Hundreds of children, families, and college students benefit each year from comprehensive behavioral health assessments and care provided by Illinois State University.
Housed in the Department of Psychology, the Stanley S. Marzolf Center for the Psychological Assessment and Treatment of Children and Adolescents offers a multidisciplinary clinic (MDC), academic intervention consultation services (AICS), child and adolescent intervention services (CAIS), college learning assessment services (CLAS), and an autism diagnostic clinic.
“We offer a lifeline to families that may not have another way to get an evaluation for their child or get one for the kinds of prices that that we offer,” said Dr. Sara Harris, director of the center, also known as the Psychological Services Center (PSC). “We often have schools refer families to us because of a shortage of school psychologists or social workers.”
Illinois State students pursuing a specialist or doctoral degree in school psychology are often the ones to fill this gap.
“The PSC is here for our community, schools, and families, but it’s also here for our students to get a high-quality training opportunity.”
Dr. Sara Harris
“The PSC is here for our community, schools, and families, but it’s also here for our students to get a high-quality training opportunity,” said Harris.
Kalysa Pampuch, a second-year graduate student, often utilizes the resources provided by the PSC.
“We have a lot of great books we can use to learn new techniques and evidence-based treatments,” said Pampuch. “I’ve been doing a lot more counseling, so I’ve been using the PSC to learn more outside my classes. The PSC also provides a space for me to get work done and ask Dr. Harris questions. She’s a great resource for the students.”
For second-year doctoral student Hannah Cremer ’20, working in the clinic has been an eye-opening experience and provided her the opportunity to get hands-on training with performing assessments and working with clients.
“Working in the clinic shows you the variety of work you get to do. It has made me more comfortable having conversations with caregivers and kids as a clinician,” said Cremer.
Cremer is also a graduate assistant for the Sprouts program at The Autism Place (TAP), which partners with the PSC to provide an autism diagnostic clinic.
“I’m one of two graduate assistants working in the Sprouts preschool program serving as a case manager,” said Cremer. “We work on fine motor skills, daily living skills, peer interaction, and preschool-level activities that help prepare the kids for kindergarten. I lead the case for one kid and work with their caregiver to determine goals for them. I work with my supervisor to create plans and supervise a team of undergraduate students who work in the program, too.”
The PSC also partners with Student Access and Accommodation Services to provide Illinois State students with the resources they need to succeed.
“As part of our CLAS services, we are seeing ISU students who have concerns with disabilities and providing them a diagnosis so they can get the accommodations and help they need,” said Harris. “We tend to see students who have learning disabilities, ADHD, anxiety, and depression.”
Jazsmine Towner, a fourth-year doctoral student in the school psychology program, is the graduate assistant in charge of the CLAS caseload.
“Working in the PSC has helped me become proficient in conducting assessments, handling case loads and the paperwork associated with that, and working with clients,” said Towner. “I have learned a lot about consultation and collaboration with various stakeholders and my colleagues. We all use the PSC space to bounce ideas off each other and collaborate.”
As a non-profit, the PSC relies heavily on course fees, assessment fees, and private donations to continue offering their services while making them accessible to students and families who may not have the money. Fees for many of the PSC’s services are on an income-based sliding scale to accommodate low-income individuals and families.
“We just concluded our first successful Hatch Campaign,” said Harris. “Thanks to generous alumni and friends, we’re hoping to use the funds we raised to provide more equitable access to our various services, while also continuing to enhance the quality of training experiences that we provide to our graduate students.”
To discuss giving opportunities for the PSC, please contact Annual Giving at (309) 438-4483 or AnnualGiving@IllinoisState.edu.
