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Clinical Psychology Internship

Welcome

Welcome to the digital brochure for the APA-accredited clinical psychology internship program offered by Regional Health Systems. Here you will find information about the internship program, including internship goals, rotations, didactic experiences, and more. This page also provides details about the application procedure.

For questions or for more information, contact Anissa Rivers, PsyD, HSPP, LCAC at 219-769-4005.

Southlake Community Mental Health Center, Inc., dba Regional Health Systems

APA accredited doctoral clinical psychology internship program – APPIC Site 1296

To access the trainee admissions, support and outcome data tables, click the button below.

Internship Data Tables

About Regional Health Systems

Regional Health Systems is a nonprofit, community mental health center and federally qualified health center providing services in Lake County, Indiana. Regional Health Systems operates 8 locations in Northwest Indiana including two main centers located in Merrillville and East Chicago. These two centers provide mental health care, primary health care and addiction treatment. Most of Regional Health Systems’ locations are within 30-45 miles of downtown Chicago. The Northwest Indiana area we serve is comprised of urban, suburban, and rural areas.

Formerly known as the Southlake Center for Mental Health and Tri-City Community Mental Health Center, Southlake acquired Tri-City on July 1, 2009 to form Regional Mental Health Center—a community mental health center covering most of Lake County. The mental health center opened a federally qualified health center in 2014 to provide primary care to mental health clients. In 2017, the organization changed its name to Regional Health Systems. The agency is still legally known as Southlake Community Mental Health Center, Inc., dba Regional Health Systems. Regional Health Systems treats the whole person, from prevention and child services to adult addictions to mental health and to physical health care.  We are coordinated to be a one-stop shop to manage a client’s physical and mental health throughout the life span regardless of their ability to pay.

In 2021, Regional Health Systems became a member of Regional Care Group, a network of human services organizations that includes Regional Health Systems, Geminus Corporation, and Lake Park Residential Care.

Regional Health Systems is fully accredited by the Joint Commission. Regional Health Systems provides a full continuum of mental health care, ranging from inpatient psychiatric hospitalization to outpatient psychiatry and counseling to residential and outpatient addiction treatment as well as dentistry and primary care health services such as family medicine, pediatrics, and internal medicine. Other services include intensive outpatient programming; outpatient psychotherapy for children, adolescents, adults, couples and families; day treatment, case management, and residential services for the chronically mentally ill; 24-hour emergency services; services for the deaf and hard of hearing; community consultation and education. Regional Health Systems is committed to providing treatment in the least restrictive, most appropriate setting to keep clients within the community and involved in their own recovery. Short-term and evidence-based treatment methods are used whenever possible.

There are close to 450 administrative, support, and clinical staff who are employed at Regional Health Systems. The clinical staff consists of clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, psychiatric social workers, master’s level clinicians, bachelor’s level clinicians, licensed substance abuse counselors, mental health technicians, and peer recovery specialists. In an effort to meet the needs of the community, Regional Health Systems has clinicians and support staff who speak Spanish, given the large population of Spanish-speaking clients, particularly in the East Chicago location. Successful applicants must be committed to working with diverse and underserved community populations.

About the Clinical Psychology Internship

Regional Health Systems has had long-standing clinical psychology internship programs. The APA accredited clinical psychology internship program at Southlake, Regional Health Systems’ preceding organization, was established in 1979; the internship program at Tri-City was established in 1989. The clinical psychology internship program at Southlake Center for Mental Health has been accredited by the American Psychological Association since April 21, 1987, and continues today as Regional Health Systems. Our last APA accreditation site visit occurred in November of 2013, which resulted in continued accreditation until the year 2020 when our next site visit was scheduled to occur. Our site visit was delayed due to the COVID-19 outbreak and was completed this summer. We have completed our response to the APA and are awaiting their decision.

The primary aim of the internship program is to train competent and ethical clinical psychologists with a particular focus on training psychologists to work in community mental health centers. To accomplish this goal the program was designed to provide an intern with a variety of clinical experiences along with the structure and support of a longstanding institution and a large group of licensed practitioners. The intern gains supervised experience from licensed clinical psychologists and other multidisciplinary staff in a variety of treatment modalities and interventions. These experiences include individual, family and group therapy, case consultation, crisis intervention, and psychological testing.

The internship program can meet the needs of an intern interested in obtaining generalist training in clinical psychology while allowing some flexibility to provide a more intensive experience in a particular specialty area. The program attempts to design a training experience that takes into account the interest and experience of the intern while ensuring that basic training requirements take place. Graduates of the internship have gone on to work in community mental health centers, private practice groups, the VA, and other clinical settings.

The primary model we adhere to within the psychology internship program is the practitioner model of training, which emphasizes the importance of using empirically validated methods of intervention and treatment appropriate to the etiology and symptomatology of the clinical disorders Interns encounter. In following this model, Regional Health Systems’ principal goal is the training of competent and ethical psychologists who will be clinically prepared at the end of the year to work at a significantly elevated level of independence.

The internship consists of a minimum of 2,000 hours completed within one year. Despite the onset of more telehealth services due to COVID-19, interns were able to complete the minimum required hours, but this may be adapted due to unforeseen circumstances.  Approximately 20 hours of the intern’s time each week will be spent in direct service to Regional Health Systems’ clients. Direct clinical contact will occur each week in two settings: Interns are assigned to one of three outpatient offices and carry a therapy caseload in that program for 12 months. Each intern also completes several psychological test batteries during the internship year; this has varied greatly in the last several years and was negatively impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. Test batteries returned to in-person at the beginning of 2021 with additional restrictions and modifications for health and safety needs. Each intern rotates through one four-month and one eight-month rotation or three four-month rotations. Elective rotations are available in a wide variety of settings (See Rotations). Rotations were restricted during the COVID-19 epidemic but have restarted in most areas. We hope to be able to offer rotations without restrictions in the future, but it may be limited due to health and safety needs related to COVID-19.

Supervision

  • Interns receive at least two hours of individual face-to-face or video conferencing, formal supervision per week for clinical work and assessment batteries.
  • One hour of group supervision in the family therapy seminar
  • One hour of group supervision focuses on training on supervision to review theory, practice, and review their provision of peer supervision to the externs and master’s level trainees.
  • Additionally, they receive one hour of supervision on their chosen rotation.
  • They also participate in case conferences, agency training and in-service trainings.
  • Interns attend weekly seminars in psychotherapy and psychological assessment as well as participate in Journal Club and Diversity Journal Club.
  • A weekly wellness hour is available so that interns can share their experiences; try out new self-care/relaxation/mindfulness activities and connect with other staff members.

Graduates of the internship are expected to be proficient in psychological assessment and the use of a variety of assessment instruments including various Wechsler instruments, Rorschach (R-PAS), Projective Drawings, various MMPI and Millon personality inventories, various achievement instruments, and other survey questionnaires for behavioral and emotional evaluation. We also have the ability to do Autism assessments and assess adaptive and executive functioning.

Interns are expected to achieve competencies in clinical interviewing, treatment, individual therapy, family therapy, and crisis intervention. Depending on rotations selected, interns learn to work with severe and persistent mentally ill clients, substance abuse clients, person currently on a psychiatric inpatient unit, as well as children and adolescents. By the end of the academic year, interns should be comfortable doing psychotherapy and psychological testing with a diverse population, diagnostically and demographically, who may have multiple physical and emotional concerns.

Interns usually are involved in some form of outreach during their internship year. This is evident in the “Consultation/Education project” (see below under Didactic Experiences).

The theoretical orientation of the training staff varies considerably. However, some of the training staff employs a psychodynamic conceptual model and a short-term, eclectic intervention model, while others rely more on cognitive-behavioral as well as systems perspectives. Some are trained in CPT and motivational interviewing. All psychology staff members are proficient as “generalists” in terms of population and, as such, tend to be largely flexible in their theoretical and treatment approaches. Supervisors will inform the interns of their scope of practice and complete a more structured supervision contract following orientation at the agency.

INTERNSHIP AIMS

Aim 1:  To prepare interns to function as competent and ethical entry-level generalist practitioners with the requisite knowledge and skills for practice of professional psychology.

Objectives include: developing awareness, understanding and application of research to practice, management of ethical issues, to increase awareness and sensitivity to Individual and cultural diversity, and be self-reflective, learning professional values and attitudes, good communication and interpersonal skills with clients but also with other staff, performing competent assessments and appropriate psychotherapy interventions, have initial supervision experiences in peer supervision.

Aim 2: To prepare interns to function as generalist practitioners in a community mental health center and/or other public mental health setting, including the exploration of the varied aspects of a multidisciplinary treatment agency.

Objectives include: To provide evidence-based interventions in an ethical manner in an outpatient community mental health environment.  Begin to learn and practice supervision skills, provide peer supervision to externs, complete successfully two to three rotations for exposure to different disciplines and treatment modalities, to display competent incorporation of cultural competency issues as applicable to clientele of agency and to employ positive communication and interpersonal skills with multidisciplinary staff and clients, as well as developing healthy coping with stress, trauma stewardship while conveying professional values and attitudes.

Competencies evaluated will fall under the following areas:

  • Research
  • Ethical and legal issues
  • Individual and cultural diversity
  • Professional values and attitudes
  • Communication and interpersonal skills
  • Assessment
  • Intervention
  • Supervision
  • Consultation and interprofessional/interdisciplinary skills

OUTPATIENT PLACEMENTS

The emphasis in the outpatient offices is to provide high-quality, short-term mental health evaluation and treatment services. The outpatient offices serve clients in the local area, as well as from several HMO, EAP, and managed care contracts. There are two outpatient offices where interns will be located: the Stark Center in East Chicago, Indiana and Lakeside in Highland, Indiana. Interns provided some services by telehealth but most clinical work is completed in person..

The 12-month outpatient placement provides a variety of clinical experiences with children, adolescents, and adults. These experiences include psychotherapy (individual, marital, family and group), crisis intervention, case consultation, and psychological testing. Interns are involved in all aspects of the treatment process from intake assessment through termination. The expectation is that each intern will complete at least 500 clinical contact hours of outpatient experience throughout the year. Some of these hours may include consultation and education within the community, such as co-leading groups or workshops, and addressing community groups. Each intern also is expected to complete a number of psychological testing batteries during the year, which will also be included in total contact hours, the number of testing cases will vary. Referrals for psychological testing are received from outside agencies and from the various treatment programs of Regional Health Systems.

ROTATIONS

A note about rotations:
Additional rotations may be added or eliminated due to unforeseen changes. Every effort is made to add or create additional rotations if needed to suit the learning goals of the interns. They may also be limited due to health and safety needs due related to COVID-19.

As previously mentioned, interns complete either three, three to four-month long rotations OR one eight-month rotation and one three to four-month rotation during the internship year. Eight-month rotations are designed to benefit both the clients and the interns by allowing them to establish a longer-term therapeutic alliance. Interns spend roughly six to ten hours on the rotation each week, which includes one hour weekly of individual supervision provided by the rotation supervisor. At the start of the Internship year, Interns choose from the following rotation options. The following programs should be available, but as previously stated may be limited or unavailable due to the COVID-19 outbreak or due to changes in staff within the rotation.

PRIMARY BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CARE (Four months)
Regional Health Systems operates a federally qualified health center that provides comprehensive primary health care and wellness services to people of all ages. Primary care services are available at Regional Health Systems’ East Chicago, Hammond and Merrillville locations. Regional Health Systems is dedicated to providing accessible and continuous health care for every individual or family regardless of ability to pay. Their emphasis on illness prevention and education aids patients achieve their potential in functioning and improve their lives overall. A licensed mental health clinician called a Behavioral Health Consultant is staffed at the primary care locations to provide immediate behavioral health education and intervention to patients in a primary healthcare setting. The rotation consists of didactic and interactive training. In addition, there is an experiential component in the primary care site designed to introduce those participants who have not worked in primary care to the routine, both as practiced by primary care behavioral health clinicians.

SUBSTANCE ABUSE (Four or Eight Months)
There are three departments that can provide rotations: Outpatient Substance Abuse (OPSA) and Recovery Matters Residential in the Stark Building in East Chicago, Indiana; and Residential Rehab and IOT Rehab at the Strawhun Center in Merrillville, Indiana. The rotation focuses on the evaluation and treatment of individuals with substance abuse problems. Clients who are served by this program have a substance abuse problem or a substance abuse problem in combination with a mental health diagnosis. Substance abuse is staffed by psychiatric social workers, certified addictions counselors, and psychiatrists. The intern provides individual, group, and family therapy services to outpatient substance abuse clients. Interns perform assessments and attend multidisciplinary staff meetings.

EMERGENCY SERVICES (Four Months)
This department provides 24-hour immediate evaluations, linkage, and referral for individuals and families in crisis and processes requests for service that come into Regional Health Systems. Emergency Services is staffed by bachelor’s and master’s level clinicians. Interns provide front-line evaluations and crisis interventions. Interns also participate in staff meetings.

ADULT INPATIENT (Four to Eight Months)
*Temporarily suspended during staffing change, will be available in the next year.
The inpatient unit is housed at the Strawhun building located in Merrillville, Indiana. The unit houses routinely ten to sixteen psychiatric patients. They share an inability to function outside of a structured inpatient setting that requires more intensive monitoring. Multiple therapeutic modalities are used to treat the patient. Individual, group and family therapy, activity therapy and medications are provided as necessary for the specific needs of the patient.

The goal of the rotation is to help the interns understand the purpose of psychiatric hospitalization, to manage and interact with clients suffering from more intensive and debilitating course of symptoms, and to learn the modalities of treatment that are present in an inpatient unit that help improve coping and management. Thus, an intern on this rotation will be exposed to different types of psychopathology that are less commonly encountered in a traditional outpatient setting as well as symptom presentation that are at a more intense level.

Quality Improvement (Four to Eight Months)
The goal for the quality improvement rotation is to work with the vice president of accreditation and quality improvement to become familiar with the various methods of program evaluation and quality improvement projects taking place. The goals include assisting with QI and procedural improvement projects, analyzing data, increasing familiarity with accreditation and regulatory bodies for CMHCs and the origins of clinical practice requirements and program evaluation requirements. This rotation does not include clinical contact hours, it is also recommended interns would like to continue administrative work at a CMHC in the future and that they dedicate eight months to this rotation if they demonstrate a strong interest. This may not be available at all times due to time restraints of the supervisor.

Head Start (Four to Eight Months)
We a new potential rotation in our Head Start program, developing training for Head Start teachers and parents in a variety of different topics in an online library. This may also be an opportunity for additional screeners for psychological testing to be completed. This rotation began last year and will be a full rotation beginning in the Fall of 2023.

SUPERVISION

Supervision is a core element of the internship program. Supervisors provide support, mentoring, and guidance throughout the internship year. This is accomplished through feedback, problem-solving, affirmation, and functioning as role modeling for the interns. The supervisory relationships help the intern develop a professional identity and increased competence for independent functioning. Each intern receives at least four hours of formal supervision every week. At the outpatient site, the intern receives a minimum of two hours of individual supervision by a licensed psychologist: one hour for psychotherapy and one hour focusing on psychological testing. Every effort is made to provide a different supervisor for each of these two hours. Sometimes this entails commuting from one site to another, so interns are expected to own a vehicle. Again, these may be held online due to the need for social distancing and minimizing health risks. At each rotation site or online, the intern receives one hour of individual supervision from a designated supervisor. This supervisor will be a senior staff clinician affiliated with the rotation. Finally, each intern participates in weekly family therapy/systems-focused group supervision. The second hour of group supervision sessions also includes training on becoming a supervisor, videotapes of sessions are reviewed and the interns gain experience in providing feedback in a supportive environment. Training on theories of supervision and cultural sensitivity in supervision are reviewed in seminars.

 

DIDACTIC EXPERIENCES, SEMINARS AND OTHER MEETINGS

Interns attend weekly seminars with various topics throughout the year.

Seminars are led by a multidisciplinary team of psychologists, social workers, psychiatrists, and other professionals. Approximately 10 to 15 different staff members and invited speakers take part in this training series throughout the year. The emphasis in the seminar series is on teaching competent and ethical practice within a community mental health setting. Previous topics have included: assessment topics, Diversity issues, Court testimony, substance abuse treatment, preventing burn-out and accessing community resources. Seminars are currently held weekly on Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Interns also participate in a Journal Club which is incorporated into the seminar schedule with a member of the psychology staff.  Each Intern is responsible for selecting articles and facilitating informal discussion for one Journal Club meeting.

The Diversity Journal Club occurs during the year with each Intern facilitating a discussion about an article with their peers. Recent topics have included: Indigenous Psychology, Psychology of eating disorders, Cognitive processing with Bilingual Clients, Attachment and Aging, and Psychotherapy, Classism and the Poor. This is an opportunity to explore the range of diversity issues that present in a community mental health setting.

The Interns’ Wellness Group is a self-care, wellness and process group that allows the interns to socialize, try to use new self-care or mindfulness exercises, or provide peer support if needed. This typically occurs on Tuesday morning after Family Group Supervision and Supervision group.

Interns may also participate in clinical staffing, and at least once a month in general business meetings with the outpatient staff and outpatient supervisors.

Interns will each present on two occasions throughout the year at case conferences that occur during the Thursday morning seminar times. This is a ninety-minute forum in which trainees take turns preparing and providing case presentations utilizing their active client caseload. The focus of the training includes case conceptualization, diagnosis, case management, and clinical intervention. Participants will receive assistance with clinical and theoretical skills, as well as general supervision from the case conference leader and other group members. Coordination of an article associated with some aspect of the case is incorporated in this discussion. Each intern will present two cases during the year. At the end of the internship, each intern will complete a full case conceptualization of a client for presentation to committee members with related articles, for a final case presentation.

Consultation/Community Project (proposed and outlined by February) is meant to be a reasonably-sized undertaking, with an eye toward addressing a particular unmet need in the agency and/or the community at large. This may also take the form of an inquiry into quality improvement needs that could be met potentially by the internship program at Regional Health Systems. Interns choose a “sponsoring” member of the agency in order to mentor their experience. If the project is appropriate, the intern can schedule an opportunity to present the topic as training for the agency and/or community at large. Alternatively, a project could be formatted into a pamphlet to aid community members to recognize mental health issues and aid their access to supportive services. We have been providing training to a police academy to better understand mental health and substance abuse issues to those in training for the last several years as part of these efforts. A major project in the last several years has been training police officers through NILEA – the Northwest Indiana Law Enforcement Agency to have a better understanding of mental health and substance abuse issues.

STAFF DEVELOPMENT
Regional Health Systems has an active staff development program for its employees. As employees of the agency, interns have the opportunity to attend these in-house training events. Previous in-house training events have covered the following topics: the assessment and treatment of ADHD, Tiered Military Training providing by Star Behavioral Health, Sleep Hygiene, Motivational Interviewing, LGBTQI+ treatment, PTSD treatment, and family therapy for sexually abused clients. Interns will also have access to Conference Days and financial support to attend trainings that occur outside of the agency.

INTERN FEEDBACK
To facilitate ongoing professional and personal growth, interns are given formal feedback throughout the course of the internship year. The formal feedback occurs quarterly. The evaluation sessions are coordinated by the outpatient therapy and testing supervisors. Rotation supervisors provide evaluations specific to the competencies for each rotation. Group supervision supervisors (one for family/systems and one for supervising practicum students) also have input into the evaluations. Interns are shown the feedback form as part of the orientation process at the beginning of the year. The evaluation procedure includes verbal processing of the evaluation with an opportunity for the intern to address strengths seen, areas in need of further development, and comments by the intern.

SUPERVISOR FEEDBACK
To facilitate ongoing improvement in the quality of supervision on the internship, supervisors receive formal feedback from the interns. Efforts are made by supervisors to provide an opportunity for informal feedback to and from the interns on an ongoing basis. The outpatient therapy supervisor, the outpatient testing supervisor, and the family therapy supervisor each receive this feedback at quarterly intervals before the internship is completed. Rotation supervisors receive feedback at the end of each rotation, only after the supervisor’s feedback to the intern has been submitted. Interns are shown the supervisor feedback form as a part of the orientation process at the beginning of the year.

INTERNSHIP FEEDBACK
To facilitate improvement in the overall quality of the internship, interns are asked to provide feedback on all internship components at six months and at the end of the internship year. These feedback forms are filled out anonymously. They are examined closely by the Training Committee and have often served as a springboard for positive modifications to the Internship.

TRAINING COMMITTEE
The psychology training committee is composed of all psychologists involved in the training of interns. The committee’s purpose is to solicit feedback from supervisors and further enhance the training of interns. All members will be involved in self-study development, intern supervision, and program development. The training committee meets once per month. It is chaired by the director of training. The committee strives to secure a high level of quality in every component of the Internship.  The director of training has overall responsibility for the integrity and the quality of the internship.

TIME COMMITMENT

The time that previous interns have reported spending on the internship has varied considerably. The reported range is approximately 40 hours per week. The time commitment appears to depend on variables such as the intern’s interest in gaining additional experiences, the intern’s level of experience, developing skills from outside research and reading (i.e. increasing competency with Rorschach administration, scoring, and interpretation), and the development of time management skills to maintain the responsibilities of the internship.

Although we have flexible work weeks, schedules are organized around regularly scheduled meetings and some required evening hours (at least six hours of availability after 5 p.m. per week); this is to accommodate the school and work schedules of our clients. It is standard for interns to work at least two evenings a week until 8 p.m.

The following time breakdown may be helpful in achieving a sense of time commitment:

  • Clinical contact hours | 500 total per year (both testing and therapy)
  • Outpatient testing | Uncertain, COVID-19 situation impacted testing hours and batteries. Approximately 5 batteries expected.
  • Outpatient Supervision | 4 hours a week/2 indiv. 2 group
  • Seminars/Didactics | 3 hours a week
  • Intern Wellness Group | 1 hour a week
  • Rotation and Rotation supervision | 6-8 hours a week
  • Paperwork | Varies per intern and task
  • Travel time between sites | 20-30 minutes

PSYCHOLOGY TRAINING COMMITTEE

Robert Beedle, Ph.D. (Illinois Institute of Technology)  Post Doctoral Staff, QI Rotation Supervisor. Areas of Interest: Diagnosis and Treatment of Autism, Pain Management and Rehabilitation Psychology.  

Angela Comsa, M.S.W. (Indiana University/Purdue University Indianapolis) Vice President/Chief Clinical Officer. Areas of Interest: Administration.

Brian Dieckmann, Psy. D. (Chicago School of Professional Psychology). Supervising Psychologist, Emergency Services Rotation; Areas of Interest: Health Psychology, Stress Management, Trauma, Addictions

Jared Eaton, Psy.D. (Chicago School of Professional Psychology).  Supervising Psychologist, Rapid Resolution Therapy Practitioner; Areas of Interest: Adult and Adolescent therapy, PTSD, Anxiety, Depression, and Panic Attacks.

Angela Erb, MSW, LCAC. (Aurora University). Clinical Service Director. Administrative Supervisor, Previous Outpatient Service Director. Areas of Interest and specialized supervision: Addictions, Federal Probation and Veteran’s Services. 

Sharon Kraus, Ph.D. (SUNY at Buffalo).  Former President, Community Mental Health Services & Former Chief Psychologist, Consultant part-time. Areas of Interest: Family therapy, marital therapy, mental health administration and program evaluation research.

Svetlana Medvedeva, Psy.D. (ISPP at Argosy Chicago). Central Intake and Supervising Psychologist, Psychological testing Supervisor. Areas of interest: Systems family therapy, Child and Adolescent Therapy, Psychological testing for children and adolescents.

Valerie Perez, Psy. D. (Chicago School of Professional Psychology). Supervising Psychologist; Diversity Journal Club, Supervision Group Therapy, Pre-surgical Bariatric Evaluations. Areas of Interest: Adult and Adolescent therapy, Depression, Anxiety, Trauma, Self-Care and Relaxation, Feminist Theory

Anissa Rivers, Psy.D. (Adler University). Director of Training and Supervising Psychologist, Areas of Interest:  Motivational Interviewing, Forensic psychology, adult individual and group psychotherapy, dual diagnosis of mental illness and substance abuse/dependence, personality disorders, use of game theory and role playing as a method of rehearsal, learning and change.

Felicia Sanford, Psy.D. (Argosy University). Supervising Psychologist. Rotation Supervisor for Primary Behavioral Health:  Integrative Care and Administrator for Integrative Care grant. Areas of Interest: Coordination of medical and mental health/integrative care for underserved populations.

William Trowbridge, J.D. (Valparaiso University) Chief Executive Officer, Regional Care Group. Areas of Interest: health care administration and human services Organizational and leadership development. 

 

ROTATION SUPERVISORS

Rachel Bakaitis – Rotation Supervisor for Quality Improvement. Vice President of Accreditation and Quality Improvement, Data Analysis.

John Breslin, M.Div., ICAC-II, NCAC II, LSW, LCAC – (Catholic Theological Union); Supervisor, Substance Abuse Services Rotation.

Victoria Charleston-Hanley, MS, QBHP, MAC, LCAC – (Capella University) Rotation Supervisor, Program Supervisor for Recovery Matters, Residential Substance Abuse program.

Brandy Jania, M.S. – (Purdue Northwest) Rotation Supervisor for Head Start, Deputy Director for Geminus Head Start. 

The remaining rotation supervisors are in the training committee, see above for information.

 

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

The stipend is $31,200 for the year. Interns are provided 160 paid time off hours however, 2000 hours of work are required to complete the internship program. The agency reimburses, at the average rate of 58.5 cents/mile (changes with the national average), for work-related travel expenses. Regional Health Systems also pays for malpractice insurance and life insurance. Interns may participate in the agency’s health and dental insurance plans. Interns have access to free short-term psychotherapy through the agency’s EAP for up to six sessions.

The agency maintains a drug-free workplace.  Employment is contingent upon a pre-employment drug test, fingerprint and background check on or before the start date.

 

PREREQUISITE REQUIREMENTS

The intern will be expected to have completed all academic work in clinical/counseling psychology at the doctoral level, as well as all practice or externships and qualifying examinations, as required in their particular doctoral program. A minimum of 500 total intervention hours is necessary to start the internship program i.e., needing 500 accrued by the start of the internship. Those not meeting minimum hours due to the COVID-19 pandemic will be considered on the basis of their overall qualifications and goodness of fit with Regional Health Systems’ goals, services and population.

Regional Health Systems is funded for five intern positions for the 2023-2024 year. Regional Health Systems is an equal opportunity employer and service provider. Academic training in an APA-accredited doctoral program is required. Minority applicants and Spanish-speaking and culturally aware applicants are strongly encouraged to apply, along with individuals interested in working with underserved individuals. Applicants are expected to have previous experience treating children and adolescents in family therapy or be willing and interested in learning this modality of treatment. Prior experience working in a community mental health center setting is a priority for the internship program.

RESEARCH
While the training mission of the internship is clinical in nature, every possible opportunity is taken to utilize and to underscore the importance of research. The seminar series incorporates up-to-date research. Individual and group supervisors employ research findings in teaching assessment and intervention methods. Available resources and the clinical mission of the agency do not allow the implementation of an ongoing research agenda. As noted above, Consultation/Education project is one opportunity for research potential, and program evaluation skills are taught and opportunities are available as part of a rotation. The creation of a training didactic or presentation to the larger agency is possible as part of the consultation project, particularly if an intern is interested in sharing their dissertation or research project information with Regional Health Systems’ staff or clients.

 

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION

OFFICE SPACE
Interns will have office space available to them both at their main outpatient location and will likely have shared space at rotations or at training locations. All interns will have their own private office, phone and desktop computer.  

SUPPORT SERVICES
Each outpatient and rotation site has designated office staff. These administrative assistants are available to interns for general office services, including sending letters to clients, sending faxes maintaining reports. All billing for clients is handled by financial offices in each location and the Regional Care Group, which manages Regional Health Systems’ human resources, billing and some agency-wide training concerns.

Interns have full and equal access to agency equipment (e.g., photocopiers and audio-visual equipment). A personal computer workstation with intra- and Internet connectivity is assigned to each Intern in order for them to utilize our electronic clinical record if they are working in the office. Interns will have access to testing equipment. The executive assistant for the internship helps interns access equipment and aid scoring test batteries. Each outpatient and rotation site has a kitchen area complete with cooking appliances and storage.

ELECTRONIC RECORDS
Regional Health Systems has electronic medical records for all clients and all services provided. Interns are trained in the use of these records during the orientation process as well as ongoing during the internship year. Supervisors regularly review medical records and form completion; chart audits are completed several times a year to ensure accurate use of the electronic record. We may continue to provide some limited teletherapy services, but services are mainly in person at this time. Interns may have to use their own laptops to access teleconferencing and Microsoft 360. If working at home continues, a connection to the computer system and electronic health record will be provided by Regional Health Systems but may require downloading software on your personal laptop. 

All intern files are kept on paper and digitally, password protected in a shared drive with limited access.  Email communication regarding interns and communication with their school is also saved in the electronic files.

PARKING
There is ample, accessible, free parking available at all RHS facilities.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE

Students wishing to apply for the internship program should provide the following:

  • APPIC application form
  • Three letters of reference
  • Sample test report
  • Transcripts of all graduate coursework
  • Curriculum vitae

Application due date
All information must be received by midnight Central Time on November 17, 2023.

Where to submit your application
New APPIC requirements state that all applications must be submitted through AAPI online. This can be accessed at www.appic.org, then clicking on the “AAPI Online.”

Please note that Regional Health Systems also requires a Sample Test Report as part of the application materials. The report can be uploaded and attached to your electronic application.

Please do not send any data via US Mail.

If you have any questions regarding the application process, please contact Dr. Anissa Rivers at anissa.rivers@rhs.care.

Interviews
Interviews will be conducted in-person and by video conferencing this year with in–person interviews preferred if health and safety needs are managed. Virtual interviews will be available if needed. Interviews will continue to include an information section and interview with supervisors as well as review of a case study.

Selection process
The selection process will proceed in accordance with APPIC’s published guidelines. This internship site agrees to abide by the APPIC policy that no person at this training facility will solicit, accept, or use any ranking-related information from any intern applicant.

Match info
Regional Health Systems’ (formerly Regional Mental Health Center) matching program code number is 1296.

Register for the NMS match at https://natmatch.com/psychint/

See the APPIC website for more information regarding the match: http://www.appic.org/match/5_3_match_application.html

Accreditation questions
Southlake Community Mental Health Center, Inc, doing business as Regional Health Systems is currently an APA-accredited internship program. If you have any questions regarding accreditation, the Commission on Accreditation can be reached at (202) 336-5979. The address is as follows: 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242    Telephone: 800-374-2721; 202-336-5500. TDD/TTY: 202-336-6123