Psychology Training Opportunities
PRACTICUM Experience at Children’s Hospital Autism Intervention (CHAI)
Children’s Hospital Autism Intervention (CHAI) offers a unique learning opportunity for trainees in graduate psychology programs at the pre-internship level. At CHAI, practicum students can join a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary team of professionals consisting of a developmental and clinical psychologist, clinical child psychologist, behaviorist, early interventionist, speech and language pathologist, and occupational therapist. CHAI creates treatment plans that are individually based, supporting the child in the following areas: communication, social and emotional functioning, learning and cognitive skills, sensory-motor processing, adaptive skills, and family dynamics.
Practicum goals are to provide:
- Training about autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and supervised experience in autism intervention. The training also covers infant and early childhood development and methods of working with families.
- Training about the range of psychotherapeutic approaches available for intervention with young children, from highly structured behavioral approaches (e.g., Applied Behavioral Analysis), to relationship and play-based developmental, psychodynamic approaches.
- Supervised experience in psychotherapy and assessment of young children diagnosed with ASD and their families, and consultations with their childcare programs and schools.
- Experience working with other disciplines (specifically speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and education specialists).
As a primary therapist, the practicum student will help to oversee and case manage the child’s overall program, create and monitor goals and progress, support the child’s family, and work collaboratively with fellow team members and the professional staff.
Clinical services are provided for each child at the CHAI center site, or in three different possible off-site locations: the child’s or relative’s home, a childcare setting or at a school.
Sessions and responsibilities
Sessions are 4-hour blocks of time, in the morning (8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.) and afternoon (1:30 to 5:30 p.m.) and students are expected to work three to four sessions a week.
2nd and 3rd year practicum students from Alliant/CSPP and JFK: 16 hours a week, which will include three sessions at either the center, home*, or childcare* setting
3rd year practicum students from Wright Institute, PGSP, and Argosy: 20 hours a week, which will include four sessions at either the center, home*, or childcare* setting
* Car required
Individual supervision is provided by three staff psychologists:
Mimi W. Lou, PhD
Laureen Wong, PhD
Kwan Hansongkitpong, PsyD
Program supervision/consultation/guidance is also available from the SLP, Tamar Enoch, MA, CCC-SLP, and the Occupational Therapist, Olivia Benvineau, OTR.
Contact
Mimi W. Lou, PhD
Children's Hospital Autism Intervention Program (CHAI)
747 52nd St.
Oakland, CA 94609
(510) 428-3885, ext. 8443
mlou@mail.cho.org
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