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Cedarhurst School

Location

871 Prospect Street, Hamden, CT 06517

Site Description

Cedarhurst School is a private therapeutic school operated by Yale University. Serving as a junior and senior high school for grades 7-12, it offers a structured supportive learning environment for students who have difficulty functioning in the mainstream setting.

The population served includes students with psychiatric illness or learning disorders, behavioral difficulties and school avoidance issues. Group therapy, crisis intervention and individual counseling provide a sound interface between the educational and clinical needs of the students. Treatment planning is focused on concrete, behaviorally based goals. The training experience at Cedarhurst is focused on developing a more clinically sophisticated knowledge of adolescents and their treatment needs within an educational setting. This is a 12-month fellowship beginning July 1st and ending June 30th. Primary objectives for the Fellowship include the following:

  • Learn the fundamentals of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and how to operationalize it within a special education setting.
  • Learn how to write goal focused, quantifiable Individual Educational Plans (IEP) in the context of collaboration with educational staff and parents.
  • Learn how to provide crisis intervention in a special education setting, including accurate mental status examination, utilization of de-escalation techniques and triaging to local emergency room departments.
  • Learn and apply group therapy curricula to a special education setting. Examples include Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT).
  • Learn the fundamentals of how to complete a biopsychosocial assessment in a special education setting. This will include disposition and treatment planning.
  • Learn how to effectively collaborate with school districts, outside treaters, family members, social service agencies and collateral contacts