Internship in Professional Psychology |
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Setting and Population Served: The Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry is one component of the Department of Psychiatry, Vanderbilt School of Medicine. It has provided an APA-approved internship experience for more than 20 years. The Division consists of a staff of child/adolescent psychologists and psychiatrists together with trainees from several mental health disciplines. It is associated with the youth services component of the Vanderbilt Community Mental Health Center and is both a major mental health services provider for Middle Tennessee and a regional training center. The Division has developed a multi-faceted outpatient program. Interns primarily will provide outpatient mental health services to low-income children and their families at the Mental Health Center and in elementary and middle-school-based sites. Children present to the clinics with a range of psychiatric problems including conduct and behavioral disturbances, adjustment problems, depression and anxiety, and symptoms of psychotic disturbances. In addition to opportunities to treat a broad range of psychiatric disorders and psychological issues, interns will gain experience with patients ranging in age from early childhood to late adolescence and representing several racial and ethnic groups, primarily Caucasian and African American with increasing numbers from Middle Eastern and Latin American countries. While treatment of some patients may be relatively straightforward, many patients are quite complex. Our children and adolescents often present with comorbid disorders, exposure to a variety of family and environmental stressors, and with the involvement of numerous agencies and systems.
Training Objectives: The goal of the internship experience is to provide supervised clinical training, as well as didactic teaching so that graduates are prepared to assume roles as child and adolescent oriented clinical psychologists. Objectives for this placement include development of basic skills in child clinical psychology including psychological evaluation, psychotherapy with children and teenagers, work with parents, family therapy, and consultative work with school systems. We expect interns at the end of their tour to be familiar with the operation of a child and adolescent outpatient service. Also expected is the development of skill in interacting productively with other disciplines, recognition of patient problems that call for consultation with other professionals, understanding of relevant ethical and legal principles arising in the treatment of children and adolescents, and sensitivity and competency in providing services to a racially, culturally, and socio-economically diverse patient population.
Training Program/Experiences: Although this placement is not organized into a system of rotations, multiple training experiences are offered. The structure of this placement involves basic responsibilities including assessment with child and adolescent psychiatric populations, psychotherapy with children, teenagers and parents, consultation with trainees and staff from varied disciplines, and professional development, as well as opportunities for more specialized training experiences which are tailored to the intern's interests whenever possible. Services provided at the Mental Health Center are organized around the provision of empirically grounded treatment protocols (e.g., cognitive behavioral therapy, parent training protocols, etc.). Training and supervision for interns, fellows, students and staff in evidence-based treatments are incorporated into the program. In addition to two individual supervision hours per week, interns participate in weekly group supervision with staff therapists and trainees from multiple disciplines. Further didactic offerings include weekly child and adolescent grand rounds, a psychiatry fellows seminar series, and various trainings and lectures offered through the Psychiatry Department and affiliated Medical School and University departments.
There are certain experiences that this setting does not provide. These include extensive work with individuals with mental retardation and autism spectrum disorders. Clinical work with infants also is not represented. Eating disorders are infrequent in our population. Although we see parents as an adjunct to our work with their children or adolescents, we do not normally work with adult patients.
Secondary placement experiences through Child and Adolescent Psychiatry are available for interns with primary placements elsewhere. One is in the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry outpatient clinic. This position involves seeing Medicaid eligible children, adolescents and families for psychotherapy. There is also a position connected to our Community Mental Health Center’s programming at a local juvenile correctional facility. This position involves conducting forensically oriented psychological evaluations for adolescents placed at the facility. Secondary placements may change from year to year and we cannot guarantee the availability of any particular placement for the 20010-11 year.
Additional Criteria for Acceptance: Enrollment in an APA accredited program is preferred. Note: All interns with primary placements in the Vanderbilt Department of Psychiatry must pass a background check. This will be performed after match day. Match results and selection decisions are contingent on passing the background check. No prospective TVHS intern has ever been refused employment as a result of the background check, but it is a possibility. Several have had difficulty, in all cases because of past legal problems they chose not to reveal during the application process. Department of Psychiatry Interns performing a secondary placement in the VA must also complete a VA background check.
Potential for Program Change: None known.
Positions: 1
Salary: $18,980
Starting Date: July 1, 2010
Ending Date: June 30, 2011
Contact:
Erin Fowler, Ph.D.
(615) 322-8701
Faculty:
Tammy L. Dukewich, Ph.D.; University of Notre Dame. Supervision of Assessment and Psychotherapy.
Jon Ebert, Psy.D.; Wheaton College. Supervision of Psychotherapy.
P. Tobi Fischel, Ph.D.; University of Miami. Supervision of Psychotherapy.
Erin Fowler, Ph.D.; Vanderbilt University. Internship Director. Supervision of Psychotherapy.
Patti Van Eys, Ph.D; Bowling Green State University. Supervision of Psychotherapy. Clinical Interest: Child Maltreatment.
Annabella Wilson, Ph.D.; University of Kansas. Supervision of Assessment.
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9-22-2009