Program Goals

Goals for Year One

Patient Care

  • To gain awareness of the interactions between children, adolescents, and their families and demonstrate skill in working with diverse populations
  • To demonstrate an ability to develop and sustain rapport with youth and families
  • To become comfortable with the therapeutic interview process with children and adolescents of various ages and their families
  • To gain skills in making a thorough integrative diagnostic case formulation including the use of a differential diagnostic assessment and DSM 5 diagnoses
  • To make initial treatment plan recommendations, involving various levels of care (outpatient services, day treatment, inpatient, residential, in-home services, etc.) and treatment modalities (individual therapy, group therapy, family therapy, and psychopharmacology) 

Medical Knowledge

  • To gain familiarity with the major theories of child development and knowledge of developmental milestones and normal developmental processes in all spheres
  • To be able to differentiate normal development from delayed development and from psychopathology
  • To be able to differentiate normal reactions from pathological reactions to stress
  • To understand the presentations of the major psychiatric syndromes in youth
  • To obtain familiarity with the major types of therapeutic interventions for children and their families including indications, alternatives, contraindications, adverse effects and efficacy for different treatments based on available empirical literature

Professionalism

  • To recognize the limits of knowledge and skills and demonstrate self-awareness
  • To demonstrate sensitivity to background, age, gender, and disabilities and be able to work with health care professionals of diverse backgrounds
  • To recognize and manage transference and counter-transference issues
  • To complete documentation thoroughly and on time
  • To work effectively, productively, and cooperatively with supervisors
  • To show respect, compassion and integrity toward patients/others

Interpersonal & Communication Skills

  • To communicate effectively with patients using verbal, nonverbal and written skills as appropriate
  • To educate patients, their families, and professionals about medical, psychosocial, and behavioral issues
  • To demonstrate the ability to obtain, interpret, and evaluate consultations from other medical specialties
  • To gain skills in providing explanations of psychiatric and neurological diseases and treatment that are jargon-free and appropriately geared to the education and understanding of patients and their families
  • To develop a working alliance with patients and their families  

Practice-based Learning & Improvement

  • To demonstrate academic interest/use of relevant literature/self-directed learning
  • To use relevant practice parameters and treatment guidelines
  • To exhibit openness to feedback and use supervision to improve performance
  • To demonstrate an ability to research and summarize a particular problem that arises from caseloads  

Systems-based Learning

  • To collaborate effectively with medical and social services, educational and child protective services (Department of Child & Family Services, DCFS) as well as with other mental health professionals in caring for children and adolescents
  • To increase knowledge of community agencies and resources serving youth
  • To advocate to ensure quality patient care and assist patients/families in dealing with complex systems
  • To gain a basic level of understanding of the legal aspects of education including Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) and Individualized Educational Plans (IEP)

Goals for Year Two

Patient Care

  • To become more skilled in the assessment of family interactions/dynamics and in therapeutic interventions
  • To address clinical treatment goals with increasing cultural sensitivity
  • To demonstrate an ability to maintain therapeutic rapport in more challenging clinical situations
  • To become more skilled in interview techniques in youth of all ages and their families
  • To become more sophisticated in complex diagnostic work, including second opinion and consultative cases
  • To follow through on multi-modal treatment plans for children and adolescents seen longitudinally for 1-2 years in outpatient services, in addition to further developing skills in initial treatment planning with complex cases (including second opinion consultations)

Medical Knowledge

  • To better integrate knowledge of child development into clinical work
  • To gain skill in differentiating more subtle delays and psychopathology from normal development
  • To continue to hone skills in differentiating normal reactions from pathological reactions to stress
  • To gain increased knowledge in the presentation of the major psychiatric syndromes in youth (including substance use disorders, complex second opinions, cases involving the medical-psychiatric interface, etc.)
  • To gain increased experience with the major types of therapeutic interventions for children and their families, including indications, alternatives, contraindications, adverse effects, and efficacy for different treatments based on available empirical literature

Professionalism

  • To recognize the limits of knowledge and skills with increased self-awareness, and know when to obtain more specialized consultation
  • To demonstrate sensitivity to background, age, gender, and disabilities in order to better collaborate with health care professionals of diverse backgrounds
  • To recognize and manage transference and countertransference issues to more effectively care for patients
  • To complete documentation thoroughly and on time
  • To work effectively, productively, and cooperatively with supervisors, including demonstrating promptness, reliability, and ability to manage a complex schedule with multi-site responsibilities
  • To show respect, compassion, and integrity toward patients/others