The Behavior Therapy and Psychotherapy Center

Training

The BTPC offers state-of-the art training in psychological services including individual and group treatment, assessment, consultation and report writing. The BTPC has formulated its training curriculum around a vertical team training structure.

History of the BTPC

The Behavior Therapy and Psychotherapy Center (BTPC) was established in 1972 as a training clinic for graduate students in the Clinical Psychology Program at the University of Vermont. Since its inception, the BTPC has focused on providing clinical training to UVM's clinical psychology graduate students, while simultaneously offering best practice, evidence-based community services. During the last 40 years, over 275 doctoral candidates in clinical psychology have been mentored in a scientist-practitioner model of experiential learning. Through individual, group, vertical team, and classroom training, faculty members in the Psychology Department have utilized their research expertise to enhance the integration of empirical knowledge with the provision of clinical services. As a result, psychological services have been provided by the BTPC for community members, UVM students, and UVM faculty. It is important to emphasize that graduate student clinical training through the BTPC is an integral and necessary part of the clinical psychology program and essential to evidence-based training represented by the doctoral degree in clinical psychology.

Over 17,000 clients have been served since 1972. A unique contribution of the BTPC has been its emphasis on training best-practice, evidence-based community services to underserved populations (e.g., low-income individuals, people of color, severely traumatized children, criminal offenders, sexually abused children, individuals with HIV, and refugees resettled in Vermont). Knowledge gained from BTPC clinical experience has directly influenced and enhanced graduate student and faculty research, including dissertations and peer-reviewed publications. Clinical Psychology doctoral candidates who have graduated from this clinical training experience have gone on to excel in prestigious academic, research and clinical environments.

Description of Clinical Training at the BTPC

In August of 2005, the BTPC formulated its training curriculum around a vertical team training structure, allowing early involvement in clinical training and the establishment of specialty areas of training. The purpose of vertical teams is to facilitate early clinical training of "junior" level graduate students, integrate coursework, clinical training, and research, and promote consistency of clinical training.

Vertical teams are categorized by a focus on either child/adolescent mental health or adult mental health - or a specialty service. Each team consists of graduate students at all levels of training (1st year through 3rd or 4th) and either one or two faculty supervisors. Based on experience, the vertical team approach appears to provide an excellent training.

BTPC Training Components and Supervision

Students participate in the following components of training at the BTPC:

1. Vertical Team: Each student participates on at least one vertical team that meets for two hours per week. Vertical teams are composed of a faculty supervisor, a student with a clinical placement at the BTPC (3rd and/or 4th year), a second year student, and a first year student. A primary feature of the vertical team meeting is evidence-based case supervision. Students are provided with knowledge regarding empirically supported assessment and treatment. Additionally, professional affairs and ethics, and standardized clinical mental health record- keeping are also emphasized.
2. Individual Supervision: Students who carry half or full caseloads are also provided with an individual supervisor in order to ensure that students can discuss all of their cases, and to provide an alternative method within our training model.
3. Didactic Training with Case Presentation: Each vertical team conducts a formal presentation. At this didactic training, students provide presentations to the remaining vertical teams. The purpose of this didactic training is to enhance students' expertise when presenting in a formal manner, dialogue with other students regarding treatment, and to receive constructive feedback. Also, this format helps to bring breadth of training for the other teams.
4. Observation: First and second year students participate in observation and co-therapy of more senior graduate students and/or of faculty providing direct clinical services. This structure provides excellent training to junior level students and exposure to being in the supervisory role for the senior graduate students.
5. Audiotape or Videotaped Clinical Cases: Students have the opportunity to have their clinical work audiotaped or videotaped (with the client's approval) in order to enhance supervision of the students' activities. Videotaped supervision is currently viewed as critical to clinical training.

Pre-Doctoral Clinicians

Victoria Baptiste	Anne Brassell	Jessica Clifton	Eileen Crehan
Carolyn Dundon	Maggie Evans	Andrew Gill	Sheau-Yan Ho
Nicole Lafko	Timothy LaVigne	J.Quyen Nichols	Jennifer Mahon
Justin Parent	Amy Paysnick	Elyse Rosenberg	Wesley Sanders
Meghan Schreck	Martin Seehuus	Lilya Sitnikov