Psychiatry and Psychological Services: Outpatient Psychology/Autism Spectrum Disorders Concentration

The outpatient psychology/autism spectrum disorders concentration offers postdoctoral fellows clinical experience with a broad range of patients presenting with behavioral, learning, and anxiety/mood disorders. In addition, fellows receive specialized training in assessment and intervention with children on the autism spectrum through participation in multidisciplinary diagnostic evaluation, weekly case conferences, and therapeutic intervention programs for patients ages 1-18 years and their families. Fellows work closely with the clinical team, which includes psychiatry, neuropsychology, psychology, speech language pathology, applied behavior analysis, case management, neurology, genetics, and pediatrics.

In addition to the general objectives shared by the training program for all postdoctoral fellows, the fellow(s) specializing in the psychiatry outpatient clinics will:

• Become proficient in state-of-the-art psychological evaluation strategies for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders, Mood Disorders, Anxiety, ADHD, Learning Disabilities, and other conditions.
• Gain experience as part of a multidisciplinary team in providing diagnostic and treatment recommendations for a highly diverse population of patients
• Gain experience and supervision in empirically supported therapeutic techniques with children and adolescents
• Provide communication regarding diagnosis and treatment recommendations to school professionals and community providers to support appropriate intervention for patients diagnosed with ASD through the Autism Clinic.

Fellows are involved in a combination of psychological evaluation, outpatient group therapy, individual therapy, and consultation. The chance to work with multiple supervisors allows the fellow the opportunity to experience a full range of patients as well as an array of theoretical perspectives. Much of the work is completed within a multidisciplinary context, presenting the fellow with a chance to become familiar with the work of other health care professionals. Group therapy opportunities vary by semester and may include working with children with mood disorders as well as children with disorders on the autism spectrum. Individual therapy caseloads are flexible and are tailored to fit the fellow's interests and schedule.

Children's Medical Center, in collaboration with UT Southwestern, UT Dallas' Center for Brain Health, and the UT Dallas’ Callier Center for Communication Disorders, received a grant in 2009 from the Crystal Charity Ball to support the development of an Autism Center. This center offers state-of-the-art clinical services integrated with research and teaching, and serves as a community and educational resource for families and providers.  

Outpatient Psychology/Autism Spectrum Disorders Concentration Faculty

• Kristi Baker, Ph.D.
• Cristin Dooley, Ph.D
• Lark Huang-Storms, Ph.D.
• Alexis Inabinet, Ph.D
• Sunita Stewart, Ph.D.
• Alison Wilkinson-Smith, Ph.D.

For more information about the Outpatient/Autism Concentration, please contact:
Lark Huang-Storms, Ph.D.
214-456-3258