Pediatric Psychology Clinic and Consultation Service

The goal of the PPCS rotation is to provide advanced training in the provision of services to children and adolescents with medical conditions and/or treatments and their families in order to optimize treatment adherence, coping, adjustment, pain and anxiety management, and behavioral health outcomes. Interns gain clinical experience in comprehensive behavioral assessment, as well as application of behavioral and cognitive-behavioral interventions during individual therapy, parent training, family therapy, and staff consultation. Common referral concerns may include procedural preparation, addressing barriers to adherence, and shaping functional behavior in children and adolescents with medical conditions or symptoms, with and without development disabilities. Some common medical conditions include but are not limited to brain injury, spinal cord injury,  chronic pain  (e.g., CRPS, migraine), injuries (e.g., orthopedic fractures) and diabetes; interns will also work closely with interdisciplinary teams in the care of patients with rare and/or highly complex medical, developmental and mental health presentations.

The PPCS training program aims to prepare doctoral interns to function as psychologists in a wide range of settings and across a treatment continuum including: the acute medical hospital (e.g., PICU, school-aged and adolescent units), inpatient rehabilitation hospital, outpatient rehabilitation day program, and outpatient clinic. Interns will also have the opportunity to rotate through and/or shadow in multiple pediatric subspecialty clinics including: Brain Injury Rehabilitation, Sleep, Pain, Cystic Fibrosis, Sickle Cell Transition, Diabetes, Concussion, Spina Bifida, and Continence clinics.

Interns will be provided with didactic training to familiarize them with common patient populations, diagnoses, referral concerns, procedures, and protocols. In addition, interns will initially have opportunities to shadow across settings to become familiar with a diverse range of patients and interdisciplinary models. Training is incremental, progressing from observation, to assistance, to increasing independence.

Doctoral intern responsibilities will include but are not limited to: carrying an active outpatient caseload; providing consultation across interdisciplinary settings; providing services within a range of subspecialty clinics; participating in interdisciplinary rounds and meetings; and participating in PCCS group supervision meetings (e.g., inpatient and outpatient rounds, interclinic peer review). In addition, interns will be provided with opportunities to engage in scholarly activities, such as presenting at national or international conferences based on interest.

Each intern will have at least 2 hours of scheduled licensed supervision per week, as well as ongoing, “open-door”, and as-needed licensed psychologist supervision and case management availability throughout the rotation.

PPCS also offers training for students with varying levels of clinical experience, including:

• Advanced externships for students in doctoral training programs in psychology
• Postdoctoral fellowships