Psychology Internship

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How are the rotations assigned? Are they fixed or flexible?

Since each intern participates in all three rotations during the course of the year, the assignment of the first rotation often revolves primarily around comfort level. Incoming interns state their ranked preferences and the DCT determines the best solution to meet the preferences and needs of the interns and the internship as a whole. To help the incoming interns adjust, the first rotation for each intern is usually assigned based on that intern's strengths and prior experiences.

2. Is there a standard assessment battery?

No. With a few exceptions, the assessment battery is tailored to the referral question for each patient. However, a standard battery has been developed for some services to ensure comprehensive assessment and facilitate comparisons for research purposes. For example, most traumatic brain injury and bariatric patients receive a core battery of measures. Even this battery, however, is subject to addition or modification based on the individual patient's presenting history, symptoms, and dynamics.

We use a number of measures routinely and interns are instructed in the administration and interpretation of these tests in the assessment seminar and during individual supervision. Intellectual assessment is primarily conducted with the Wechsler Scales. Objective personality assessment is primarily conducted with the MMPI-2.

Temple Children’s Hospital psychology clinic has multiple assessment instruments that can be used for educational, developmental, and psychological evaluations. Examples of these instruments include WISC-IV, WASI, TONI, WIAT-II, W-J – III, CPT, NEPSY,CDI, RCMAS, BRIEF, CBCL, SIB-R, and Conner’s Rating scales.

3. What are the opportunities for group therapy? Family therapy?

There are opportunities to conduct group-based CBT for weight management at the obesity center, as well a group for teenagers with spinal cord injuries at Shriner’s Hospital. On the PM&R Service, working with couples and families may come into play in daily encounters with the hospitalized patient and also through leading the Lung Transplant Support Group. Working with couples and families is possible in our outpatient department. Of course, working with families is a key part of our Pediatrics rotation.

In the past, interns (sometimes along with medical or psychiatric residents) have developed groups to treat patients with specific problems (i.e., anger management, sleep problems). These interns and residents have enlisted supervisors, recruited patients, developed treatment protocols, and led these newly created groups. Any motivated intern is encouraged to start such a group, and will likely be recruited to become a therapist in ongoing groups. Past groups have included an inpatient heart transplant candidates group, an outpatient lung transplant candidates group, an outpatient group for those coping with schizophrenia, a mindfulness-based CBT group for depression, and a sleep disorders group.

4. How many long-term therapy clients does an intern carry?

In addition to any rotational responsibilities that involve patients, each intern carries a long-term outpatient caseload of approximately five short and/or long-term patient hours per week. Interns are assigned a number of cases within the first week of the year. Of course, some patients will "graduate" or be terminated during the following months, so the intern will have a caseload that varies in length of therapy. As mentioned, this component of the internship is year-long and distinct from the three major rotations.

5. What are the theoretical orientations of the psychotherapy supervisors? Is there a predominant orientation?

We do not perceive ourselves as having a predominant theoretical orientation. Cognitive-behavioral, behavioral, psychodynamic, and combinations of these orientations are represented among the psychotherapy supervisors. As we come from a scientist-practitioner philosophy of training, due emphasis is given to treatment modalities with solid empirical support. However, that does extend beyond traditional CBT to interpersonal therapy, and emotion-focused therapy where appropriate. That being said, we are, above all, pragmatic given the unique patient population at the health sciences center with which we work on a daily basis. While not fitting the “textbook” of many empirically supported treatments, such a population will teach an intern how to merge textbook knowledge with real-world realities.

6. What is a typical workday like?

In a word - busy. Interns usually start the day about 8:00 AM and finish at about 5:30 PM. Interns generally keep on the move. A typical day may start with a few hours of rotational work, followed by supervision. Right after lunch, an educational seminar may meet. In the afternoon, patient rounds may be followed by an outpatient for psychotherapy. The day may end with performing a brief neuropsychological assessment, bedside supportive work with a hospital patient, research, or report writing.

The typical day varies between the rotations. Although seminars, meetings, research time, and most rotational responsibilities are locked into the intern's schedule, the intern also has the flexibility to schedule therapy patients, supervision, and testing cases. As you might surmise, time management skills are very important.

7. Where do your interns go after finishing their internship?

Approximately two-thirds of graduates take a post-doctoral fellowship. The remaining one-third are employed in academic positions, research positions combined with clinical activities, or clinical jobs that are usually hospital-based. After experiencing the fast-paced, never-dull life in a hospital setting, many clinically oriented interns have a hard time settling for anything else!

8. Do you conduct phone interviews in place of the on-site interview?

For the most part, no. We believe that it’s important that we meet our future interns and junior colleagues in person. Although we are mindful of the expenses involved for applicants as they interview at multiple sites, we believe that it is ethically imperative to meet any person who will be working with our patients. Equally as important is the fact that it is doubtful that you can truly get the “feel” for an internship site solely via the phone or a brochure. We do try to accommodate applicants as much as we can in scheduling interviews and our interview dates and policies are explicitly posted in this brochure. It is expected that interested intern applicants will attend to this policy in order to increase the likelihood that they obtain their desired interview day.

9. What is the benefits package like?

The current stipend is $20,000 per annum and health insurance is provided. Interns are allotted two weeks (10 days) vacation and ten sick days. Each intern also is allotted a small stipend towards educational activities. This stipend can be utilized to finance attendance at a conference, towards buying books or journals, or most any other reasonable educational activity. In the past, most every intern has attended (and often presented at) a conference during the course of the internship year and such funds are useful as a means to defray costs.