Curriculum
Requirements and Areas of Focus
Year 1: Required Seminars and Conferences
- Summer Introductory Training Course
During the initial two months of training, interns are oriented to the program through a variety of topics tailored to meet the training needs of each internship class. Interns are introduced to a variety of topics that serve as an orientation to the program. Topics generally include psychological and neuropsychological instruments and assessment techniques, assessment of learning disorders, techniques in psychotherapy, cognitive-behavioral intervention, crisis intervention, and ethical issues for clinical psychologists. Faculty: various affiliated members
- Neuropsychology Introductory Module
This seminar series offers both an introduction to theory and practice in the neuropsychological assessment of children and group supervision with a special emphasis on medical disorders of childhood. Faculty: Mary Best, PhD
- Evidence-based Evaluation and Treatment Autism Seminar
This seminar focuses on the evaluation and treatment of autism spectrum disorder and other social disabilities. Faculty: Michael Powers, PsyD.
- Administration and Interpretation of ADOS-2
This seminar focuses on the use of the ADOS-2 in the evaluation of suspected autism spectrum disorders. Faculty: Kelly Powell, PhD and affiliated faculty
- Racial Equity Seminar: Promoting Ethno-Cultural Responsiveness and Healing in Psychology Practice
The Child Study Center supports an inclusive learning environment where diverse perspectives are recognized, respected, and seen as a source of strength. This course presents a variety of diverse perspectives on racial equity and social determinants of health as it relates to clinical assessment and treatment. Faculty: Cecilia Frometa, PhD; Tara Davila, LCSW
- Evidence-based Treatment
Evidence-based Treatment is infused throughout the curriculum of the Child Study Center. All interns are trained CBT for Anxiety Disorders. In addition, other evidence-based treatments are incorporated into the clinical work in our outpatient therapy services and/or in the areas of focus. Didactic content on evidence-based treatments is also presented through seminars, such as Departmental Conference and Autism Seminar. Faculty: Wendy Silverman, PhD, Eli Lebowitz, PhD, and Psychology Faculty
Year 1: Multidisciplinary Seminars and Conferences
- Grand Rounds
Theoretical, research and clinical papers by faculty, trainees, and outside speakers. All Child Study Center faculty and fellows attend this weekly conference.
- Psychopharmacology Seminar
This seminar covers the spectrum of childhood psychiatric disorders and the use of psychopharmacological agents as an adjunct to therapy. Didactic readings and case discussions are important components of the seminar. Faculty: Jean Marachi, MD
Year 1 (Predoctoral): Internship Applied - Required General Clinical Settings
- Comprehensive Psychological Assessment
Postdoctoral Psychology fellows conduct comprehensive psychological evaluations of school-age children. Children are referred by schools, parents, pediatricians, and other practitioners, within and outside of Connecticut. Fellows receive intensive weekly supervision during each evaluation. A variety of referral questions are addressed including differential diagnosis, need for treatment, and educational planning.
- Outpatient Clinical Services
Outpatient Clinical Services encompasses all of the Child Study Center’s treatment and evaluation services. Interns and postdoctoral fellows participate in many of the specialty evaluations, comprehensive assessment, and treatment services of Outpatient Clinical Services.
During the internship year, the primary generalist experience in outpatient evaluation and treatment is gained within the Child Study Center Outpatient Clinical Services. Interns are members of a multidisciplinary clinic team. Typically, each intern carries approximately 5 cases concurrently, encompassing child, parent, and/or family therapy. Continued outpatient treatment experiences are open as an elective in the second year.
- Focus Area
During the first year, each intern is involved in the clinical activities of their area of focus 10-15 hours per week.
During the postdoctoral year, each fellow continues their involvement in the clinical activities of their focus area for approximately 20 hours per week, continuing the clinical involvements of the first year and adding additional activities that meet the training goals of the fellow.
Year 1: Professional Development
- Fellows Seminar
Interns meet weekly with the training director and other faculty to discuss a broad range of clinical and professional issues relevant to the practice of psychology. Professional development, diversity, equity and inclusion, special education law, provision of supervision, and program evaluation are examples of topics recently covered in this seminar. Interns are provided with a teaching opportunity during the year in order to receive feedback on their presentations and prepare them for dissertation defense or job talks. Each intern also leads a discussion of a topic related to diversity, equity, and inclusion in their clinical work. This weekly meeting also serves as a forum to discuss issues related to training and the training program. Faculty: Michele Goyette-Ewing and affiliated faculty
Second year fellows attend selected meetings and are invited to present and teach on a topic related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as their research and clinical work. Additional sessions for postdocs only focus is placed on professional development planning and preparation for the EPPP.
- Clinical Supervision
In keeping with the multidisciplinary orientation of training at the Child Study Center, trainees may receive supervision from professionals from varied disciplines. Currently, each intern receives approximately 3 hours of individual supervision by a psychologist each week.
A psychologist supervises ongoing treatment and evaluation of children and families seen through Outpatient Clinical Services. For psychological assessment, interns are assigned two clinical psychology supervisors. An additional supervisor is provided for each specialty area.
During the postdoctoral year, fellows electing to continue seeing a child or family in treatment through outpatient clinical services may do so. Additional supervisors are assigned for all of the second year clinical placements.
Year 2: Didactics
- Grand Rounds
Theoretical, research and clinical papers by faculty, trainees, and outside speakers. All Child Study Center faculty and fellows attend this weekly conference.
- Fellows Seminar
Interns meet weekly with the training director and other faculty to discuss a broad range of clinical and professional issues relevant to the practice of psychology. Professional development, diversity, equity and inclusion, special education law, provision of supervision, and program evaluation are examples of topics recently covered in this seminar. Interns are provided with a teaching opportunity during the year in order to receive feedback on their presentations and prepare them for dissertation defense or job talks. Each intern also leads a discussion of a topic related to diversity, equity, and inclusion in their clinical work. This weekly meeting also serves as a forum to discuss issues related to training and the training program. Faculty: Michele Goyette-Ewing and affiliated faculty
Second year fellows attend selected meetings and are invited to present and teach on a topic related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as their research and clinical work. Additional sessions for postdocs only focus is placed on professional development planning and preparation for the EPPP.
Year 2: Required Placements
- Postdoctoral Fellowship Applied
- During their postdoctoral year, each fellow serves as a primary clinician at either the Solnit Center South or the Yale New Haven Hospital Children’s Psychiatric Inpatient Service, responds to emergency department calls, conducts comprehensive psychological assessments, and attends a small number of seminars. In addition, each fellow devotes approximately 50% of their time to clinical and research activities within their area of focus.
- Pediatric Emergency Department Consultation Service
The Child Study Center provides crisis evaluation and consultation to the Pediatric Emergency Department at Yale-New Haven Hospital. Hundreds of children receive psychiatric assessments each year in the Pediatric ED following indications of serious psychiatric impairment, including suicide and homicide. These assessments, conducted in collaboration with hospital social work staff, are the responsibility of psychology fellows and child psychiatry fellows.
All second year psychology Fellows provide rotating clinical coverage to the ED.
- Solnit Center for Children (two second year Fellows)
Solnit Center South, operated by the State of Connecticut's Department of Children and Families (DCF), has had a long affiliation with the Child Study Center. Located approximately 30-miles from the Child Study Center in Middletown, Connecticut, the Solnit Center provides inpatient psychiatric assessment and treatment for children and adolescents. Many of the children referred to this facility have been court ordered for evaluation or long-term treatment.
The Fellows placed at the Solnit Center as their psychiatric inpatient placement, complete a two day per week year-long rotation on units serving older school agers or adolescents presenting with a variety of diagnostic and treatment concerns. Fellows serve as primary clinicians and share responsibility for psychological evaluations with the staff psychologist assigned to the unit.
Clinical duties typically involve twice weekly individual psychotherapy, weekly family therapy, group therapy, and participation in multidisciplinary treatment teams. Staff psychologists provide supervision.
- Children's Psychiatric Inpatient Unit (two Second Year Fellows)
Postdoctoral Fellows placed at CPIS as their psychiatric inpatient placement serve as primary clinicians on the unit during their rotation. As primary clinicians, Fellows develop skills as case managers and behavior consultants and work with unit staff in designing interventions that will generalize to home, school, and community settings.
- Comprehensive Psychological Assessment
Postdoctoral Psychology fellows conduct comprehensive psychological evaluations of school-age children. Children are referred by schools, parents, pediatricians, and other practitioners, within and outside of Connecticut. Fellows receive intensive weekly supervision during each evaluation. A variety of referral questions are addressed including differential diagnosis, need for treatment, and educational planning.
- Focus Area
During the first year, each intern is involved in the clinical activities of their area of focus 10-15 hours per week.
During the postdoctoral year, each fellow continues their involvement in the clinical activities of their focus area for approximately 20 hours per week, continuing the clinical involvements of the first year and adding additional activities that meet the training goals of the fellow.
- Elective Placement
- Child Study Center Outpatient Clinical Services: Postdoctoral Fellows may elect to continue to see children and families through the Outpatient Services.
- Professional Development Curriculum
- Career Development and EPPP Preparation Seminar: Fellows meet regularly with the training director and other faculty to discuss a broad range of clinical and professional issues relevant to the practice of psychology. Career planning and CV/resume preparation are addressed together as a group and individually. A modular seminar includes mentoring for study approach and the development of a timeline for preparation and choosing a test date. Faculty: Michele Goyette-Ewing and affiliated faculty
Areas of Focus
- Autism and Developmental Disabilities
The Autism Program at the Yale Child Study Center is one of the leading clinical and research sites in the country, with a diverse portfolio of research projects across multiple labs. The Autism Program researchers at the Child Study Center have a long-standing record of scientific productivity and have pioneered the development of new approaches to understanding child development from a range of scientific perspectives. Ongoing research in this section integrates biological and behavioral strategies for studying and intervening to improve quality of life for autistic people and their families.
The area of specialization offers comprehensive training in the evaluation of autism and co-occurring disorders from toddlerhood through adulthood.
A primary placement is the Yale Child Study Center’s Developmental Disabilities Clinic, which offers comprehensive, multidisciplinary evaluations for individuals from preschool through early adulthood, focusing on diagnosis and intervention recommendations. Our multidisciplinary team includes psychology, speech-language, and psychiatry faculty and trainees. Fellows take an active role in multi-disciplinary teams, including providing developmental/cognitive evaluations and administering the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule—Second Edition (ADOS-2).
In the postdoctoral year, fellows participate in evaluations at the Toddler Developmental Disabilities Clinic as well as the school-age Developmental Disabilities Clinic.
In terms of treatment, all interns co-lead a social skills group for adolescents with one of our faculty members. Each intern also carries a small treatment caseload of children on the autism spectrum. Elective treatment opportunities; providing social communication interventions to young children with ASD; and facilitating additional social skills, parent, or sibling support groups. The clinic is highly integrated with the research program, and both involve highly experienced professionals from a variety of disciplines. Involvement in research is welcomed.
Prior experience with the ADOS-2 is essential to being able to take advantage of the training experiences offered within the Autism area of focus.
- Trauma and Children
The Children and Trauma area of focus provides strong, multi-faceted training through the Yale Center for Traumatic Stress and Recovery (YCTSR). YCTSR is focused on early identification and intervention for children and adolescents impacted by trauma, as well as the development, evaluation, and dissemination of early/acute interventions for children and adolescents exposed to violence and trauma. During the internship year, the trauma intern participates in conducting acute interventions for children and families exposed to violence. This includes training in the Child Development-Community Policing (CD-CP) program’s Acute Trauma Response Protocol, ride-a longs and joint intervention with New Haven Police Officers (NHPD), introductory training in police practices, participation in the on-call service for the NHPD, and training and provision of the Child and Family Traumatic Stress Intervention (CFTSI). CFTSI is a 5-8 session trauma-focused, evidence-based treatment model for children and families exposed to recent traumatic events which was developed and validated at the YCTSR.
Interns also provide assessment and longer-term treatment for children impacted by violence and trauma, including Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), psychodynamic treatment, and other trauma-informed treatments. They participate in a weekly multidisciplinary team meeting with police officers and Department of Children and Families personnel. They receive individual and group clinical supervision and attend a weekly clinical team meeting to support these activities.
In the postdoctoral year, each fellow continues to provide therapeutic services to children impacted by trauma and participates in the on-call service for the NHPD. Additionally, the fellow will develop and pursue an individualized professional development plan, in consultation with their faculty mentor. This plan may include participation in research, clinical teaching, and/or additional clinical training within the specialty area, in line with the fellow’s individual strengths and needs and their career goals. For additional information related to the Trauma and Children area of focus, please see the YCTSR website.
- Pediatric Psychology
Fellows in the Pediatric Psychology area of focus spend a portion of their time working with children and families experiencing medical illness in multiple clinical settings. Through their rotations, the trainees learn a range of evidenced-based assessment and interventions skills necessary for becoming a pediatric psychologist in an academic medical center. During the 2023-2025 training period, we anticipate the following program opportunities:
During the Internship Year, the pediatric intern participates in the following rotations:-
Med-IICAPS Program--6-month placement
The Intensive In-Home Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Service delivers home-based behavioral health treatment services to children and families with concurrent medical and psychological needs. The Med-IICAPS program was developed to meet the comprehensive needs of children with severe psychiatric disorders and co-occurring medical disorders. Children may be returning home from or at-risk for hospitalization, or unable to benefit from traditional outpatient treatment. The Med-IICAPS program offers a continuum of care including evaluation, assessment, individual psychotherapy, family treatment, parental guidance, medication management and case management and coordination. Intervention is informed by a synthesis of the biopsychosocial model, developmental psychopathology, attachment and systems theories, parent-management training, and wraparound concepts. -
Pediatric Gastroenterology Rotation-- year-long:
Fellows join the GI Psychology service to offer GI-informed CBT services to a diverse patient population. Fellows offer fully embedded care, involving a combination of warm hands offs, interdisciplinary visits, and routine follow-ups. Patient populations seen and treated by GI Psychology include but are not limited to the following: disorders of gut-brain interaction (DGBIs), motility disorders, inflammatory bowel disease, ARFID, celiac disease, and EoE. -
Pediatric Neurology-Muscular Dystrophy Clinic--year-long:
Fellows are embedded within Yale’s Pediatric Neurology division. As part of multidisciplinary teams through integrated visits, warm hand-offs, and short-term targeted therapy. This multidisciplinary clinic involves numerous pediatric specialties: Neurology, Pulmonary, Cardiology, Orthopedics, Social Work, Pharmacy, Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Nutrition. -
Pediatric Neurology – Headache Clinic-- 6-months:
Fellows will participate in the Comprehensive Headache Clinic in new patient and follow-up visits, evaluating the biopsychosocial context of headache disorders, and providing psychoeducation, recommendations, and short-term targeted treatment. -
Pediatric Diabetes Rotation--year long
Through the year-long pediatric diabetes rotation, the first-year pediatric psychology fellow will provide evidence-based outpatient psychotherapy services to youth referred by providers within the Yale Children’s Diabetes Program. Youth with diabetes are referred for concerns related to anxiety, depression, and/or mood/behavioral dysregulation exacerbated by and/or exacerbating diabetes management; diabetes burnout/diabetes-specific distress; adherence challenges; difficulties adjusting to a new diabetes diagnosis/to managing diabetes in the context of life transitions/stressors; and/or difficulties coping with diabetes care tasks (e.g., medical visits, insulin pump/CGM site changes, injections/blood glucose checks/blood draws). -
The Comfort Ability Program--year long
The Comfort Ability Program (CAP) involves kids, teens, and parents/caregivers in learning how to better manage chronic pain through the provision of time limited workshops. The workshops teach evidence-based biobehavioral pain management skills based in cognitive behavioral therapy.
During the Postdoctoral year, the Pediatrics Fellow participates in the following rotations:
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Yale Child Study Center's Pediatric Consultation-Liaison Service --year-long
The CL Services provides all mental health consultations to Yale-New Haven Hospital Inpatient Pediatrics floors, under the direction of child psychology and psychiatry faculty. During this year-long placement, the postdoctoral pediatrics psychology fellow and child psychiatry fellows consult to the medical inpatient units as a multidisciplinary team. Patients seen by this service are impacted by combined medical and psychological disorders. Services provided include staff consultation, diagnostic evaluations, and behavioral and psychotherapeutic interventions. The psychology post-doc is on call for the CL service two full days per week. -
Pediatric Neuropsychology Clinic--year-long
During this year-long placement, the postdoctoral pediatrics fellow provides neuropsychological evaluations as part of the Child Study Center’s Pediatric Neuropsychology Program. Children and adolescents seen in this clinic present with a broad range of neuropsychological concerns related to diverse medical conditions. -
Pediatric Gender Clinic--6 months
The Pediatric Gender Clinic provides comprehensive, interdisciplinary care for youth who are questioning their assigned gender and/or seeking gender-affirming consultation and treatment. The multidisciplinary team includes pediatric endocrinologists, a faculty psychologist, psychology post-doc, psychiatrists, a chaplain, a medical ethicist, and a lawyer. The clinic also works closely with a wide array of specialists. Psychology post-docs conduct evidence-based biopsychosocial assessments, provide referrals for community-based mental health support services, participate in co-leading a parent-support group, and consult to other members of the multidisciplinary team.
- Elective Rotations in GI Clinic and Neurology Comprehensive Headache Clinic
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Med-IICAPS Program--6-month placement
- Early Childhood
Infant and early childhood mental health has been a long-standing focus of the Yale Child Study Center. With careful attention to unique aspects of development, relationships, and care needed by this age group, we provide clinical services including evaluation and treatment to parents and children from infancy through early school age
Fellows within our Early Childhood area of specialization receive specialized training in the provision of evaluation and treatment services for young children (infancy through age 5). Evaluation services include:- Training in conducting comprehensive developmental evaluations within a multidisciplinary assessment team through our Outpatient Clinical Services
- Evaluation of 0 to 3 years olds within the Newborn Follow Up Clinic at Yale New Haven Hospital in the Department of Pediatrics
- Provision of psychological and developmental evaluations of children under 5
The Early Childhood area of specialization also provides psychotherapy services to young children through our outpatient services. Children are referred by parents, pediatricians, schools, and the Department of Children & Families due to concerns about behavior, development, trauma, mood, and adjustment.
Specific training opportunities include:- direct training and clinical and reflective supervision in trauma and attachment/relationship-based interventions, including Child Parent Psychotherapy (CPP)
- Becoming a rostered CPP clinician by the end of the two-year internship and fellowship
- Opportunities for group-based prevention and intervention services for parents (e.g., Circle of Security-Parenting)