ADPTC at APA: San Francisco August 17-20, 2007
Symposium: A Social Justice Agenda for Practicum Training in Training Clinics

Chair: Brian L. Lewis, Ph.D.
 

Abstract: Although practicum-level training is the primary function of training clinics affiliated with graduate programs in counseling, clinical, and school psychology, many clinics place a high priority on community service in their mission statements. This symposium highlighted the important role that many training clinics play in addressing the needs of underserved client populations within their local communities. The symposium included presentations from the directors of five training clinics, each demonstrating an innovative project or program in which practicum training is being accomplished in a manner that also addresses a significant social service need in the local community.

The symposium concluded with a summary by the chair emphasizing the ways in which each of these programs reflects a commitment to social justice, promotes participation in social justice activities for trainees after graduation, and addresses the developmentally appropriate training needs of the students consistent with the "Practicum Competencies" formally endorsed by ADPTC and CCTC.

Presentation: Meeting Community Needs through a Career Counseling Training Clinic

Jane L. Swanson, Ph.D., Southern Illinois University; Patrick Rottinghaus, Ph.D., Southern Illinois University; Charles Hees, M.A., Southern Illinois University; Sarah A. Miller, M.A., Southern Illinois University.

Abstract: In fall of 2002, our Counseling Psychology training program opened an in- house career counseling agency to serve as our initial doctoral practicum site. Building on our initial successes in providing free client services and training opportunities, the agency has expanded its mission to address career concerns of residents in our diverse rural community.

Although a social justice agenda was not an explicit part of our clinic's founding mission statement, work and career issues lend themselves well to social advocacy activities. The field of vocational psychology has its roots in early 20th century social reform efforts, and ensuring equal access to work and promoting economic self- sufficiency continue to be prominent goals. Our clinic's foray into social justice activities was a natural outgrowth of the services that we provided on campus for college students. In the presentation, we will describe two projects:

Plant Closure Response Team: As part of a community-wide effort, we provided workshops and assessment for displaced workers and conducted training for career specialists. The 1000 workers are primarily from lower SES backgrounds with limited educational preparation, and these efforts serve to increase access to career resources. Adolescent Career Exploration: A community mentoring program for at-risk adolescents provided a mechanism for offering career exploration activities, which then led to development of a six-session intervention for all high school sophomores. In each case, we provide materials and expertise to which these adolescents would not otherwise have access, and offer an expanded view of career opportunities.

These two programs serve the dual purpose of offering innovative practicum opportunities, and providing gratis services to meet critical needs in the community. We will imbed our presentation within the context of recent writing about work and career issues as avenues for advancing social justice.

Presentation: Providing Low-Fee Psychological Assessments as a Community Service

Christopher E. Overtree, Ph.D., University of Massachusetts

Abstract:Psychological Assessments are highly specialized and represent a training- intensive area of Clinical Psychology. Psychological assessments are often essential to a client's overall mental health and care. Certainly, graduate students in clinical psychology must undergo rigorous coursework to gain basic proficiency and also accrue hundreds of direct service hours in psychological assessment to be qualified to engage in independent practice post internship. As such, experience conducting psychological assessments in a clinical population is a pedagogical necessity for University Training Clinics.

Programs that seek to provide appropriate training in psychological assessment should consider incorporating these training experiences in a more comprehensive social justice agenda in which disadvantaged populations are targeted to receive low-cost or free psychological assessments. For individuals experiencing economic hardships, the costs associated with a psychological assessment can represent an almost insurmountable barrier.

At the Psychological Services Center at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, we addressed the need for low-cost psychological, educational, and neuropsychological assessments in our local community by making the provision of these services integral to our training clinic's dedication to issues of social justice. By aligning our pedagogical and social goals in our Low-Fee Psychological Assessment Program, we were able to secure start-up funds, and have raised the profile of the Psychological Services Center to such an extent that this program will become self-sustaining in the future. To our delight, we found an unintended side effect, namely that our students have started to embrace issues of social justice and have begun to integrate an awareness of social justice issues as they continue to develop their unique clinical, scholarly, and personal identities.

This presentation discussed the current Low-Fee Psychological Assessment Program, issues we encountered during the development stages, and suggestions for other programs that can be built using a similar model.

Presentation: Practicum Training in Forensics to Address a Community Need

Mary Alice Conroy, Ph.D., ABPP, Sam Houston State University

Abstract: Courts located in small, rural counties often have very limited budgets for mental health evaluations. Many defendants are indigent and unable to afford to pay for independent evaluations. Given these circumstances, in the relatively poor, rural area where Sam Houston State University (SHSU) is located, consultations with courts and attorneys suggest that evaluations were only ordered when there was an absolute legal requirement and the scope of such evaluations were often limited by cost. This situation could easily result in injustice for numerous defendants. SHSU's faculty includes a psychologist holding an ABPP in forensic psychology who was willing to devote the time to supervise students in providing forensic evaluations services. Evaluations have included competence, sanity, risk for violence, and a variety of juvenile assessments. This presentation will describe the necessary pre-requisites for a clinic wishing to engage in such an endeavor, with specific emphasis on the type of supervision that is necessary. It will further address the training benefits to the students, who will hopefully become what the Villanova Conference called "legally informed clinicians," who have acquired important consultation skills. It will include specific data from a five year study of the process and results. This includes a financial analysis indicating a potential savings to the counties/state of $140,000 had evaluations been conducted at market rates. More likely, however, many evaluations would not have been done at all. Finally, ethical and legal issues will be noted.

Presentation: Social Constructionism Creating Positive Change in Low SES Latino Families

Bernadette H. Solórzano, PsyD, Our Lady of the Lake University

Abstract: Our Lady of the Lake University's (OLLU) Community Counseling Service (CCS) is located on the west side of San Antonio, a low income inner city area with over 78% of our population being low income and Latino. As a clinic we provide much needed services on a sliding scale basis to the community at large. The training program utilizes a social constructionist brief systemic therapy approach which emphasizes client's strengths and abilities. We utilize live supervision and train in teams of 6 students using a collaborative approach. We provide services in both Spanish and English.

In addition we have established a practicum site at an inner city charter high school focusing on violence prevention. We work systemically with those students and their families. The students are Latino and labeled as "beyond risk." The practicum students report that the experiences they have with these students provide them with a "real life" look at the challenges these students confront and shift their understandings. Outcome data from the last three years on the campus reflected positive change in our youth.

The social constructionist postmodern approach represents an intellectual movement away from the search for fundamental truths and towards an exploration of the ways in which language, power, social factors, and history shape our views about reality, truth, and knowledge. Postmodernist thinkers are concerned with meaning, context and perspective. By incorporating this philosophical orientation within our model for training and intervention, our students develop the sensitivities and competencies necessary to function effectively in a multicultural environment. Our training model emphasizes that reality is constructed through interactions with others and that there are an infinite number of ways of knowing and understanding the world.

Presentation: A Training Clinic within an Urban Community Mental Health Center

Sheila C. Ribordy, Ph.D., DePaul University

Abstract: The DePaul University Community Mental Health Center (CMHC) is the primary training site for the doctoral program in clinical psychology at DePaul University. At the same time it is a public-funded CMHC in the network of Centers around the state of Illinois that provide mental health services to children, adolescents, and families who are on public aid, non-insured, or underinsured. This jointly funded (State of Illinois and DePaul University) Center covers a catchment area that includes two large urban public housing communities. The families living in these communities constitute the majority of the clientele of the Center. Client families are 85% on public aid, 87% racial minorities, and present with a multitude of issues, including case management (housing, employment, health issues, etc.), discrimination, exposure to violence, and a variety of mental health issues. Many are skeptical about mental health services, medication, and "outsiders." Services are often provided in community schools, daycare centers, and in two satellite offices operated by the Center. Students receive extensive training regarding diversity issues, poverty, violence, and community outreach as they learn to work with clients in both traditional and nontraditional ways. Specific issues to be addressed in this presentation will include: access and engagement issues, supporting students and supervisors while they do this difficult work, training about diversity and poverty, integrating traditional and nontraditional interventions, and working with multi-disciplinary staff (including para-professionals). Program outcome data suggest a majority of trainees from this program continue in their careers to do public sector and/or pro bono work with diverse and underserved populations after completing their degrees. This training program provides an ongoing supply of psychologists who are dedicated and equipped to work in the public sector with those that have been historically underserved or improperly served.