Graduate Training in a Manualized Treatment for Young Children and Their Parents

• In Event: Training School Professionals in the Field of Child and Adolescent Mental Health

Abstract

Objectives or purposes
This talk will describe the issues and dilemmas associated with training graduate students as clinician-researchers in an experimental treatment for young children and their parents. The challenge in balancing a need to provide competent therapy and fidelity with the manualized treatment while simultaneously recognizing the need to support students at varying levels in their own professional development will be discussed.

Perspective
Science and research training are the cornerstones for training in professional practice in clinical psychology. The articulation of this principle varies widely across training programs and when these two aspects of clinical training are not well-integrated, students can be left with either-or-choices that are not in keeping with best practice (Eby, Chin, Rollock, Schwartz, & Worrell, 2011). One approach to resolving this potential conflict is to provide students with opportunities to be integrally involved in treatment research. This can present it's own challenges, however, as the need for rigorous adherence to treatment protocols for research purposes can be difficult when dealing with students with a variety of skills and at differing levels of professional development. A thoughtful exploration of these issues is an important first step in enhancing training to include hands-on clinical research experience that furthers the development of clinical skills and an appreciation of empirically based practice.

Methods
The experiences of 5 years of clinical research conducted within a training clinic in a doctoral training program will be reviewed. The treatment research study included repeated, comprehensive assessments of children, a three-month treatment program for young children and their parents, and follow-up assessments for one year following treatment. The main themes, challenges, and recommendations of this form of training activity will be described. The model of clinical supervision used in this research will also be described.

Data sources and results
The author's experience is the main source of data for this presentation. Faculty at the same training site who also supervise treatment research will be surveyed and their comments on conducting treatment research in an academic training facility will be integrated into this presentation.

Scientific/scholarly significance.
While graduate programs are being asked to provide students with training in evidence-based practice and to integrate science and practice, there is something of a dearth of pragmatic information on how best to accomplish these goals. The information provided in this talk may be of interest to supervisors and researchers who wish to providing opportunities for students in graduate training programs to integrate science and professional practice.

References

Eby, M. D., Chin, J. L., Rollock, D., Schwartz, J. P., & Worrell, F. C. (2011). Professional psychology training in the era of a thousand flowers: Dilemmas and challenges for the future.

Author

• Arlene Young, Simon Fraser University