Rotations
After an initial orientation, interns are expected to function as, and will be treated as, full professional members of the team. All interns will gain experience working with managed care and Medicaid, as well as with various insurance companies and fee-for-service situations. Supervision is provided for all rotations.
The internship is structured around one full-year rotation at Veridian East (SRHC’s satellite outpatient treatment facility), and the Behavioral Health Unit (BHU, SRHC’s), our psychiatric inpatient unit. Interns also will complete another full year rotation within Psychology Consultation/Liaison Services.
For the full training year, interns will provide therapy and assessment services at Veridian and the BHU.
Full-Year Rotation: Veridian East Outpatient/BHU Inpatient
The full-year rotations include provision of both inpatient and outpatient services, with multiple modalities of therapy and a range of assessment experiences.
Individual Therapy (Outpatient)
Over the course of the training year, each intern will develop and carry a maximum caseload of 12 patients as a member of the Veridian Behavioral Health clinical team. These are long-term therapy cases with a wide range of presenting concerns. Interns provide individual, couples, family, and child therapy (depending on demand) and are encouraged to continue to develop their professional identities and theoretical orientations throughout the year. Intern offices are equipped to video- and audio-record sessions for supervision purposes.
Group Therapy (Outpatient)
Both interns co-facilitate a year-long Yalom process group that they develop independently. With the help of their supervisors, interns recruit and screen participants, establish a list of group members, and co-facilitate the weekly groups. This is a year-long training experience that is intended to give interns experience in co-facilitating groups and creating a new therapy group from the ground up.
Assessment (Outpatient)
Interns conduct outpatient assessments every two weeks. They administer, score, interpret, and write up full-battery reports for a range of presenting concerns. Common referral questions include diagnostic clarification, parenting competency evaluations, and police officer candidate evaluations for the Salina Police Department, among others.
Therapy (Inpatient)
Interns also provide one-to-one individual therapy for patients in the BHU inpatient unit. Because of the relatively short length of stay in the BHU, interns will generally only see each patient one to three times before the patient discharges. Interns will also have the opportunity to lead or co-lead group therapy. Interns gain experience with short-term inpatient intervention as well as working within an interdisciplinary team in a hospital-based psychiatric inpatient unit.
Assessment (Inpatient)
Interns also occasionally provide brief evaluations of patients in the BHU in addition to their regular biweekly full-battery outpatient assessments. These inpatient assessments include administering, scoring, and interpreting brief two- to three-measure batteries (e.g., MMPI-2-RF and M-FAST) and a short write-up in the patient’s chart.
Internal/External Outreach
In addition to the above clinical activities, interns have numerous opportunities to engage in outreach both in the hospital and in the community. In the past, interns have engaged in activities such as:
- Critical Incident Debriefings for SRHC Emergency Department staff and first responders
- Crisis Intervention Training presentations for the Salina Police Department
- Representing Veridian at regional healthcare fairs
- Providing various assessment and consulting services for local organizations such as autism screenings for the Infant and Child Development Center and parenting evaluations for St. Francis Family Services
- Creating an embedded mental health care program in SRHC’s Pediatrics unit
- Giving agency-wide didactic presentations
- Presenting at SRHC’s annual Behavioral Health Symposium
- Networking with Chaplaincy, Neurology, Pediatrics, and other areas of the hospital that may benefit from embedded mental health care and cross-disciplinary integration
- Presentations for community organizations, such as the local chapter of NAMI and the Ell-Saline School District
Full-Year Rotation: Psychology Consultation/Liaison Services
Interns on the Psychology Consultation/Liaison Services rotation gain experience with working as a consultant across the hospital. Interns provide consultation to physicians, nursing, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, and other allied professionals. Common duties include short-term therapy for medical patients, cognitive screens, patient advocacy, and working with patients and staff to help patients successfully navigate their hospital stay/treatment. Patient medical concerns include spinal cord injuries, TBI, diabetes, amputation, stroke, and other severe injuries. Psychological concerns include stress, adjustment disorders, depression, anxiety, substance use, and personality disorders.
Optional Rotations
To complement and broaden the training gained from the primary rotations, each intern may desire to gain experience in additional area(s) of interest. These secondary rotations are not required but are provided so that each intern is able to customize the training to fit his or her goals. The following are some possible examples:
- Research focus
- Child therapy focus- in collaboration with Salina Pediatrics
- University counseling experience with “Let’s-talk hour” services in collaboration with Kansas Wesleyan University.
- Autism spectrum focus
- Additional assessment training/supervision
- Creating and running new treatment groups (e.g.: grief)