The UT Psychological Clinic is now operating in the UT Conference Center—a new location that will allow it to see more clients and be more accessible to the general public.
“This new location improves the accessibility of the clinic’s services to clients in the community, enabling more clients to be served,” said Theresa Lee, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “The enhancement and upgrading of the clinic facilities also provide both a more suitable environment for serving clients and better facilities for training our graduate students in the clinical program.”
The UT Psychological Clinic is the primary training site for students in the clinical psychology doctoral program.
The clinic offers psychological assessment, psychoeducational evaluations, adult psychotherapy, child and adolescent psychotherapy, group therapy, marital and couples therapy, family psychotherapy, child custody and parenting fitness evaluations, and other types of specialized diagnostic and psychotherapeutic interventions. Although the Clinic is available to UT students, 80 percent of its clients are from the general public.
“The clinic is staffed by approximately thirty very bright doctoral students who are interested and passionate about what they are doing,” said Lance T. Laurence, director of the clinic and associate professor in the Department of Psychology.
The students spend about twenty hours a week working in the clinic during their second through fifth years of study. They are supervised by ten full-time clinical faculty members and a dozen part-time adjunct staff.
“We want the public to know that we’re here and providing quality care at an affordable price,” Laurence said, adding that the clinic combines the university’s mission of teaching, research, and public service.
Clients pay $40 for the first meeting. Fees can be adjusted to patients’ ability to pay and flexible payment plans can be arranged. The clinic accepts cash and checks; credit and insurance aren’t accepted at this time.
Clients get the benefit of having their care provided by a team of experts—a doctoral student and multiple faculty members. Students’ sessions with clients are videotaped so supervising faculty can closely review them with students and oversee treatment options. Because the clinic is part of the university, a variety of clinical research studies occur at the clinic at any given time. The clinic also has one of the most comprehensive collections of diagnostic tools in the state.
UT’s Psychological Clinic opened in the early 1950s on Thirteenth Street and Cumberland Avenue. In the early 1990s it moved to the Austin Peay Building on the Hill, where it operated for more than two decades. As the clinic began to provide services beyond the university community, the need for parking and better access to care prompted its move to its new location in Suite 208 of the UT Conference Center. The newly renovated location provides easy access, ample parking nearby, and a comfortable atmosphere for conducting confidential interventions with clients.
For more information about the UT Psychological Clinic, see psychclinic.utk.edu.
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Note: Clinic administrators are available for interviews and to provide tours of the facility today and on Thursday, June 26. Call Amy Blakely, 865-974-5034, to schedule.
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CONTACT:
Amy Blakely (865-974-5034, ablakely@utk.edu)