The Child Guidance Center of Southern Connecticut is an independent non-profit agency that has served southwestern Fairfield County since 1954. A staff of over 35 clinicians offers a full array of outpatient mental health services to children, adolescents, and their families. The agency’s focus is to thoroughly evaluate each child and family so that treatment services can be matched to specific developmental, dynamic, systemic and behavioral needs.

Evaluations at the Center include Developmental Evaluations of pre-schoolers, psychological and neuro-psychological testing, psychiatric and psychopharmacological evaluations, crisis evaluations, and sexual abuse forensic investigations. Individual, group and family treatment along with psychopharmacological services are available for patients.

The Center also provides consultative services to day care providers, Head Start and Early Head Start, public and private schools, and the local police departments. Community education is offered to community groups, parent groups and other professionals in the area.

The Center provides individual, weekly supervision to each member of the clinical staff, and two hours of individual supervision each week for post-doctoral fellows. A full schedule of weekly seminars and case conferences are provided for all staff and people in training. Each clinician and trainee also participates in interdisciplinary treatment planning meetings. Psychologists, fellows and interns also attend a weekly testing seminar in which raw test data is reviewed in detail and discussed. New tests and new findings regarding testing are also discussed at these seminars. Fellows additionally attend a bi-weekly CBT seminar and a bi-weekly family therapy seminar. A neuro-psychology seminar and a reading study group round out the training activities.

The Child Guidance Center has its main facility in Stamford, Connecticut and community offices in the surrounding towns of Greenwich, Darien, and New Canaan. These sites are smaller but, are equipped similar to the Stamford office, and provide a full array of mental health services. The Director of Training oversees all of the agency’s facilities. Fellows will spend the great majority of their time at the Stamford facility, but may be asked to see patients in any one of the community offices. In most cases Fellows working at those offices will have immediate access to a clinical supervisor, but in cases where that is not possible a clinical supervisor will always be available by phone.

The staff of the agency includes three full-time licensed psychologists, and a consulting faculty of four additional licensed psychologists.

Prerequisites:

The Center requires that all fellowship applicants have completed all professional doctoral degree requirements from a regionally accredited institution of higher education, or an APA/CPA accredited program. Applicants should, by the start of their fellowship, have completed a pre-doctoral internship that meets APPIC standards, have a diploma in hand or have a letter from the Director of graduate studies verifying the completion of all degree requirements pending institution graduation ceremony.

Fellows having completed doctoral studies in fields other than clinical, counseling, or school psychology must have received a certificate of equivalency from an APA/CPA accredited university program attesting to their having met APA/CPA standards, including internship.

More specifically, we ask that applicants have prior clinical experience providing psychotherapy and psychological testing, and that they have received close clinical supervision in each of these areas.

Fellowship Program Philosophy and Goals:

The goal of the Child Guidance Center fellowship is to provide a varied, high quality training experience that will support post-doctoral students in the further development of their base of knowledge, and clinical skills in working with children, adolescents and their families. Fellows will receive training in individual, family, and group psychotherapy. As we are a community-based agency providing service to all segments of society, our fellows will gain experience working with a patient population that is diversified with regard to ethnicity, socio-economic status, diagnosis, and level of behavioral and cognitive functioning. Training therefore includes emphasis on the broad-based skills involved in listening and communicating with children and adult patients across these spectrums, and also includes a focus on diagnostic and treatment issues that are specific to each diagnostic group. Training additionally includes emphasis on the development of cultural competence.

The fellowship will include comprehensive training in clinical and developmental assessment with a strong emphasis placed on the synthesis of dynamic, systemic, cognitive, biological, environmental and cultural influences. Fellows will gain experience in cognitive, educational, projective and neuro-psychological testing. Again, the focus will be on integration of all aspects of the testing process into a comprehensive and meaningful report. Fellows will also participate on treatment planning teams, in staff seminars, and case conferences. There will also be the opportunity for fellows to receive training in specialty areas such as sex abuse investigations, crisis intervention, developmental evaluations of youngsters under 6, and postventions to community disasters. Consistent with our interest in community education, fellows will conduct community workshops, consultations with other agencies and schools (including Head Start and Pre-School Programs), participate in interagency collaborations, and play an advocacy role on community resource teams. Every attempt will be made to provide fellows with as well rounded an experience as possible. Supervisors will also make efforts to design an experience that meets the specific interests of each fellow whenever possible.

Training will take place through a variety of modalities including individual supervision for treatment cases, individual and group supervision on testing cases, participation in all staff and psychology seminars, staff case conferences, and staff administrative meetings. Opportunities for attending conferences and seminars at other sites will also be available and encouraged. Fellows will also have the opportunity to participate on interagency collaboratives established within the community.

Fellows will be asked to assist in the supervision of externs being trained at the Center. Additional supervision on the supervisory process will be included in the training of any fellow involved in the supervision of externs.

Fellows will be expected to work 40 hours a week, including a minimum of six evening (after 5:00 pm) hours per week. A flextime schedule will be developed to suit the needs of fellow and the Center. The fellowship training year will extend from approximately September 1 through August 31.

The Fellowship Program at the Child Guidance Center is designed to meet all the license requirements for post-doctoral supervised practice within Connecticut and neighboring states.

The fellowship program is anticipated to be completed (40 hours/wk) over the course of 12 months, but is not to last beyond 24 months from the time that the fellowship begins.

Fellows will receive graduation certificates at the successful completion of the training program.

Programs of the Center

The Child Guidance Center of Southern Connecticut offers the following programs:

Child and Family Therapy: The Child and Family Therapy Program offers treatment services to children ages 1-18 and their families. Children and parents seen in this program are deemed to not be not in crisis and able to wait for up to a week to be seen. Individual, group or family therapy may be offered depending upon the initial family assessment and the joint recommendation of the clinician and the treatment planning team. Parents may also be seen for a variety of services including parental guidance, marital counseling, group or individual treatment.

Crisis Intervention Program: The same services that are offered in the Child and Family Therapy Program are available in the Crisis Program, but the focus and intensity of the services differ. Children are assigned to this program when in a psychiatric emergency (e.g., suicidal, homicidal, traumatized, etc.). Children assigned to the Crisis Program are seen either the same day, or the next day depending upon the information gleaned by phone. The program has the capacity to be mobile. The focus of assessment and treatment is to stabilize the patient and family and make a decision concerning the need for further services. An attempt is made to avoid hospitalization whenever possible.

Child Guidance-Community Policing Program: This program is a replication of the program prototype originally developed between the Yale Child-Study Center and the New Haven Police Department. It was the ninth of such sites in the country. Staff in this program is available to the Stamford Police Department 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We offer the police mental health consultation or direct intervention for any police matter affecting a child. Examples of circumstances for which we have been called have included such things as the suicide of a parent, apparent child neglect, the arrest of a family member, exposure to domestic violence, or exposure to a violent crime. The program also includes a weekly meeting with members of the police department to review old, and plan for new cases, and to discuss cases that have been jointly attended to. A clinical meeting follows each of the meetings with the police. We are also involved in training police officers in matters involving child development and mental health issues. Our participating staff is trained by police officers on police procedures.

Program for HIV Affected Children (HAC): HAC is a specially granted program developed to provide mental health services and permanency planning for children and adolescents affected by HIV. The program has also included the making of “legacy” videotapes where parents are assisted in conveying a farewell message to their children. Families in the program are also helped in gaining assistance from other community services such as camps, after-school programs, and medical services. Program participants are also active members of an interagency team which focuses on planning and coordination of services for these youngsters and their families.

Sexual Abuse Response Team (SART): SART is a collaborative formed by members of this agency along with representatives of the local police departments, child protective services, the Sexual Assault Crisis Center, the State’s Attorney’s Office, and others. This SART’s purpose is to see to it that child victims of sexual assault are interviewed in a timely, thorough and sensitive manner. The team also attempts to assure that victims and their families are supported, in whatever ways necessary, throughout their ordeal. The Child Guidance Center is responsible for conducting investigative interviews of children in lower Fairfield County who have disclosed sexual abuse, as well as providing treatment for children who have been victimized and are in need of therapeutic intervention. The Center also serves a consultative role with police, school systems, the court system, and protective services.

In-Home Treatment Program: The in-home program has been in existence since 2003. The program is designed for the intensive treatment of adolescents with multiple and severe behavioral problems including substance use, violence and school failure. Multiple Dimensional Family Therapy is the evidence based treatment modal employed. Adolescents are seen individually and with their family and extended family members, both in their homes and at the Center.

Core Training Experiences

Treatment Services

Approximately 50% of each fellow’s time will be spent providing direct clinical services to patients. Patients range in age from pre-school to adult, and are diverse with regard to socio-economic status, ethnicity and diagnosis.

• Child psychotherapy cases: Fellows will be expected to do initial assessments of incoming patients. These assessments will include family and developmental histories, and the attainment of all pertinent information necessary for making a diagnostic and dynamic formulation. Fellows will be asked to collaborate with families to formulate treatment plans and will also participate with clinical staff as part of an interdisciplinary treatment planning team. The range of available treatment interventions at the Center includes individual, group, and family therapy, and psychopharmacology, as well as parent guidance, and case management.
• Fellows will be expected to carry a minimum of 15 individual therapy cases. Cases will be seen on either a once or twice weekly basis, and will be divided between pre-school, school aged, adolescent and adult patients. Adult patients may also be seen for “parent guidance” or other mental health services.
• Fellows will develop, lead or co-lead one or more time-limited groups during the course of the academic year.
• Fellows will be expected to administer approximately one psychological or neuro-psychological test battery and report every two months.
• Fellows will be given the opportunity to observe and/or participate in sexual abuse investigations.
• Fellows will be given the opportunity to observe and participate in the developmental evaluations of children under age 6.
• Fellows will be required to do one formal case presentation to the staff before the end of their fellowship year.
• Fellows will be encouraged to participate in all of the programs of the agency, including continuing education provided throughout the academic year to the clinical staff.
• Fellows will have the opportunity to be involved in the interviewing and selection process for incoming interns.

Supervision

Each intern will be provided with two individual supervisory sessions per week. These supervisory hours will focus on individual, group and family treatment, or on psychological testing depending on the need of the fellow. An additional hour of weekly group supervision that will focus on psychological and neuro-psychological testing will also be provided. This testing supervision will include all graduate psychology students and fellows as well as all psychology staff.

Fellows will also be a part of a training seminar designed for all trainees at the Center. This is a multi-module program that is designed to prepare fellows for each of the services and specialty services they will provide at the Center. The program extends throughout the greater part of the academic year with modules being 1-4 weeks long. Topics range from the Beginning Stage of Psychotherapy to the Termination Stage, with other areas of focus including Crisis Intervention, Consultation, Developmental Evaluations, Family Work and so on. Fellows will also be part of on-going group supervisions in Family Therapy, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, and Interpretative Play Therapy.

Additional learning opportunities will be offered in the form of collaboration with senior staff involved in the various specialized programs of the Center. These will include the fellow’s participation in and observation of sexual abuse investigations, work with children affected by HIV, children exposed to violence and other forms of trauma, and the fellow’s work with children seen through our crisis intervention program. Fellows will also receive supervision for any community service they provide (e.g., Child Protection Teams, presentations to community groups, attendance at school meetings, etc.)

Didactic Seminars and Treatment Planning Team Participation

Each fellow will have the opportunity to participate in one or more of the Treatment Planning Teams that meet weekly at the Center. Team meetings are all interdisciplinary and meet for approximately 90 minutes once each week. Active Teams at the Center include those for Child and Family Therapy, and the Crisis Intervention Program. Students may also sit in on the meetings of the Child Guidance-Community Policing Collaboration, the Sex Abuse Response Team, and Greater Stamford System of Care. These community collaboratives meet weekly, bi-weekly and monthly, respectively.

Fellows will be included in all in-service didactic training that takes place at the Center. Didactic seminars occur at approximately twice monthly throughout the academic year with speakers from outside the agency and speakers within the agency who present on topics selected by a staff committee that meets during the summer months. Topics include areas of training that the staff and administration of the Center feel most relevant to the work being done at the Center and to programs being developed.

Each fellow will also be invited to attend conferences and seminars sponsored by the Connecticut Community Providers Association, a consortium of all the independent Child Guidance Centers throughout the state.

Additionally, fellows will attend formal case conferences held at the Center. These conferences occur on a bi-monthly basis with each member of staff presenting at some point during the year. With the approval of the Director of Training, fellows are permitted to request attendance at professional conferences outside of the Center. They are also offered the opportunity to participate in a study group that is designed, each year, with the training needs of the agency and the interests of the fellows in mind.

Fellows will also be required to present a case of their own during the spring of their fellowship year. Additional supervision on this process will be provided.

Psychological Testing

Fellows will receive extensive training in psychological and neuro-psychological testing. Individual testing supervision and a weekly testing seminar will be offered to all fellows. Additional didactic training in neuro-psychological testing will be offered as a module in an additional seminar designed for psychology fellows and interns. Testing supervision will focus on the integration of cognitive, developmental, behavioral, personality and neuro-psychological findings. Supervisions will also accentuate report writing and feedback with patients, parents and schools.

Research

Fellows are encouraged to propose research ideas and will be supported in efforts to conduct approved research at the Center. Fellows may be asked to participate in research conducted for the purpose of program development, evaluation of already existing programs (including analysis of outcome data), or other research thought to be of benefit to the patient population.

Evaluations

Fellows will be formally evaluated at the end of the training year. Supervisors will include fellows in the evaluation process. A mid-year review of progress and goals will be conducted with each fellow.

Grievance Procedure

Fellows who have concerns about their training experience, supervision, or other work related matters should first discuss the matter with their supervisor or members of the Center’s management team. If this proves unsatisfactory, a formal grievance may be filed with the Director of Training to assure reconsideration of the matter. Additional steps of appeal are to the Executive Director and ultimately to the Personnel Committee of the Board of Directors.

Application Process

Applicants are asked to mail:

• A curriculum vitae
• A graduate school transcript
• A copy of two anonymous psychological and/or neuro-psychological test reports
• A case summary of a long term treatment case with a child or adolescent patient
• A letter of recommendation from a clinical supervisor outside to their university
• A letter of recommendation from a supervisor or professor within their university

To: Child Guidance Center of Southern Connecticut, Inc.
      103 West Broad Street
      Stamford, CT 06902
      Attn: Director of Training