Christ Community Health Services (CCHS) is a faith-based Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC). CCHS is an award winning community of clinics staffed with medical, dental and behavioral health workers committed to providing a evidence based, trauma informed,  Primary Care Based Medical Home (PCMH) of integrated care healthcare service to the low-income communities of Memphis, TN. The CCHS Health Psychology Internship is a residential year designed to produce practitioner-scholars competent in the provision of health service psychology and prepared for pursuing postdoctoral specialization in either clinical or health psychology. The Internship is located within the behavioral health consultant service, which has been identified as a PCMH program of distinction in Tennessee.

Interns completing their primary rotation at CCHS will be trained in the Behavioral Health Consultant model (BHC), a psychological approach to population-based clinical health care that is simultaneously co-located, collaborative, and integrated within the primary care clinic. The training year will be divided into 25 week major rotations, and four 12 week minor rotations. Interns will have a major rotation supervisor and a minor rotation supervisor throughout each training experience rotation. 

Interns will have opportunity to share didactic training and clinical training experinces with medical familily medicine and dental residents. 

Interns will be assigned alternating major rotations (six shifts or 24 hours a week) one in CBT/MI approaches to primary care at the Raleigh Clinic, and one rotation in Focused Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (fACT) at the Frayser Clinic. Each major rotation is for a six month appointment to learn the BHC model for services across the lifespan. Additionally, interns will have opportunity to work with the training committee to choose four “minor” rotations (two shifts/ or 8 hours a week) in areas of specialty interest or needed experience which will rotate every twelve weeks and may be located at the primary clinics (Raliegh and Frayser) or other CCHS clinics (Orange Mound, Hickory Hill, Broad, school based health and Raleigh clinics) allowing specific training in a chosen area of specialized training. All clinics are located within ten miles of the other clinics so that travel will not be a burden for interns.  Potential minor rotations include: HIV/AIDS/Prep Care (Broad Clinic or Hickory Hill Clinic) Complex Medical and Metabolic Disorders (Broad Clinic or Third Street Clinic), Women’s Health (Broad OBGYN Clinic), Refugee/Immigrant Care (Broad Clinic), Trauma Focused Family Therapy (Raleigh CCHS Family Support Center), Medication Assisted Therapy for Opiates (Third or Frayser Clinic), Homeless services (Operation Outreach collaborative program with Catholic Social Services and Baptist Hospital).  All interns will also have opportunity to learn telehealth services by providing support to our school based clinics and our rural Jackson, TN clinic. All interns will have opportunity to learn interpreter facilitated care for our patients.

Interns will have opportunity for comprehensive and focused assessment, individual and group based interventions, and supervision of master’s prepared behavioral health graduate students. One four hour shift a week will be devoted to training seminars. One four hour shift a week will be allowed for professional development, dissertation work or assessment reports. Interns will have opportunity to provide a minimum of twelve hours a week of direct service care hours, and most weeks will provide fifteen to twenty hours of direct service care. Interns will have the opportunity to complete at least two comprehensive assessment batteries each semester, and will have opportunity for experience in primary care based assessment of autism, dementia, ADHD, and other primary care assessment needs.