Psychology Internship Program

Psychology Internship Program

Welcome Thank you for your interest in the APA accredited Psychology internship program at Cherokee Health Systems (CHS). The primary goal of the internship is to provide an intensive and diverse clinical training experience within a community health setting. Cherokee Health Systems progressive and broad-based health services and longstanding commitment to training of psychologists and other health professionals make it a rich learning environment for interns. Interns participate in a unique range of clinical placements, including integrated primary behavioral care, traditional outpatient mental health care as well as psychosocial rehabilitation. We continue to serve an increasingly diverse population with a variety of behavioral health needs, thus allowing us to offer a variety of clinical training experiences. The faculty of the training program includes more than thirty highly trained psychologists as well as a multidisciplinary team of health care professionals, including primary care physicians, psychiatrists, and clinical social workers. About Us From our humble beginnings in 1960, Cherokee Health Systems (CHS) has grown to become a comprehensive health care services organization serving tens of thousands of East Tennesseans every year. Over the past 50 years, the need for quality health care in this region has prompted our rapid expansion. Today, CHS operates 21 offices in 13 East Tennessee counties and employs over 500 professional, support, & administrative staff. We are the largest employer of psychologists in East Tennessee along with dozens of physicians, nurses, social workers, and public health specialists. Our scope of services has grown from exclusively providing behavioral health services to offering integrated medical and dental care as well. Since our founding, we have been committed to the training of pre-doctoral psychologists. We are a clinical practicum site for doctoral clinical and counseling students from the University of Tennessee and also participate in a school psychology internship consortium. Psychologists also provide much of the leadership for CHS treatment programs and consultative services. Mission Cherokee s mission is to improve the quality of life of our patients through the integration of primary care, behavioral health, and substance abuse treatment & prevention programs. Guiding Principles Cherokee Health Systems is committed to a model of patient care that integrates medical and behavioral perspectives. We emphasize prevention and self-help concepts, partnering with our patients in a treatment approach that builds resiliency and encourages personal responsibility for one s health. We are committed to evaluating the services provided and constantly adopt or develop the best practice guidelines and treatment protocols that will best serve our clients and the organization. What is Care? We believe in a holistic approach to health care called Care. This biopsychosocial approach to health care addresses the whole person by blending behavioral health services with primary care. By combining the primary care tradition with mental health services, we are able to treat the whole person so that all patient needs are met in our model of care. Behavioral health consultants work within a primary care setting and are involved in the assessment, intervention, and consultation with patients. Services provided include diagnosis, education, behavior management, and treatment for various behavioral health issues. Our behavioral health consultants work with our primary care physicians to appropriately assess behavioral health concerns and collaboratively design a comprehensive treatment plan. Internships Our 12-month psychology internship program is designed to integrate your formal academic preparation with comprehensive clinical training. The objectives of the clinical training experience are to expose interns to: 1. Assessment, treatment, and consultation within a range of treatment modalities (e.g. integrated primary care, traditional mental health, day treatment) 2. Opportunities to work with specialists in multiple disciplines (e.g. family physicians, internists, nurse practitioners, psychiatrists, social workers, nurses, case managers) 3. A variety of theoretical orientations (e.g. cognitive-behavioral, systems, psychodynamic) 4. Diverse developmental (children, adolescents, adults, elderly) and ethnic (rural Appalachian, African-American, Hispanic, urban) populations To allow for a diversified clinical experience, interns participate in up to three clinical placements at one time. The internship structure is also designed for flexibility to allow each intern to incorporate additional specialized clinical experiences to increase the breadth, depth, and diversity of their training. We work with each intern to develop his or her own unique clinical interests within the core framework of the program. We believe that everyone should have access to high quality health care regardless of their ability to pay. We have always been committed to the service of low-income, uninsured, or indigent patients and our unique structure and scope of services has allowed us to continue to fulfill this mission.

Internship Structure (12 months / 2 days a week) The placement offers interns the unique opportunity to train in the growing area of primary care psychology. Interns serve two days out of the week as behavioral health consultants within a primary care setting (Family Practice, Pediatrics, and Internal Medicine). Interns are called upon by medical providers to assess and treat patients presenting with behavioral health concerns during a primary care visit. They then provide feedback to the medical provider regarding treatment and schedule follow-up appointments with the patient as necessary. As members of an interdisciplinary primary care team, interns will be involved in: On site and timely assessment Brief intervention Consultation Collaborative management Interns will provide a range of health psychology services to patients and medical providers, including: Psycho-education and behavioral lifestyle change Management of behavioral factors in illness and health Implementation of evidence-based practice for mental health concerns During this rotation, interns develop and refine their skills in brief assessment and intervention (primarily cognitive-behavioral and solution focused therapy) as well as consultation and communication with medical providers. Interns also gain experience in applying psychological theory and techniques to address behavioral aspects of health and illness. (12 months / 3 days a week) Interns will be assigned to a particular CHS site three days a week for this 12-month long placement. Assignments are determined in part by each intern s specific clinical interests and training needs. If interns are interested in specific clinical training opportunities at two different sites, the outpatient rotation may be split between these sites. Interns will be involved in assessment, psychotherapy, consultative case management, and coordinating treatment with psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, primary care providers, and case managers. This rotation provides opportunities for both short and longterm individual psychotherapy, as well as group and couples therapy. Interns will work with both children and adults, and a wide range of mental health issues and diagnostic categories. Psychosocial Rehabilitation Rotation (4 months / 1 day a week) This short term placement offers the intern the opportunity to gain a broader sense of the importance of psychology in the community setting while focusing on the seriously and persistently mentally ill population. The placement setting is an integrated health care clinic providing both psychiatric and primary care services to a broad range of adult patients. During this placement, the intern will work as a member of a multidisciplinary treatment team and will learn more about the interface of psychology with other community health care providers including primary care providers, social workers, psychiatrists, and nursing staff as well as paraprofessional disciplines such as case managers, group home staff, and day program staff. Interns interested in gaining more integrated care experience will be able to work with primary care providers in the adult primary care clinic, which serves a diverse community population. Other opportunities available to the intern might include working with patients who live at area group homes, accompanying case managers when making contact with patients in community settings such as patient homes, observing psychiatry medication evaluations, observing mobile crisis staff during hospital consults, and working in our adult day program. Interns will be expected to lead a short term group in the adult day program focusing on a topic selected in collaboration with the rotation supervisor. Elective Clinical Placements Interns are strongly encouraged to take advantage of the wide array of clinical training opportunities within CHS. Interns have the option of incorporating additional specialized clinical activities into their internship experience as part of their outpatient and integrated care rotations. The prospective elective training areas include: Pediatric psychology Child/adolescent psychology Developmental disabilities Rural mental health Psychological services and Hispanic populations Substance abuse School psychology

Example Internship Schedule WEEKLY AUG - NOV DEC - MAR APR - JUL MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY Didactic Training Interns participate in weekly didactic seminars designed to provide interns with advanced education in assessment and intervention of a wide range of psychological disorders and issues, as well as issues related to professional development and practice. The didactic seminar series also includes presentations by other health care professionals, including primary care physicians and psychiatrists, who cover a range of topics including introduction to primary care medicine as well as psychopharmacology. Interns also participate in the various training opportunities available internally for all CHS clinical staff. Clinical Supervision & Evaluation Psychosocial Rehabilitation Evaluation Evaluations of interns are scheduled every trimester. Interns will be provided with written and oral feedback regarding their progress and professional development. Interns provide formal feedback to their supervisors and the internship training director on a semi-annual basis. Interns will also complete a self-assessment during three evaluation periods (beginning, midpoint, and end of internship) to develop and monitor their training goals. Interns will meet formally with the internship training director twice a month to review progress and discuss training issues. Finally, interns act as representatives to the psychology training committee to provide input and feedback on their internship experiences. Internship Benefits Stipend The stipend for the psychology internship is $23,660 paid in 26 biweekly payments. Benefits Cherokee Health Systems offers a comprehensive benefits plan for psychology interns, including health insurance, dental insurance, optional life and disability insurance, and a retirement plan. Please refer to the CHS Benefits summary for more detailed information. Vacation and Leave Interns are allocated 20 days of paid time off (PTO) to use for vacation, dissertation research, sickness, medical or dental appointments and other personal business. In addition, all Cherokee employees enjoy a total of eight paid holidays per year. Professional Liability Interns are covered for their internship training activities under Cherokee s professional liability insurance ($1,000,000.00 per claim and $3,000,000.00 aggregate). APPIC Membership and APA Accreditation The Cherokee Health Systems psychology internship program is APA accredited and an approved member of the APPIC. Clinical Supervision Interns receive a minimum of four hours of formal supervision a week, including three hours of individual and one hour of group supervision. Licensed doctoral level psychologists conduct all supervision. All clinical supervisors are readily available and have an open door policy allowing for additional informal supervision as needed. Mentor Program The internship year may be the most important year of a psychologist s training. Each intern is assigned a mentor, based on mutual interests, to guide and help consolidate their training experiences while developing a professional identity. Each intern will have their mentor as a clinical supervisor for at least part of the year, and will meet with their mentor regularly throughout the entire training experience.

Application Procedure Qualifications Applicants must be advanced students in good standing in APA-approved graduate programs in clinical or counseling psychology. General Application and Selection Procedures The Cherokee Health Systems Psychology Internship Program is APA accredited and an approved member of the APPIC. The application must be submitted by November 15. After all applications have been screened by our training committee, selected applicants will be invited for an on-site interview. Applicants will have the opportunity to visit our sites and meet with several of our faculty. Our program will participate in the computerized match. We agree to abide by the APPIC policy that no person at this training facility will solicit, accept or use any ranking-related information from any intern applicant. We abide by APPIC s policy on nondiscrimination. Program Code Number 3241 Application Checklist Brief cover letter APPIC Application for Psychology Internship Graduate school transcript Current vita Three letters of recommendation Email Cover letter, APPIC application, and current vita can be emailed to: virginia.harris@cherokeehealth.com All other application materials can be addressed to: Parinda Khatri, Ph.D. Psychology Internship Cherokee Health Systems 2018 Western Avenue Knoxville, Tennessee 37921 www.cherokeehealth.com