Adjunctive Experiences

Family Interaction Training Clinic:

Through the Family Interaction Training (FIT) Clinic, interns provide parent training and behavior consultation services in the evening one day a week to families from the district. The Clinic’s time-limited treatment program is rendered at minimal cost to families and uses evidence-based interventions, such as Parent Management Training and Incredible Years. Throughout the year, interns play an integral role in referral review, case selection, treatment planning, and progress monitoring. Further, interns receive direct training in providing supervision, as they are provided with dedicated training in the area and paired with peer supervisors. Clinic services are supervised in vivo (via a one-way mirror), through video monitoring, and during weekly small group supervision meetings.

Write Club:

Write Club is the CFISD Psychology Department’s research group with the primary goal of helping interns gain competence in research related activities.  Write Club provides interns with a time to focus on critically evaluating research and other scholarly activities.  Meetings are conducted to discuss research interests, review journal articles, and monitor the progress of ongoing projects.  Interns present on articles to demonstrate their ability to both critically evaluate and disseminate research.  Write Club also helps interns navigate data collection and dissemination as practitioners through Action Research Projects. Additionally, Write Club hosts panel discussions on relevant topics.  These include panel discussions on culturally responsive research and practices, the research-to-practice gap, and an academia panel that discusses the roles of those in university work. Finally, Write Club spends a portion of time focusing on the topic of program evaluation, with interns reading about and hearing a presentation on Getting to Outcomes, a program evaluation model.

Council of Houston Area Training Sites (CHATS):

CHATS is a consortium of Houston area APA-accredited intern sites, comprised of the Baylor College of Medicine- Pediatrics; Baylor College of Medicine- Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences; Children’s Assessment Center; Cypress-Fairbanks I.S.D.; Harris County Juvenile Probation Department; Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center, University of Houston Counseling & Psychological Services; University of Houston, Clear Lake Counseling Services; and the University of Texas Health Science Center McGovern Medical School.  Approximately seven times throughout the internship year, interns attend didactic training and networking workshops hosted by CHATS and training sites. 

Value Based Clinical Practice Projects:

These projects are aimed at strengthening self-awareness of personal identity and the students we serve, our values related to clinical practice and continuing to develop critical thinking skills related to ethical dilemmas. To help achieve these goals, multiple self-awareness and reflection activities will be completed throughout the school year.

Parent Training:

Interns have the opportunity to participate by co-leading a two-week parenting course within the district one or both semesters during their intern training year. Interns work together under the supervision of psychological services staff members to provide information to parents on a variety of topics related to supporting the needs of students at home and within the community. Two different courses are offered, a pre-school/elementary age focused course titled “Building Positive Behaviors: Parenting Our Children” based on the work of Dr. Alan Kazdin and his book The Kazdin Method for Parenting the Defiant Child, and a secondary age focused course titled “Understanding Adolescence: Parenting for Connection and Confidence” based on the work of Dr. Thomas Phelan and his book 1-2-3- Teen Magic as well as other evidence-based resources.