The 37 credit Master's Program in Community Mental Health/psychotherapy track is designed to meet the educational and field training requirements for mental health clinicians to become competent in providing professional mental health services. One component of the clinical experience in the program is a 270 hours residency.
Field-based training in community organizations, schools and mental health settings is a vital component of the Community Mental Health Program and psychotherapy track in particular. These experiences offer a way for the student to verify and challenge the theory acquired in the classroom as well as to examine his/her own role as a clinician.
During field placement, the supervisor works closely with placement sites to ensure diverse and personalized learning experiences that provide closely supervised opportunities to do counseling and consultative work with individuals, groups and families. Students choose conveniently located sites that fit their professional interests, and schedules.
In their second year, students finish their coursework and complete two semesters sequence (Residency I and Residency II) to complete 270 hour residency. The residency is combined with a small group seminar at Al-Quds University, with the instructors of the seminars serving as liaisons between Al-Quds University and the field sites. The seminar is designed to integrate the student’s theoretical knowledge with his/her experience in the field. The instructor monitors the students’ progress at their placements by initiating site visits several times during the semester and dealing with issues that arise in relation to field training.
In the intensive small, group seminar within which students discuss their field placement experiences and their cases. Students address personal issues involved in transference and counter-transference in their cases, learn to integrate theory with practice, benefit from feedback from their colleagues and instructor, learn how to construct and present case analyses, and explore this opportunity for professional growth. It brings students into contact with the most recent and sometimes controversial clinical issues.
The aim of the residency placement is to ensure that students develop their core skills through experiences with different client groups and have a full range of psychological work in health settings. This includes applying a variety of psychological models to a wide range of clinical problems and clients across the age spectrum, and in a variety of settings.
Al-Quds University requires that students receive two hours of group supervision per week. In addition to the supervision provided by the site, the student may receive individual supervision if necessary. Specific days, hours, vacation times, and length of placement are negotiated between the site and the student.
This two semester sequence, (Residency for psychotherapy I and Residency for psychotherapy II) of supervised practicum in the field provides an in-depth face-to-face counseling experience with children, adolescents, adults, couples, groups and families in community agencies, schools, youth centers, and hospitals. This core placement involves direct assessment and intervention work with clients and liaison work with agencies and other health professionals. It also provides ongoing experience in the use of applied psychotherapeutic techniques, assessment, diagnosis, counseling, crisis intervention, and the treatment of individuals in need.
We should emphasize that this clinical experience represents only a part of the learning necessary for the development of expertise in the provision and evaluation of services to individuals, families, groups, and institutions.
Guidelines:
The following guidelines should be followed by all students:
1- The student should select 2 community mental health organizations to do the residency in each semester
2- The student spends 6 hours every week in field work in the two organizations
3- The student is free to select the time of clinical experience and day of training. This is a flexible program
4- The student should make a visit to the desired organization to plan the field work. This should be done before initiating clinical work
5- The student should be actively involved in the daily activities of the mental health organization and needs to participate in the various activities
6- The student needs to take case load in the organization. In the first residency, individual interventions will be the main goal. Every student should work with three different cases that are taken from the 2 organizations.
7- Family and group interventions as well as intervention with complicated cases of children are delayed until residency II. However, the student may act as co-therapists or co-counselors with families and groups in residency I. nevertheless, they could be more involved with families and groups during residency II.
8- He student should write soap reports every week about the work they did, and then should discuss the weekly activities with the clinical instructor.
9- Every week, the student meets with the clinical instructor for supervision. This is usually done either on individual or group setting.
10- At the end of the course, the students submit a written report about three cases that they worked with.
Needed skills for residency:
1- Case management (Interviewing; DSM- IV-TR diagnosis, management of the client (Plan interventions and care and implementation of the plan)
2- Health education
3- Counseling and individual therapy
4- Crisis intervention
5- Drugs surveillance
6- Referral and follow up
7- Attain support and logistics for the client
8- Attending group meetings
9- Attending family meetings
10- Liaison and consultation
11- Participate n the center's activities
- Teacher: Lama Abed Shareef