The Child and Family Psychology experience is one that stands out among other PsyD programs for its excellence in research opportunities, outstanding training in clinical assessment and evidenced-based treatments by faculty who are experts in the field, the state of the art clinic with advance technology at the Scott Center, and a multitude of both internal and external practicum placements in which to gain a wealth of clinical hours. Initial pre-requisites consist of three models courses including Child Disorders and Therapy, Family Approaches, and Marital and Sex Therapy.
Child and Family Psychology experience students are also required to complete a least one Practicum in the area Child and Family Psychology treatment, although many students elect to take several by mixing and matching among a plethora of Child and Family Psychology practicum sites, which affords PsyD students the opportunity to specialize their clinical training. As such, our PsyD students leave our program with a wealth of hands on clinical training practicum experiences and practicum hours that serve them well to compete in a growingly limited number of highly competitive, and much sought after Child and Family Psychology pre-doctoral internship sites that are looking for applicants with a breath of experience in the latest and evidenced based treatment approaches.
In your first year you will hit the ground running in your training in intelligence, personality, and projective assessment under Dr. Krishnamurthy who is both nationally and internationally recognized. By your second year will begin your first two-semester practicum experience at the Community Psychological Services at the Scott Center, under the directorship of Dr. Paulillo. You will have the opportunity to more keenly hone your foundational assessment skills by conducting gifted evaluations and learning disability assessments, as well as receive introductory therapy experiences in a variety of Child and Family Psychology therapy modalities.
While there are over ten advance practicum sites to choose from, among the more popular advance practicum sites in Child and Family Psychology are:
- The Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Team
- The Scott Center for Autism Treatment
- Couples Practicum site
If you prefer working with children suffering from developmental disorders, like Autism or Asperger’s, both the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Team and the Scott Center for Autism Treatment offer wonderful opportunities for you to engage in a multitude of different forms of assessment and treatment with young children, particularly in the area of Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA).
If you find yourself leaning more towards working with couples, Dr. Richard Elmore supervises a practicum site, within his own private practice, where students have the chance to work directly with couples doing marriage and sex therapy.
No matter what site you pick within the Child and Family Psychology experience, you can be assured that you will be getting the highest level of training and supervision from faculty, who are experts in the field and dedicated to teaching with specialized attention, while you enjoy the opportunity to really make a difference in the lives of those who need it the most.