Division of Psychology - Child, Adolescent and Family Multicultural Externship Program

General Information The Child, Adolescent and Family Multicultural Externship provides an extern with experience in (a) intake evaluations of children and families, (b) individual and group psychotherapy with children and adolescents, (c) family therapy, (d) psychological testing, and (e) didactic experiences. The externship offers training in an eclectic approach utilizing psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, and family perspectives in the context of cultural competence. Learning Objectives • To become adept at conducting individual, group and family therapy with children and adolescents. • To learn to use DSM-IV as applicable in the assessment of child and adolescent problems. • To learn to conduct an efficient and thorough psychiatric evaluation on a child or adolescent and to use this information in the development of a specific disposition and treatment plan. • To integrate multi-cultural approaches to clinical work with children and families. • To learn to work effectively with a multi-disciplinary child/adolescent treatment team. • To learn psychological testing with children and adolescents. • To learn to collaborate with other care providing agencies in a child’s life such as other medical providers, school, and community services. • To develop a basic understanding of psychopharmacology as it relates to the treatment of child psychiatric problems. • To learn how and when to make referrals to child protective services. Training Experiences • Child Seminar (Tuesdays, 10:30 am -12:00 pm). A year-long didactic seminar covering a broad range of topics including psychological testing, intake evaluations, psychotherapy, psychopharmacology, etc. All seminars will be taught integrating multicultural considerations as appropriate. • Child/Adolescent and Family Case Conference (Tuesdays, 9:30-10:30 am). An interdisciplinary clinical case conference in which trainees (child externs, psychology interns, and psychiatry residents) present cases of their own for discussion. Each extern presents a case at least once during the year. • Family Therapy Seminar and Live Supervision (Tuesdays, 3:00-5:00 pm). Externs carry one family therapy case that is specifically supervised through this seminar. Externs may sometimes bring this family in for live supervision from behind a one-way mirror. • Supervision (one hour per week) Each extern receives weekly individual supervision for their individual therapy cases. They also receive weekly supervision for their group and testing supervision as needed. Caseload Externs are expected to commit 20-25 hours per week to the externship. This typically consists of the full-day on Tuesdays, Monday or Thursday afternoon, and one other afternoon. Thus, externs can expect to be on-site all day Tuesday and two other after-school hours. Externs are responsible for managing their own schedules so long as they meet all clinical requirements of the externship. Caseload requirements consist of: • 3 individual child or adolescent cases (which often include collateral sessions with parents), • 1 family therapy case supervised through the family therapy seminar. • 1 intake per week, which occurs on either a Monday or Thursday afternoon. The first intake session is pre-scheduled for the extern by the front desk, and, follow-up sessions that might be required to complete the intake are scheduled according to the extern’s own schedule. • 1 group (e.g., pre-teen or teen boys or girls groups; social skills groups) • 4-5 psychological test batteries, which may include cognitive and projective testing. To Apply Please send your curriculum vita, a cover letter stating current interests and professional goals, two letters of recommendation (preferably from people who are familiar with your clinical work), and a psychological test report. Applications received by January 15 will be given preference for interviews to begin the second week of February. Mail materials to: Alba Cabral, PhD Beth Israel Medical Center 1st Avenue at 16th Street, 2B-33 New York, NY 10003 Questions? Please call Alba Cabral, Ph.D. (212) 420-2981 Co-coodinator Jacob Ham, Ph.D. (212) 420-4114 Co-coodinator