The training of child psychiatry fellows in psychotherapy is an important goal of this program. This program places emphasis on psychotherapy modalities that have been shown to have the greatest empirical support in pediatric populations.
This means that the greatest level of experience fellows will obtain are in the variants of Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) including Parent Behavioral Training, Exposure and Response Prevention, Skills Training, and similar programs.
Fellows are also taught to function as what we call Family Wellness Coaches where they work with all members of a family to enhance involvement in a variety of health promotion activities including mindfulness training, music and sports lessons, positive parenting techniques, sleep hygiene, and good nutrition, among other things.
Child and adolescent psychotherapy patients are assigned beginning in the PGY4 year. The minimum expectation is to carry at least 2 patients during their PGY4 year and 4 in the PGY5 year, including one family.
It is also taught in this fellowship that the designation of outpatient visits as "psychopharm versus psychotherapy" is, to some degree, artificial. This training program does not support the idea of child psychiatrists performing short “med checks. Fellows will be taught to incorporate psychotherapy principles and techniques into all patient visits to minimize psychiatric impairment and to promote wellness.
