Our program adheres to a scientist-practitioner model of training. Interns pursue one of four tracks:
- General (3 positions);
- Neuropsychology (1 position);
- Health Psychology (1 position); and
- Serious Mental Illness (1 position).
All tracks provide a breadth of training, including experiences in individual and group therapies.
The Jesse Brown VA Medical Center is a large urban VA in the city of Chicago, whose majority Veteran population is Black/African-American, older, and male. We are also serving an increasing number of women Veterans, LGBTQ+ Veterans, and younger, post-9/11 Veterans . Interns will have the opportunity to work in a variety of clinical settings with a range of mood disorders, PTSD, substance use, serious mental illness, chronic medical problems, and/or psychosocial stessors. There will be an emphasis on cultural factors and intersectionality in clinical care delivery.
Intervention largely involves evidence-based practices with some opportunities for psychodynamic formulation and intervention. Rotations and supervisors are determined between interns and the Director of Psychology Training to ensure interns' exposure to a broad range of diagnoses and treatment approaches, while taking into account training goals and previous practica experiences that interns have had. Individual rotations are designed to provide interns a deep experience in the rotated clinic.
Opportunities to supervise externs may be available depending on the intern's clinical skills, rotation selection, and training goals. Attendance at a didactic series, including numerous diversity-focused discussions and transtheoretical case conceptualization, is required across the training year.
We seek to promote a balanced experience for our interns and have a strong record of postdoctoral or employment placement of our interns upon completion of internship training. We have a flexible, collegial, and supportive atmosphere, and we take a developmental and competency-based approach to supervision and training. Folllowing our most recent site visit in 2022, we were reaccredited by the American Psychological Association's Committee on Accreditation for a period of 10 years. Please visit our training website for a more detailed description of our program and the staff who participate in training.
In addition to the typical factors evaluated by most sites, there are some characteristics of a good match to the Jesse Brown VA. Please note that these characteristics are not uniformly to be considered “requirements,” but are merely guidelines designed for helping potential applicants determine if they might find our program to be a good fit for their experiences and qualifications.
- Three or more practica or other clinical experiences, with at least one of the practica focusing on psychological or neuropsychological testing, or the applicant should have significant testing or interviewing experiences in 2 or more practica
- At least 1500 practicum hours (overall)
- Dissertation is proposed, with a reasonable plan in place for completing data collection by late August of the internship year
- Substantial, if not most, clinical experience with adults
- Demonstrated interest (obvious through the applicant’s clinical and/or research experience) in at least one major clinical training area available at JBVAMC
- Clinical and/or research experience in working with disadvantaged populations
- Clinical and/or research experience with racially and ethnically diverse populations
- Clinical experience and coursework appropriate for the track of interest
- Some experience in administration of MMPI-2/RF, MCMI-III and WAIS-IV
- Some experience in writing psychological testing reports, preferably with at least 10 integrated adult reports for General Track applicants
- For Neuropsychology Track applicants only, a minimum of 30 comprehensive adult neuropsychological evaluations is strongly preferred
