Doctoral Psychology Internship Curriculum

Supervisor(s): Jia Jian Tin, PhD, LP; Marc Kayson, PhD, LP

Time: Two days/week. Interns are expected to have 10-12 hours of direct patient care (individual therapy and testing). Interns will also get one hour of direct (one-on-one) supervision.  

Interns participate in the Outpatient Clinic at Gundersen Health System (GHS) Behavioral Medicine Department on the La Crosse campus. Interns participate in the outpatient clinic for 2 days per week. Patients are quite diverse diagnostically, ranging from adjustment disorders to severe and complex mood, anxiety, trauma-related and personality disorders. Interventions offered are consistent with evidence-based outpatient clinical practice from a variety of theoretical orientations. Services are provided in-person and via telehealth. In addition to individual supervision, our outpatient clinic provides in-session supervision at the beginning of the internship. A faculty member is present for a small portion of each therapy session.    

Supervisor: Jia Jian Tin, PhD, LP  

Time: Half-day as part of outpatient clinic. Testing appointments average 3 hours and 1 additional hour for report writing (in addition to weekly clinical documentation time).  

As part of the outpatient clinic, interns will complete one assessment and written report per month. Adult assessments have a focus on diagnosis of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Autism Spectrum Disorder. Other common referral questions include concerns about cognitive functioning, learning disorders and personality disorders. Adult interns are expected to complete at least 10 reports during their internship year. If an adult intern has strong interest in adult ADHD and ASD evaluation, they can also choose to increase the number of assessments they complete per month. Note that this may take away time from general outpatient clinic and reduce overall therapy hours. Alternatively, an intern may choose this rotation as their elective rotation.

Supervisor: Katherine Cleven, PsyD, LP  

Time: One day/week. Clinical work varies depending on workflow in the primary care clinic.  

Interns participate in a rural integrated behavioral care clinic at the Primary Care Clinic in Tomah, Wis. Each intern will participate for one day per week at this location. This clinic uses a Primary Care Behavioral Health (PCBH) model. The PCBH model is an integrated model that places the mental health professional directly alongside the primary care provider (PCP) to provide intervention. Interns learn how to perform brief functional consults and communicate recommendations both to the PCP and patient effectively and efficiently. The supervision is immediate as interns are paired with a staff member, which means the trainee works alongside a psychologist and learns how to present cases efficiently. As interns develop their skill in this area, they will be expected to provide services independently. Interns are also expected to attend integrated care team meetings every Thursday. There may be an opportunity to provide some care in the obstetrics clinic at the same location if interns are interested.   

Supervisor: Gretchen M. Reinders, PhD, LP

Time: One day/week. Interns are expected to have 5-6 hours of direct patient care (individual therapy). Interns will attend one hour of weekly interdisciplinary team meeting.  

Interns who elect to participate in this rotation will spend one day per week providing outpatient therapy services to patients from the Eating Disorder Clinic. The clinic serves patients with various eating disorders including Anorexia Nervosa, Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder, Bulimia Nervosa and Unspecified Eating Disorders. Interns will have the opportunity to work in a multidisciplinary team including medical providers and dietitians. Interns in this rotation are required to attend weekly eating disorder clinic meetings. In addition to individual supervision, the Eating Disorder Clinic provides in-session supervision at the beginning of the internship. A faculty member is present for a small portion of each therapy session. Services are provided in-person and via telehealth.   

Supervisor: LaNaya Anderson, PhD, LP  

Time: One day/week

Interns who elect to participate in this rotation will spend 2 half-days per week providing inpatient consultation and liaison services to the general adult hospital and intensive care unit, joining with various medical teams to offer needed psychological services to adults with a variety of complex medical and mental health presentations. The supervision is immediate as interns are paired with a staff member, which means that the trainee works alongside a psychologist and learns how to present cases efficiently. Services are provided in-person.  

Supervisor: Thomas M. Ledoux, PsyD, LP  

Time: Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. One day/week  

Interns who elect to participate in this rotation will spend one day per week providing clinical services at the Adult Inpatient Behavioral Health facility at the La Crosse campus. Services provided include brief individual therapy, group therapy, assessment and consultation services. The supervision is immediate as interns are paired with a staff member, which means that the trainee works right alongside a psychologist in the unit. As interns develop their skill in this area, they will be expected to provide services independently. Services are provided in-person.   

See 'Primary Rotations' for detail.

Interns will be primary housed within the hospital and outpatient clinic settings at Gundersen Health System in La Crosse, Wis. Interns will begin their training shadowing supervisors providing care across the hospital system. They will be able to shadow intake appointments, consults, therapy sessions and multidisciplinary clinics. Additionally, they will shadow other providers in multidisciplinary clinics to become better oriented with the clinic’s flow and the roles of all participants. After shadowing, interns will progress to providing care alongside their supervisors. During this training progression, supervisors will provide additional feedback, recommendations and care, as well as assess the intern’s readiness for more independence. Once supervisors feel the intern is progressing at an expected level, interns will be provided more autonomy and begin to provide more care with less supervision. Degrees of autonomy will continue to progress throughout internship as interns improve their skills and as supervisors feel is appropriate. Even with increased autonomy, supervising psychologists will continue to oversee all care as well as be present for a portion of most appointments.

Doctoral Psychology Interns will gain clinical experience under the supervision of licensed clinical psychologists working across the hospital setting. Interns will be offered opportunities to gain additional experience providing outpatient therapy (both in person and via telehealth); outpatient IQ/Achievement, ADHD, and Autism Spectrum Disorder testing services; inpatient consultation and liaison; working on multidisciplinary treatment teams; conducting crisis evaluation; and in integrated primary care clinics. Services provided are short-term and evidenced-based. There is also potential for research collaboration and teaching opportunities. Interns will have regularly scheduled supervision and didactic seminars. Opportunity to attend continuing education conferences will also be available. Career development opportunities, including obtaining a postdoctoral fellowship and licensure support, will also be provided.

Interns will be based on Gundersen's main campus in La Crosse, Wis., and have workspace located in Outpatient Behavioral Health, where they will see virtual and in-person outpatient and testing patients. Interns will also interact with staff and patients in Gundersen’s Pediatric Unit, the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit through the consultation and liaison service. Interns will be included in multidisciplinary teams including Rural Integrated Behavioral Care, Eating Disorder Clinic, Inpatient Behavioral Health and the Pediatric Gender Clinic. Interns will regularly collaborate with Gundersen physicians who represent a significant referral source.

Interns will also receive at least two hours per week of individual supervision. Interns will receive one hour of group supervision, as well as one additional hour of professional development conducted in a group format with a licensed psychologist. Interns attend a weekly didactic seminar and will have access to other recurring training activities such as the Today in Medicine Lecture Series and other virtual and on-campus trainings as offered. 

Interns will have two hours of formal, scheduled, face-to-face individual supervision by doctoral-level licensed psychologists with the specific intent of supervising psychological services rendered directly by the intern. Interns will receive one hour of group supervision. Further, interns will attend one hour per week of Professional Development Seminar as well as one hour per week of regularly scheduled Didactic Training. Additional continuing education opportunities are offered throughout the year as available to the hospital staff.

Estimated division of time providing professional psychological services are noted in the below chart and can be adjusted based on preferred rotations of interest. 
 

Our program has a vast array of training resources. First, our training program is directed and managed by the Gundersen Medical Foundation’s Department of Medical Education. The program is assigned a program administrator, who is the go-to person for interns with regard to attending interviews, accepting an offer, relocating, onboarding, insurance and benefits. The administrator will also assist interns with documentation required for licensure, should this be requested. The intern has 2 actively practicing licensed doctoral-level psychologist supervisors who are available on-site or virtually 5 days/45 hours per week with the exception of illness, vacation days and holidays. Supervisors are credentialed within the hospital system, are independently practicing and have clearance for patient care in the inpatient and outpatient settings. Supervising psychologists have physical offices located near the intern's workspace, and are available to the intern by page, email, phone and/or Microsoft Teams messaging at all times during office hours. In the department of Behavioral Health, the intern has their own workspace, computer, printer, phone and panic alarm system. The intern has access to the DSM-5, testing kits and manuals, as well as online scoring systems (e.g., Q-Global) within the department and/or their workspace. They are supplied with business cards and office supplies. They also are assigned a secretary to assist with any clerical needs and have access to a team of patient liaisons to assist with patient scheduling, check-in and general management of their schedules. The intern also has access to the hospital's journal subscriptions both in print in the Medical Resource Library as well as online using the hospital's intranet for any research needs. 

Interns are evaluated quarterly using the Psychology Trainee Competency Evaluation Form by each of their supervisors. A deficiency is identified if an intern receives a rating of 2 or below on any competency in the 2nd quarter or later on the MedHub evaluation form. A rating of 2 or below would initiate a due process evaluation. It is expected that an intern will reach a rating of at least 3 by the end of their internship training year.

Sample evaluation

It is common in the course of applying for postdoctoral fellowships or employment that trainees seek recommendation letters from their supervisors. Out of consideration for your supervisors, it is recommended that if you desire a letter of recommendation, you request this at least 3 weeks before it is needed.

Interns will be required to track and report on their hours spent during internship. Interns will complete the required categories on the Service Log at the end of each week. This form will be placed in their supervisor’s mailbox by Monday at noon for the previous week. Supervisor will maintain one copy. Interns may wish to also keep their own copy for their records. Interns will also enter their weekly hours into an Excel spreadsheet in a shared drive.