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
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.
THE CHILD AND ADOLESCENT
PROFICIENCY TRACK AT GIPP
Now, more that
ever,
psychologists need specialized training in order 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 (CAPT) in clinical
psychology.
The CAPT 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.
Students who elect
to complete
the CAPT 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 CAPT 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, professional practice
and case
conference seminars, and research and dissertation opportunities. If there is a question about whether a
training experience or course meets the criteria for the CAPT it should
be directed to one of the CAPT
co-directors.
Even though the
GIPP offers the
CAPT,
due to the generalist nature of the GIPP program, we do not mean to
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
CAPT 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 will include 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.
PRE-PRACTICUM PLACEMENTS
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 PLACEMENTS
<>In support of the development
of clinical skills, two years of half-time practicum are required,
beginning
with the student’s second year. Practica
training experiences are integrated with academic learning in
Professional
Practice Seminar (second year) and Case Conference Seminar (third
year). Students in the Child
and
Adolescent Proficiency Track will be required to participate
in
practicum placements where at least 50% of their training experience is
devoted
to children and/or adolescents and their families. Therefore, at least one
practicum must be in a setting where at least 50% of the training is
devoted to
children and/or adolescents under the age of 18 and their families. All attempts will be made to place students
in a clinical seminar in which there are other students focusing on
child and
adolescent populations.
The
Doctoral Dissertation
The doctoral dissertation is 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 faculty member fulfill this role. While the dissertation may take a variety of forms, including an empirical study (quantitative or qualitative), a theoretical contribution/critique, a program development project, or a careful case analysis of a clinical problem, students in the CAPT must complete their dissertation on a topic that has relevance to children, adolescents, families, or systems that impact these individuals. If there is any question about whether the dissertation topic meets this criterion, the student is required to consult with the co-directors of the track to ensure the acceptability of the topic.
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 CAPT will be expected to apply for
internships where at least 50% of their clinical time will be spent
with children
and/or adolescents and their families. GIPP
students have traditionally been successful in national competition for
internships accredited by the American Psychological Association.
CORE COURSES
Students
in the Child and Adolescent Proficiency Track must complete all of the
general
program requirements. Some of the
courses will have a child and adolescent focused-section. In addition,
students
in the CAPT will be required to take three electives, of which two must
be CAPT
focused.
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-IV, WAIS-IV, 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, Thematic Apperception Test,
Children’s
Apperception Test, and House-Tree-Person. In
addition, objective personality and
adaptive measures such as BASC,
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. Students in the CAPT will enroll in a child-oriented
section, which will include attention to the assessment of preschool
children,
children with developmental disabilities, and knowledge of educational
laws.
Basic Treatment Methods
CPS 611
Individual Psychotherapy In
this introductory course in the art and science of psychotherapy,
various models of intervention are discussed. Emphasis
is on the psychodynamic, existential,
and contemporary approaches. Empirically
validated treatments are covered.
CPS
616-617 Professional Practice Seminar I-II
This seminar is
taken in
conjunction with CPS 651-652. Its focus
is the evaluation and development of student clinical competencies in
mental
health service delivery. The format is
small group with faculty leadership. The
goal of the seminar is the integration of theoretical understanding
with
clinical practice.
CPS 800 Advanced
Seminar:
Systems Theory and Family Therapy
This course
introduces students to systems theory and
to various theoretical approaches and techniques of family therapy.
CPS 810
Group Theory and Practice
This course
provides a
comparison of the theories and formal models of group therapy and an
understanding of the essential aspects of effective group interaction. Experiential and observation methods are
employed to study change processes, leadership behavior, alliance
formation,
conflict resolution, and problem solving of a variety of clinical
symptoms.
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 etiology and descriptive criteria of adult
psychopathology. However,
the section for students in the CAPT
will also focus more on childhood pathology including the
assessment, classification, and differential diagnoses of various
childhood
disorders than students in the general track.
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. All sections
will focus on issues relevant to children, adolescents, and adults.
CPS 850
Professional
Seminar: Ethics
Students in this
course will be
introduced to issues of ethics, which are important for all
psychologists. The
section for the students in the CAPT
will focus on issues related to
adults, children, and families, and include attention to mandated
reporting not
only for children but also for elders and other impaired/vulnerable
populations.
Research
PSY 510
Experimental Design
Provides
an understanding of the concepts underlying research design and
develops skills
in designing studies amenable to multivariate statistical analysis.
CPS 665 Advanced
Research
Design in Clinical Psychology
Research designs
are examined
in detail through written critiques of published research studies. Types of research and methods of observation
and data collection are reviewed in detail. Consideration is also given
to sex
and gender issues and legal and ethical issues in clinical research.
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 CAPT 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.
Additional Courses
Students
in the CAPT are required to take PSY
669 and CPS 715, and must choose one additional doctoral level course
as an
elective.
PSY 669 Child
Psychotherapy
CPS 715 Clinical
Interventions
with Adolescents
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 values and identity; adolescent relationships
with
friends and family; current topics of concern to adolescents; and the
unique
treatment issues for this population.
ACCREDITATION
The
Office of
Program
Consultation and Accreditation
American
Psychological
Association
750 First
Street, N.E.
Washington, DC
20002-4242
CAPT PRIMARY FACULTY MEMBERS
Dr. Lourdes Dale,
CAPT
co-director
Dr. Anne Pidano,
CAPT
co-director
Dr. Donna DiCello
Dr. Inés
Schroeder
REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
For further information about
the Child and Adolescent Proficiency Track, please Contact Dr. Anne
Pidano at 768-5214
or Dr.