The Undergraduate Clinical Child Psychology Course: Bringing Students to the Real World and the Real World to Students

Abstract

An undergraduate clinical child psychology course that combines classroom, practicum, and guest speaker components is described. The course provides students with an overview of the descriptive characteristics, clinical theory, and treatment of the primary disorders and problems of childhood and adolescence. It also attempts to create linkages between ( a) academia and ( b) practitioners and settings in the natural environment. Course evaluation data indicate that this instructional model has been meeting its goal of stimulating students' interest in child psychopathology and in the psychosocial needs of youth.