Waiting room with couches for McShane Center

What is therapy?

Psychotherapy is the process of meeting with a trained individual to help you resolve areas of concern and or problematic behaviors, beliefs, feelings, relationship difficulties, and/or somatic responses (e.g., body sensations, such as headaches, body aches stomach aches). At the McShane Center, we always aim to use psychotherapeutic techniques that have demonstrated in the scientific literature to be helpful for the important challenges you are facing. The first few meetings at the McShane Center are comprised of an “intake” which consists of meeting with a Psychologist-in-training for an in depth interview and to complete questionnaires to get a better sense of your areas of strength, concerns, history, and goals. With this information, you and your psychologist-in-training will discuss the approach that will be used, and your psychologist-in-training will help you track your weekly progress towards your therapy goals.

How long are sessions?

Sessions are typically 45 to 50 minutes, one time a week, but they may happen more frequently or somewhat less frequently depending on the type of concern that you have and how far along you are in the treatment. It is important that you attend regularly in order to get the maximal benefit from therapy.

What is group therapy?

Group therapy involves meeting with one licensed psychologist and one or two psychologist-in-training and a small group of other individuals (usually between 2 and 8 other people) who are coping with similar concerns. The psychologists-in-training, with support of the licensed psychologist will lead the group through skill-building exercises and discussions. Group members can provide one another with support, new ideas for coping, and a chance to practice new skills and behaviors. Please call the Clinic office or check the website for more information about current group offerings.

What is psychological or neuropsychological assessment?

Assessment refers to testing and other forms of information gathering done to help answer client questions about possible learning disabilities, attention problems, behavioral problems, school/work difficulties, or other cognitive concerns. In general, the assessor will meet with you for one consultation session to gather information about your current concerns and history and to answer any questions you may have. This consultation appointment is typically followed by 2-4 testing sessions of 2-3 hours each, where the assessor will give you different types of tests that are specifically selected to answer the question that brought you into assessment. After the testing is complete, the assessor will prepare a full report with all of the results, and meet with you to discuss the findings and address any questions you may have. If you are completing an assessment to determine whether you might be eligible for accommodations through a specific organization (e.g. the College Board), you must notify your assessor of those needs at the intake and bring along information about any specific tests that organization requires. We do not provide custody evaluations.

Who is eligible for services at the McShane Center?

Services at the Clinic are open to the general public. You need not be affiliated with the university in any way to seek services here. We welcome clients of all ages, nationalities, gender identities, races, ethnicities, sexual orientations and ability/disability.

Pace Students may be eligible for free services at the Counseling Center for Psychological Services on campus, which is separate from our clinic.

What can I expect when I call the Clinic for the first time?

When you call the Psychology Clinic during our office hours, one of our student administrators will tell you more about our clinic and our policies. They will also spend about 10-20 minutes asking you some questions about what kinds of services you’re seeking (therapy or assessment), your current concerns, and whether you’re experiencing some types of problems that often bring people into treatment. If it seems likely that we can provide services that are a good match to what you are looking for, you will be scheduled for an intake appointment. If your needs would be better met by a different type of service, or if you would like to pursue treatment outside of the Clinic, we will be happy to give you appropriate referrals.

What do I need to bring to the intake appointment?

If you have records that would be important for the person treating you to see, it’s a good idea to bring those to the intake appointment. For example, if you are seeking an assessment because of school problems it could be helpful to bring along your school records. If you are currently taking any medications, please bring along the names and dosages of those medications, as well as information about who is prescribing them. Fees for therapy and assessment are determined on a sliding scale, so it is important to bring a form of income verification to this first meeting (e.g. check stub, income tax return, or W-2). Intake fees are typically $50 for therapy intakes and $60 for assessment consultations, payable by cash, check, debit, or credit card at the time of the intake.

What does it mean that the McShane Center is a training clinic?

The services at the McShane Center are provided by graduate students in the Masters of Science in Education (MS.Ed.) in School Psychology and Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) in School – Clinical Child Psychology programs at Pace University, New York City Campus. They are not yet licensed, but all of the services they provide are supervised closely by Pace University faculty or a licensed clinical psychologist affiliated with our program. You will be provided with the supervisor’s name at your request. Because the students are being supervised, sessions may be recorded, for the supervisor to review the recordings to ensure that psychologists-in-training are providing the best care possible. All recordings are confidential, will be deleted at the end of treatment, and are used only to provide feedback to the students.