Guidelines for Alternative Learning Assignments in Response to Clinical Training Disruptions Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic
Students who are experiencing disruption in their ability to accrue clinical training hours due to the COVID-19 pandemic have the opportunity to engage in alternative learning activities and count this time toward their indirect clinical training hours.
Types of Alternative Activities
There are a variety of alternative learning activities for which students may receive credit, including:
- Reading about a topic that has clinical relevance, such as multicultural and diversity competence, theoretical perspectives, diagnostics, approaches to intervention, treatment guidelines, and ethics
- Completing a webinar or online training module
- Watching a psychotherapy video that demonstrates a specific therapeutic approach
- Creating psychoeducational materials or resource guides for client use
- Developing a proposal for a psychotherapy or psychoeducational group
- Activities as determined by individual supervisors
Activity Requirements
To qualify as alternative learning assignments, clinical training activities must meet the following criteria:
- Topic area has specific relevance to clinical practice or development as a professional in the field of psychology
- Approval of site and/or faculty supervisor
Documentation Guidelines For Supervisor Verification
In order for faculty supervisors to verify the completion of these alternative learning activities, students should submit the following to faculty supervisors:
- A short description of the learning activity, including the source(s)
- One of the following to demonstrate evidence of completion:
- A certificate of completion, if provided
- A one-page written reflection paper that addresses the following questions:
- What did you learn from this activity?
- How will you apply this to your clinical work?
- A written work product (e.g., client handouts, detailed proposal for a new group intervention)
- An alternative format approved by your faculty supervisor (e.g., an oral presentation or discussion of the material in sufficient depth to demonstrate understanding)
Time2Track Documentation
Please consider the following in documenting alternative learning activities:
- Keep track of the time that you spend completing each activity
- If you write a reflection paper related to the learning activity, you can also count the time that you spend writing the paper
- Enter the activities in Time2Track using the appropriate Indirect/Support Activity Type
- You may wish to use Tags in Time2Track to label the time spent in different activities
