PEDIATRIC/CLINICIAL CHILD PSYCHOLOGY OVERVIEW
Welcome to the University of Mississippi Medical Center's (UMMC) Pediatric Psychology/Child Clinical Program. This program is in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at UMMC in the Divisions of Psychology and Child Psychiatry. Whether you are a parent, patient, or a student we hope you find our website beneficial. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or suggestions.
The Mission of our program is to provide comprehensive psychological care for children experiencing chronic and acute medical conditions and to provide treatment for children who are diagnosed with various psychiatric conditions. We approach this mission from a scientist-practitioner model, emphasizing excellence in both clinical care and research. We also approach this goal as a team, allowing the strengths of individual members of the pediatric psychology group and the Department of Psychiatry as a whole to work together so that ultimately, pediatric patients benefit. Pediatric Psychology is one of the rotations offered by the Residency in Clinical Psychology at UMMC.
Team
Faculty
David Elkin Ph.D.
Lani Greening, Ph.D.
Laura Stoppelbein, Ph.D.
Staff
Christi Cook M.S. (Psychometrist)
Anita Johnson (Program Coordinator)
For information on past residents and fellows click here.
PEDIATRIC/CLINICAL CHILD PSYCHOLOGY SERVICES
Consultation and Liaison (C&L)
The Pediatric Psychology C&L team is comprised of licensed psychologists, post-doctoral students, residents and psychology practicum students. The C&L team provides consultation services in the form of psychological assessments and interventions for pediatric patients at Blair E. Batson Children's Hospital and the Children's Rehabilitation Center. Consults may take many forms. Psychologist and residents are often contacted to address psychological issues relating to medical conditions, such as depression and anxiety in patients with diabetes or cancer. Other patients are referred to Pediatric Psychology due non adherence to medical regimens, suicidal ideation and attempts, or behavioral disturbances. Other issues frequently addressed by pediatric psychology include:
- Coping Skills
- Feeding problems
- Pain management
- Needle phobia
- Parent/family adjustment to child's medical condition
- Intelligence/psychological testing
- Individual therapy
- Bereavement/grief issues
- Psychosocial support
Medical Clinics
Diabetes Clinic
The diabetes clinic serves patients 0 - 18 years of age, diagnosed with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. This clinic serves the entire state of Mississippi, and is staffed by a pediatric endocrinologist, a nurse practitioner, a pediatric nurse, a social worker, a dietician/nutritionist and Pediatric Psychology. The Pediatric Psychology team is involved in clinical care and research with these patients.
Children's Cancer Clinic
All children and adolescents with hematological or oncological disorders such as cancer, sickle cell disease, and hemophilia are provided comprehensive medical care through this clinic. Within this general cancer clinic, there are several smaller clinics which Pediatric Psychology staffs: the Sickle Cell Clinic, the Hemophilia Clinic, and the Brain Tumor Clinic. Clinical assessment and intervention are provided in these clinics and research projects are under way in all of these clinics.
Children's Rehabilitation Center (CRC)
Children and young adults who experience traumatic injury such as Motor vehicle accidents, strokes, or head injury are followed closely in the CRC. Pediatric Psychology is routinely consulted to provide psychological assessment and intervention with these patients.
Outpatient Services
Pediatric Psychology provides outpatient therapy to pediatric patients and healthy children. Common reasons for referral include depression, anxiety, behavior disturbances, and parent - child conflicts. Families are considered essential to the child's development and as a result are strongly encouraged to attend therapy with their children. This program employs behavioral techniques to resolve psychological issues.
Psychiatric Inpatient
The child psychiatry inpatient unit is a 12-bed acute unit designed to provide intense treatment for children ages 4 to 12 who present with a variety of psychiatric conditions including depression, anxiety, conduct problems, ADHD, attachment disorder, as well as pervasive developmental disorders. The psychology team works as one component of the interdisciplinary treatment team in an attempt to provide the best treatment for the children and their families. More specifically, the psychology team members are involved in assessment (e.g., clinical interviews, cognitive testing, structured interviews, etc.), designing behavioral programs, and conducting short-term parent-training for families of children admitted to the unit. In addition, the psychology team initiates and is involved in ongoing research projects that take place on the unit.
Craniofacial Clinic
We also staff the Craniofacial Clinic in the Department of Pediatrics. This multidisciplianary team consists of members from plastic surgery, neurosurgery, pediatrics, speech therapy, dentistry, orthodontics, and social work, in addition to the psycological services that we provide. Children with a wide array of craniofacial anomolies are seen, including cleft lip, cleft lip and palate, disfiguring birth disorders, and victims of traumatic events such as motor vehicle accidents.
Research
One of the primary aims of the pediatric psychology department is to promote research and education relating to the psychological adjustment to children with chronic illnesses. It is our hope that through ongoing research we develop specific techniques to help pediatric patients with varying conditions lead happy and productive lives throughout their lives.
Ongoing Research
- Developmental Concepts of Pain in Sickle Cell Patients
- An Examination of the Psychometric Properties of a Screening Measure for Psychopathology Among a Sample of Children with a Chronic Illness
- Examining Mediators of Aggressive Behavior Among of Sample of Latency-Age Females
- A Multi-Trait Multi-Method Assessment of the Antisocial Psychopathy Screening Device
- Examining Biological and Cognitive Correlates of PTSD Among Parents of Children with a Chronic Illness
- Feeding Difficulties in Children with Sickle Cell Disease
- Emotional Reactivity in children with AD/HD
- Parent-training in court-ordered families
- Perceived risk in IRB members, researchers, and families
- Readability of Measures of Child Psychopathology
- Coping and Religiosity in Parents of Children with Cancer
- Peer Relations and Social Skills in Children with Cancer
- Multimodal Assessment of Depression in Children with Cancer
Grants:
The Role of Hypocortisolism in the Development of PTSD
P.I. L. Stoppelbein
Co-Investigators: L. Greening and T. D. Elkin
Impact of False Positive Neonatal Hearing Screening
P.I. T.D. Elkin
Clinical site for:
The Pediatric Hydroxyurea Phase III Clinical Trial (BABY HUG)
Silent Cerebral Infarct Multi-Center Trial (SIT Trial)
Related Links
Psychology/Psychiatry Home Page
http://.psych.umc.edu
Blair E. Batson Children's Hospital
http://www.umc.edu/childhosp.html
Society of Pediatric Psychology
http://www.apa.org/divisions/div54/
Society of Behavioral Medicine
http://www.sbmweb.org/
American Psychological Association
http://www.apa.org
Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy
http://www.aabt.org
APPIC application
http://www.appic.org