Clinical Training Program
Click on the following links for handbook information:
Practicum & Internship Handbook (Part I)
Clinic Handbook (pdf)
The SCCP Clinical Training Program
In order to be effective in clinical work, students must learn to integrate theoretical knowledge with applied experience. The SCCP Clinical Program is designed to provide students with opportunities to develop their applied clinical skills. The program has four main components:
1. Practicum Courses:
The practicum courses are supervised by SCCP faculty and include work with clients through the Counselling and Psychoeducational Clinic, see http://clinic.oise.utoronto.ca. Students in the MA practicum are expected to learn the fundamentals of diagnosis. These skills are taught in the seminar using lectures and video. Students are evaluated on their knowledge of diagnosis on an in-class test. The Ph.D. practicum course is typically taken in the second year of the doctorate.
2. MA Practicum Placement:
The MA practicum placement is administered through required course HDP1218 Seminar and Practicum in Assessment. It consists of a one day per week placement typically in a school setting. In a typical school board placement, students are likely to acquire assessment experience related to learning issues: slow and gifted learners, learning disabilities, attention problems and English as a second language. At a minimum students must complete at least two full assessments while in their placement and they should learn about the role of a school psychologist.
Students are required to complete a minimum of 250 hours in the practicum setting and must receive a minimum of one hour per week supervision from the setting supervisor. It is expected that 20% of that time will be in direct client contact.
3. Ph.D. Practicum Placement:
The PhD practicum is administered through the required course HDP3241 Seminar and Practicum in Assessment and Intervention with Children. It consists of a two day per week placement, typically in a clinic setting, as well as seminar meetings on alternate weeks. Many placements prefer students who already have some applied experience. To get an understanding of the placement options that are available, registered students attend the annual Placement Representative Meeting. At this meeting, representatives from clinical practicum and internship settings describe their placements and meet with interested students.
Students are required to complete at least 500 hours in their doctoral placement setting and must receive a minimum of 2 hours per week of supervision from the setting supervisor. It is expected that approximately 25% of that time will be in direct client contact.
Some students may wish to gain additional practicum experience prior to undertaking their internship through an additional practicum placement. This may involve an out-of-pocket expense for the student equal to the amount of the honorarium payment to the supervisor.
4. Ph.D. Internship:
This requirement is administered through course HDP3242. The internship occurs at the end of the program, once all other course requirements have been met.
Students are expected to enter the APPIC match process and apply for APA/CPA accredited placements. Because there are only a few APA/CPA accredited internships in the Greater Toronto Area, students should expect to travel outside of Toronto for their internships (e.g., London, Hamilton, Ottawa) or even outside of Ontario (e.g., other provinces or the United States).
The APPIC application process starts at:
www.APPIC.ORG
www.natmatch.com/psychint