UCHSC Psychology Training Program


Introduction
Summary of Training Experiences
Major Rotations
Minor Rotations
Additional Required Rotations
Required Seminars
Optional Seminars
Application Procedures
Postdoctoral Fellowship Program
Psychology Faculty
Supplemental Application
Affirmative Action

For additional information about the UCHSC Psychology Predoctoral Internship, please call or write: 

Clinical Psychology 
UCHSC
Box C258-48
4200 E. 9th Ave.
Denver, CO 80262
(303) 315-8848

Back to Division of Clinical Psychology

JFK PARTNERS: 
THE UNIVERSITY AFFILIATED PROGRAM IN DEAFNESS

JFK Partners is a university-affiliated program (UAP) for interdisciplinary training. It provides specialized training in service provision for individuals who are Deaf or hard-of-hearing through Deaf Link and for individuals who have developmental disabilities through the Autism Clinic. It offers training to graduate and postgraduate trainees from a number of health, mental health, and educational disciplines in the complex needs of children and adults with developmental and/or physical disabilities, particularly as their needs interact with family, school and community.

 

Professional disciplines represented at the UAP include developmental pediatrics, child psychiatry, child clinical psychology, developmental psychology, social work, speech and language pathology, occupational therapy, special education, with additional disciplines as needed. The UAP is affiliated with both the activities of the Child Development Unit and Pediatric Rehabilitation at The Children's Hospital, and the Child Psychiatry Clinic in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. The UAP is also actively involved with community agencies around the needs of persons with developmental and/or physical disabilities.

 

Clinical Psychology training at Deaf Link

 

Goals of the training program:

JFK Partners is a university based interdisciplinary training program with a commitment to the following goals for psychology trainees:

  1. Teach trainees about the needs and strengths of persons who are Deaf or hard-of-hearing and their families

  2. Teach trainees a variety of specialized clinical skills for assisting persons who are Deaf or hard-of-hearing, including psychological assessment, psychotherapy, and consultation

  3. Teach trainees to work in an integrated fashion with members of an interdisciplinary clinical team

  4. Foster development of leadership skills and scholarly activities related to the field of deafness

  5. Introduce trainees to values involving inclusion, family and individually centered care, diversity, advocacy, and self-determinism for persons who are Deaf or hard-of-hearing

Objectives of the training program:

  1. The psychology intern will learn to administer a variety of cognitive tests applicable for persons who are Deaf or hard-of-hearing including but not limited to the Mullens Scales of Early Learning, Leiter-Revised, Universal Non-verbal Intelligence Test (UNIT); will refine their use of more traditional cognitive tests such as the WISC-III with children and the WAIS-III for adults who are Deaf or hard-of-hearing; and will learn and utilize inventories of adaptive skills such as the Vineland Scales of Adaptive Behavior and the Scales of Independent Behavior-Revised (SIB-R).

  2. The psychology trainee will learn to reliably administer two tests specifically designed for the diagnosis of autism (Autism Diagnostic Interview, Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule).

  3. The psychology intern will learn the basic tenets of positive behavioral interventions and use these strategies (where appropriate) to (1) design teaching and educational strategies for persons who are Deaf or hard-of-hearing and (2) to design positively based interventions for unwanted behaviors to address problem behaviors based on functional analysis for persons who are Deaf or hard-of-hearing.

  4. The psychology trainee will learn to conduct an assessment of socio-affective functioning and to design and carry out treatments, individual, group, family, and consultative for persons who are Deaf or hard-of-hearing

  5. The psychology trainee will participate on the Mental Health Outreach team at the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind (CSDB) and will impart clinical information effectively and sensitively to others in the community, including colleagues and family members, community agencies and other professionals, regarding diagnosis and treatment/intervention strategies.

  6. The psychology trainee will engage in a scholarly project related to deafness, either by joining an already established project with a JFK Partners faculty member, or developing an individual project of interest.

  7. The psychology trainee will work together as a team member with members from other disciplines including pediatrics, social work, occupational therapy, speech/language pathology and child psychiatry to evaluate and treat persons who are Deaf or hard-of-hearing, and to impart information to family members and others interested in the diagnostic information.

Required Activities:

Psychological Assessments: Each month, the intern will complete 2-4 (to be set with supervisor) comprehensive psychological assessments of children, adolescents and/or adults referred to the Deaf Link Service of JFK Partners.

CSDB Outreach Team: The intern will work on the CSDB Outreach Team in Colorado Springs one day each week. The outreach team provides ongoing consultation and support to school districts across Colorado for children who are Deaf or hard-of-hearing. The emphasis of the team is to encourage and to provide guidance in providing appropriate mental health and academic support for students who are Deaf or hard-of-hearing.
Department of Audiology: The intern will occasionally consult with the UCH Department of Audiology by conducting pre-operative cochlear implant evaluations.
Mental Health Center of Denver (MHCD): The intern will provide psychological services for children who are Deaf or hard-of-hearing who are referred to MHCD.
Psychotherapy: The intern will treat a number of therapy clients, ranging in age from young children to adults, presenting with a variety of problems and who are also Deaf or hard-of-hearing. The intern will also be exposed to treatment of individuals who are not Deaf or hard-of-hearing. Additionally, the intern will participate in group treatment and family treatment.

Scholarly activity: Every intern has the opportunity to work with any faculty member or supervisor at JFK Partners on a research activity. The intern also has the opportunity to develop his or her own individual research project.

Educational activities: The intern is expected to attend clinic meetings, supervisory sessions, ongoing JFK seminars, and lectures, courses, and special workshops as scheduled.

 

Optional Activities:

Social skills group: There are two other therapy groups---one for latency aged children and one for adolescents---in which the intern can also participate.
JFK Partners Grant Projects: There are numerous ongoing JFK grant projects in developmental disabilities in which the intern may participate depending on time and interest.
Developmental Disabilities Treatment Team: The trainee may participate on one of several treatment/evaluation teams at JFK Partners which provide services for individuals with developmental disabilities.
Developmental Disabilities Research Group: The trainee may participate in this monthly seminar focused on understanding the current research in neuropsychology and neurobiology of autism and other developmental disorders. This group also generates ideas for new research projects and presents findings from ongoing studies of its various members.
Additional Courses: There are a variety of seminars, courses, and lectures provided by the UAP as a whole and available to any of the trainees.

 

Theoretical Approaches:

Although there is not a single theoretical approach that is utilized exclusively, a major philosophy of JFK Partners is to promote culturally competent, family focused interventions in inclusive settings. The main psychology faculty represent diverse theoretical orientations, including more dynamically oriented clinical child psychology, developmental psychology, and cognitive-behavioral psychology. There is an emphasis on child neuropsychology, as it pertains to autism and other developmental disorders, both in the research programs and in the clinical practice of the center. A developmental orientation and family systems perspective are main ways of understanding persons with developmental disabilities and their families. Each trainee also becomes quite familiar with positive behavioral approaches for behavioral growth and change.

 

Types of Clinical Approaches:  

  • Interdisciplinary and disciplinary diagnostic services

  • School and community consultation

  • Positive behavioral methods for skill building and behavior management

  • Cognitive/behavioral therapy groups

  • Family-centered consultation and advocacy

  • Child and adult individual psychotherapy

Population of Clients: The persons referred to JFK Partners are of all ages, from infancy to old age, with a diagnosis (or a question of a diagnosis) of a developmental disability. There is a particular focus on the diagnosis and treatment of people with autistic spectrum disorders. JFK Partners serves people with disabilities throughout the Rocky Mountain region, both urban and rural settings, from all ethnic groups and from all income levels.

 

Supervision: The intern receives supervision for all clinical activities, including psychological assessment, psychotherapy and school consultation.

 

Assessment supervision is shared by two psychologists. At JFK Partners and at CSDB, the intern will be supervised by Dr. Robert Baldwin. Supervision at MHCD will be provided by Dr. Karen Mallah. Supervision for assessments averages 1 1/2 - 2 hours per evaluation, not including live supervision during the assessment itself. Supervision covers preparation for the assessment, review and interpretation of data, written and oral/signed reporting

 

Psychotherapy supervision is generally provided in a group format by one supervisor for the entire year, 1 1/2 hours per week. Live supervision and supervision by video tape are also important components of the supervision. Each trainee is generally in two or more psychotherapy group supervisions.

 

Consultation supervision is provided by a primary supervisor as well as a team of supervisors where issues common to all trainees involved in the project can benefit. Supervision is delivered in a group context and averages 2 hours every other week.

 

Classes/Case Conferences/Scholarly Opportunities:

Psychology assessment seminar: Meets for one hour weekly from September through April to address diagnostic issues specific to JFK psychology trainees.

 

CSDB outreach team supervision/team meetings: Meets for one hour every week, from September through May. Provide didactic information relevant to school consultation.

Deaf Link team meetings: Meets as needed.

Autism and Developmental Disabilities team meetings: Meets for 1 1/2 hours weekly to review interdisciplinary team evaluation findings. The intern will attend meetings when involved with one of the evaluation teams.

 

Developmental Disabilities Research Group: described above

 

Scholarly Opportunities: described above

 

Supervisors:

Six psychology faculty members are on site at JFK Partners.

Robert Baldwin, Ph.D. (Clinical Psychology, Gallaudet University, 2002). Areas of expertise/interests: psychological evaluation and treatment of individuals who are Deaf or hard-of-hearing, research of brain organization and function in individuals who are Deaf or hard-of-hearing through the use of brain imaging techniques.

Hal Lewis, Ph.D. (Clinical Child Psychology; University of Denver, 1984). Areas of expertise: early intervention, parent counseling, ego developmental approaches, developmental psychopathology, program development and program evaluation.

Judy Reaven, Ph.D. (Clinical Psychology, University of Missouri-Columbia, 1985). Areas of expertise/interest: family therapy, diagnostic assessment, training and supervision.

 

Terry Katz, Ph.D. (Clinical Child Psychology, University of Denver, 1989). Areas of expertise: assessment and treatment of young children, child psychotherapy, diagnosis and intervention in autism.

 

Susan Hepburn, Ph.D. (Clinical Psychology, Vanderbilt University, 2000). Areas of expertise: diagnosis and intervention in autism.

 

Jennifer Green, Ph.D. (Clinical Psychology, Ohio State University, 2000). Areas of expertise/interest: fetal alcohol syndrome diagnosis and treatment, social skills training programs, psychodiagnostic developmental evaluations.

 

Helena Huckabee, Ph.D. (Clinical Psychology, University of Houston, 2003) Areas of expertise/interest: diagnosis and treatment in autism spectrum disorders, comprehensive treatment programs for autism in early childhood, especially Denver Model treatment, clinical neuropsychology.