Your Practicum in Psychology: A Guide for Maximizing Knowledge and Competence

A comprehensive and practical resource for graduate students about to embark on their first practicum experience.

A psychology student’s practicum placement experience has the potential to be the most exciting time in their graduate training. This comprehensive resource is a vital guide for all students beginning their field placement, and for those curious about how the system works. In conversational and accessible language, the authors equip students with the knowledge they need to anticipate, prevent, and resolve common difficulties that may arise during practicum placement. Readers will find helpful background information on finding one’s feet, developing rapport with clients, confidentiality and ethics, symptoms of psychopathology, assessment, psychopharmacology, and working with children or older adults. This second edition includes new and updated chapters that will appeal to all graduate students and advanced undergraduates.

Janet R. Matthews, PhD, ABPP, is a licensed and board-certified psychologist and Professor Emerita at Loyola University New Orleans, where she has been teaching an undergraduate practicum course for 30 years. Prior to coming to Loyola, she was a tenured associate professor at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, where she also taught the practicum course. Currently, Dr. Matthews is an associate editor of Professional Psychology: Research & Practice. She has published more than 50 professional articles and more than 25 book chapters and books on professional issues.

C. (Clarence) Eugene Walker, PhD, taught at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California, from 1964 to 1968, where he was an assistant professor and chair of the Division of Psychology, Education, and Physical Education as well as athletic director. From 1968 to 1974 he was an assistant professor, then an associate professor at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. From 1974 to 1995 he was at the University of Oklahoma Medical School in Oklahoma City, where he became director of training in pediatric psychology and cochief of mental health services for Children's Hospital of Oklahoma. On retirement, Dr. Walker was named Professor Emeritus at the medical school and began teaching on the Arts and Sciences campus of the University of Oklahoma in Norman. Dr. Walker has published more than 100 articles, reviews, and chapters and more than 20 books on research and clinical practice with children and adults.