Applied Training in the CCP Program

Applied clinical training typically begins in the second year of the program and in the context of the introductory practicum course (PSY556). Students enrolled in this practicum course provide supervised mental health services (psychotherapy and assessment) in the USA Psychological Clinic. Students must complete 9 credit hours in PSY556, which typically concludes in the summer of their second year. During this time students are required to see a wide range of clients in the clinic. Though some clients may be in a student’s area of desired specialization, the program deems it important that the student’s clinical exposure in their initial practicum is generalized and broad. The initial nine credit hours of clinical training is meant to reflect the program’s philosophy that a broad foundational clinical skill set is important. 

Students begin the advanced practicum during their third year of training (CCP756). Students are required to complete 9 credits hours in CCP756, which typically concludes in the summer of their third year. Students enrolled in this practicum course continue to see clients in the USA Psychological Clinic, but may begin seeing clients presented with more complicated psychopathology and/or presenting issues that conform to the student’s preferred area of specialization. Students enrolled in CCP756 are supervised by the assigned course instructor. 

Students may begin to obtain specialized training experiences in areas of specific interest at various times during their training. Such specialty experiences may occur within the clinic, but more often occur outside the clinic at sponsored agencies and are either supervised by a CCP Core Faculty Member or an appropriate credentialed and vetted supervisor at the sponsoring agency. All decisions to become involved in specialty training activities are made in consultation with the student’s mentor and the CCP Leadership. Students interested in obtaining specialized practicum training experiences should speak with their mentor, who will discuss how such training might within the student's training plan. Specialized training experiences are not limited to those that have been established by a student's primary mentor, but students must first speak with their mentor before approaching other faculty members about specialized practica. Students are directed to devote only a small portion of their time to specialty training activities during the initial six semesters of foundational clinical training. Students may devote more time to such training experiences as they progress through the program. 

Students in their fourth year of training and who have completed the required 9 credits each of PSY556 and CCP756 will be able to take on the role of Peer Supervisor. This role is an optional training experience and is not required. Fourth year students can choose to 1) focus on providing peer supervision, 2) balance peer supervision with providing services in the clinic, or 3) devote their time exclusively to providing services in the clinic, depending on their goals. Students will enroll in the section of practicum for which they serve as the Peer Supervisor. Students will discuss with the practicum instructor their preferred balance of effort, and how these efforts will further their professional development. The supervisees and cases supervised by Peer Supervisors will be decided on collaboratively with input from the practicum instructor, the peer supervisor, and the supervisee(s). 

The USA Psychological Clinic

The USA Psychological Clinic serves as a training setting for all CCP students. The clinic has eight individual therapy and testing rooms, one child playroom with toys, two large rooms for group therapy, a large student workroom equipped with Wi-Fi internet access, a small computer lab in the clinic, and a HIPAA-compliant encrypted hard drive that stores video feeds from each service room to allow for direct observation of students’ clinical work. Each student is provided their own individual workspace in the student workroom as well.

External Clinical Placements

CCP Students are able to participate in a variety of applied training activities in the community according to the policies on specialized training experienced as described above. All applied training activities that occur outside of the USA Psychological Clinic and outside of the student's Assistantship must be submitted to the CCP faculty for review according to the Outside Employment & Voluntary Training policies and procedures, have suitable supervision provided by an appropriately credentialed supervisor, and involve at least one point of direct observation (live or recorded) of the student’s clinical work each semester by a licensed psychologist. Such external placements are approved at the discretion of the CCP Leadership. Examples of external placements offering specialty training experiences include, but are not limited to:

• Clinical Neuropsychology

  • Alabama Head Injury Foundation

  • Comprehensive MedPsych Systems

  • USA Athletics Department

• Veterans' Mental Health

  • Gulf Coast VA Health Care System

  • Veterans Recovery Resources

• Child & Family Mental Health

  • Alabama Department of Human Resources (child welfare)

  • Learning Tree Growing Independence Behavioral Services 

  • Mobile County Public School System

  • Strickland Youth Center & Mobile County Juvenile Court

  • Parent Child Interaction Therapy (USA Psychological Clinic)

• Integrated Health Care

  • Franklin Primary Care Clinic (federally-qualified health clinic)

  • Mitchell Cancer Institute

  • USA Ambulatory Health Services - Stanton Road Clinic

  • USA Health Systems Pediatrics

  • USA Family Specialty Services

• College Student Mental Health: USA Counseling & Testing Center

• Inpatient Psychiatry: EastPointe Inpatient Psychiatric Unit

• Clinical Supervision of junior students in psychology and counseling

Clinical Hours Expectations & Tracking

In order to ensure that students are prepared and competitive in applying for predoctoral internship, it is essential that students monitor and accrue sufficient direct clinical contact hours each semester of the CCP Program. Students must have a minimum of 500 hours of direct clinical contact hours by the time they apply for internship, which typically occurs in the fall of the fourth year. More typically, students will have obtained between 750 and 900 hours by the time they apply for internship. 

Table 4 describes the recommended rate of hours accrual throughout the CCP Program. Students are required to complete 60 hours of direct clinical services in each of the fall and spring semesters of their general clinical practicum courses. Students are required to complete 30 hours of direct clinical services in each of the summer semesters of their general clinical practicum courses. These requirements ensure that students will obtain, at a minimum, 300 direct clinical service hours at the end of their general practicum. These requirements combined with hours accrued through external and specialty practica should result in an average rate of 80-120 hours per semester and a minimum of 640 direct service hours by the end of their six semesters of general clinical practicum courses. 

Students must utilize Time-2-Track to monitor the accumulation of their clinical hours throughout their time in the CCP Program, beginning in the first year. Time2Track is a paid service that enables students to enter and monitor their hours, which then directly links to and imports those hours into the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers-Application for Psychology Internships (i.e., the APPI). Students are responsible for costs associated with subscribing to Time-2-Track. Students enrolled in CCP practica courses (PSY556, CCP756, CCP782) must enter and submit their hours for approval prior to the end of the semester. Practicum instructors may create their own course policies that are more stringent in terms of the regularity of hours submission and approval. Submission of hours for approval is a requirement of practica courses and failure to do so is grounds for grade reduction, including a failing grade. Students should consult with their specialty and external practicum supervisors and their mentors regarding expectations of the regularity of hours submission and approval. 

Supervision

Students enrolled in general clinical practicum courses are assigned a faculty supervisor for their work in the clinic. Though the specific approaches to and structure of supervision may vary between supervisors, supervision will occur weekly and all supervisors will document at least one instance of direct observation of clinical work, usually by video tape, during each semester of clinical practice. It is expected that clinical supervisors will directly observe students’ service delivery more frequently in early portions of the student’s clinic experience. Supervisors assigned to the general clinical practica courses rotate each semester throughout the program ensuring students get exposure to a wide variety of supervisor backgrounds, theoretical orientations, and perspectives. Over the course of the general clinical practicum sequence, students will receive approximately 200 hours of individual/triadic and group supervision from faculty. 

Evidence-Based Practice

The CCP Program espouses a strong commitment to the principles of Evidence-Based Psychological Practice. This commitment is congruent with and complementary to our Scientist-Practitioner model of training. While working in the clinic, students will be exposed to a variety of Evidence Based Practice models in both psychotherapy and assessment practice. These include:

• Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

• Culturally Competent Therapy Approaches

• Emotion-Focused Therapy

• Interpersonal Therapy

• Mindfulness-Based Therapy

• Parent Management Training

• Parent Child Interaction Therapy

• Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

• Symptom-Validity Tests

Internship

Students complete their pre-doctoral psychology internship during what is typically their 5th year in the program. Internships are obtained via the match operated through the APPIC Internship Matching Program. These internships will typically be geographically distal from USA and Mobile. Students must register for the internship class (CCP797) during each semester in which they are completing their internship. Students may take this as a zero-credit course.