Because of UC Davis’ unique partnership with Sacramento County, our clinical rotations for both the adult and child tracks maintain a strong interdisciplinary approach to treatment.  Each site employs full-time UC Davis psychiatrists and psychologists as well as physicians, nurses, social workers, and clinicians from the county.  Our postdoctoral fellows are greatly valued at each site.  They participate in interdisciplinary treatment teams in the evaluation and intervention of mental health problems and provide consultation to a wide range of professionals in the area.

• Sacramento County Mental Health Treatment Center (SCMHTC)

Located a short walk from the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences building at the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, the SCMHTC is a 50-bed inpatient psychiatric treatment center that services primarily poor and indigent residents of Sacramento county. The majority of patients struggle with severe and persistent mental illness, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety, and Axis II disorders. It is a primary training site for UC Davis psychiatry residents as well as medical students on their psychiatry clerkship rotation. Ju Hui Park, Ph.D., is the supervising psychologist for this rotation. Glen Xiong, M.D., serves as the center's medical director. The attending psychologist and psychiatrists on the inpatient treatment teams are all full-time faculty members in the Department.

Psychology fellows are involved with many different aspects of the patients’ care. Fellows conduct brief and extended psychological assessments of patients to address issues related to their emotional and cognitive functioning, such as questions related to the presence of psychosis, cognitive disorders that may be interfering with their ability to care for themselves, and to address issues regarding comorbid Axis II disorders. Fellows also co-lead a twice weekly interpersonal therapy group that draws from principles of mindfulness and interpersonal effectiveness. Brief individual therapy is also provided to patients who are referred for more intensive individual treatment. As part of a multidisciplinary team, psychology fellows are also involved in providing consultations to psychiatrists, residents, medical students, and clinical staff regarding behavioral assessments of patients and treatment recommendations that aid in working most effectively with the patients.

• Sacramento County Adult Psychiatry Support Services (APSS)

The APSS clinic is located about one mile from the UC Davis Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.  It is an adult community mental health clinic that serves economically disadvantaged individuals with a serious and persistent mental disorder which causes severe impairment in their community functioning. They are either medically indigent, MediCal beneficiaries, or CalWORKs recipients. Diagnoses seen among these patients include one of the psychotic disorders, bipolar disorder, recurrent major depression, borderline personality disorder, PTSD, or panic disorder. Approximately 30% of the patients are non-English-speaking, primarily Hmong, Mien, Vietnamese, or Eastern European. A variety of professionals, including one psychologist, postdoctoral psychology fellows, psychiatrists, psychiatry residents, medical students, mental health counselors, nurses, and interpreters from the contracted agencies, work with individuals at the APSS clinic. Interdisciplinary teamwork is greatly emphasized.

The APSS clinic is a primary training site for UC Davis psychiatry residents, as well as medical students on their psychiatry clerkship rotations. Mei-Fang Lan, Ph.D., is the supervising psychologist for this rotation. Alan Koike, M.D., serves as medical director of the APSS clinic. The attending psychologist and psychiatrists are full-time faculty members of the Department. Psychology fellows will provide individual psychotherapy to difficult-to-treat patients, co-lead psychotherapy groups, and conduct comprehensive psychological assessments of clients. Psychology fellows will also serve as consultants to attending psychiatrists, psychiatry residents, medical students, and other APSS clinical staff.

• Sacramento County Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Services

The CAPS clinic, a 10-minute drive from UC Davis’ Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, is an outpatient clinic for children and adolescents (ages 0 to 18-years-old).  Robert Horst, M.D. (Please add hyperlink to Dr. Horst’s page) serves as the medical director for the CAPS clinic, which is staffed by full-time UC Davis faculty psychologists and psychiatrists as well as one pediatrician.  It is the primary training site for our postdoctoral fellows in psychology as well as UC Davis’ child and adolescent psychiatry fellows.  Medical students and residents in psychiatry also complete rotations at the CAPS clinic.  As with all of our training sites, there is a strong collaborative atmosphere and emphasis on interdisciplinary teamwork.  Our fellows develop strong working relationships with a number of professionals within the community that last beyond their training year.

The CAPS Clinic mainly serves children and adolescents who have mental health coverage through Medi-Cal or as part of their special services at school (26.5 funding).  These clients present with a wide range of complex diagnostic concerns.  Most of our clients and their families struggle with multiple environmental stressors including low income, unemployment, poor social support, and/or family history of mental health or alcohol/substance abuse problems.  Oftentimes, our clients and their family members have also experienced neglect or abuse and may be involved with Child Protective Services (CPS).  Clients represent diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds such as African American, Asian, Caucasian, and Latino who may be first- or-second-generation immigrants.

Fellows at the CAPS clinic provide several important services to our clients.  Following a systems approach to client care, fellows often take the lead in coordinating and collaborating with several professionals involved in a client’s care, including those working in the mental health, medical, academic, and legal domains.  The County has a deep commitment to providing treatment that “meets clients where they are,” which allows providers to tailor their interventions to each client.  Fellows provide short- and long-term individual and family therapy, which if appropriate, may be conducted in the client’s schools or homes.  Fellows also conduct extensive psychological assessments that typically involve school observations, interviews with caregivers, treatment providers, and teachers, and the administration of objective and projective personality measures.  During the course of their training year, fellows also participate on and have the chance to lead the Comprehensive Multidisciplinary Assessment Team (CMAT).

• Minor Emergency Response Team (MERT)

Fellows complete a minor rotation with the Minor Emergency Response Team, which is a crisis unit for children and adolescents.  MERT is located within the Sacramento County Mental Health Treatment Center (SCMHTC) and is staffed by attending psychologists and psychiatrists who are full-time UC Davis faculty members.  Children and adolescents at MERT have been placed on involuntary psychiatric holds because they are considered a danger to themselves or someone else or are gravely disabled.  Fellows evaluate these individuals to determine whether they require inpatient psychiatric hospitalization or are stable enough to discharge back into the community.  While at MERT, fellows gain exposure to a range of severe psychopathology including psychotic, mood, substance, and trauma-related disorders.