Each year, there are two positions for predoctoral interns in the Child Clinical Psychology Specialty Track (CT).

Didactic Training

Interns in the Child Clinical Psychology specialty track will attend all intern seminars, supervision seminars, didactic presentations and lectures that are part of the general intern track. Additionally, Child Clinical Psychology track interns will attend:

  1. A biweekly interprofessional child case consultation meeting. Both interns and faculty members will discuss child cases that present with challenging ethical, assessment, consultation and treatment considerations.
  2. A child developmental seminar precepted by Dr. Jessica Talley (Child Psychiatrist). The seminar is for first year residents and Child Track psychology interns. Topics covered will include: developmental theorists, developmental milestones, development of the brain, prenatal development/teratogens, cognitive development, physical development, socioemotional development, neurodevelopmental disorders and developmental considerations for assessment and treatment (both psychological and psychiatric). It will be a mix of didactic style and interactive sessions, with the learners being active participants. 

 

Application Process

Applicants in the CT will follow a parallel process to those applying for the general internship track, though they are interviewed primarily by the core faculty members. 

 

Funding for Positions

Funding for interns in the CT is identical to the General track, such that the CAMC Institute for Academic Medicine is the sponsor. Internship Faculty leaders will continue to work closely with the CAMC Institute for Academic Medicine to ensure continued funding, since this aligns with the CAMC IAM strategic goals of improving access to child behavioral health treatment. 

 

Faculty

Jessica Luzier, PhD, ABPP, will serve as the Training Director for this track. Chantel Weisenmuller, PhD, Jillian Keener, PsyD, Jennifer Hughes, PhD, and Jocelyn Brown, PsyD, will work closely with interns in the Behavioral Medicine Department. They will also learn alongside psychiatry residents and receive training from our Child Psychiatry Faculty, especially Jessica Talley, MD. Finally, there may be opportunities for interns to work in more ancillary ways with psychology faculty in child psychology adjacent rotations. 

Core faculty for the CT includes:

  • Jessica Luzier, PhD, ABPP
  • Chantel Weisenmuller, PhD
  • Jillian Keener, PsyD
  • Jocelyn Brown, PsyD
  • Jennifer Hughes, PhD

 

Required Rotations

The required rotations are unique to the CT, which some overlap with required rotations for the general internship. 

Outpatient Psychotherapy Rotation:

Interns on the CT would primarily be providing specialized, evidence-based treatments in the CAMC Behavioral Medicine Department. These would include Parent Child Interaction Therapy, Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Family Based Treatment, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy for Adolescents and working on interprofessional teams (e.g., eating disorders, DBT). CT interns will be in the Behavioral Medicine Department for three to four days per week. Interns will work with a caseload that includes diversity in age, presenting concern, and treatment modality, with some latitude given interns interests and training goals. Supervisors, Dr. Luzier and Dr. Weisenmuller, will work with CT interns to ensure training goals are met within the parameters of the treatments we provide in the Department. 

CT interns may also opt to provide outpatient care to children/adolescents at the CAMC Family Resource Center, under the supervision of Dr. Hughes and Dr. Brown, in a more limited capacity (e.g. one half day per week). 

Child and Adolescent Psychological Assessment:

Interns on the CT will complete 10 child or adolescent integrated reports during the training year. These assessments will be supervised by Dr. Brown, Dr. Keener and Dr. Weisenmuller. An integrated report is operationalized similarly to the APPIC requirements; reports will assess two or more different domains (e.g., cognitive and personality) in the same assessment.

A variety of assessment types, ages and presenting concerns will be available to the CT interns. Interns may have opportunities to work with Dr. Keener providing psychological diagnostic clarification evaluations for 18-23 year-olds if available. Dr. Brown most often received referrals for younger children (ages 3 to 5 for assessment of autism spectrum and ages 6 to 14 for learning, cognitive and executive function concerns. Dr. Brown also administers the ADOS, among other specialty tools (e.g., WISC, WIAT, WPSSI, DKEFS, Children's Memory Scale, BASC, Child Development Inventory, Adaptive Assessment System). Finally, CT interns will also have access to conduct forensic assessment of children in concert with Dr. Weisenmuller. 

Psychological Consultation Rotation:

Interns on the CT will participate in Pediatric specialty clinics alongside medical specialist colleagues, supervised by psychologists Dr. Brown and Dr. Hughes. CT interns will work with their supervisors for four and a half day clinics each month for the duration of the intern year, with some flexibility in which clinics and the frequency of consultation. CT interns will meet regularly with the faculty psychology supervisor to discuss cases in clinic, consultation methods and treatment plans. 

Options for consultation clinics include:

  • FACES clinic for cleft affected children (consistently the second Friday of the month)
  • Hematology/oncology - weekly clinic options
  • Pulmonology - weekly option
  • Cystic fibrosis - weekly option
  • Endocrinology - weekly option
  • Neurology - weekly option
  • Gastroenterology - weekly option
  • Adolescent health - weekly option 

Important: In contrast to the General Psychology Internship, there will be no Inpatient rotation requirement.