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Training & Supervision
Psychotherapy
Interns have a small caseload of general outpatient therapy patients throughout the training year. Patients are referred internally to Behavioral Health by their primary care provider. Cases are therefore varied and the experience is that of a general practice rather than a specialty clinic. Supervision of outpatient therapy cases is provided by the primary supervisor. For interns who choose to see patients in a setting such as Health Psychology, Rehabilitation Psychology, or Neuropsychology, supervision of those cases will be provided by a Health Service Psychologist practicing in that area, with oversight by the primary supervisor. Typical presenting issues include behavioral problems, trauma, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, adjustment issues, and relational problems. The outpatient clinic does not treat eating disorders or sexual disorders and does not conduct court-ordered evaluations or treatment.
Psychological Assessment
Each intern will complete approximately ten outpatient psychological evaluations during the internship year. Presenting issues for assessment vary; common referral questions include diagnosis of attention problems, cognitive issues, or learning disabilities, or differential diagnosis due to limited improvement in the patient’s symptoms with treatment. Interns will complete a diagnostic assessment with patients and will then choose assessment instruments, administer and score testing, interpret and integrate results, and provide feedback to the patient and/or family. The intern will have the opportunity to progress in independence with these tasks over the course of the year.
Team Participation
Interns will be members of several teams. In the outpatient setting, interns will participate in both weekly formal team collaboration meetings and in informal consultation with colleagues who are psychologists, physicians, nurse practitioners, social workers, and community care associates. In the partial hospital setting, teams include the above members as well as colleagues who are occupational therapists, chaplains, pharmacists, and registered nurses. Interns will learn to participate effectively on these teams. Interns will also practice effective communication with the patients’ primary care provider, who is the referral source.
Didactic Training
To support the development of a broad knowledge base, interns participate in two hours weekly of didactic experiences. One to two hours per week of didactic training is completed through presentations by other behavioral health professionals. Topics may include assessment instruments and techniques, detailed discussions of diagnosis and treatment of various conditions, types of interventions, assessment skills such as assessing for substance use disorders and suicide risk, and discussion of topics from Health Psychology and Rehabilitation Psychology.
An additional hour of didactic training each week is provided through consultation meetings, division meetings, and attendance at Grand Rounds. Interns are invited to present at Grand Rounds as part of their training experience.
Supervision
As required by the American Psychological Association (APA) and the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC), four hours of supervision are provided each week. Two hours of individual, face-to-face supervision will be provided by the primary supervisor. Two additional hours of group supervision are provided weekly. Time in supervision is designed to be more frequent at the beginning of the internship year, with supervision becoming less directive and more consultative toward the end of the internship.