The Help Group - Professional Training and Development

Professional Training & Development

To share its knowledge and expertise, The Help Group promotes the advancement of the professional disciplines through its extensive graduate and postgraduate training programs, hosts conferences and seminars and publishes a professional newsletter. The Help Group conferences and seminars on autism, Asperger's Disorder learning disabilities ADHD emotional disabilities child abuse Graduates and post-graduates from universities and professional schools throughout the United States and Canada are awarded internships and fellowships in the areas of clinical psychology, neuropsychology, social work, art therapy. Training programs are also available in psychiatry and special education. The doctoral training program in clinical psychology is accredited by the American Psychological Association.

Major conferences and seminars, as well as the HelpLine and the HelpLetter, focus on topics such as autism, Asperger's Disorder, learning disabilities, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, emotional disabilities and child abuse, featuring internationally recognized experts in their respective fields. The Help Group Advisory Council members, who are at the vanguard of theory and practice, participate in these endeavors on a regular basis.

Research in the areas of neurodevelopmental disorders is currently underway under the auspices of The Help Group Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders and The Help Group - UCLA Neuropsychology Program. With a commitment to best practices in assessment and intervention, the specialized education and clinical programs engage in ongoing research regarding program effectiveness and outcome. (Culver City, Sherman Oaks & Valley Glen Campuses)

The Help Group's Advisory Council comprises internationally recognized experts who are at the vanguard of theory and practice.

Advisory Council

Tony Attwood, Ph.D.
The Asperger's Clinic
Brisbane, Australia

Robert M. Bilder, Ph.D.
Chief of Medical Psychology - Neuropsychology
UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute & Hospital

Susan Bookheimer, Ph.D.
Department of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences
UCLA School of Medicine

Thomas E. Brown, Ph.D.
Department of Psychiatry
Yale University School of Medicine

Stephen Buka, Sc.D.
School of Public Health
Harvard Medical School

Jack Fletcher, Ph.D.
Department of Pediatrics
Baylor School of Medicine

Stephen Hinshaw, Ph.D.
Professor Department of Psychology
University of California, Berkeley

Barbara Keogh, Ph.D.
Department of Special Education
UCLA

Louis P. Lipsitt, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology
Brown University

Frank Manis, Ph.D.
University of Southern California

John Pomeroy, M.D.
Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
State University of New York at Stony Brook

Larry Seidman, Ph.D.
Department of Psychiatry
Harvard Medical School

Bennett Shaywitz, M.D.
Department of Pediatric Neurology
Yale University School of Medicine

Sally Shaywitz, M.D.
Department of Pediatrics

Susan L. Smalley, Ph.D.
University of California, Los Angeles
Yale University School of Medicine

Sara Sparrow, Ph.D.
Child Study Center
Yale University School of Medicine

Joseph Torgesen, Ph.D
Department of Psychology
Florida State University

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Conferences and Professional Development
The Help Group has a strong commitment to providing on-going training and education through several professional development programs. The Help Group is certified to provide continuing education units to psychologists, marriage and family counselors, social workers, speech and language pathologists and nurses. The Help Group also offers continuing medical education units for physicians through its affiliation with UCLA. Below is a summary of the most recent professional development courses offered in the field of autism spectrum disorders.

Distinguished Lecturer Series
The Help Group hosts on-going lecturers & seminars for professionals and parents addressing a wide range of topics on autism spectrum disorders featuring leading experts in the field.

Continuing Medical Education Seminars
The Help Group hosts on-going continuing education seminars for physicians focusing on autism spectrum disorders. These seminars are designed to present the most up-to-date research based information available in the field.

Training Programs

GRADUATE & POST-GRADUATE TRAINING PROGRAMS
The Help Group contributes to the advancement of the professional disciplines through its extensive training programs, continuing education conferences and seminars. Graduate and post-graduate students from major universities and professional schools throughout the United States and Canada are awarded internships and fellowships in the areas of clinical psychology, social work and art therapy. Other training programs are available in psychiatry, neuropsychology, and special education.

PRE-MASTERS AND POST-MASTERS TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES
Training programs are available for graduate students in Psychology, Social Work and Clinical Art Therapy. The programs offer second and third year students an opportunity to conduct individual, family, and group psychotherapy within either school-based or outpatient settings. Trainees learn about service delivery and multidisciplinary teamwork, as well as their professional role within the context of a mental health agency. Psychology practicum students apply to The Help Group once approved by their graduate school to do so. Psychology practicum applicants must be enrolled in a Psychology graduate program that is a member of the Southern California Association of Psychology Training Programs (SCAPTP) and that is APA-accredited.

APA-APPROVED PRE-DOCTORAL INTERNSHIP IN CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY
The full time APA-accredited internship in Clinical Psychology is designed to facilitate the professional growth of students who are in the process of becoming practicing Psychologists. The goals of the internship year include assisting the intern to become more skilled in the breadth and techniques of assessment and intervention with children, adolescents and families. During the training year, emphasis is also placed on giving the intern exposure to the varied roles a psychologist plays in a large community based mental health agency including consultation, supervision, administration, program development and research in outcome evaluation. Interns are exposed to diverse clientele in terms of age, diagnosis, presenting problems, and culture.

A copy of the 2012-2013 Help Group Internship Manual is available online and offers a comprehensive description of the internship program

The following benefits are available to full-time interns:

An annual stipend of approximately $22,000 with an additional $2,500 stipend for fully bilingual Spanish speaking interns.

Medical and dental benefits.

Two weeks of leave time, plus 40 hours for research and 40 hours for professional development per year

APPLICATION PROCESS
The internship program utilizes the online APPIC Application for Psychology Internship (AAPI). The AAPI is available on the APPIC Web site: www.appic.org. Applicants must be attending an APA-accredited graduate school in Clinical, Counseling or School Psychology.
Applicants may obtain instructions and download the Applicant Agreement Form required to register for the APPIC Match from the Matching Program Website at www.natmatch.com/psychint.

The Help Group requires three letters of recommendation to be sent through the reference portal of the online AAPI.

All Application materials must be received by November 9, 2011 at 5:00 PM Pacific Standard Time and will only be accepted via the online AAPI.
When all application materials have been received, selected applicants will be contacted for interviews. Notifications of interviews will be completed by December 15, 2010. Interviews and Internship Open Houses will be held in January. Interns will be selected based upon matching the applicant's training needs and interests with the needs, interests and mission of the agency and the internship program. For further information, Dr. Enyedy, the Director of Training, can be reached by Email at: kenyedy@thehelpgroup.org

INTERVIEW PROCESS
All applications will be reviewed and applicants who are invited for an interview will be contacted by December 15, 2011. Interviews will take place during January 2012.

All applicants who are invited for an interview are highly encouraged to attend one of our open houses. Our open houses give applicants the opportunity to interact with our faculty as well as with current and past interns, to hear more about The Help Group itself and our internship program in particular and ask specific questions to assure that our program is a good fit for them. This internship site agrees to abide by the APPIC policy that no person at this training facility will solicit, accept or use any ranking-related information from any intern applicant.

Open Houses are scheduled as follows:

TBA

POSTDOCTORAL TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES
The Help Group’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program in Clinical Psychology, Focusing on Autism Spectrum Disorders. This is a one-year fellowship and includes individual, family and group therapy, intake evaluation, multidisciplinary teamwork and consultation, psychological testing, applied research, program development and evaluation, supervision of trainees and public speaking, all within the autism spectrum arena. The post-doctoral manual offers a more comprehensive description of the fellowship program, including application requirements and procedures.

The Help Group - UCLA Neuropsychology Program offers a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in pediatric neuropsychology, including a clinical and a research position. Research residents will receive specialized training in the neurodevelopmental issues of Asperger's Disorder and non-verbal learning disabilities. Clinical residents gain experience in the assessment of children with a wide range of difficulties such as recovery from a traumatic brain injury, learning disabilities and autism spectrum disorders.

Applicants who have completed an APA-accredited doctoral program and an internship in Clinical Psychology by the start date and who demonstrate a strong potential for a career in assessment, therapy and research in neuropsychology will be considered. For further information contact Dr. Philip Levin at plevin@thehelpgroup.org.