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Psychotherapy Division

Robert Gregory, MD, Director

The purpose of the Psychotherapy Division is to foster a holistic, individualized, and integrated approach to all patient care. Responsibilities for the Division include developing a comprehensive psychotherapy curriculum for psychiatry residents, and promoting, supporting, and coordinating psychotherapy clinical and research activities within the Department.

Integrative Model of Psychotherapy Training

Psychotherapy can be broadly defined as interactions that promote health. The overarching goal of psychotherapy training at SUNY Upstate is to integrate psychotherapy principles into all aspects of everyday psychiatric practice, from the initial evaluation, through treatment with or without medication, in or out of hospital right through to termination and referral. Psychotherapy requires a biopsychosocial understanding of illness, treatment, and the patient-clinician relationship. Its practice involves a stance that is respectful, compassionate, reliable, and nonjudgmental, and applies knowledge of specific concepts and skills.

Sequential Training Objectives:

  1. Promote a reflective stance when practicing psychiatry. The foundation of psychotherapy and effective psychiatric practice is the therapeutic relationship between patient and clinician.
  2. Teach key concepts and skills.
  3. Teach specific therapy modalities, e.g. CBT, psychodynamic, DDP, DBT, play therapy, etc.

Psychotherapy-Related Didactics for General Psychiatry Residents 2009-2010

PGY-I

  • Introduction to Psychotherapy, John Manring and Georgian Mustata, 2 hrs/week, all year
  • Mentorship program, 1 hr/week, all year
  • Psychological Assessment, Richard O’Neill, 4 sessions
  • Interviewing, Gene Tinelli, 12 sessions
  • Theories of Psychopathology, Robert Gregory, 7 sessions

PGY-II

  • Psychotherapy Concepts and Methods, Robbi Saletsky, 25 sessions
  • SCT subgrouping, Richard O’Neill, 3 sessions
  • Introduction to DBT, Jean Shook, 3 sessions
  • Biopsychosocial Formulation, Robert Gregory and Kathleen Deters-Hayes, 27 sessions
  • Family systems, David Keith and John Manring, 10 sessions

PGY-III

  • Theory/Practice of Individual Psychotherapy, Eugene Kaplan, 26 sessions
  • Individual CBT and psychodynamic supervision, 2 hrs/week, all year
  • Introduction to Child Psychiatry Therapies, Jud Staller, 6 sessions
  • Grand Rounds, monthly, 10 sessions
  • Solution-Focused Therapy, Brett Steenbarger, 3 sessions

PGY-IV

  • Post-Freudian Theories, Eugene Kaplan, 12 sessions
  • Individual psychotherapy supervision, 2 hrs/week all year
  • Grand Rounds, monthly, 10 sessions

Electives

  • Applied mindfulness: Embodied imagination, Gita Ramamurthy, all PGY, 2 sessions
  • Cognitive Behavior Therapy case supervision, PGY IV, Robbi Saletsky, all year
  • Cognitive Behavior Therapy group participation, PGY IV, Robbi Saletsky, 13 sessions
  • Dialectical Behavior Therapy case supervision, PGY III & IV, Jean Shook, all year
  • Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills group, PGY III & IV, Jean Shook, all year
  • Dynamic Deconstructive Psychotherapy seminar, PGY III, IV, Robert Gregory, 45 sessions
  • Eating Disorders, therapy interventions, PGY II, III, IV, Kathleen Deters-Hayes, 4 sessions
  • EMDR, PGY III & IV, 4 hrs/week, Sandra Kaplan, 12 sessions
  • Fairy tales, PGY I, III & IV, Gita Ramamurthy, 5 sessions
  • Family Therapy, group consultation, all PGYs, David Keith, 1 hr/week, all year
  • Psychoanalytic Study Group, Lynn Stormon, all PGY, monthly, 12 sessions
  • Psychotherapy Journal Club, all PGYs, Robert Gregory, monthly, 12 sessions
  • Resident-run support group, all PGY, 1 hr/week all year
  • Short-Term Dynamic/Experiential Therapy, Deborah Pollack, PGY III & IV, all year
  • Systems Centered Psychotherapy, Richard O’Neill, PGY III & IV, 30 sessions

The Psychotherapy Track

The Psychotherapy Track provides an opportunity for highly motivated residents with a special interest in psychotherapy to gain additional training and experience in this area. Whereas all residents at Upstate are expected to develop a therapeutic mindset and obtain basic competence across therapy modalities, residents in the Psychotherapy track are expected to obtain both a broader exposure to psychotherapy principles and a more in-depth proficiency in one specific form of therapy. Residents will work closely with a faculty mentor towards this latter goal. Areas of expertise that residents may choose from include: Residents commit to participating in the track by the end of their second year. Specific requirements for successful completion of the track include:
  • A full 4 years in the general psychiatry training program.
  • Involvement in one form of personal therapy -- individual, family, or group (e.g., SCT Group).
  • Participation in the monthly meeetings of the Psychotherapy Division Journal club (the fourth Monday of every month at noon). This meeting is open to all residents and psychology/social work interns. Psychotherapy Division faculty and associates also attend.
  • Psychotherapy research or scholarly activity. The proposed project must be approved by the Director of the Division.
  • A clinic caseload in 3rd and 4th year consisting mainly of hourly psychotherapy visits (may include medication management during psychotherapy sessions). This should involve at least 100 hours of supervised clinical experience with one specific form of therapy.
  • Participation in at least two of the psychotherapy electives offered by the Psychotherapy Division during residency training (see list of electives on the Division webpage). Residents in the track are also strongly encouraged to see outpatients for psychotherapy earlier than PGY-3.