U.S. NAVY CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY INTERNSHIP PROGRAM: The training model is that of Practitioner-Scholar, with two primary training aims: 1) to provide the trainee with experiences and skills needed to function competently as a broadly-trained clinical psychologist, and 2) to equip the intern with additional knowledge and skills needed to practice competently within the Navy. Training stresses exposure to multiple theoretical orientations and techniques and spans five rotations each lasting about ten weeks plus a Transrotation experience lasting the entire year. Rotations include Adult Outpatient Mental Health and Psychological Assessment, Health Psychology, Two Operationally-focused rotations (one focusing on Navy service members and the other on Marines), and Inpatient and Emergency Mental Health.
Adult Outpatient rotation involves provision of outpatient assessment and therapy to active duty military members, military retirees, and their families. Services provided include interview assessment and psychotherapy with general mental health outpatients and formal psychological testing in the Psychological Assessment program.
Health Psychology rotation responds to health psychology consults from other medical services including cardiology, neurology, oncology, and the pain clinic, among others. These consults usually request psychological evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment for problems including sleep disorders, chronic pain, poor adherence to prescribed medical regimens, functional neurological symptom disorder, and anxiety disorders co-occurring with physical illnesses and injuries. Interns treat these problems with behavioral and health psychology interventions such as mindfulness, stress-management techniques, and cognitive behavioral strategies. Interns also will have opportunities for participating in interdisciplinary and structured group interventions for managing chronic illness and stress.
Mental Health Operational Outreach rotation primarily serves active duty Navy personnel and provides psychology-related consultation for those sailors’ military commands. Psychological services typically include interview assessment and brief psychotherapy. The focus of this rotation is assessing fitness and suitability for military duties and consulting with military commands. Interns also work directly with Navy psychiatrists who are embedded with Navy Fleet Surgical Teams.
During the Marine Corps Mental Health Rotation, the intern works at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD), San Diego. This rotation involves brief assessments of Marine Corps recruits experiencing psychological difficulty in adjusting to Marine Corps boot camp and assessment and treatment of Marine Corps staff members. The rotation emphasizes development of competence in mental health consultation with Marine Corps commands and Marine Corps air squadron flight surgeons.
On the Inpatient Mental Health/Emergency Mental Health Rotation interns become competent with the admission, diagnosis, treatment and disposition of patients with severe mental health disorders of such severity as to require emergency evaluation and, often, hospitalization. Interns spend five weeks of this rotation on the Inpatient Service and five weeks on the Emergency Mental Health Service. The intern is part of a multidisciplinary treatment team (comprised of staff psychiatrists and psychologists, psychiatric residents, nurses, social workers and hospital corps staff) and is immediately responsible for patient care to the credentialed staff psychiatrists who head the Inpatient and Emergency Mental Health teams. During this rotation, the intern will stand the weekend day in-house mental health watch, once every other week.
Additional training includes several full day or multi-day trainings in evidence-based interventions, Grand Rounds, Training Directors’ Rounds, didactic seminars presented throughout the year, training in clinical supervision, a diversity journal club, and, whenever possible, a number of military “field trips”. One such trip lasts approximately one week and takes place aboard a major Navy combat ship at sea. This gives the interns a firsthand overview of life at sea for crew members, of resilience and positive adaptation, and of clinical issues that arise in the Navy Fleet. A similar trip is scheduled to the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton to enhance intern understanding of the same factors specific to the Marine Corps. The Navy Clinical Psychology Internship Program is located at Naval Medical Center San Diego in San Diego, California. The program has been re-accredited by APA for the maximum time limit and is currently slated for a re-accreditation site visit in 2032.
