Training Clinics as a Resource for Multimodal Treatment of ADHD

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most common psychiatric disorder of childhood. The extensive research on ADHD indicates that both assessment and treatment of ADHD is best accomplished through the involvement of multiple informants. By establishing a supervisory relationship with a university-based training clinic, child clinicians can expand their range of services while providing clinical experiences and supervision to graduate students in clinical, counseling, and school psychology. The ADHD Research Clinic at Indiana State University was established in response to a request by community pediatricians who increasingly were being called upon to assess children for ADHD during routine office visits. In addition, parents and school personnel were calling upon them for assistance. The Clinic provides both assessment and intervention services, utilizing the combined resources of licensed psychology and doctoral level graduate students. The combining of resources offers many advantages. The clinician is better able to offer a range of services. Access to a range of rating scales and assessment measures becomes available to the clinician who is practicing independently. Involving graduate students in assessment procedures eliminates the need to schedule multiple testing appointments. Combining community and graduate training allows for a greater diversity in clinic resources to meet the needs of patients from different backgrounds. Involving graduate students as co-therapists in providing services to ADHD children and their parents provides an excellent training opportunity for these clinicians. (JDM)