Training Experiences

The combination of clinical and didactic work provides the in-depth biopsychosocial knowledge necessary to understand and treat child and adolescent psychopathology, considering both internal (cognitive, affective, dynamic and biologic) and external (familial, school, peers, community) factors. Intensive supervision is provided for the fellow's clinical work, including a minimum of two hours of weekly individual supervision from licensed clinical psychologists plus group supervision as appropriate.

An individualized learning plan is developed early in the fellowship to address each fellow’s interests and professional career plans. There are 4 primary focus areas: (1) Outpatient Care (with emphasis on areas such as Early Childhood, youth identifying as LGBTQ+, youth with ASD); (2) Pediatric Psychology Outpatient Care (with emphasis on either specialty care of primary care); (3) Expanded School Mental Health; and (4) Psychiatric Inpatient Care.  Fellows may be involved with one or more projects based on their interests. Fellows may also move into a teaching/supervisory role with trainees during the program. These teaching experiences are supervised by the Child and Adolescent training faculty and may include: diagnostic evaluations, psychological testing, individual and group psychotherapy, and parent consultation.

Select Core Clinical Experiences of the Child and Adolescent Track

Pediatric Behavioral Health & Wellness:
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Outpatient Services

All fellows on this track participate in Pediatric Behavioral Health & Wellness (PBH&W) Outpatient Services; caring for children from infancy through age 18 with a variety of mental health difficulties. PBH&W accepts a wide range of insurances, but a sliding fee schedule exists to enable families with no insurance, or limited financial resources, to access our services. The service has approximately 60,000 patient visits per year. Referrals for assessment and treatment are received from families, pediatricians, schools, and medical specialists within Golisano Children's Hospital. Services are designed to meet the needs of families from diverse backgrounds.  Therapy rooms are equipped with built-in, state-of-the-art AV equipment (B-Line Medical) for recording trainees' clinical contacts to enable intensive clinical supervision. 

Department of Pediatrics, Ambulatory Services of Golisano Children's Hospital,
University of Rochester Medical Center

^{Golisano Children’s Hospital Pediatric Practice}

Fellows can elect to receive training in multiple medical settings, with various populations in the Department of Pediatrics. Fellows are supervised on-site and in a pediatric group supervision format by a faculty member. Fellows work collaboratively with medical providers in different specialty and/or primary care settings to provide integrated health and mental health care to children and adolescents with medical stressors. There are opportunities for the fellow to work in several outpatient pediatric specialty clinics, depending on the fellow's areas of interest and current clinical needs of the medical clinic. These may include: pulmonology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, neurology, hematology & oncology, pediatric sleep medicine, and/or craniofacial.  The General Pediatrics Clinic is one of the largest primary care practices in Monroe County, serving about 14,000 patients annually. Fellows provide a consultation-focused service, which includes an initial evaluation, treatment recommendations, short-term treatment, crisis management and consultation with medical providers. Typical presenting problems include a wide range of adjustment difficulties, medical adherence difficulties and stressors, procedural coping, adjustment to medical diagnosis difficulties, mood disorders, parenting support, anxiety/trauma, behavioral disorders, school problems, and other behavioral/emotional difficulties. Patients range in age from birth to 21 years and come from diverse backgrounds, with a focus on underserved populations.

Pediatric Behavioral Health & Wellness:
Expanded School Mental Health (ESMH) Initiatives

The overarching goal of the Expanded School Mental Health (ESMH) initiatives at UR Medicine is to build schools' capacity to respond to children's complex social and emotional needs through prevention programming, consultation, and direct clinical care in a school-based setting. Together, this framework provides the opportunity for schools to expand their behavioral health capacity through enhanced staffing, training, resources, skills, and knowledge through school-community partnerships.

Clinical training opportunities provide the fellow with experience in behavioral health prevention and promotion for youth, including classroom presentations and teacher in-services, consultation with educators and school staff, as well as individual, group and family therapy for youth and families within a school-based setting. Professional and research opportunities include specialized training in program development and evaluation, evidence-based practice implementation, prevention and intervention programming in schools, mental health workforce development initiatives for school staff and school mental health clinicians, systems of care, and family engagement.

Child & Adolescent Acute / Inpatient Care at Golisano Children's Hospital at Strong

Fellows in this emphasis area provide clinical care primarily on the Child & Adolescent Psychiatric Inpatient Unit, including the Rapid Stabilization Pathway - a 3-day, ACT focused intervention for children and adolescents admitted with acute suicide risk.

Fellows may also provide care within the Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program (CPEP), a regional psychiatric emergency service. The fellow will work closely with a multidisciplinary team consisting of psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, nurses, and mental health therapists in fast-paced acute environments. The roles of the fellow include 1) providing intensive treatment to children and families with the goal of crisis stabilization, and 2) program development and evaluation.

Fellows also have the option of a Pediatric Consultation/Liaison Elective in which they work as part of an interdisciplinary team to provide psychiatric consultation and short-term treatment for pediatric patients on the Golisano Children's Hospital medical inpatient units. 

Scholarship Opportunities

Child and Adolescent Fellows conduct a scholarly project. Past scholarly projects have included an evaluation of iMATTER (Improve Mindful Attention Enhance Relaxation) for inpatient adolescents, evaluation of an evidence-based components approach to assessment and treatment, and a project to educate teachers and school personnel about managing students in crisis. Fellows are also able to collaborate with faculty on existing research projects and can develop their own lines of scholarly inquiry in the context of those projects. See our Scholarly Activities page to view  all the projects.