, Children’s Hospital, Springfield, MA
Beth Israel Medical Center, New York, NY
Bradley Hospital, East Providence, RI
Brandeis University Counseling Center(Adolescents), Waltham, MA
Brightside School Street Counseling Institute, Springfield, MA
Carson Center for Adults & Families (Adolescent), Westfield, MA
Charlotte Hungerford Hospital, Bridges Extended Day/Children’s Consultation, Torrington, CT
Child Guidance Clinic of Springfield, Springfield, MA
Child Guidance of Greater Bridgeport, Bridgeport, CT
Child Guidance of Southern Connecticut, Stamford, CT
Children’s Friend, Inc., Worcester, MA
Community Child Guidance Clinic, Manchester, CT
Community Mental Health Affiliates, Bristol & Waterbury, CT
Connecticut Children’s Medical Center School, Wethersfield, CT
Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, Child Development Center, Newington, CT
Connecticut Pediatric Neurological Associates, Hartford, CT
Easter Seals of Greater Hartford (Adolescents), Windsor, CT
Four Winds Hospital, Katonad, NY
Gladstone Private Practice, West Hartford, CT
Hospital of St. Raphael, Child and Adolescent Outpatient Psychiatric Services, New Haven, CT
Mass Society of the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, Worcester, MA
Middlesex Hospital Outpatient Mental Health Clinic, Middletown, CT
Mid-Fairfield Child Guidance Clinic, Norwalk, CT
Natchaug Residential Treatment Center, (Adolescents), Mansfield Ctr, CT
Natchaung Hospital, Mansfield, CT (Testing Only)
New Haven Job Corps, (Adolescents), New Haven, CT
New York Presbyterian Hospital, White Plains, NY
North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System, Glen Oaks, NY
Northwest Center for Family Service and Mental Health, Lakeville, CT
St. Francis Hospital, Poughkeepsie, NY
St. Francis Hospital/Mt. Sinai Hospital – Pediatrics, Hartford, CT
The Brien Center, North Adams, MA
The Consultation Center, New Haven, CT
The Learning Clinic, Brooklyn ,CT
The May Institute, West Springfield, MA
The Pederson-Krag Center, Huntington, NY
The Renfrew Center of Southern Connecticut (Adolescents), Wilton, CT
Trinity College Counseling Center (Adolescents), Hartford, CT
UMASS, Counseling Center (Adolescents), Amherst, MA
University of Hartford (Adolescents), Hartford, CT
Waterbury Child Guidance Center, Waterbury, CT
Waterford Country Day School, Quaker Hill, CT
West Haven Mental Health Clinic (Yale), New Haven, CT
Wheeler Clinic Northwest Village School, Plainville, CT
Wheeler Clinic, Child Outpatient Services, Bristol, CT
Worcester Youth Guidance Clinic, Worcester, MA
Yale Center for Eating and Weight Disorders (Adolescents), New Haven, CT
Yale New Haven Psychiatric Hospital (Adolescents), New Haven, CT
Yale University School of Medicine, Dept. of Neuropsychology, New Haven, CT
INTERNSHIP PLACEMENTS
Internship Placements. Practicum Training and academic course work prepare advanced graduate students for their clinical internship, which is typically completed in the fourth or fifth year. Students in the Child and Adolescent Proficiency Track will be expected to apply for internships where at least 50% of their clinical time will be spent with child and/or adolescents and their families. GIPP students have traditionally been successful in national competition for internships accredited by the American Psychological Association. Recent internship agencies specializing in children and adolescents that have selected GIPP students have been:
Albany Psychology Internship Consortium, Albany, NY
Allegheny Hospital, Pittsburg, PA
Boston Consortium in Clinical Psychology, Boston, MA
Bradley Center(Adolescents), Colombus, GA
Broughton Hospital (Adolescent), Morganton, NC
Center for Preventative Psychiatry (Children), White Plains, NY
Child Guidance Clinic, Stamford, CT
Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH
Children’s Village, Dobbs Ferry, NY
Clifford Beers Clinic Consortium, New Haven, CT
Crestwood Children’s Center, Rochester, NY
Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH
DC Commission/ St. Elizabeth’s, Washington, DC
Department of Mental Health, Washington DC
Franciscan Children’s Hospital & Rehab. Center, Boston, MA
Friends Hospital (Adolescent), Philadelphia, PA
Hutchings Psychiatric Center, Syracuse, NY
Institute of Living/Hartford Hospital, Hartford, CT
Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation (Adolescent), West Orange, NJ
Kings County Hospital Center, Brooklyn, NY
Lincoln Medical and Mental Health, Bronx, NY
Long Island Jewish Medical Center, Glen Oaks, NY
Maimonides Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY
Metropolitan Hospital, New York, NY
Mississippi State Hospital, Jackson, MS
Mt. Sinai Medical Center, Elmhurst, NY
Multicultural Psychology Program of Massachusetts, Springfield, MA
Nebraska Internship Consortium, Boystown, NE
New York Univeristy Medical Center, New York, NY
New York University, Bellevue Hospital, New York, NY
Nova Southeastern University Medical Center, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Queens Children’s Psychiatric Center, Bellerose, NY
RICA, Rockville (Adolescent), Rockville, MD
River Bend, Concord, NH
San Fernando Valley Child Guidance Clinic, Northridge, CA
South Shore Medical Center, Quincy, MA
St. Luke Roosevelt Hospital Center, New York, NY
SUNY Stonybrook Counseling Center, Stonybrook, NY
The HELP Group, Sherman Oaks, CA
UMASS Counseling Center(Adolescents), Amherst, MA
UMASS, Worcester (Adolescent), Worcester, MA
University of Miami/Jackson Medical Center, Miami, FL
University of Pittsburgh (Adolescent), Pittsburgh, PA
University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry, Rochester, NY
Village for Families and Children, Hartford, CT
Woodburn Center for Community Mental Health, Annandale, VA
Worcester Youth Guidance Clinic, Worcester, MA
Yale University Psychiatry (Adolescents), New Haven, CT
ACCREDITATION
The University of Hartford is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. The University’s doctoral (Psy.D) program in clinical psychology in the Graduate Institute of Professional Psychology is accredited by Connecticut Board of Governors for Higher Education and by the American Psychological Association (APA). The APA keeps abreast of the development and activities of accredited programs. Any questions regarding our program’s accreditation may be directed to:
Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation
American Psychological Association
750 First Street, N.E.
Washington, DC 20002-4242
(203)336-5979
REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
For further information about the Child and Adolescent Proficiency Track, please Contact Dr. Anne Pidano at (860) 768-5214 or Dr. Lourdes Dale (860) 768-5187.