The Community Psychological Service (CPS), one of the major rotations, can also be selected as an adjunct rotation. A full description of CPS can be found under the Major Rotations tab. As an adjunct rotation, this is an assessment-only focused experience. CPS offers diverse psychological assessment experiences that are tailored to the developmental needs of the intern.
CPS clinicians perform psychological assessments for private clients and provide evaluations for local schools and state agencies on a contractual basis. These include the Special School District of St. Louis County, the Family Court of St. Louis City, the State of Missouri on behalf of clients of the Missouri Department of Social Services Children's Division and the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. The Missouri Board of Probation and Parole, a group home, a mental health center, and a local charter school also refer clients for evaluation.
Interns choosing CPS as an adjunct rotation will have the opportunity to refine their diagnostic skills and enhance competencies in interviewing and test administration and interpretation by way of conducting a wide variety of assessments. Opportunities for cognitive and personality (objective and projective) assessment are available. Comprehensive personality evaluations of adults and children with severe emotional disturbances, forensic parenting competency assessments, violence/risk assessments, and evaluations of learning and attentional disorders in children and adults are common. Opportunities to conduct school-based evaluations, adolescent sex offender evaluations as well as Probation/Parole and Vocational Rehabilitation evaluations also may be available.
Interns typically conduct an evaluation every other week. Interns will receive 1 hour of individual supervision each week. However, numerous opportunities are present for more informal supervision experiences. Interns on this rotation will also be given opportunities to participate in didactic training experiences at UM-St. Louis including the colloquia series offered by the Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program , the Center for Trauma Recovery and Children's Advocacy Services of Greater St. Louis.