“I applied to do my social work practicum at CHEO because I had lots of experience working with children, youth, and families, and wanted to learn more about child and youth mental health. I was on CHEO’s Outpatient Mental Health team, which involved a variety of responsibilities including providing therapy to youth and families, co-facilitating a Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) skills group, and leading “Choice” appointments for newly referred youth and their caregivers. I had two supervisors, which meant I could see two different work styles and was able to shadow a wide variety of appointments with my supervisors and with other clinicians at the Outpatient Mental Health clinic and elsewhere at CHEO. I felt very supported at the clinic by my supervisors and other staff, and it was an environment where learning was encouraged for everyone, including existing staff and other students from areas such as occupational therapy, psychology and medicine.”
“A highlight of my placement was participating in CHEO’s family therapy training program alongside psychiatry residents. These weekly classes were a wonderful opportunity to participate in an interdisciplinary setting and to learn family therapy skills in a supportive, hands-on environment. As part of the program, I had the opportunity to act as a co-therapist to one family along with one of the course instructors. I also was able to observe others leading therapy and learned a lot from the lecture-based classes as well. The family therapy training program has greatly improved my clinical skills and is a rare opportunity for any social work student interested in doing therapy in their career.”
“I would recommend a practicum at CHEO to social work students who would like to improve their clinical skills, who like a fast-changing and varied environment, and who want to better understand the hospital system. All social work placements at CHEO, regardless of whether they are in mental health or on the medical floors, give students significant experience in clinical interventions. This placement has affirmed for me that I want to continue my training in the mental health area.”