UMSL Center for Behavioral Health (CBH) offers high quality training experiences in psychological assessment and treatment, as well as professional consultation. This busy clinic receives approximately 3,600 referrals for psychological assessment each year, providing a significant range of cases to support interns’ professional skill development. Interns provide comprehensive psychological evaluations to children, adolescents, and adults who present with emotional, behavioral, learning and/or personality difficulties, not uncommonly severe in nature. Referral questions include diagnostic clarification for children with the most impairing of psychiatric conditions (e.g., psychosis, bipolar disorder), risk of harm to self/others, parenting competencies, psychosexual functioning, impact of exposure to trauma, and identification of treatment needs and after-care placements for children and adolescents in residential treatment programs. Assessments are sometimes conducted at residential treatment facilities and in schools to observe the individual in his/her typical environment and facilitate consultation with ongoing service providers. Indeed, as part of their role as an assessment clinician, interns provide professional consultations to schools, Deputy Juvenile Officers, other mental health providers, and other stakeholders involved in the lives of the clients they serve. CBH also commonly has a waitlist for psychotherapy services, allowing for thoughtful case assignments matched to intern skill level and interest. Clients seeking treatment commonly present with major affective disorders, interpersonal difficulties, behavioral disorders and personality disorders. Both our therapy and assessment clients are diverse in terms of racial/ethnic identity, nationality, socioeconomic status, religion, gender identification, and sexual orientation. Ethical and culturally sensitive provision of services is emphasized throughout supervision and modelled by supervisors. The scientific and empirical basis of services provided is regularly reviewed in supervision and in the context of other didactic experiences at CBH. Further, interns are encouraged to research clinical issues on their own to bring back to supervision for discussion. Finally, interns sometimes have the opportunity to supervise a graduate student on a therapy or evaluation case, as well, and receive supervision of supervision.
CBH offers both a Core rotation (4 days/week for 4 months) and an Adjunct rotation (1 day/week, year-long). Interns completing CBH as a Core rotation conduct a wide variety of evaluations including cognitive and personality (objective and projective) assessment for a range of referral questions and presenting concerns, including significant emotional, psychiatric, and behavioral difficulties. Core rotation interns also carry a small caseload of outpatient psychotherapy clients (3-4 clients) and may have the opportunity to supervise a doctoral student on a therapy or assessment case.
Faculty
DEANA L. SMITH, Ph.D., a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at UMSL, is the Director of Internship Training for the Saint Louis Psychology Internship Consortium and Training Director for the UMSL – Center for Behavioral Health. Dr. Smith provides psychotherapy and assessment supervision to psychological trainees in the doctoral program at UMSL and to interns, teaches undergraduate and doctoral level courses, and conducts psychological evaluations at the UMSL – Center for Behavioral Health. She received her B.A. (1997) in Psychology from Southern Connecticut State University and her M.A. (2001) and Ph.D. (2005) in Clinical Psychology from UMSL. Dr. Smith interned in the Department of Psychiatry, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center at New Orleans. She has worked in inpatient and outpatient settings with children, adolescents and adults. Clinical interests include collaborative/therapeutic psychological assessment, personality disorders, psychology of gender, and interpersonal and emotion-focused approaches to psychotherapy with individuals and couples.
STEVE BOURNE, Ph.D., is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at UMSL and the Director of the UMSL – Center for Behavioral Health. Dr. Bourne provides psychotherapy and assessment supervision to Psychological Trainees in the doctoral program at UMSL, interns, and postdoctoral fellows. He also provides treatment and assessment services at the UMSL– Center for Behavioral Health. Dr. Bourne interned in the St. Louis Psychology Internship Consortium. He has worked in inpatient, residential and outpatient settings with children, adolescents, and adults. His clinical interests include psychological assessment, mood disorders in children and adults, trauma-focused therapies, and integrative approaches to psychotherapy.
ASHLEY DARLING, Psy.D., is a staff psychologist at the UMSL – Center for Behavioral Health and specializes in psychological assessment. She earned her MA and PsyD from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. She completed her pre-doctoral internship at Family Service and Guidance Center in Topeka, Kansas. Dr. Darling has significant experience completing psychological assessments of children who have been prenatally exposed to substances/alcohol, as well as children with traumatic histories. Her clinical interests include collaborative/therapeutic psychological assessment, early childhood development and play therapy.
LAURA FRAZEE, Ph.D. is a staff psychologist at the UMSL – Center for Behavioral Health. Dr. Frazee conducts psychological evaluations to community families and provides therapeutic interventions through UMSL’s Employee Assistance Program. She also supervises the doctoral intern on their therapy cases. Dr. Frazee received her BA in Psychology from Clemson University and earned her MS in counseling from Southern Methodist University. She completed her doctoral training in Clinical Psychology and APA accredited doctoral internship through the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Most of her work has occurred in inpatient and outpatient medical settings with clients of all ages and varying presenting problems. Dr. Frazee completed her post-doctoral fellowship at UMSL’s Center for Behavioral Health. Her interests include performance based personality assessments, therapeutic/collaborative assessment, mood and anxiety related disorders in children and adolescents, and positive parenting practices.
