Objectives of the School Psychology Program
Philosophy:
The School Psychology Program is offered by the Department of Psychology in cooperation with the School of Education. The objectives of the program are as follows:To develop a practitioner who values human diversity and is committed to enhancing the development of each individual by providing a broad range of diagnostic and intervention services emphasizing the behavioral but including clinical, medical and educational perspectives.To develop direct service competencies in counseling/consultation/collaboration and other non-traditional services.To develop research skills.
The program deliberately seeks to strike a balance between the theoretical and practical aspects of training of the school psychologist. Controlled enrollment (about 8 graduate students admitted each year) provides extensive applied training experiences in two on-campus interdisciplinary clinics (the Human Development Center and the Psychological Services Center) and area educational/clinical facilities. These settings provide the UWEC graduate student with extensive opportunities to learn and practice clinical skills while directly supervised by licensed and/or certified clinical faculty from the school psychology program and other professional training programs such as Communication Disorders; Special Education (Learning Disabilities, Emotional Disturbance, and Early Childhood); Elementary Education-Reading; and Nursing.
In addition, five other practica provide extended specialized experiences with students in regular education and with students with a variety of exceptional needs such as developmental disabilities, alcohol and drug abuse, emotional/behavioral disabilities, early childhood exceptional educational needs, and the gifted and talented. While the majority of the training is conducted in the public schools, graduate students can consider placement in unique settings which offer a range of services from regular education-support services to residential treatment settings (e.g., Genesis, an adolescent chemical dependency unit in a hospital setting).
