Facilities

Clinical Psychology Facilities

The Department of Psychology is housed on two floors of the recently renovated Thach Hall on the Auburn University campus. In addition, the Haley Center (across from Thach) houses laboratory space used by various researchers in the Department. The Department operates the Psychological Services Center (AUPSC) which is housed in the Haley Center across from Thach Hall. Typically 250 new referrals are seen each year through the AUPSC. These clients come to the AUPSC from within a fifty mile radius of the east Alabama area. Thus, AUPSC provides services to the university and surrounding communities. Approximately twenty percent of the clients served by the AUPSC are African-American. Included at the AUPSC are facilities for individual, group, and family therapy; child and adult assessment; and videotape observation. The AUPSC is a controlled setting for applied clinical research.

Other notable facilities available at Auburn are the department's animal and human research laboratories. A number of the labs, in which clinical students conduct research, are equipped with videotaping capabilities, interactive computer stations, psychophysiological apparatus, setups for analog behavioral research, and internet access.

Auburn's Ralph B. Draughon Library is committed to meeting the standards of the Association of Research Libraries and features extensive journal and book holdings, electronic and full-text databases, professional support personnel and modern facilities. Current practicum sites that provide assistantships and research opportunities include:

The following is a description of mental health related training opportunities available through the training sites during 2007-2008. Each site has a licensed psychologist who serves as the supervisor of record.

General Sites (child through adults; community and college population)

Auburn University Psychological Services Center (AUPSC ). The AUPSC is the training clinic for the doctoral program in clinical psychology at Auburn University . AUPSC serves AU students as well as individuals and families in the East Alabama/West Georgia region. Typically 250 new referrals are seen each year through the PSC. Approximately forty percent of the clients served by the PSC are African-American. Several students typically are assigned to the PSC for practicum placements. The clinic houses specialty clinics for: clients with developmental disabilities; comprehensive ADHD/LD evaluations for children, adolescents, and adults; and the Health Behavior Assessment Center (HBAC) which provides brief interventions for college students with substance use issues. Staff positions have included: clinic coordinator, outreach coordinator, intake coordinator, assessment coordinator, research coordinator, child services coordinator, DD clinic coordinator, and HBAC coordinator.

UAB Internal Medicine & Family Medicine Residency Program . Primarily a Behavioral Medicine placement with adults, this program provides clinical training for one advanced doctoral student. Opportunities vary, but are structured around interdisciplinary work with individuals with infectious diseases (supportive and behaviorally focused), disability evaluations, and therapy referrals; psychotherapy and consultation with referred patients from 6 to 85 years old representing a wide range of diagnoses; criminal and civil forensic assessments and individual psychotherapy through forensic private practice. A wide range of didactic experience, including Grand Rounds, is provided as part of the medical residency program.

College Students

Auburn University Student Counseling Services (SCS) . The Student Counseling Services typically provides one placement for a doctoral student in clinical psychology. SCS offers individual counseling, based on a brief therapy model, to address the developmental concerns of AU students with an upward limit of ten (10) individual sessions per academic year. SCS sees approximately 470 students per year. Client presenting complaints vary widely and include: relationship issues, trauma, substance abuse issues, attention problems, clarification of career and life goals, eating disorders, and mood disorders.

College of Veterinary Medicine . Through the Auburn University Psychological Services Center at the College of Veterinary Medicine (AUPSC-CVM), free services are provided to vet students including individual, couples, and family therapy. The typical caseload is nine weekly contact hours in individual and couples therapy. One additional responsibility at this site is a biweekly one-hour pet loss seminar for third year students in the oncology rotation.

School of Pharmacy . The Auburn University Psychological Services Center - Harrison School of Pharmacy (AUPSC-HSOP) position is designed to serve the therapeutic needs of Auburn 's pharmacy students at no cost. Pharmacy students may be required to attend therapy sessions by the pharmacy school administration if their grades are significantly impacted by personal issues; however, most of the students are self-referred. The most frequent presenting complaints are anxiety and depression related issues.

HBAC services for Athletic Department. The primary mission of this supplemental practicum position is to provide AU student-athletes with a range of substance-related services, including psychoeducation, assessment, and brief interventions. Specific responsibilities include participation in weekly meetings of the Optimal Performance and Support (OPS) Team; coordinate the screening of athletes for alcohol-related problems; meet with teams to provide psychoeducation and personalized feedback about alcohol use; be available to provide additional assessment and intervention services for individual student-athletes; provide coaches and athletic staff with educational material. The position provides students the opportunity to see how psychological services can be delivered in a novel and fluid environment.

Preschoolers and Early School Age

Head Start . The Head Start practicum involves three graduate students. The graduate students, along with several undergraduate volunteers, form the Psychology Team for the local Head Start program, a division of the Alabama Council on Human Relations. The Psychology Team is responsible for three main tasks: the annual developmental screening of all Head Start children, identification of children exhibiting aggressive or withdrawn/isolated behaviors, and subsequent social skills/anger management intervention for these identified children. The Head Start population is made up of over 400 3-5 year old preschoolers, predominately from low-income, African-American families.

Adolescents

Lee County Youth Development Center (LCYDC). LCYDC is a youth treatment facility for delinquent and dependent adolescents between the ages of 12 and 18. The Department of Psychological Services (DPS) provides comprehensive assessment and therapy services to youth residing in a variety of agency programs, serving children from around the state of Alabama , including a residential treatment program, a 28-day transitional shelter, a county detention facility, a transitional living program, and a boot camp for female adolescents. Clinical psychology doctoral students who have earned the Master's degree are eligible to fill the three available slots, although certain modifications in the activities can be made for pre-Masters students.

Mt. Meigs Accountability Based Sexual Offender Program (ABSOP) . The Alabama Department of Youth Services at Mt. Meigs (DYS) is a 290-bed residential facility for adjudicated juveniles in the state of Alabama . The age range for these incarcerated juveniles is typically 12 to 21 years, although most of them are between the ages of 14 and 18. Auburn currently assigns four doctoral students in clinical psychology to this placement. These students conduct extensive evaluations with the juvenile sexual offenders shortly after they are committed to the facility and provide individual, family, and group therapy services. Treatment follows a combined psychoeducational, interpersonal, and cognitive-behavioral approach.

Veterans and Family Members

Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System (CAVHCS): Located in Tuskegee, Alabama , the CAVHCS provides services to veterans and family members. Veterans representing a wide range of US military conflicts, cultural and ethnic backgrounds are seen at the CAVHCS facilities. Veterans present with a variety of general medical and emotional symptoms and syndromes including: combat and non-combat related PTSD, affective disorders, social and familial relationship problems, substance use disorders, chronic pain, spinal cord injuries, dementia, and with more chronic and severe mental illnesses. Supervised training and experience in psychological assessment, group and individual psychotherapy are provided. Options include placements through the following setting: Behavioral Medicine, PTSD, Neuropsychological Testing, Women's Sexual Trauma, Outpatient Mental Health, Vocational Rehabilitation, Primary Care Team for depression.

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Last updated on August 5, 2007