Psychology

Purpose

Under the supervision of a licensed psychologist, students have the opportunity to conduct short-term therapy with children and/or their caregivers. An introduction to intensive behavior therapy is provided. Prevention activities are available in association with local schools and agencies.

Training for interns, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows begins in September. Special training sessions and short-term sessions may be arranged at any time.

Objectives

• Selects instruments designed to assess referral questions, administers appropriate instruments, provides structure and limits in assessment correctly, demonstrates accurate, comprehensive inquiry as necessary and synthesizes assessment data so that conclusions are clearly stated.
• Accurately diagnoses emotional/behavioral disorders in persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
• Effectively delivers interpretive findings to the family and/or individual with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
• Understands the ethical issues, principles and values of the discipline; implements ethical principles in daily practice.

Description

The psychology program is primarily medical-psychological; the majority of persons seen have medical problems and have been referred by physicians. The problem is usually one of differential diagnosis with psychological, medical, social, and educational components.

Most diagnostic and treatment activities involve an interdisciplinary team, with the objective of helping trainees gain an understanding of other disciplines while representing psychology as team members.

The psychology division is part of the APA-approved University of Tennessee Professional Psychology Internship Consortium. In addition to internships, traineeships are offered for clinical psychology doctoral students. A postdoctoral fellowship is also offered.

All training experiences are supervised, with the type of experience depending upon the level of training and the needs of the trainee. Fellows, interns, and graduate trainees gain experience in the use of psychological techniques with patients ranging from infants to adults and their families.

Trainees represent psychology in the interdisciplinary staff conferences and consult with a variety of disciplines and programs. In addition to the training activities at the BCDD, trainees have direct contact with other agencies in the region.

Other training opportunities

Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT)

Who can Apply

Applicants for stipends must be United States citizens or non-citizens admitted to the United States as permanent residents. To download an application for a traineeship or postdoctoral fellowship, or to download an application for a traineeship or fellowship, click here to view critera and details.

Contact

For more information, contact the Chief of Psychology, BCDD, 711 Jefferson Avenue, Memphis, TN 38105 (901) 448-6511.

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