Clinical Psychology Internship Placements and Tracks

We will be providing trainees with three options for electives, which comprise a smaller part (approximately 3-4 hours) of their clinical experience:

1. Advanced Group Modality Elective: Interns have the option to co-facilitate (1) a long-term process group composed of individuals with severe mental illness that has been running continuously for over 30 years and/or (2) a long-term process group composed of individuals with SMI supporting each other in making the transition from more intensive care to living independently in the community.  Specialized supervision in psychodynamic process-based group facilitation will be provided as a part of this experience. Interns can also elect to devise and facilitate new groups at MMHC, based on their own interests and the identified needs of MMHC clients.
2. Research Elective: Research electives are possible through collaborating with one of the many research faculty at BIDMC. Trainees who choose this elective will be matched with a mentor and work on a scholarly project.
3. Assessment Elective: Psychodiagnostic and projective testing assessments to clients served by DMH.
4. Digital Psychiatry: The intern has an opportunity to work within a digital psychiatry clinic that provides time limited individual therapy, supplemented between sessions by an app with a clinician portal.
5. Behavioral Sleep Medicine Clinic: This elective provides interns with exposure to the assessment and treatment of insomnia and related sleep concerns, with a primary focus on learning the principles and clinical application of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I).

Four tracks are available in the internship program with an even split across two clinical settings:

• General Track (milieu program / outpatient team)
• Psychosis Across the Lifespan Track (clinical high risk / early psychosis)
• Mental Illness / Problematic Sexual Behaviors (MIPSB outpatient team / RAFT)
• Neuropsychology Track (neuropsychology service / outpatient team 

Applicants may apply to multiple tracks.

The RAFT Program (Milieu Program within General Track) offers in depth assessment and time-limited intensive individual and group-based treatment for DMH eligible patients with serious mental illness (SMI). The program also addresses the complex needs of clients through medication management, coordinated care, and case management. Interns work within a multidisciplinary team that includes psychiatrists, social workers, occupational therapists, and nurses to conduct intake interviews and deliver recovery-oriented psychotherapy grounded in Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT). Beyond these evidence-based practices, they may also be involved with groups offering vocational training, life skills development, physical fitness, communication skills, and expressive arts.

Emerging Young Adult Services (Milieu Program within General Track) provides individual psychotherapy, medication management, group therapy, substance use counseling., and a milieu environment to DMH-connected young adults ages 18 to 26 diagnosed with severe mental illness. All treatment is milieu-based, meaning that treatment takes in a space in which clients can stay for the duration of business hours, enabling them to practice life skills, socializing, cooking, and other activities with peers and milieu staff.

Psychosis Across the Lifespan Track offers full-year participation at the Advancing Services for Psychosis Integration and Recovery (ASPIRE) clinic for those with early psychosis (ages 18-45) and at the Center for Early Detection, Assessment and Response to Risk (CEDAR) clinic for youth at clinical high risk for psychosis (ages 12-30). Interns will have the opportunity to provide individual therapy, develop and deliver group-based interventions, and administer psychological assessments. Interns will also participate in multidisciplinary consultations and didactic training within coordinated specialty clinics.

Mental Illness/Problematic Sexual Behaviors Track offers full year participation in the Mental Illness/Problematic Sexual Behaviors outpatient team, which entails engaging in individual therapy, care coordination, risk assessments, and consultation on a multidisciplinary specialty team dedicated to serving individuals with histories of mental illness and problematic sexual behaviors.

Neuropsychology Track involves full year participation in the Neuropsychology Service at MMHC and at the BIDMC Outpatient Psychiatry Service. The intern performs evaluations of both psychiatric patients and the general population, including questions of dementia, ADHD, LD, and other neurocognitive disorders.

The Outpatient Service is the Department of Mental Health outpatient service for approximately 1,000 patients. These individuals are eligible for DMH services, usually signifying a diagnosis of a major mental illness, considerable functional impairment, and no means to obtain treatment in the private sector. One of our teams has a specific focus on problematic sexual behaviors. Another one of our teams is DBT trained. There are also teams with Spanish speaking treatment providers.

Interns work on multidisciplinary teams and have full clinical responsibility for their patients, and can expect this to account for approximately half of their clinical time. The only exception is the Psychosis Across the Lifespan Track intern, whose training placements do not include direct care for individuals served by DMH.