Psychological Services

In accord with the hospital’s vision statement – Caring for You. Innovating for the World – Psychology at LHSC is committed to patient care, teaching, and research. Our staff is also strongly committed to the enhancement of psychology as a profession through continuing staff education and leadership in organizations devoted to professional growth. Psychology Staff includes 23 fulltime and 9 part-time psychologists, 3 psychological associates, 6 psychometrists, and a number of support staff and research assistants (see Consortium Staff Biosketches for a description of staff members). We also have 3 psychologists who are full-time faculty in the University of Western Ontario's Department of Psychiatry on site. Despite diverse services and different geographic locales, Psychology maintains its cohesion as a profession through regular meetings and rounds.

As clinicians, we are committed to the promotion of health in its broadest sense, including the enhancement of physical, emotional, cognitive, and social well-being. Compassion and care, coupled with clinical innovation, are distinguishing features of our patient service. Integrated, comprehensive health care is emphasized through program-based management and interprofessional teamwork.

Psychologists at LHSC provide clinical psychology and neuropsychology services through consultation, assessment, diagnostic, and treatment services to a wide variety of adult and child/adolescent inpatient and outpatient programs, accepting over 2800 new referrals per year for services for individuals and their families. Clinical referrals reflect a diversity of patient needs and staff expertise. Assessment strategies include cognitive, behavioural, personality, and neuropsychological approaches; therapeutic modalities include individual, group, couple, and family work; and theoretical orientations include cognitive behavioural, developmental, and eclectic approaches. Psychologists serve as valued consultants to physicians and other health care professionals, both within the hospital and throughout the community. In 2010, there were over 17,000 patient visits to Psychology Staff at LHSC.

London Clinical Psychology Residency Consortium

We are proud to have joined with St. Joseph's Health Care, London, Child and Parent Resource Institute (CPRI), Vanier Children's Services, and Student Development Centre, University of Western Ontario to form the London Clinical Psychology Residency Consortium.

The London Clinical Psychology Residency Consortium emphasizes clinical service, teaching, and research. The aim of the program is to prepare residents for post-doctoral supervised practice in psychology, particularly within the health care system. This aim is pursued through identification of individual interests, enhancement of strengths, and broadening areas of clinical interest and skill. Professionalism is enhanced through the development of strong interpersonal and communication skills, time management strategies, and an overall positive sense of professional self and identity.

While clinical training is emphasized, the scientist-practitioner model serves as the philosophical basis for clinical practice, as well as educational and research endeavours. In line with the goals outlined in the Gainesville Manifesto of 1990, the aim of the scientist-practitioner model is to integrate science and practice, and to facilitate career-long integration of investigation, assessment, intervention, and consultation. Psychology Staff at the Consortium Sites endeavour to maintain both an empirical basis to their clinical practice and clinical relevance in their research.

The Consortium views the program as a pre-requisite to the awarding of the doctoral degree. As a result, we support a model of training in which the predoctoral clinical residency must be completed before the doctoral degree is conferred.

Residents are accepted into one of 14 resident positions

Child/Adolescent Track (3 resident positions)
Adult Mental Health Track (4 resident positions)
Health/Rehabilitation Track (2 resident positions)
Neuropsychology Track (3 resident positions)
Counselling Track (2 resident positions)

Goals of the Residency Programme

Consistent with the philosophy of the London Clinical Psychology Residency Consortium’s program, we continually strive to meet seven goals for the programme.

To provide all residents with a broad-based training in clinical psychology.
To increase residents’ awareness and sensitivity of individual differences, including multicultural issues.
To facilitate the consolidation of residents’ professional identities as psychologists.
To facilitate the development of skills in providing patient-centred care as part of an interprofessional health care team.
To facilitate residents’ integration of research into their professional role.
To integrate consideration of supervisory issues into all components of the predoctoral residency program.
To maintain the receptivity to feedback from the residents regarding all aspects of their training program.

Information on Accreditation

Before London Health Sciences Centre was formed by the 1995 merger of University Hospital and Victoria Hospital, both institutions sponsored independent predoctoral internship programmes in clinical psychology, accredited by both the Canadian and American Psychological Associations since 1991. Both the Canadian Psychological Association and the American Psychological Association accredited the resultant amalgamated programme in 1999. That programme was re-accredited in 2002.

To form the London Clinical Psychology Residency Consortium, London Health Sciences Centre joined with St. Joseph’s Health Care, London, Child and Parent Resource Institute (CPRI), and Vanier Children’s Services. This new predoctoral clinical psychology residency programme had its first cohort of residents start in September 2008 and is accredited as a Doctoral Internship Programme in Clinical Psychology by the Canadian Psychological Association.

The program has recently expanded to include a new partnership with the Student Development Centre at the University of Western Ontario, and the first cohort of residents from this new five-member consortium will begin in 2012. The next accreditation site visit will be in 2013-2014.

Information on accreditation by the Canadian Psychological Association is available by contacting the following office:

Ann Marie Plante - Accreditation Assistant

Accreditation Panel for Doctoral Programmes and Internships in Professional Psychology

Canadian Psychological Association

141 Laurier Street - Suite 702

Ottawa, ON

Canada K1P 5J3

Telephone: 1- 888-472-0657

e-mail: accreditation@cpa.ca; aplante@cpa.ca

website: http://www.cpa.ca/education/accreditation/