Child Track | Clinical Psychology PsyD

The goal of the Child Track within the School of Graduate Psychology is to train outstanding practitioner-scholars who can deliver and/or develop evidence-based treatments for children and their families. The Track guides students in specializing their training through elective courses, research requirements, and clinical practica that solidify core knowledge and skills in the assessment and treatment of children and families across a variety of settings (e.g., hospitals, pediatric primary care, community mental health, school-based clinics, juvenile detention centers).

Students in this Track can also choose to develop skills specifically related to culturally and linguistically informed work with the Latinx community by participating in the Latino Mental Health experience.

Faculty areas of clinical and research specialization include but are not limited to the following:

  • behavior problems and adolescent delinquency;
  • parent-child relations;
  • family therapy;
  • childhood trauma;
  • ecosystemic and multicultural theoretical approaches;
  • evidence-based interventions including Behavioral Parent Training and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy;
  • multicultural counseling, assessment, and treatment of diverse youth; and
  • child assessment of neurodevelopmental disorders.

Faculty

Curriculum

In addition to the regularly required courses within the general SGP curriculum, the following Track -specific courses are required (for full course descriptions see the University Catalog):

  • Child and Adolescent Interventions 
  • Assessment of Children 
  • Child Psychopathology and Interviewing  
  • Other highly recommended courses

Clinical Training

Practicum I:

Students complete their Practicum I training experience conducting intake assessments and psychotherapy during their 2nd year in the program.  This training takes place at the Pacific Psychology and Comprehensive Health Clinics (our in-house training clinics located in Hillsboro and Portland) where Child Track students are placed on one of three Child Track teams and supervised by a Child Track faculty member.  Students will primarily work with child and family clients, although students will also learn to treat and/or assess adult clients. Students on all three teams also travel to work with children in school settings.

Practicum II:

Students complete their Practicum II training experience during their 3rd year in the program at a community training site where they gain experience in child and family assessment and/or treatment.

Advanced Practicum:

During their 4th year in the program students continue their assessment and/or psychotherapy training with children and families at a community training site or with our assessment supervisors in our in-house training clinics. 

Internship:

During their 5th year in the program students complete Internship. Internship typically happens during a student’s 5th year in the program. This requires a national application process through the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC; https://www.appic.org/Match/About-The-APPIC-Match). Students should expect to relocate during this year, as competitive child sites are located all across the country.  Sites are listed in the APPIC directory (https://www.appic.org/Directory).

Research

Students complete empirical doctoral research projects that involve collection of original data or use of archival data for analysis. Research work begins in the 2nd year of training and should be completed prior to internship applications (fall of 4th year). In all cases, projects must be completed by the time the student starts Internship. The research topic must focus on children, adolescents, or families as the primary topic.

Representative publications of Child Track faculty/students include the following:

  • The influence of conventional masculine gender norms on parental attitudes toward seeking psychological services for children. Psychology of Men & Masculinity. 
  • The influence of parental rejection on the development of maladaptive schemas, motivations, rumination, and self-injury among emerging adults. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment.
  • Working together to solve disparities: Latina/o parents’ contributions to the adaptation of a preventive intervention. Psychological Services, Mental Health Care Disparities special issue. 
  • Evaluation of parenting capacity in child protection. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
  • Parental and peer support as predictors of depression and self-esteem among college students. Journal of College Student Development.
  • Ethical and legal and issues in child assessment. In M. Hersen (Ed.), Clinician’s handbook of child behavioral assessment.
  • Stalking among young adults: A review of the preliminary research. Aggression and Violent Behavior: A Review Journal.
  • Psychological profile of the first sample of transgender youth presenting for medical intervention in a U.S. pediatric medical center. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity.
  • Affirmative practice with transgender and gender non-conforming youth: Expanding the model. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity.
  • Initial clinical guidelines for co-occurring autism spectrum disorder and gender dysphoria or incongruence in adolescents. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology.
  • Guidelines for psychological practice with transgender and gender nonconforming people. American Psychological Association.
  • Serving transgender youth: Clinical practices, challenges, and dilemmas. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice.

Representative presentations of Child Track faculty/students include the following:

  • Evaluation of a school-based CBT prevention program for childhood trauma. Poster presented at the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies.
  • Building resiliency in families of children with medical illness/injury: A case example of the Families Over Coming Under Stress (FOCUS) model. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society of Pediatric Psychology.
  • A model for assessing parents’ capacity to consent to adoption. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association.
  • One clinic’s model for acquiring and utilizing clinical information in juvenile court. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychology-Law Society
  • Feasibility of implementing Cogmed within a University-based outpatient training clinic. Poster presented at the annual conference of the National Academy of Neuropsychology.
  • Objective and subjective assessment of executive functioning as predictors of academic and behavioral outcomes in kindergarten sample. Poster presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development.
  • Relational aggression and physiological reactions to stress in preschool-age children. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Oregon Psychological Association,
  • Juvenile fire setting: A review. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Western Psychological Association.
  • Post-traumatic stress disorder in preschool-aged children: A critical review of assessment measures. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society of Pediatric Psychology.
  • Are foster parents receiving trauma informed care training? An analysis of requirements by state. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Western Psychological Association.

Resources

American Psychological Association, Division 37: Society for Child and Family Policy and Practice (http://www.apa.org/about/division/div37.aspx)

American Psychological Association, Division 53: Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology (http://www.apa.org/about/division/div53.aspx)

American Psychological Association, Division 54: Society of Pediatric Psychology (http://www.apa.org/about/division/div54.aspx)