Clinical Health Practica
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ECU PASS (Psychological Assessment and Specialty Services Clinic)
Cognitive-Behavioral Psychotherapy Service
Psycho-educational Evaluation Service for Learning Disorders (LD/ADHD)
This is the initial in-house practicum for students beginning their clinical work which emphasizes basic interviewing and process skills, as well applying evidence-based cognitive-behavioral treatments. The CBT service is for adults experiencing emotional problems or disorders (e.g., anxiety, depression, stress) and/or individuals wishing to reduce their drinking and/or abstain from alcohol or other drugs. Students conduct initial interviews and use various assessment tools to develop CBT case formulations, providing treatment to a small caseload of patients. They also learn how to use the Titanium EHR system.
In addition, practicum students participate in the Psycho-educational Evaluation Service providing comprehensive LD/ADHD assessments primarily for ECU students referred from ECU Disabilities Support/Student Health Services. The evaluation involves an extensive interview(s), completing 3-4 testing sessions, and providing feedback/recommendations. Practicum students gain experience writing integrative psychological reports.
Supervisor: Tony Cellucci, Ph.D., ABPP
Adult Healthy Weight Clinic
The healthy weight clinic, located in the ECU PASS Clinic, provides assessment and treatment of overweight and obesity through group and/or individual therapy. Patients mainly consist of ECU faculty, staff, and community members. When appropriate, students will complete individual intake interviews, which consist of an interview, psychosocial measure completion, and a physical assessment including blood pressure, height and weight, and waist circumference. Students will be trained in the use of a “small changes” empirically validated treatment approach to weight loss that focuses on smaller weight loss goals through small reasonable changes in their lifestyle patterns in an attempt to promote long-term weight loss maintenance. In this practicum students will engage in both group and individual supervision along with receiving in vivo, taped, and self-report supervision modalities.
Supervisor: Robert Carels, Ph.D.
Cardiac Psychology Clinic
The Cardiac Psychology Rotation offers training in psychosocial care that is fully integrated into the medical team to promote an interdisciplinary, comprehensive care approach to cardiac arrhythmia patients and their families. Trainees work side by side with psychologists and cardiologists to provide a bio-psycho-social model of care at the East Carolina Heart Institute. Assessment and therapy training are provided and additional opportunities to collaborate at Healthsteps-Cardiac Rehabilitation are available.
Supervisor: Sam Sears, Ph.D.
Family Medicine
The Behavioral Medicine Rotation takes place in the Family Medicine Center at the Brody School of Medicine. Students will gain experience in integrated primary care, addressing both mental health issues and disease-related psychological care of patients of all ages, through real-time collaboration with physicians and other healthcare professionals. Problems routinely seen in rotation will include anxiety, depression, therapeutic adherence, chronic pain, lifestyle management, stress and psychophysiological disorders, helping patients to successfully manage their chronic illness, and management of patients who are high utilizers of healthcare. Significant opportunities exist for learning about medical and behavioral interactions through an extensive didactic curriculum and training seminars.
In 2019, the Departments of Psychology and Family Medicine at ECU were awarded a $890,000 Graduate Psychology Education (GPE) Program grant from the Health Resource and Services Administration (HRSA) to train doctoral-level psychologists to provide integrated, interdisciplinary, behavioral health and Opioid Use Disorder and other Substance Use Disorder prevention and treatment services. The Departments of Psychology and Family Medicine were also recipients of this award in 2016.
Supervisor: Marissa Carraway, Ph.D.
General Adult Neuropsychology Practice
Experience in neuropsychological assessment of patients with various central nervous system disorders including traumatic brain injury, stroke, dementia, tumor, and multiple sclerosis. A heavy emphasis is placed on geriatrics.
Supervisor: Erik Everhart, Ph.D., ABPP, CBSM
Cherry Hospital, Goldsboro, NC
Cherry Hospital is a 274-bed inpatient psychiatric hospital serving the citizen of 36 eastern North Carolina counties; it is operated by the state of North Carolina, the Department of Health and Human Services. Treatment Units include: Adolescent, Adult Acute Admissions, Geriatric Admissions, Psychiatric Rehabilitation, Psychiatric Medical, and Tuberculosis. Practicum students gain experience in assessment, participation in treatment team, group therapy, and individual therapy.
Supervisor: Steven Peters, Psy.D.
Veterans Administration Outpatient Clinic
The Greenville VA Community Based Outpatient Clinic is a satellite location for the Durham VA Medical Center. Training includes individual therapy, group therapy, and psychological assessment experiences in traditional mental health, substance use disorders, and specialty areas of health psychology (including chronic pain management, smoking cessation, and insomnia).The primary theoretical orientations are cognitive-behavioral, motivational interviewing, and Seeking Safety.
Supervisors: Jessica Ford, Ph.D & Robert Shelton, Psy.D.
ECU Physicians Health Psychology Service
The Health Psychology Service practicum is located within the Brody School of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatric Medicine, and is housed in the Psychiatric Medicine Outpatient Clinic. This practicum offers an immersion experience in pre-surgical and pre-treatment psychological evaluation. Students will receive comprehensive training in health psychology/behavioral medicine assessment and treatment of medically and psychologically complex patient populations including morbidly obese candidates for bariatric surgery, obese patients wishing to enroll in a behavioral weight loss program, renal transplant populations (donors and recipients), patients with Hepatitis C Virus considering antiviral treatment, and chronic pain patients considering spinal cord stimulator implantation. In addition to evaluation/assessment, students also have the opportunity to provide individual and group interventions to these patient populations aimed at improving post-surgical/treatment outcomes. Interdisciplinary care is highlighted, and students have the opportunity to develop consult/liaison skills in interacting with various surgical and medical teams. Interdisciplinary learning opportunities include side-by-side learning with psychiatry residents and medical students in clinic and in available didactic seminars.
Supervisors: Irma Corral, Ph.D., MPH; Brandon Kyle, Ph.D.
Rehabilitation Center, Vidant Medical Center
The Rehabilitation Center assess and treat patients with a variety of patients. Dr. Phillips covers the Brain Injury and Neuro Rehab units at Vidant Medical Center as well as conducting outpatient neuropsychological evaluations with children, adolescents and adults. Patients on neuro rehab units typically present with traumatic brain injury, acquired brain injury (tumor and tumor resection, aneurysm rupture) and other neurologic conditions (e.g., normal pressure hydrocephalus, multiple sclerosis, stroke). Such patients often have a variety of other injuries (e.g., orthopedic injury) as well as other coexisting problems (e.g., substance abuse, family discord). In addition to performing neurobehavioral status examinations and neuropsychological screening evaluations with these patients, individual and/or group therapeutic sessions are often conducted to provide ongoing emotional support. She also covers the ALS clinic where screening for fronto-temporal dementia is performed as well as ongoing emotional support to patients and their loved ones.
Supervisor: Melissa Phillips, Ph.D.
NOTE: As part of students’ practicum courses (PSYC 6462, PSYC 6463, PSYC 7995, and PSYC 8460), students are commonly expected to participate in a weekly, one hour long, supervision group under the direction of a clinical faculty member. This supervision group is in addition to the on-site supervision, and is for the purpose of linking the practicum experience with our academic program.