Utah State Hospital

Type of Site: Internship, State/County/Other Public Hospital, APA Accredited

Program Description:

The Internship Program in Clinical Psychology is a formal training program whose intent is to prepare students who wish to go on to Postdoctoral Fellowships. Training occurs on a campus whose primary focus is the treatment of persons who are identified as severely mentally ill (SMI). The primary method of training is experiential. Interns are provided with a graded sequence of experiences, with increasing levels of responsibility commensurate with the intern's demonstrated competency and comfort. The internship is deliberately structured to provide supervised exposure to working with patients of different ages, backgrounds and ethnicity, with a diversity of presenting problems, representing a wide variety of severity. The internship begins with approximately three weeks of training and orientation, after which formal rotations begin. Each of three consecutive rotations spans approximately 16 weeks. Interns also conduct individual and group therapy throughout the internship year. Each intern will work with at least one adult patient in long-term individual psychotherapy, as well as with at least one child providing cognitive remediation and/or other interventions. It is expected that Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) will be used with one of the individual psychotherapy cases. The supervisor serves as a role model to challenge and guide, as well as to enhance skills needed to meet clinical demands. The intern is expected to translate graduate training into real world clinical performance. As part of the requirements for successful completion, interns deliver two clinical-academic case presentations. The case presentations allow the intern to demonstrate skills in clinical formulation. Interns are also assisted in professional development by an ancillary staff of nationally recognized psychologist consultants who offer training seminars that have included the following: cultural and ethnic diversity, research methods and outcome findings, and specialized methods of assessment and intervention. Although the internships primary emphasis is experiential development of clinical skills, both the institution and the training staff provide encouragement, opportunity, and support for research inquiry.

Training Director: Amanda Rapacz

Address: P.O. Box

1300 E Center St

Provo, Utah 84603-0270

(40 miles south of Salt Lake City, UT)

Phone: 801-344-4474

Populations: Children, adolescents, adults, older adults, inpatients, gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender, ethnic minorities, rural, urban, low income

Treatment Modalities: Assessment, individual therapy, group therapy, crisis intervention, brief psychotherapy, long-term psychotherapy, cognitive rehabilitation, supervision of practicum students

Experience: Learning disabilities, developmental disabilities, assessment, neuropsychology-adult, neuropsychology-child, serious mental illness, anxiety disorders, trauma/PTSD, sexual abuse, substance use disorders, forensics/corrections, geropsychology, pediatrics, empirically-supported treatments, program development/evaluation, supervision, research

Position Information

Position Begins: 7/5/2016

Number of Full Time Slots expected in next class: 3

Number of Part Time Slots expected in next class: 0

Full Time Annual Stipend: $21,000

Fringe Benefits: Dissertation Release Time, Health Insurance, Professional Development Time, Sick Leave, Vacation

Applications/Interviews: Application Info available on the website: http://ush.utah.gov/psychology-training/

Applications due: 11/2/2015

On-site Interviews preferred: December 7^th, 2015.

Interviews include: An orientation to the internship training offered, a tour of the hospital, a group experience in which interviewees view and collectively discuss diagnostic and treatment considerations for a clinical vignettes, a panel interview with one interviewee and two or three faculty members, and an informal lunch with the current interns.  On-site interviews are preferred but not required.  Those unable to attend the scheduled interview date may request to reschedule for an alternative date to interview on site, or may participate in a phone interview. 

Requirements for application: Pass comprehensive exams by application deadline, dissertation proposal approved by application deadline

Minimum number of AAPI Intervention Hours: 350

Minimum number of AAPI Assessment Hours: 150

Minimum number of years of grad training required: 3

Additional Information: Prefers students from Clinical Psychology programs.  Accepts students from Counseling Psychology programs.  Prefers students from APA or CPA-Accredited programs.  Will not accept students from non-accredited programs. Accepts Ph.D. and Psy.D. Degrees, but will not accept Ed.D. degrees.

Summary of 2015-2016 Internship Class

•          67 completed applications

•          40 applicants invited for interviews

•          3 total interns (all from APA/CPA accredited programs and Ph.D. programs)

•          Of the 3 total interns, all were from Clinical Psychology programs

•          Range of integrated assessment reports: 15-153