Brown Clinical Psychology Training Consortium
Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Developmental Disabilities (APA Approved)
Site:
Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities (Center)Emma Pendleton Bradley Hospital, East Providence, Rhode Island
Supervisors:
Barbara Tylenda, Ph.D. (Primary Supervisor)
Rowland P. Barrett, Ph.D.
Karyn K. Blane, Psy.D.
M. Christopher Borden, Ph.D.
Stephen Sheinkopf, Ph.D.
Fellowship Aims:
- To provide the Fellow with broad post-doctoral training in the areas of developmental disabilities and developmental psychopathology, specifically with child and adolescent populations within inpatient, day treatment, outpatient, in-home, and residential settings. This will include: (a) a complete and thorough understanding of the nature and types of developmental disorders including Autism, PDD-NOS, Asperger’s Disorder, Mental Retardation, Neurological Impairment, Dual-Diagnosis (e.g., mental retardation with concomitant psychiatric disorder), and Multiply Disabled (e.g., intellectually and/or sensorially and/or physically impaired with psychiatric disorder); and (b) an understanding of the full range of clinical services typically required by the developmentally disabled child.
- To provide the Fellow with a strong working knowledge of clinical research conducted with child and adolescent populations who present with pervasive developmental disabilities, mental retardation, neurological impairment and a broad spectrum of concurrent psychiatric, behavioral, learning, and family problems. Emphasis will be on the integration of clinical service provision and the conducting of applied research.
- To provide the Fellow with clinical training in psychological assessment, family assessment, diagnostic evaluation, individual, family, and group therapy, and school consultation as a member of a multidisciplinary treatment team for the Hospital’s nationally regarded Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities (Center). The Fellow also will participate in the Center’s Intensive Behavioral Treatment Program (IBT). The IBT Program employs an ABA treatment approach to a young child, outpatient (in-home) population with developmental, behavioral, and psychiatric disorders.
- To expose the Fellow to the administrative aspects essential to providing clinical service and conducting applied research within a hospital-based program for developmentally disabled children and adolescents.
Fellowship Timeline
This is a two-year Fellowship, renewable upon satisfactory progress during the first year. The Fellowship will initiate September 1, 2007 and conclude August 31, 2009.
Research, Academic/Didactic and Professional Training Activity Plan
Forty percent of the Fellow’s time will be devoted to research, academic/didactic, and professional training experiences. The Fellow will participate in the following activities:
- Review of the Literature: The Fellow will complete readings on relevant historical and contemporary literature pertaining to theory, clinical practice, and research with developmentally disabled children and in developmental psychopathology. The Fellow also will be exposed to methodological/ pragmatic issues in conducting DD research. The Fellow also will become familiar with: (a) the major classes and types of drugs commonly prescribed for DD children, including specific drug action, clinical purpose, and possible side effects; (b) medical conditions commonly experienced by DD children and their role as an etiological mechanism in the development of emotional and/or behavioral disorders; and (c) the legal rights of DD children.
- Lecturing/Staff Development: The Fellow will have opportunities to teach seminars, provide in-service training to hospital milieu staff, and participate in community speaking engagements, according to his/her interests and need.
- Study Coordination: The Fellow will develop a research proposal in an area of interest pertaining to developmental disabilities that he/she will implement during the Fellowship term.
- Manuscript Preparation and Submission: The Fellow will collaborate on manuscript preparation and submission (e.g., book review, book chapter, refereed journal article) and/or panel/poster submissions at a regional or national conference with some aspect of developmental disabilities.
- Grant Writing: For those Fellows interested in learning about writing a grant, seminars and mentoring opportunities are available with senior psychologists within the Department of Psychiatry. In this case, the Fellow will develop a grant idea and submit a grant proposal by the end of the Fellowship term.
- Ad Hoc Reviewing: For those Fellows interested in learning about the editorial review process of manuscripts submitted to refereed journals, ad hoc reviewing opportunities may be made available with senior psychologists within the Department of Psychiatry (e.g., Dr. Rowland Barrett).
- Post-Doctoral Seminars: The Fellow will participate in the Post-Doctoral Seminar Series through the Brown University Post-Doctoral Training Program, the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior Grand Rounds Series, and the Child Track Seminar Series. The Fellow will be encouraged to participate in the Core Seminar in Developmental Psychopathology as well as the T32 Research Seminar Series.
- Licensure as a Psychologist: The Fellow will make application for licensure in the State of Rhode Island and work towards successfully negotiating all aspects of the licensure process, and obtain licensure as a psychologist in the state.
Clinical Activity Plan
Sixty percent of the Fellow’s time will be devoted to clinically related activities. The Fellow’s clinical activity will be through the E. P. Bradley Hospital’s Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities (Center). In order to ensure that a high level of clinical training in the area of developmental disabilities is provided, the following activities will be required:
- Membership in the Multidisciplinary Treatment Team: The Fellow will actively participate in referral development, intake of referred patients, admission diagnostic conferences, weekly treatment review meetings, crisis clinic, I.E.P. conferences, discharge conferences, and post-discharge (follow-up) contact with patients, their families, and receiving community agencies and schools.
- Clinical Assessment: The Fellow will conduct diagnostic evaluations and/or psychological assessments of inpatients, day treatment patients, residential patients, and outpatients in the Center. This will include: (a) competence in the selection, administration, scoring, and interpretation of psychological tests commonly employed with developmentally disabled children and adolescents; (b) competence in integrating data and preparing written reports; and (c) competence in the oral presentation of psychological test findings to the multidisciplinary team, referral sources, and community agencies involved with the patient, and the patient’s family.
- Behavioral Assessment: The Fellow will actively participate in the development, implementation, and supervision of classroom, unit-based, and outpatient behavioral assessments. The Fellow also will actively participate in the development, implementation, and supervision of strategies for analyzing treatment effectiveness.
- Treatment: The Fellow will provide individual, family, and group psychotherapy services to developmentally disabled children and adolescents and their families within the Center’s inpatient, day treatment, residential, and outpatient programs. The Fellow will have opportunities to provide services through the Center’s Intensive Behavioral Treatment (IBT) Program. Assignments will depend on the interests of the Fellow and the clinical needs of the program. The Fellow also will have opportunity to participate in the development, implementation, and supervision of classroom, unit-based, and outpatient behavior modification programs.
Supervision and Evaluation
Clinical supervision will be provided in the form of one-hour weekly individual supervision blocks with licensed clinical psychologists on site. An additional hourly block will be offered for academic/research supervision. The Fellow also will have access to several additional forums for direct and indirect supervision through optional participation in regularly scheduled rounds and treatment teams with members of the multidisciplinary team. The Fellow and supervisors will develop fellowship goals and learning objectives early on in the first year. At the midpoint and conclusion of the Fellowship, the Fellow and supervisors will provide formal performance evaluations and evaluations of the program relative to the goals and learning objectives of the Fellowship.
Resource Requirements
The Fellow will be provided with the following resources:
- Office space on the Bradley campus
- Telephone
- A personal desktop computer with internet access
- Access to copying equipment