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DOCTORAL PSYCHOLOGY INTERNSHIP
PROGRAM
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Baruch College Counseling Center
137 East 25th Street, 9th Floor
New York, New York 10010
646-312-2155
FOREWORD
Baruch College, named after Bernard M. Baruch in 1953, originated from the United States' first free public higher education institution, the Free Academy. Townsend Harris who, in 1847, challenged the city to "let the children of the rich and poor take their seats together and know no distinctions save that of industry, good conduct, and intellect" founded it. Mr. Baruch graduated from City College, as the Free Academy was renamed in 1866, and became a financier, philanthropist, and advisor to eight presidents. As a trustee, he established a school of business and college government administration in 1919. The School became informally known as "City College Downtown" and has since generated countless business and civic pioneers. In 1968, Baruch separated from City College and became a distinct senior college of the City University of New York.
Baruch College, City University of New York
Baruch College, a senior college of the City University of New York (CUNY), offers rigorous baccalaureate, master's, and doctoral programs to its more than 18,000 students through its three schools—the Zicklin School of Business, the School of Public Affairs, and the Weissman School of Arts and Sciences. Baruch educates men and women for leadership roles in business, civic and cultural affairs, and academia. It is also a catalyst for the social, cultural, and financial mobility of a diverse student body, reflective of its historical mission. Baruch attracts motivated students of proven achievement who are seriously committed to making their dreams a reality, while offering a high-quality, low-cost education to students who might not otherwise be able to attend college.
Baruch students reflect the ethnic diversity of New York City. The College has been ranked the most ethnically diverse masters-level college in the United States for well over a decade, according to U.S. News & World Report's rankings. They are predominately immigrants, children of immigrants, and international students—60% are Asian, Hispanic, or Black; 40% were born outside the United States; more than half speak English as a second or third language, representing 107 languages and come from 170 countries. Baruch students also represent members of disadvantaged and underserved communities. Baruch, which draws the majority of its students from New York City's public and parochial schools, serves many students with limited financial means—40% with household incomes of $25,000 or less and almost 70% with household incomes of $50,000 or less; almost 40% are the first in their family to attend college; and 76% work at full- or part-time jobs while enrolled.
The Counseling Center
The Counseling Center, named democratically by the student body in 1995, has been offering psychological services since the 1970s. The Center offers a range of diagnostic, treatment, referral, and case management services, including depression and alcohol screenings. To respect students' ethnic diversity and accommodate their specific clinical needs, all students seeking treatment at the Center are initially assessed by the triage team and specialized treatment recommendations occur during our collaborative multidisciplinary disposition meetings. Treatment recommendations include individual therapy, group therapy, crisis management, consultation and referral, educational workshops and programs, psychological testing, psychiatric consultation, and medication management. No limits are imposed on the number of sessions students are seen at the Center. Treatment models and frequency of sessions are determined during our disposition meetings and through on-going supervision to accommodate students' clinical needs. The Center's outreach activities create collaborative opportunities with the Student Health Center, the Campus Intervention Team (CIT), Residential Life, Office of International Students, Office of Students with Disabilities among other units within Student Affairs.
The Center is a safe place for students at the College to ask for and receive help and support in managing the struggles that threaten to overwhelm them. Approximately 75% of students who use the Center's services are either recent immigrants or international students, for whom the pressures of adapting to life in the U.S. while being the first in their families to attend college are particular stressors. Many of the students who come to the Counseling Center typically would not—or could not—obtain or pay for mental health services without its help (services at the Center are free). In line with national trends, the Counseling Center has observed an alarming increase in the demand for its services and severity and complexity of student symptoms over the past several years. Nearly 60% of students coming to the Center have significant symptoms of depression, the leading predictor of suicidal and homicidal behavior. About 5% of students require hospitalization and about one-third of students require medication in addition to psychotherapy to address their symptoms.
The Center is staffed by five full-time and four part-time licensed psychologists, one part-time licensed mental health counselor, one full-time post doctoral candidate and one psychologist who serves as an off-site clinical technology consultant. Our training class typically consists of two full-time doctoral psychology interns, two part-time psychiatric residents supervised through our affiliate hospital Beth Israel Medical Center, three part-time CUNY doctoral fellows, and eight part-time graduate level psychology practicum externs.
DOCTORAL PSYCHOLOGY INTERNSHIP PROGRAM
The American Psychology Association accredited Doctoral Psychology Internship Program offers two full-time funded positions every year. The internship provides experience throughout the adult life span that may be tailored to meet individual educational, counseling, and training goals. As part of their experience, and because we value an interdisciplinary approach to care and training, interns will work with other professionals including psychologists, psychiatrists, and licensed mental health professionals who are on staff. Since 2001, the program has been a member of the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC; 17225 El Camino Real, Onyx One - Suite #170, Houston, TX 77058-2748, Phone: (832) 284-4080, E-Mail: appic@appic.org).
Every week, interns will attend three hours of didactic seminars as well as seven supervision hours (a minimum of two individual and one group supervision for individual psychotherapy cases; one hour for testing supervision: and three hours of group supervision for triage assessments and disposition recommendations). If interns engage in other activities such as co-leading psychotherapy groups, out-reach consultations, workshops, or supervise other trainees, they will also receive an additional supervision hour.
Interns receive a stipend of approximately $25,000 plus health insurance benefits; accrue sick time; can request dissertation, professional development, and licensing exam release time; and have four weeks of vacation. Interns also have access to the college's library and gym.
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
The Counseling Center Doctoral Internship program provides education and training to prepare interns for the practice of professional psychology. The primary education model for the Baruch College doctoral internship program is the practitioner-scholar based model, which includes an emphasis on multicultural theory and practice. Please find below an outline of the program's professional training goals and objectives.
Goal 1: To facilitate clinical competence
Objectives:
- Interns will show competence in individual therapy
- Interns will show competence in group therapy
- Interns will show competence in assessment
- Interns will show competence in outreach and consultation planning
- Interns will show ability to integrate supervision into clinical interventions
Goal 2: To promote the development of professional identity, standards and demeanor
Objectives:
- Interns will demonstrate knowledge and appropriate application of APA ethical policies and procedures
- Interns will demonstrate knowledge of the relationship between science and scholarship in psychology and clinical practice
- Interns will be professional and conscientious in their interactions with clients, with colleagues, and their involvement in the training program
Goal 3: To facilitate multicultural knowledge, skills and awareness
Objectives:
- Interns will acquire knowledge in the area of cultural diversity
- Interns will develop skills that will allow them to work competently with a diverse population
- Interns will develop an appreciation for the importance of self-reflection and awareness of internal process
I. CLINICAL SERVICES
- Average of 12 individual psychotherapy cases
- Two three-hour shifts of Triage screening assessment appointments per week
- Intake summaries for assigned individual psychotherapy cases
- A minimum of two psychological test batteries with a target of 5 batteries, depending on demand for this service
- Consultation and Referrals
- Crisis intervention
- Co-lead a psychotherapy group, if applicable to interns' interest
- Approximately two outreach workshops per semester, if applicable to interns' interest
- Supervise undergraduate peer counselors, if applicable to interns' interest
- Serve as mentors to junior training staff
II. SUPERVISION – Individual supervision sessions are weekly with a licensed psychologist.
Group supervision sessions are weekly with two-four licensed psychologists.
- A minimum of two hours of individual supervision for individual psychotherapy cases
- One hour of group supervision for individual psychotherapy cases
- One hour of individual supervision for testing cases
- Three one-hour group supervision sessions for triage screening assessment cases
- One hour of group supervision for group therapy, workshops, and outreach consultations if applicable
- One hour of group supervision for supervision of undergraduate peer counselors, if applicable
- Crisis supervision as needed
III. CURRICULUM
The following describes seminars and meetings that are available to interns:
CASE CONFERENCE
Two hour case conferences occurs approximately 5 times per semester. Interns and graduate level practicum externs and fellows present one case per semester, and are attended by senior supervising staff as well as invited guests in the field of mental health when possible. Interns are expected to present an oral and written intake summary and case conceptualization for a student they are working with in individual therapy. The case conference is intended to create a collaborative in-depth support and treatment recommendations for questions interns have about their nuanced aspects of their therapy skills.
DIDACTIC SEMINARS
Given the diversity of our student body at Baruch College, a major focus of the treatment offered follows a multicultural perspective. As such, a one hour multicultural seminar is offered throughout the academic year. In addition, every Friday a two-hour seminar is held with a developmental sequence of difficulty or specialization. Onsite and/or invited experts discuss topics of special interest. Topics have included but are not limited to:
- Report writing and charting
- Risk and suicide assessment
- Psychopharmacology
- Treatment Planning
- Multiculturalism
- Crisis management
- Testing
- Substance abuse
- Trauma and dissociative identity disorder
- Working with patients with eating disorders
- Working with gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender issues
- Character pathology and DBT training
- Group psychotherapy
- Career and vocational counseling
- Ethics and professional issues
EVALUATION
Evaluation of the interns' performance by supervisors is part of the training process. Interns have continuing opportunities to evaluate their own progress as the internship evolves via the close relationships that are fostered with their supervisors. Both midyear and final evaluations will be discussed with interns in order to consolidate feedback. These written, formal evaluations will be forwarded to the Directors of Training. The aim of evaluative feedback given to interns is to assist them to best learn essential clinical skills.
Interns are also asked to formally evaluate their internship experience. Interns are asked to anonymously evaluate each weekly didactic seminar for both the usefulness of the topic and the clarity of the presenter. These seminar evaluations are used to determine program changes where necessary. Interns are also asked for an evaluation of their supervisors and of the quality of the program in general. These formal evaluations are conducted at the end of the Fall and Spring semesters. The internship follows guidelines for due process and grievance procedures should there be a concern about the program or an intern's performance.
COLLEGE-WIDE ACTIVITIES
There are many college-wide activities and events in which interns may choose to participate (e.g., Freshman Orientation, Early Childhood Center, Peers Advocating Wellness Services (PAWS), Career Development Center, Health and Wellness Fairs, Women's History Month, Black History Month, Poetry Month, Depression Screening Day, Alcohol Screening Day, etc.). Outreach and workshop efforts are typically college-wide. In addition, Baruch College boasts more than 150 clubs and organizations that span a wide range of interests and sponsor a wide range of activities and events. Thus, the potential for counseling center involvement is extensive.
TIME REQUIREMENTS
The internship is fulltime and requires 40 hours weekly and runs a full calendar year. Two-thirds of an interns time consists of direct clinical service, the majority of which is individual psychotherapy. The remaining one-third of an intern's time is engaged is supervisory or didactic training. Treatment, testing, supervision, and all other counseling activities are continuous and, thus, require full attendance. Internship runs from approximately September 1st through August 31st. Interns accrue 4 weeks of vacation and 11 sick leave days.
During the year, interns' assignments or aspects of their program may be modified in accordance with new opportunities and needs of the Counseling Center. Some experience may be arranged offsite.
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
The Internship Program at the Baruch College Counseling Center strives to select interns from a diverse pool of applicants who have demonstrated that they are prepared for beginning their doctoral internship. To maintain a minimum set of standards that would help ensure that an applicant is prepared for the demands of our training program, we require that the following qualifications are met before applying:
- Applicants must be enrolled and in good standing in a doctoral program in counseling, clinical or school psychology.
- Applicants must have completed at 400 AAPI Intervention, 200 hours indirect hours and 0 Assessment Hours.
- Applicants must have completed at least 600 AAPI Grand Total Practicum Hours.
- Applicants must have completed all course work prior to beginning internship.
- Applicants must have completed their comprehensive exams prior to beginning internship.
- Applicants must have obtained a letter of readiness to begin internship from their doctoral program's Training Director.
In addition to the above qualifications, our Selection Committee will review all submitted application materials with particular attention being paid to applicants' who demonstrate experience, training, or interest in:
- Working with college students
- Issues of multicultural competency
- Working clinically with patients from diverse populations
- Conducting psychological assessments
- Providing psychoeducational workshops and trainings
- Consultation and outreach
- Working with an interdisciplinary team that includes on-staff psychiatrists
Applicants whose qualifications and experiences are judged to be the most compatible with our training program are invited for interviews.
APPLICATION PROCEDURES
Applicants should submit an APPIC application, a cover letter, their resume or curriculum vitae, three (3) letters of recommendation, one sample testing report, and an official transcript from their doctoral program by the application deadline. All complete applications will be reviewed, and a proportion of applicants will be invited for a required interview. We regret that volume renders us unable to grant an interview to all applicants. If you are not invited for an interview, you will not be considered for our internship. Intern applicants will be notified of match results via the APPIC Internship National Matching Services in which the Counseling Center has been a participating member since 2001. Applicants should, therefore, complete and submit an Applicant Agreement form to National Matching Services. 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. Our program code is: 178511.
Applications and inquiries should be addressed to:
Caroline Kasnakian, Psy.D.
Associate Director and Director of Training
Baruch College Counseling Center
One Bernard Baruch Way
Box J-0914
New York, NY 10010
646-312-2155
Caroline.Kasnakian@baruch.cuny.edu
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