Clinical Psychology Training Sites

Parkland Memorial Hospital Inpatient, Outpatient, and Consult-Liaison Services

The Department of Psychiatry operates a 20-bed acute psychiatric ward in Parkland Memorial Hospital, the primary teaching hospital of UT Southwestern Medical School. This is essentially a short-term treatment center that provides opportunities for contact with a wide range of patients with a diversity of disorders. The Department also maintains an outpatient service at Parkland Hospital which serves the psychiatric needs of a large section of the community.

A consultation/liaison service offers consultation to other departments within Parkland and across the Medical School. There are conferences and discussions regarding patients with various physical symptoms or disabilities for which psychological and neuropsychological evaluations are requested, or in which the participation of a mental health professional is desirable.

Parkland Memorial Hospital Psychiatric Emergency Room

The Psychiatry Emergency Room of Parkland Memorial Hospital is one of the main sources of health care for a very large segment of the population of Dallas County. Its primary function is the care of true emergency psychiatric patients, or acutely distressed and disturbed patients, individuals with rapidly changing health situations, and trauma victims. Brief intake evaluation, crisis intervention, and appropriate subsequent referral are the primary tasks on this service. All students receive training in the Parkland ER through a shared rotation schedule beginning the third semester of the first year, through the second semester of the third year.                                                                                                                         

Neuropsychology Service

The Neuropsychology Service provides neuropsychological evaluations to adult in- and outpatients with a variety of known or suspected brain disorders. Common referrals include Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, intracranial neoplasms, aneurysm, and traumatic brain injury. Referral sources include psychiatric, neurological, and neurosurgery clinics as well as other departments (e.g., Rehabilitation Medicine, Rheumatology) throughout the Medical Center and outside physicians and attorneys.

The approach to neuropsychological assessment reflects a blend of qualitative (process) and quantitative strategies, using a variety of standard instruments. Evaluations are tailored to specific populations, referral questions, and individual needs. Students are involved in interviewing, assessment, feedback, and report preparation. Opportunities for participation in various neurology, neurosurgery and neuropsychology case conferences, and other training experiences, are available. Trainees also interact with Fellows in the Postdoctoral Training Program in Clinical Neuropsychology.

Children's Medical Center Psychological Services

Children's Medical Center Dallas is a private pediatric general medical and surgical hospital affiliated with UT Southwestern Medical Center. The hospital has a 12-bed child and adolescent psychiatric inpatient service, along with a day treatment and outpatient psychiatric program. In addition to the psychiatric service, students also have opportunities to work with a broad range of physically ill and disabled children, their families, and other health service personnel through the psychiatry consultation-liaison service at Children's.

Department of Family and Community Medicine

UT Southwestern’s Department of Family and Community Medicine offers a clinical internship for at least one clinical psychology student per year. The student is placed in one of two of the Parkland Family Medicine outpatient clinics that are staffed by the UT Southwestern Family Medicine faculty and residents. The student’s duties include: diagnostic and pre-surgical evaluations; individual, marital, and group psychotherapy; behavioral medicine interventions; crisis intervention; lectures presented at the resident conference; and a joint patient presentation with a resident that is also presented at the Wednesday afternoon conference.

UT Southwestern Clinical Psychology Psychotherapy Program

The UT Southwestern Psychotherapy Clinic is an adult outpatient psychiatric clinic administered through the Department of Psychiatry. The Clinic has two primary functions: to provide low cost outpatient psychotherapy services to patients who meet admission criteria to the clinic, and to enhance the training of both psychology graduate students and psychiatric residents. Students in the third semester of their first year and through the end of their fourth year are assigned a minimum of two patients in outpatient psychotherapy referred through this clinic.

Each academic year a supervisor is assigned to students for their Southwestern Clinic patients. This training clinic provides independent practice-like experiences for the student, as well as the opportunity to follow patients over a longer period of time if appropriate to patient need.  Additionally, this setting facilitates the close collaboration between psychology and psychiatry trainees.

Dallas County Juvenile Department

The Dallas County Juvenile Department provides legal and protective services to children age 17 and younger. This setting provides assessment and treatment experiences with families and groups of delinquent children, and consultation with court-related foster care agencies, court officers, and court personnel.

School Consultation Placements

The psychology division has arrangements with public and/or private schools to provide psychological services in the school systems. Students have the opportunity to train in these settings, which typically involve children from preschool through high school. Students receive training in a school consultation model, which includes psychological evaluation, crisis intervention, classroom and individual behavioral observation, and program development.

Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas

The internship at Texas Health Resources' Presbyterian Hospital is a yearly neuropsychological assessment rotation. The student intern will be primarily responsible for conducting half-day and full-day neuropsychological assessments on a broad range of outpatient populations. The student will initially be expected to spend a majority of their time administering and scoring neuropsychological tests. As they become more proficient at administration and scoring, more time will then be devoted to interviewing patients and report writing. Students will have the opportunity to attend monthly Psychiatry grand rounds, monthly epilepsy case conferences for surgical candidates, and bi-monthly dementia case conference meetings.

SMU Student Health Services

The Student Health Service of Southern Methodist University provides excellent opportunities to deal with a wide range of young adults. Clients come to this setting with problems ranging from relatively minor academic issues to serious personal and interpersonal situations and/or mental illness. Thus, the student trainee placed in this setting has the opportunity to learn to deal not only with the clinical issues of such a population, but also with the environmental support systems offered by the institution.

Forensic Psychology Associates of Texas

Forensic Psychology Associates of Texas is a private forensic psychology and neuropsychology practice comprised of three clinical psychologists who perform a variety of evaluations. Individuals evaluated include: adults and older adolescents involved in the criminal justice system or civil courts; persons receiving addiction treatment at a local residential facility; persons seeking disability for mental illness; and persons desiring employment in public safety (e.g., police officers, firefighters, jailers) or healthcare.  Students will have the opportunity to participate in the assessment process of such individuals, to learn about the interface between psychology and the law, and to gather/enhance clinical skills for testing and interviewing. They will also receive exposure to courtroom and deposition testimony.  

The University of Texas at Arlington

The UT Arlington Mental Health Service provides basic psychiatric and psychological services to the campus community (students, faculty, and staff) in a team approach with other health professionals. Clinical services include intake assessments, treatment planning, and brief to extended psychotherapy. Testing services include Adult ADD Screening and Assessment.

Cleburne Community Supervision Department

This department provides forensic and clinical services to individuals on probation. These services include assessment reports submitted to Probation Officers, leading anger management groups, counseling probationers who are experiencing distress, and providing individual weekly psychotherapy surrounding a variety of issues.

Baylor University Medical Center

Women's Psychology Services, established in 2004, is a collaborative endeavor of the BUMC Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and faculty and doctoral students of UT Southwestern Psychology Division, to provide largely pro bono psychological consultations for hospitalized patients and outpatients of the Ob-Gyn physicians and residents. The focus of the service is to provide integrated and comprehensive care in the following areas: diagnostic evaluations with inpatients and outpatients of the Ob-Gyn service, psychotherapy (brief and long-term), general inpatient consultation, comprehensive personality assessment, education, and outreach.

Fairhill School and Diagnostic Assessment Center

The Fairhill rotation is primarily an experience in assessment. Fairhill is a private, coed day school serving students with learning disorders. The Diagnostic Assessment Center (DAC) provides psychological and psycho-educational assessment services to Fairhill students and also to the general public. Trainees are assigned to the DAC where they conduct diagnostic assessments, write assessment reports, and participate in assessment feedback and recommendation conferences.

They also have the opportunity to work directly with Fairhill students in a counselor/therapist capacity, present to student classes and/or school staff, and collaborate with school staff in formulating and implementing educational and behavioral interventions. Trainees are treated as staff at Fairhill, with commensurate performance expectations and responsibilities, thus providing a true workplace environment.