Includes outpatient diagnostic assessment such as comprehensive cognitive, educational, and emotional evaluations of children and adolescents presenting with a broad range of developmental, medical, behavioral, and emotional concerns. Emphasis is placed on providing multidisciplinary recommendations to address individual patient needs in the home and school settings.

Includes neuropsychological assessment and consultation of children/adolescents with known or suspected CNS compromise such as cancer, sickle cell disease, genetic syndromes, seizures, head injury, CP, cerebral vascular malformations, and infectious processes. Interns work with school systems and other professionals so that recommendations can be feasible to implement for each particular patient.

To address the most common referrals, an integrated diagnostic assessment, treatment, and consultation service for children presenting with attentional and behavioral concerns. Diagnostic assessment involves combining input from teachers and parents with neuropsychological screening for common comorbidities.

Differential diagnoses include learning disorders, mental retardation, conduct disorders, adjustment disorders, anxiety disorders and mood disorders. Emphasis is placed on providing treatments that are indicated by evaluation.

Includes evaluations focusing on children, ages infant to five years. Families present with a variety of concerns that may focus on development (social, cognitive, self-help) and/or behavioral issues (feeding disorders, disruptive behavior, anxiety). 

Evaluations may include formal testing, but also emphasize behavioral observations, developmental play and consultation with daycare/preschool caregivers. Frequently, evaluations involve coordinating care with other disciplines (e.g., physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech and language, developmental medicine) to ensure a comprehensive evaluation including an individualized treatment plan, ready to implement across settings.

Adolescents can present to an evaluation experience with a unique set of questions. Sometimes clinical presentations are wrapped in personality dynamics that result in individual and family stress but may not fit neatly into a DSM-based diagnosis.

Adolescents with complex issues are referred to this service so that they can receive a comprehensive assessment of their development, cognition, information processing abilities and their personality structure.

Interns participate in the outpatient therapy program for the entire training year. All faculty members supervise this experience. Individual, family, and group therapies are provided for a broad range of psychological problems. Intervention opportunities are balanced between pediatric psychology and traditional child clinical experiences.

Many of the pediatric psychology cases are follow-up appointments resulting from consultation/liaison activities. Examples include medical adherence difficulties (e.g., diabetes), pain management (e.g., headache, recurrent abdominal pain), weight management, adjustment to transplant, encopresis, and enuresis.

Interns also gain exposure to ADHD, anxiety, and mood disorders including obsessive-compulsive disorder and bipolar disorder, family adjustment issues including divorce and sibling issues, as well as early childhood issues such as child behavior management, parent-child interaction, pediatric feeding disorders, and growth deficiency.

If an intern has a special area of interest, cases may be selected to help foster further growth in that area. Interns participate in individual and family based treatment modalities.

Interns participate in the Behavior Consultation Clinic for six months. This clinic is designed to provide short-term services for parents and children ages birth to eight years for a wide range of behavioral and developmental concerns such as parent-child conflict, sleep problems, toileting concerns, daycare difficulties, noncompliance, and sibling rivalry.

This unique clinic was developed to meet the needs of pediatricians in the area. A preventative, developmentally-based treatment model is applied. The clinic is on Friday mornings with live supervision provided during the entire clinic via a one-way mirror.

Appointments are 30 minutes and therapy focuses on short-term, goal-oriented techniques. Interns frequently interact with child care providers in order to implement recommendations for that setting. Interns also have teaching opportunities as medical residents frequently observe behind the mirror.

Ongoing groups are provided throughout the training year to help address common disruptive behaviors associated with ADHD, such as noncompliance and aggression. Child social skills groups provide help with poor peer relationships. Interns gain experience coordinating and leading both the parent and child groups.

Individualized follow-up treatment for child and family is thereafter available on an as needed basis. Ongoing consultation and inservice training are also provided. Interns have the opportunities to follow-up with physicians and school to help ensure implementation of recommendations.

Interns will have opportunities for both family-based and group treatment for children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. The intern will assist with screening, planning, and leading groups for children with high-functioning ASD.

Additionally, the intern will provide family-based behavior therapy to assist families with understanding and adjusting to the diagnosis of ASD, address comorbid conditions (e.g., anxiety, feeding difficulties, behavior management), and assist with resource identification.

The Cardiology Consultation Program was developed to extend our liaison connection to the Cardiology Program. This is primarily an outpatient consultation program that serves infants, young children, and their families referred by the cardio-surgery and cardiology program and present with behavioral issues compromising medical care.

This program focuses on working with the Division of Orthopedics to enhance their care of families with children who have Cerebral Palsy. Interns will see families in clinic, along with orthopedists, nurses, nutritionists, and social workers to develop multidisciplinary recommendations for school, development, and emotional functioning.

This is an interdisciplinary diabetes serving high risk children and adolescents diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Youth and families are seen co-jointly by a Diabetes Advanced Nurse Practitioner or Physician and a psychology resident (supervised by the attending psychologist). The psychology intern also provides health behavior assessment and interventions using empirically based strategies to help families cope with adherence challenges.

This program focuses on providing services to youngsters with functional abdominal pain, inflammatory bowel disease (i.e., Crohn’s Disease, Colitis), encopresis, and other functional GI disorders. The resident is involved in conducting consultation and ongoing therapy, as well as collaborating with a multidisciplinary team.

In addition, the resident participates in GI-Psychology Rounds. While one intern will be primarily associated with this program, psychological involvement for GI disorders is a common part of our referral base.

This is an interdisciplinary family group intervention to empower youth and families to meet the challenges associated with Type I diabetes. Families learn problem solving and communication strategies to overcome challenges in diabetes management. The team includes a diabetes Advanced Nurse Practitioner, nutritionist, psychology fellow and psychology intern (supervised by attending psychologist).

Interns will participate with the multidisciplinary Weight Management team to evaluate and develop treatment recommendations for children and adolescents who are struggling with obesity. As well, interns will participate in our Adolescent Bariatric Surgery Program.

This seminar is held for two hours weekly and is geared to the needs of psychology interns.

Sessions address the following:

• Basic issues in general and subspecialty pediatric medical care. Topics presented reflect the broad range of medical specialties within the hospital, ranging from psychosocial aspects of diabetes management to child abuse, genetics, headaches, and somatoform illnesses. The willingness of pediatric specialists, many of who are nationally and internationally recognized for their work, to present to psychology interns speaks highly of the regard for training in the hospital.
• Child clinical training issues, e.g., individual and family therapy techniques, various assessment measures.
• Psychosocial ramifications of a variety of medical presentations, including acute and chronic illnesses. The overlap between medical and psychological illnesses in children and families.
• Ethical issues, including the APA Code of Ethics, with particular application to the practice of psychology within a child/medical setting.
• Sensitivity and exposure to issues related to working with children and families representing diverse cultural backgrounds.
• Development of skills related to professional practice (e.g., interviewing, writing research grants, preparing vitae, post-doctoral opportunities)

1 hour weekly. Interns meet with faculty members to discuss current assessments and/or review/discuss tests. Interns gain the opportunity to hear the wide range of assessments being conducted, benefit from group input and supervision, and learn about new tests.

1 hour biweekly. Interns meet with faculty member to discuss ongoing family therapy cases. Supervision is provided via videotapes of sessions. Interns benefit from group input and are provided the opportunity to process themes across various family therapy cases.

Interns are encouraged to attend weekly Pediatric Grand Rounds and other training experiences that are sponsored by the duPont Hospital for Children. Interns also are encouraged to attend monthly ethics rounds sponsored by the hospital. In addition, interns are encouraged to attend rounds or journal clubs offered by medical subspecialties (e.g., neurology, endocrinology, or gastroenterology).