Practicums

The training provided is individually tailored to the interests and training needs of each student and is also dependent on the referrals that are received and the supervisors available.  We offer diverse training opportunities including opportunities to develop assessment and intervention skills in working with children, adults, and adolescents.  Assessment opportunities includes general mental health assessments (mood disorders, anxiety disorders, PTSD, personality disorders), neurodevelopmental assessments for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Intellectual Disability (ID), and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD), as well as opportunity for exposure in conducting assessments for Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC).  Treatment training opportunities are varied and span work with individuals across the lifespan. Areas of opportunity include working with behavioral challenges, oppositional defiance, and social skills training for individuals with ADHD or ASD. Trainees may also gain experience with mood disorders (e.g., bipolar disorder, depression), anxiety disorders (e.g., generalized anxiety, separation anxiety, OCD, social anxiety, specific phobias, panic disorder), PTSD (including work with specialized populations such as active CAF and RCMP members, Veterans, public safety personnel, and individuals with developmental trauma), as well as adjustment difficulties and coping with life stressors. Additional areas include relationship issues, chronic pain and disability, grief, addictions, and personality-related concerns. Opportunities also include parent consultations, and for more advanced students with appropriate coursework and experience, couples therapy. There is also opportunity to gain exposure in working with a variety of treatment models including CBT, ERP, ACT, DBT Skills Training, trauma-informed interventions such as PE and CPT, schema therapy, interpersonal process, and mindfulness.  Most services will be provided in person, although there may also be some opportunity to provide services virtually.  Practicum students will also be exposed to the practical aspects involved with running a private practice, drawing from our experience of operating a successful group private practice for over 35 years. 

Typically a practicum student will have one primary supervisor and sometimes a secondary supervisor depending on the training needs.   Students are asked to attend our monthly practice-wide clinical meetings where we discuss challenging cases and interesting clinical issues and also have the opportunity to socialize and support one another’s professional growth and celebrate each other’s milestones and accomplishments.  Practicum students are asked to bring forward a case or an interesting clinical issue during their time at the practice – this is very informal and the intension is to help develop consultation skills.

Our practicums are typically 8 months long and we will work with students and faculty  to ensure that the training requirements of your program are met in terms of number of clinical hours and supervision required.  Our students generally accumulate more clinical and supervision hours than the minimum required by their program.  We work with students to develop a schedule that works around their other commitments, but given the nature of private practice work, student flexibility is needed.  Students are often completing their practicum hours over partial days, 2-3 days a week, as it is challenging to get all clinical and supervisor hours on one day.