Psych Clinic Celebrated 80 Years with Successful Open House

News, Psych Clinic

The University Psychological Clinic recently hosted an 80th anniversary open house at the Mary A. Rackham Institute. Many from the history of the clinic visited, including previous training fellows from various years.

U-M Rackham Dean Michael Solomon spoke about the long relationship between the Psychological Clinic and the Graduate School. MARI Director, Bruno Giordani, and Medical Director, Richard Dopp, also spoke. They each addressed developing new initiatives at the Psychological Clinic, speaking on the Clinic’s mission to serve U-M students and faculty as well as those outside of the university and how Mary A. Rackham’s vision for services to adults and children in need has continued unbroken.

Past and Future

The Psych Clinic was founded in the 1930s and was incorporated as part of the Mary A. Rackham Institute (originally named the Institute for Human Adjustment) at the University of Michigan in the 1940s.

Guests visited discussion groups set up to showcase the evidence-based therapies senior staff teach at the Clinic, including Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy ( MBCT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Complicated Grief Therapy (GCT), Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System for Psychotherapy (CBASP), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Emotion Focused Couples Therapy as well as our psychological testing methods. The Clinic was also excited to share our Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration (SEPI) regional network status with visitors, as well as our collaborative presentation at national and international conferences.

Alum visiting the new MARI offices for the first time expressed interest and curiosity in the changes since the 50th anniversary. They talked about their experiences at the house on East Huron and the offices in East Hall, the Clinic’s previous homes, while sharing stories from those memorable times.

Clinic Director, Todd K. Favorite, Ph.D.,  thanked all those who attended and shared with the guests — as well as those who could not make it in person — an invitation to stay in contact in the years to come.