Training and Education

The Deaf Wellness Center prides itself as an excellent educational resource for a variety of professionals-in-training, including those in the mental health fields, sign language interpreters, and healthcare professionals as well. Our training mission appears below. For further information about our training programs, click on the links at the left.

Internships and Practica
Information about our APA accredited clinical psychology doctoral internship program as well as training opportunities for students in other mental health disciplines at the baccalaureate, masters, or doctoral levels. Information about our sign language interpreting internships is also presented. Sign language interpreter trainees may be students or working interpreters and may pursue interests in mental health interpreting, healthcare interpreting or both.

Demand-Control Schema
Information regarding our D-C schema lectures, workshops, and related training opportunities for sign language interpreters. These training events are usually presented in locations outside of Rochester, NY, through arrangements with a hosting agency or via independent study mechanisms. (The DWC is approved by the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf as a sponsor of continuing education units for workshops or independent study courses.)

Lectures and Workshops
Several brief descriptions of our more popular workshops, including those pertaining to D-C schema but other topics as well. These lectures and workshops also are typically presented outside of Rochester, NY, through arrangements with a hosting agency or group. Many more lecture or workshop topics could be presented other than those which are shown.

Sign Language Courses
Information about our Level 1 and Level 2 courses in American Sign Language. Contact DWC director Robert Pollard (585-275-3544 v/TTY or via email) for further information.

DWC Training Mission

The Deaf Wellness Center trains deaf and sign-proficient hearing individuals for leadership, broad competence, unusual dedication to excellence in the mental health professions, and promotes and contributes to such training in other healthcare professions. Our primary training objective is to prepare deaf professionals for careers of scholarship and clinical service excellence. We also train hearing individuals who work with deaf professionals or deaf consumers, fostering their comprehension of and respect for deaf people and sign language, and their ability to work with deaf people in an effective and mutually enriching manner. Our training content is informed by the latest relevant research and addresses the spectrum of biological, psychological, social, linguistic, and cultural factors that impact the lives of deaf people.