The Clinical Psychology Residency Program (CPRP) in the Department of Behavioral Health at Tripler Army Medical Center (TAMC) is one of the Army’s four clinical psychology residency postdoctoral training programs for clinical psychologists. Other Army affiliated programs are located at Madigan Army Medical Center, WA; Brooke Army Medical Center, TX; and Womack Army Medical Center, NC. Postdoctoral residents are competitively selected from clinical psychology interns graduating from one of the U.S. Army’s clinical psychology internship programs and from direct accession candidates who have, or will, complete an American Psychological Association (APA) accredited internship and graduate from an APA-accredited doctoral program. All CPRP residents are active duty, uniformed officers in the U.S. Army. Once selected, residents are assigned to the CPRP through official military channels.
Resident training has two primary foci – advanced application of clinical psychology within the military (military psychology) and development as an U.S. Army officer and leader. Emphasis is placed on providing culturally competent, empirically validated treatment within a multidisciplinary setting as well as conducting psychological assessment. Each resident is given the opportunity to complete three to four clinical rotations. The primary rotation is in an Embedded Behavioral Health clinic where the resident provides the full range of behavioral health services to a battalion-sized element (e.g., Infantry, Aviation, Engineering, etc.). The goal of this rotation is to provide advance clinic training and exposure to the rigors associated with providing behavioral health care as a Behavior Health Officer, the primary duty of all Army psychologists immediately following training. A secondary rotation is in the Specialty Evaluation/Walk-In clinic located at Tripler AMC that provides residents the opportunity to routinely conduct psychological evaluations and provide clinical supervision to clinical psychology interns and behavioral health technicians. Additional rotations pair residents with an experienced clinical psychologist who is currently assigned to a local military unit (Behavioral Health Officer). During these rotations, residents continue to provide assessment and treatment services while also learning how to provide behavioral health consultation to military commanders.
Residents are required to assume an active role in one of various committees that focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion; professional continuing education; junior office counsel; and the medical residency counsel. Throughout the year, residents regularly participate in a variety of military- and clinically focused didactics and training. Physical fitness training is also an integral part of the CPRP at TAMC as all U.S. Army officers are required to maintain the standards of fitness established by the Army. The residency is an intensive, full-time, 12-month program that offers depth and breadth of military psychology experiences to prepare residents as clinicians and leaders within the U.S. Army.
Completion of the postdoctoral residency will provide graduates with a minimum of 2000 hours of clinical experience over a 12-month period - the requiste postdoctoral experience necessary for licensure as a clinical psychologist in Hawaii. It also meets the postdoctoral experience required for application for board certification (ABPP) in clinical psychology.
Currently, our website is undergoing a significant update. During this period, a copy of the current Residency Handbook is available to all prospective applicants by emailing the program director (james.e.christensen33.mil@mail.mil).
