The Adult Track provides in-depth exposure to the many functions that constitute the role of the clinical psychologist. It includes intensive experience in individual and group psychotherapy with inpatients and outpatients, diagnostic evaluation, assessment, and consultation with adults and children, ward administration, participation in Grand Rounds, conferences, and seminars, and opportunities for individual and collaborative research. The intern’s clinical and professional knowledge is further broadened by continuous informal interaction with psychologists, psychiatrists, and members of other behavioral and biological disciplines.

The program stresses intensive supervision, in-depth teaching, and a constant flow of communication between faculty and student. The teaching focus is on developing psychological skills through an integration of the most validated aspects of traditional and cutting edge approaches to individual psychotherapy, group therapy, assessment, and on a deep engagement with theory, ethics, and critical thinking throughout the year.

The diverse interests of the faculty provide the student with an opportunity to gain experience and knowledge in a variety of areas, such as:

• Brief and long-term therapy
• Critical and philosophical psychology
• Psychoanalytic theory and therapy
• Third Wave and traditional cognitive behavioral treatments
• Health and rehabilitation psychology
• Contemporary psychodynamic therapy
• Student counseling with medical center students

The Internship serves as a crucible, in which the intern can relate a plurality of psychological frameworks and methods to an abundant supply of rich clinical material. The intern has ample opportunity to become familiar with, question, and learn from the multitude of experiences that make up the professional work of the clinical psychologist.

Activities

The Adult track comprises two areas of activity - the Core Program and the Clinical Rotation Experience. The Core Program consists of the activities that are part of each intern’s responsibilities throughout the entire year.

Core Clinical Activities:

• Outpatient Therapy: The Adult Track intern carries a year-long outpatient caseload of 8 - 10 outpatient clinical hours per week. These patients are drawn from the Student Counseling Service, and (should the adult track intern so choose) the Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Outpatient Clinic. In addition to individual treatment, services may include work with couples and groups. Each intern has two individual supervisors, each meeting for one hour weekly, who oversee these cases with the aid of video recording.
• Psychological Assessment: Each intern performs consultative psychological assessments on a rotating basis through the Psychological Assessment Service, typically completing 10 inpatient assessments during the internship year (October - July). Interns are closely supervised on each assessment, with supervision and guidance provided by Dr. Susan Sperry. Through the Psychological Assessment Service, interns build skills in: providing consultative services to a multidisciplinary team; educating psychiatry residents in assessment tools and the goals of assessment; clinical interviewing with individuals presenting with acute mental health concerns; personality and overall cognitive function assessment; feedback to patients and their treatment providers; and creation of brief reports to aid in discharge planning and transition to community providers. 
• Dialectical Behavior Therapy: Each intern co-facilitates a DBT skills group in the Adult Psychiatry Clinic for a period of 6-months. Interns document sessions and participate in the weekly DBT consultation/supervision group.

In addition to the Core Program, each intern spends up to 20 hours per week in four, three-month rotations:

• Inpatient Psychiatry: Here interns provide individual psychotherapy, group psychotherapy in the DBT and process modalities, primary case management, and consultation services (to physicians and staff) for severely disturbed psychiatric patients. Interns work as an integral part of the treatment team with professionals from various disciplines and collaborate directly with the unit psychologist about treatment issues. They receive twice-weekly supervision from Dr. Sperry, the 4B Psychologist.
• Child Psychology: On this rotation interns participate in activities of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (see description of Child Track activities on the Clinical Child Track page) for a 3-month period. Unlike Child Track interns, Adult Track interns may elect, but are not required, to carry an ongoing child/adolescent therapy case for this rotation.
• Inpatient Health Psychology (Unit 2N): Here, interns work as part of multidisciplinary teams on the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Unit. Interns work with medical inpatients who have sustained physical trauma and diverse medical conditions, such as stroke, traumatic brain injury, or spinal cord injury, to support behavioral, cognitive, emotional, and social needs for optimal outcomes and recovery. Training activities include psycho-education, brief individual and family therapy interventions, basic neuropsychological screening, team consultation, leading an education and processing group for families, observation of different aspects of rehab (e.g., OT, PT, SLP), and research and presentation on a topic of interest in rehab psychology.
• Elective: The intern may choose to deepen their work in a previous rotation, or work with faculty and the Co-Directors of training to develop a personalized rotation. The options include activities in direct service and/or research and scholarship in specialty areas of particular interest to the intern. Areas of focus have included, but are not limited to, the Eating Disorder Services, Neuropsychology, Chronic Pain, Student Counseling, guided readings a specialty area with an expert faculty member, CBT group therapy for anxiety and depression, and research (dissertation and/or other independent or collaborative research projects). Electives often include time spent in two or three areas.

Adult Track Seminars and Meetings

Interns on the Adult Track participate in seminars throughout the year. The core seminars are Theory and Case Formulation  and Clinical Practice Consult Group with Dr. Miller, Identity and Difference with Drs. Miller and Mbuqe, and Ethics with Dr. Miller.  Other faculty sometimes join these seminars to contribute their perspectives and areas of expertise. Other seminars focus on Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Eating Disorders, and other special topics.

Interns are also invited to attend the Psychiatry Department'’s 3x/monthly Grand Rounds, which features internationally known speakers on a variety of topics from genetics to neuropsychology to psychoanalysis.

All interns attend a monthly "Director's Rounds" with Dr. Miller, where they catch up on questions, challenges, and feedback about the internship experience.