Psychology major Samantha Kountz-Edwards sits on the second floor of Smith Hall twice a week. Below her, in the basement, is a Chapman psychology resource she never knew existed.

“Had I known about [the clinic], I would have referred a friend,” said Kountz-Edwards.
This year, the clinic is celebrating its 40th anniversary.

Since 1968, the Frances L. Smith Community Clinic, a psychology clinic for the surrounding community, has helped graduate students in the marriage and family therapy program gain experience in diagnosing and treating patients.

“It’s like Driver’s Ed,” said David Pincus, assistant professor of psychology. “You know how to operate the car, but you have to drive it at some point. Therapy is a craft.”

The clinic provides inexpensive counseling services to at least 100 patients per week, ranging from students to Orange residents, but remains unknown to much of the Chapman community, said Jeanne Walker, director of psychological counseling services.

During the 1960s, students in the marriage and family therapy program became upset about the devastation of the Vietnam War. They thought there were limited counseling resources for veterans and families in the area and wanted to do their part to help the situation, according to Walker.

Under the supervision of professor Frances Smith, a licensed clinical psychologist, the community clinic was started by about eight students who began counseling war veterans.

At that time, Smith Hall housed the science department, but was able to give up some space for the community clinic in the basement, where it still operates today.

When the clinic first moved into the basement, the ceiling pipes were exposed, offices were separated only by cubical walls and students saw patients whenever they had time.

“It was nothing formal,” said Walker. “We had donated furniture and nothing matched, but we wanted to provide people with some help.”

Since then, the ceilings have been covered, walls have been built to create private spaces and plush, matching couches are in every room. The clinic has grown to include 24 graduate student trainees, four licensed clinical faculty and it has become a permanent part of the marriage and family therapy program.

In May, the program was accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education and is one of six nationally accredited programs in California, according to Brennan Peterson, director of clinical training.

Other accredited universities in Southern California include San Diego State University, which also has an on-site clinic, and the University of San Diego.

Marriage and family therapy students are must complete 30 hours of academic coursework before they can begin diagnosing and working with patients in the clinic.

Every week, trainees in the clinic are required to participate in two hours of group supervision in which they discuss client cases and receive feedback from professors and other trainees. Also, the trainees are required to do one hour every two weeks of individual supervision where they work more exclusively with professors to learn how to precisely diagnose and interact with patients.

As regulated by the accreditation, all students pursuing a master’s degree in marriage and family therapy must complete 240 hours of patient-client interaction in a therapy setting to graduate. To complete these hours, students must find a private practice or clinic that will admit them for practicum work.

Because Chapman has its own on-site clinic, students are able to complete their hours there, eliminating the often daunting task of finding a suitable outside clinic, said Walker.

The on-site clinic is the reason why Colleen Karpeles, a second-year therapy student, chose the program.

“There is less responsibility on students to find a practicum site,” she said. “It makes the transition smoother.”

Since clinics are difficult to maintain it’s unusual for a graduate program to have one of its own, said Susan Jester, associate director of the clinic. The on-site clinic allows professors to work more closely with trainees and monitor their progress.

Sarah Davidson, a student finishing her last semester in the program, is thankful for the close faculty support and supervision.

“I’ve had aggressive and suicidal clients and didn’t have immediate support [at other clinics],” said Davidson. “[At Chapman], we always have someone to contact.”

Other schools in the area that have marriage and family therapy programs include Pepperdine’s satellite university in Irvine, Alliant International University, Vanguard University and Argosy University. Of those, Pepperdine is the only school that has an on-site clinic, but it’s part time, according to Peterson.

Chapman’s Community Clinic is an outpatient mental health clinic and treats a wide variety of patients including families, couples, children, teens and adults. The clinic often treats patients suffering from depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety and marital distress, according to Peterson.

Davidson looked at other schools with similar programs, but chose Chapman’s on-site clinic to be exposed to more types of patients and disorders. Most private practices and clinics only specialize in one area of psychology, according to Davidson.

“I feel more prepared for the working world,” she said.

The community clinic charges patient fees based on income, but they usually range from $15 to $60 a session. Patients are aware that it is a training clinic and that cases are reviewed by a trainee and a licensed faculty member during supervised sessions, according to Pincus.

The clinic’s client base has grown larger because of the poor economy adding extra stress to people’s lives, said Jester. She thinks the clinic not only provides a valuable learning experience for students, but also an inexpensive service to the community.

The clinic has eight therapy rooms, including a play room with toys for child therapy, and larger rooms for family therapy. Three rooms have one-way mirrors in which trainees can observe sessions. In addition, each room is equipped with a video camera to record sessions for review.

“When a client gets help by the trainee, those are the juicy moments where it’s satisfying work,” said Pincus.


Contact this reporter: shana.makos@thepantheronline.com