UW Master of Arts in Applied Child & Adolescent Psychology: Prevention & Treatment

Graduates and instructors from the Master of Arts in Applied Child & Adolescent Psychology program share how supportive instructor and adviser relationships, combined with hands‑on practicum experience, help students to step into practice. Learn more, visit: https://www.appliedchildpsych.uw.edu/ Video Transcript: Tasha Mosher, M.A., LMHCA Right now in the state of Washington, we are in dire need of more behavioral health providers, especially for children, adolescents and families. Mariah Corey, PhD, LP The Masters in Applied Child and Adolescent Psychology program at University of Washington is a 15-month program. The goal is to train future clinicians in evidence-based practice so they can go out in the community and work with youth and families in different clinics. Tasha I received training in trauma-based interventions, dialectical behavioral therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and parent-child interaction. Edgar Quiroz Sanchez, M.A., LMHCA We also talked about the ethical dilemmas of giving somebody a diagnosis. So what does it mean for you to put a label on a person and then that follows them in their medical record? It really allowed us to think more critically about, you know, the long term impact we can have with a client. Tasha Having a foundation of evidence-based practices allowed me to move into the therapeutic space knowing that I had the skills that would lead to more durable outcomes with clients. Edgar It's 15 months, which is, you know, pretty accessible for a lot of us who maybe can't commit to a really long program. Tasha Going back to graduate school is not always an easy venture. My professors understood this and were able to provide me support. They were always rooting for us to complete the program. Mariah All the teaching faculty are practicing providers or have been, and so they really get to share their expertise in different areas. Tasha They have that hands-on experience and can relate to us as new professionals that are going into this space and trying to cultivate those skills. Mariah The practicum experience is about a year and allows students to take the concepts they learn in class and apply them in real life under the guidance of supervisors that may have different styles or approaches to things. Edgar And so after a few months of getting started in the program, you get to really jump into that experience of working with clients. Mariah And then the coolest part I think is you learn it in one class, one day, and then the next day you're actually with someone in front of you using the skills. Edgar I thought it was really cool that we all were in different settings. And then when we came back into the classroom, we were all able to kind of share our own experiences from these settings and learn at the same time. Tasha That was one of the best parts of the learning. People are going through similar experiences but at different practicum sites and bringing their own life experience. Edgar It was just really cool to see that we all grew through this experience and we transitioned from students to colleagues in the field. Tasha I was really surprised by the diversity of the people within my cohort. Mariah The program has done a really great job of making us well known in the community, and has great partnerships with a majority of the community mental health organizations in Seattle and surrounding areas. Edgar At Seattle Children's I worked alongside so many talented professionals. Also, I was able to do kind of more on the spot interventions, and so I had to think on my toes. Mariah Students are matched based on kind of training goals as well as experience that they want to build on. Tasha My practicum placement definitely helped me get my foot in the door with a number of the interviews that I was going on after. It was really powerful to walk into this program and have those connections already made. Mariah Students are all assigned an advisor that's a part of the faculty, and so they meet with them regularly, make sure they're achieving their goals in the program. They support them with identifying jobs after the program. And all the teaching faculty, too, are also open to just meeting with students, connecting with students to support them during the training year, but also as they go on in their careers. Edgar I feel like I had 20 mentors in the program. I really met some amazing people who really motivated me throughout the program. That facilitation and that networking really, really made post-graduation a lot easier. Tasha This program really changed my life. I didn't quite know how I would make that pivot. I knew I wanted to step into a new career. Being able to have the foundation of skills, to have professional connections, and to have sort of like a game plan laid out for me really helped me figure out the pathway to having a dream, to making it happen, to actually stepping into the practice of working with clients.