Poster - #VH-38833 - Keywords: psychology clinic

From Chaos to Calmness: The Creation and Evolution of an Outpatient Psychology Clinic.

Jim Maher, Ph.D.
Michigan School of Psychology

ABSTRACT:
The creation of the Michigan School Psychological Clinic involved several known factors, such as the development of a mission statement and Manual, marketing strategy, student training model, business plan and website. Also, there was an awareness of the barriers to treatment for many individuals, including structural, cultural, economic, and health care barriers (Carbonell, et al., 2019) What was clearly critical too, was flexibility, as the Clinic opened two weeks before the pandemic, in February 2019 and we were suddenly faced with a world that included COVID. The evolution of the Clinic since then has involved a sudden familiarity with telehealth, for both supervision and psychotherapy. Not only clients, but students adjusted to meetings held in this manner (Thompson, et al., 2023). Progress in maintaining a therapeutic milieu was and is at the forefront of the development of the Clinic. In order to avoid what Martin Luther King, Jr. referred to as a "rendezvous with chaos" several key steps were needed: Selection of a staff dedicated to the notion of maintaining a community of calmness, regular Clinic group meetings with speakers on topics suggested by the students, ongoing case conferences, transparency about Clinic matters and solicitation about items such as the features of the physical environment and the value of doctoral students offering supervision and serving as mentors to Masters students. Future goals included outreach to the community and increased student participation will further establish this sense of community.