Department of
Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry

Child Track Major Rotations

Child Track Major Rotations

Throughout the 12 months, the intern spends approximately 3 days per week participating in the experiences below. Interns complete four 6-month rotations (2 rotations are concurrent, 1.5 days each).

Interns will elect to complete an Area of Emphasis by participating in a major rotation for 1.5 days per week across the entire training year. Areas of Emphasis are available in Child Clinical, Pediatrics, and Neurodevelopment at this time.

Pediatric Psychology Subspecialty Clinics:

Supervisors: Jennifer Ludrosky, PhD; Stephany Lora, PsyD; Janelle Mentrikoski, PhD

Location: WVU Children’s Hospital

Description: Interns will have the option to participate in fully integrated pediatric clinic(s) and child/adolescent psychiatric consultation and liaison.  Options include:

  • Pediatric GI Clinic: Interns will attend a half-day pediatric GI clinic (ages 0-18) in order to provide assessment, team consultation, and brief intervention for children and adolescents who present to Gastroenterology. Intervention areas frequently include anxiety, functional abdominal pain, adherence, adjustment to diagnosis, dietary change, encopresis. 
  • Pediatric Nephrology Clinic: Interns will attend a half-day pediatric Nephrology clinic (ages 0-21) in order to provide assessment, team consultation, and brief intervention to children and adolescents who present to Nephrology.  Intervention areas include adjustment to diagnosis, complex dietary change, adherence. Interns will practice using MI and stages of change with complex medical patients.  Interns will also have the opportunity to join research projects, including examining the link between hypertension and anger in children, and the impact of COVID-19 on blood pressure in children and adolescents.
  • Pediatric Cleft Palate Clinic:Interns will attend a half-day pediatric Cleft Palate clinic (ages 0- 21) in order to provide psychology assessment and intervention to every clinic patient.  Interns will become familiar with important concepts in the treatment of Cleft Lip and Palate and will work closely with large multidisciplinary team to provide high level care for children.  Interns will also have the opportunity to gain skills in procedure management, supporting children and families during in-office procedures.  
  • Pediatric Cystic Fibrosis Clinic: Interns will attend a half-day pediatric Cystic Fibrosis (CF) clinic (ages 0-21) to provide assessment and brief interventions to every clinic patient. Interns will consult and collaborate with a large multidisciplinary team, including respiratory therapy, social work, dieticians, pharmacy, physical therapy, and physicians. Targeted areas of intervention include adherence to treatment regimens, adjustment to chronic illness, and emotional and behavioral concerns impacting care.
  • Pediatric Endocrinology Clinic: Interns will attend a half-day pediatric Endocrinology clinic (ages 0-18) to provide assessment and brief interventions with patients who are diagnosed with diabetes. Interns will consult and collaborate with a multidisciplinary team. Targeted areas of intervention include adherence to treatment regimens, adjustment to chronic illness, and emotional and behavioral concerns impacting care.
  • Family Weight Management Clinic: Interns will attend a half-day family-focused clinic focused on providing behavioral support to families desiring change in health-related behaviors. Interns will have the opportunity to complete intake and follow up visits with children and families, observe specialty physician and dietician visits, and take part in team planning for patient care. Interns will also have the opportunity to participate in a new Adolescent Bariatric Surgery pre-surgical preparation track.
  • Pediatric Consultation/Liaison Service: Interns will participate in a half- to full-day experience focused on the Pediatric C/L service. Interns will participate in new consult evaluation, brief intervention, team follow-up, and multidisciplinary team participation.

Child and Adolescent Outpatient Psychology/Psychiatry

Supervisors: Jennifer Ludrosky, PhD; Stephany Lora, PsyD; Jonathan Perle, PhD, ABPP; Janelle Mentrikoski, PhD; Maria Khan, PhD

Location: Chestnut Ridge Center

  • Outpatient Clinic: Interns provide assessment and evidence-based treatment to children, adolescents, and families with a wide range of presenting problems including those with co-morbid medical and psychiatric concerns. Interns will have regularly scheduled intakes and new patient evaluations throughout the rotation. Interns are encouraged to have a mixture of both short-term and long-term therapy cases. Interns receive supervision primarily from a Cognitive-Behavioral orientation, although interns may also receive training in other evidence-based approaches such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Family Systems, and Motivational Interviewing. We are able to select specific patient populations or disorders of interest in order to advance an intern’s training in a specific area or to address any gaps in training.
  • Parent Management Training (PMT) Clinic: Interns will attend a half-day pediatric clinic (predominantly ages 2-10, but opportunities for older children) where they will learn to (1) provide brief diagnostic assessment of ADHD/disruptive behavior and comorbid challenges, as well as (2) how to implement parent management training strategies; one of the most effective evidence-based interventions for childhood disruptive behavior that is designed to improve compliance, on-task behavior, and parent-child relationships, while reducing problematic behaviors such as defiance and aggression.
  • ADHD Assessment Clinic:Interns will attend a half-day pediatric clinic (ages 4-11) where they will learn how to conduct in-depth evaluations to determine the presence of ADHD and comorbid psychiatric challenges. Interns will conduct assessment procedures (e.g., interviews, observations, questionnaires), create diagnostic reports, and provide feedback/recommendations.
  • Trauma – focused treatment: Interns provide assessment and evidence-based treatment to children, adolescents, and families who have experienced adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) or complex trauma and are presenting with traumatic stress and related psychosocial difficulties. Interns will have regularly scheduled intakes and new patient evaluations throughout the rotation. Interns are encouraged to have a mixture of both short-term and long-term therapy cases. Interns receive supervision from a trauma-informed and cognitive-behavioral orientation, integrated with other evidence-based approaches including attachment, family systems, mindfulness-based, and acceptance and commitment therapy.

Neurodevelopment  

Supervisors: Krestin Radonovich, PhD; Colleen Butcher, PhD

Location: WVU Medicine Children’s Neurodevelopmental Center

Description: Interns on this rotation will provide assessment to children ages 0-12 for a broad variety of presenting neurodevelopmental and early childhood concerns. Interns will operate within the neurodevelopmental team, which is comprised of pediatric psychology and pediatric neurology (with neurodevelopmental specialty, NDD) to provide comprehensive evaluations and care for patients. 

Options are also available for the intern to provide individual and group therapy to children ages 0-12 with neurodevelopmental disabilities. Interns will have regularly scheduled intakes and new patient evaluations throughout the rotation. Interns are encouraged to have a mixture of both short-term and long-term therapy cases. Interns receive supervision primarily from Cognitive-Behavioral and Behavioral orientations. We are able to select specific patient populations or disorders of interest in order to advance an intern’s training in a specific area or to address any gaps in training. Cases using Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) are also available to those interns with prior PCIT training and experience.

Supervision: 

Interns will meet with each of their supervisors for a total of 2 or more hours per week of individual supervision. Additionally, interns receive informal supervision in the course of observing therapy or conducting co-therapy with the supervisor, staffing after intake evaluations, and in multidisciplinary meetings. Supervision totals 4 or more hours per week.

Sample Schedule: