Of particular importance, our clinical faculty is thoroughly committed to helping students develop outstanding research skills and create coherent, exciting programs of research on which they can build their future careers. The cornerstone of our program is a strong mentorship system: from his or her first days in the program, each student works closely with a research supervisor and associated research team in a common enterprise of developing promising new research questions, designing studies and collecting data, and interpreting and presenting the results.
Our faculty believes that all clinical students must be thoroughly trained in relatively short-term, empirically validated therapy procedures, as exemplified by cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT). In addition, we attempt to present a broad array of other theoretical views and techniques, drawing from the wide expertise of our full-time and adjunct faculty. Our therapy training involves a breadth of very closely supervised psychotherapy experience, emphasizing CBT and allied techniques for children and adults, as well as some work in longer-term psychodynamic therapy for adults, involving the analysis of case dynamics and diverse strategies to effect change. Our program provides students with hour-for-hour supervision, and all our students are frequently observed, either live or by video-recording, and given detailed feedback on their performance.
We also pride ourselves on the particularly thorough training in psychological assessment that we provide. Our program runs a very active in-house psychology clinic, the Centre for Mental Health Research (CMHR), in which all our students, starting at the beginning of the program, have very extensive, closely supervised experience in psychodiagnostic, psychoeducational, and integrative psychological assessment, including consultation with other mental health professionals as well as school personnel in child cases. Throughout their years in our program, our students are also involved in a large number of assessments of incoming clients using the MINI or SCID. In addition to their work in the CMHR, our students complete extended practicum experiences in off-campus settings, which involve more varied assessment and psychotherapeutic work. We note with pride that University of Waterloo clinical students are often given special recognition in their internship work as having an exceptionally broad and versatile ability to conceptualize cases from various points of view, showing depth in their understanding of case dynamics.
Our program also offers students opportunities to learn other important skills, such as program evaluation, teaching, and clinical supervision. For example, under the close supervision of a faculty member, all senior students serve as a clinical supervisor for a junior student in the provision of psychotherapy, observing the students’ work and providing hour-for-hour feedback. More generally, all applied work in the program emphasizes its interplay with scholarship and research, thus exemplifying our underlying Boulder Model orientation.
The Department of Psychology provides ample research space: each clinical faculty member has a set of dedicated lab rooms, and, in addition, there is considerable additional bookable space available for research by our clinical students. The departmental facilities, as well as the Centre for Mental Health Research, are accessible to those with disabilities. We have excellent computer support, with staff on hand to assist with the development and maintenance of software, programs, and special equipment. We also have an extensive and up-to-date Test Library. Access to research participants may be obtained through the well-organized Research Experiences Group on campus; in addition, the clinical faculty have established connections with agencies and schools in the community, providing many opportunities for data collection. The Centre for Mental Health Research will soon provide exciting opportunities for community and clinical samples; in addition, the various faculty-directed labs have in place well-established strategies for recruiting appropriate clinical and non-clinical samples.