Electives Completed by Our Fellows

Clinical

  • Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA): Our Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) has created an educational experience where fellows learn the basics of ABA therapy, including completion of training required for Registered Behavior Technicians (RTBs), and how to craft a behavioral plan while working with very young children.
  • Autism Clinical Center: Fellows work with a faculty member in the Autism Clinical Center to gain exposure to autism evaluations and longitudinal management of behavior associated with autism, as well as common comorbidities for children of all ages.
  • Collaborative Care: Fellows learn about the principles of integrated mental healthcare and work with a behavioral health care manager (LCSW), child psychiatrist, and community pediatricians to provide care for children and adolescents with mild to moderate disruptive behavior, anxiety, depression, OCD, and trauma through the Collaborative Care Model (CoCM). CoCM is an evidence-based integrated mental healthcare model. In addition to providing clinical care, fellows also complete online training in the model and brief psychotherapeutic techniques used within it.
  • Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT): Fellows attend the DBT skills groups and other psychotherapeutic sessions through the WashU Accelerated DBT program, which is intensive in nature (similar to an IOP). These sessions take place in the late afternoons/evenings, and you will have a half day at some other point in the week that is blocked to compensate for this.
  • Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT): Fellows assist with the evaluation of psychiatric patients referred for specialty interventional treatments, and learn the technical aspects and clinical indications for brain stimulation treatments with a heavy focus on ECT. If you are interested, there may be an opportunity to participate in TMS. This elective is run by the general psychiatry program, and you will largely treat adults as well as any children currently receiving ECT at SLCH.
  • LGBTQ+ Youth Mental Health: Fellows have the opportunity to work clinically with a child psychiatrist who specializes in caring for LGBTQ+ children and adolescents. Due to the current laws in Missouri, we no longer have a multidisciplinary, pediatric transgender center, but you may have the opportunity to rotate in the adult transgender center and observe the care of transitional-age young adults. You may also read scientific articles and view films related to LGBTQ+ youth mental health.
  • Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Fellows work with our faculty in the Autism Clinical Center as well as our pediatric neurology colleagues to care for a diverse population of children with neurodevelopmental disorders.
  • Perinatal Psychiatry: Fellows work with our Perinatal Behavioral Health Service, a team of psychiatrists, therapists, and social workers, to provide psychiatric care for perinatal patients.
  • Physical Therapy-Occupational Therapy-Speech Therapy (PT-OT-ST): Fellows work with physical, occupational, and speech therapists at St. Louis Children’s Hospital in both the inpatient and outpatient settings to provide care for patients with and without mental health diagnoses to gain a better understanding of the care these allied health professions can provide for our patients.
  • Sleep Medicine: Fellows work with sleep medicine physicians to learn more about the treatment of insomnia and even see sleep studies. Fellows complete online training for cognitive behavioral therapy insomnia (CBTi) and may have the opportunity to collaborate with a psychologist to observe CBTi in practice.
  • Synchrony Clinic: Fellows work in the Synchrony Project Clinic evaluating and caring for children in the foster care system. You will have the opportunity to interact with the Missouri Children’s Division and the Family Court System during routine case reviews as part of a multidisciplinary team.
  • University Student Mental Health: Fellows work with child and adolescent psychiatrists at the Washington University in St. Louis Student Health and Wellness Center to gain an understanding of the psychiatric disorders that occur in college students and enhance their knowledge and skills in treating this patient population.
  • We CA/N Help: This elective is designed to give fellows a comprehensive exposure to the management and impact of child abuse and/or neglect (CA/N) from incident to intervention in clinical and therapeutic settings in psychiatry, pediatrics, and forensics, as well as how we interact with Missouri’s Children’s Division and the Family Court System. Fellows work on a forensic case, engage in multidisciplinary conferences, and see patients and families in the clinic (both medical management and trauma therapy) to learn how teams manage the impact of CA/N on patients, their families, and the system. Fellows also become certified in Trauma Focused-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) online.

Non-Clinical

Create Your Own

If you have an area of interest that is not listed, we would be happy to collaborate with you to design a rotation. Once a faculty supervisor has been found, fellows will collaborate with them to create a daily schedule, find didactic resources, and create a project.