Stony Brook University Consortium Internship Program
Application Deadline: November 4, 2024
The Stony Brook University Consortium Internship Program (SBU-CIP) offers a full-time, 12-month, doctoral internship in clinical psychology to qualified students in doctoral psychology programs. The SBU-CIP includes three-member agencies: the Leonard Krasner Psychological Center (KPC), a psychology training clinic associated with the doctoral program in clinical psychology, Department of Psychology (College of Arts and Sciences), the Mind Body Clinical Research Center (MBCRC), an outpatient facility associated with the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Health (Stony Brook Medicine), and the Stony Brook University Hospital (SBUH; Stony Brook Medicine), Long Island’s premier academic medical center and an academic hospital that provides general health services to the community, and which serves as the region’s only tertiary care center and Regional Trauma Center, among other medical specialties. Although completely distinct in administration and location, member agencies are part of the Stony Brook University (SBU). The SBU-CIP is partially affiliated with the SBU doctoral program in clinical psychology.
The overall aim of the SBU-CIP is to train and educate psychology interns to practice professional psychology competently based on a clinical scientist model. The training philosophy is informed by the Evidence Based Practice in Psychology (EBPP) approach, which encompasses the notion that best practice is grounded in the integration of the best available research with clinical expertise in the context of key patient characteristics (including culture, diversity, and preferences). A scientifically-minded approach informs every aspect of the SBU-CIP program. The patient population includes children, adolescents, and adults. For this upcoming training year, there are 4 adult track positions and 2 child track positions available.
The specific goals of the SBU-CIP are three-fold:
(1) To provide interns with training and experience in delivering services across various therapeutic settings, including outpatient mental health facilities and hospital-based programs. Our trainees rotate through a variety of hospital-based clinical settings (e.g., a psychiatric emergency room, inpatient psychiatry units (adult or child), and the hospital consultation/liaison service). Our primary training orientation is cognitive-behavioral (CBT), including third-wave CBT interventions [e.g., Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System of Psychotherapy (CBASP), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and mindfulness-based therapies]. Interns also receive training in behavioral medicine and working in integrated medical settings (e.g., bariatric weight loss center).
(2) To provide interns with the necessary training that will enable them to develop and/or strengthen “generalist” skills. This is accomplished through instruction, supervision, and direct clinical experience in a wide spectrum of functions engaged in by a professional psychologist, including provision of psychological assessment/evaluation, psychotherapy services to clinical populations, supervision of others, and consultation and liaison services. The SBU-CIP trains interns to discharge their professional responsibilities upholding the highest standards of professional conduct and in ways that are thoughtful, compassionate, skillful, culturally sensitive, and ethical.
(3) To provide continual professional development by building on the interns’ existing skills and competencies via additional training in evidence-based methods. Each main program or rotation is designed to provide interns with training that is sequential, cumulative, and graded in complexity. Upon completion of the internship, SBU-CIP interns will have acquired the knowledge, skills, and professionalism to move to the postdoctoral resident level.
The goals of SBU-CIP are accomplished by capitalizing on the academic training resources and faculty professional expertise of Stony Brook University. The KPC and the MBCRC have pooled resources to provide a training and experiential program that provides interns with wide breadth and strong depth of training.
The training curriculum is designed to promote acquisition of internship goals in a manner that is sequential, cumulative and graded in complexity. Training processes include as follows: (1) Didactics/Instruction –including structured lectures, presentations, and clinical workshops; (2) Supervision, (3) Mentoring in research/readings; and (4) Experiential Activities – including direct service delivery and professional development.
A. Didactics
The SBU-CIP offers two or more formal presentations/lectures/clinical workshops weekly across member agencies, including as follows: (1) in-house presentations at the KPC; (2) Grand Rounds offered by the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Health; (3) Supervision course at the KPC; (4) selected presentations offered by the Psychiatry Residency training program, and (5) clinical science colloquia within the doctoral program in clinical psychology associated with the KPC. Additional readings and instruction about theories and methods of supervision are provided during the group supervision of supervision. The interns are expected to attend all didactics offered by the program (as a cohort activity) and do associated readings (e.g., the in-house presentations at the KPC include a minimum of two readings weekly).
B. Supervision
The SBU-CIP takes a developmental approach to supervision that is sequential, cumulative, and graded in complexity. Face-to-face supervision is provided both individually and in groups. The supervisors are NYS licensed clinical psychologists who are also clinical faculty members across academic departments in the two member agencies. Supervision in minor programs/rotations may be provided by NYS licensed psychologists or psychiatrists. Supervision includes observational methods, namely, live streaming and/or direct observation. Interns are assigned supervisors who are leaders in the various experiential training programs (main and minor).
C. Experiential Activities: Face-to-Face service delivery of psychological services
All interns participate in the two main outpatient training opportunities throughout the academic year, namely, the general outpatient program at the KPC and the behavioral medicine program at the MBCRC. In addition, all interns complete integrative assessments at the KPC (e.g., psycho-educational and psychodiagnostic evaluations, ADHD evaluations, disability determinations, and/or mental health clearance). The main programs include an average total of approximately 8 hours of face-to-face client contact through individual or group interventions or assessments (e.g., psycho-educational evaluations, clinical intakes, etc.).
In addition to the main outpatient training programs, major rotations at SBUH generally include an average of 8 hours of face-to-face client contact weekly for a period of 4 months. As such, interns may complete up to 3 of 5 possible rotations during the academic training year. Interns have the opportunity to rotate through a variety of inpatient and outpatient psychiatric services at Stony Brook Medicine, including:
Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program (CPEP). The CPEP provides emergency psychiatric services to people in urgent need of psychiatric evaluation, acute intervention, and referral services. Interns work closely with a multidisciplinary team to evaluate and coordinate care for individuals in urgent need of psychiatric services. Interns receive training in conducting psychiatric evaluations, treatment formulation and disposition, and care coordination within the context of the emergency department.
Adult Inpatient Psychiatry Unit. The Adult Inpatient Psychiatry Unit is a self-contained 30-bed unit designed for the acute short-term stabilization treatment of adult inpatients with a variety of psychiatric and behavioral problems including suicidality, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, depression, and severe anxiety disorders. Interns work closely with a psychologist and with a multidisciplinary team to evaluate and care for patients on the Inpatient Psychiatry Unit. Interns participate in patient rounds with the team and co-run anger management, mindfulness, and DBT-based skills groups.
Child Inpatient Psychiatry Unit. The Child Inpatient Unit is a self-contained 10-bed unit designed for the acute short-term stabilization treatment of child inpatients (ages 5-12) with a variety of internalizing and externalizing psychiatric and behavioral problems. Every child receives a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary evaluation by our team of child psychiatrists, nurses, psychologists, social workers, and special education teachers. Children also attend school on the unit. Interns participate in patient rounds with the team, co-run DBT-based skills groups, and provide individual services.
Consultation and Liaison (CL) Psychiatry. The CL service provides psychiatric consultation throughout the hospital. Interns attend patient rounds with a multidisciplinary team and provide psychiatric and psychological evaluations, short term interventions, and consultation to patients and clinicians on medical and surgical inpatient units throughout the SBU Hospital.
Obesity and Weight Management Clinic (OWMC)The OWMC program is designed to include an average of 10 hours of face-to-face client contact weekly. Interns will have the opportunity to rotate through the OWMC every 4 months. Interns conduct pre-surgical and post-surgical psychiatric diagnostic evaluations and pre- and post-surgical interdisciplinary skills training groups in an outpatient interdisciplinary setting.
Minor areas of concentration within the two main outpatient programs are also available (see attached Brochure for further details).
D. Research Opportunities
Interns are invited to participate in research activities offered by faculty in the doctoral program in clinical psychology associated with at the KPC or the MBCRC. In alignment with the aims and mission our internship, interns are granted 4 hours/week of protected time to be used for research or other professional development activities, as discussed with the TD. Dependent on available funding, interns may be able to spend an additional ½ day working on research in lieu of a portion of their practicum. The OWMC also has a large data set collected over the course of several years with patients undergoing bariatric surgery, and interns can also get involved in this type of research. At the outset of the internship, interested interns should discuss their research interests with the principal investigators of the various research projects, as well as with the members of the internship Executive Board.
E. Accreditation Status
The SBU-CIP is currently accredited by the American Psychological Association Commission on Accreditation (APA CoA) (2017-2027). The SBU-CIP is a member of the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC), member site # 2371, since 09/26/2016. It can be found in the National Matching Services (NMS) rank system as program code #2371-11 (adult tracks) and #2371-12 (child track).
Questions related to the program’s accreditation status should be directed to the Commission on Accreditation:
Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation
American Psychological Association
750 1 st Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002
Phone: (202)336-5979 / Email: apaacred@apa.org
Website: www.apa.org/ed/accreditation
F. Application Materials and Contact Information
Interested students should upload their application onto the APPIC portal. The SBU-CIP is currently listed as a member site #2371. In addition to the standard application materials listed in the APPIC program, prospective applicants should include two additional clinical reports, including a “Case Formulation for Treatment Planning” and a “Psychoeducational Evaluation".
Contact Information
Dina Vivian, Ph.D.
Training Director, Stony Brook University Consortium Internship Program (SBU-CIP)
Dina.Vivian@stonybrook.edu
Phone: (631) 632-7848/7830