The Sepulveda VA Doctoral Internship training program is funded to support SEVEN full-time internship positions: five positions are in the General Track and two positions are in the Neuropsychology Track. The aim of the Sepulveda VA Doctoral Internship in Health Services Psychology is to prepare interns for successful entry into postdoctoral or entry-level professional positions in a broad range of medical and mental health settings. For the Neuropsychology Track interns, there is an additional aim to provide special emphasis training in neuropsychology that prepares them to meet the requisite competencies necessary to advance to a neuropsychology postdoctoral residency program. The internship program is based on the practitioner-scholar model; it provides a broad range of training opportunities and close supervision and competency-based training in a highly collegial setting. Our goal is to provide each intern with a breadth of training experiences in assessment, intervention, and consultation with a diverse selection of patients in medical and mental health settings.
We emphasize training in Evidence-Based Therapy Modalities. Nearly all of our 22 training supervisors are VA certified in one or more evidence-based practice modalities. Training opportunities exist in the following areas: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT); Biofeedback; Brief Behavioral Treatment for Insomnia (BBTi); Cognitive Behavioral Conjoint Therapy for PTSD (CBCT); Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for anxiety, chronic pain, depression, insomnia, and substance use disorders; Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT); Concurrent Treatment of PTSD and Substance Use Disorders Using Prolonged Exposure (COPE); Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills; Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP); Imagery Rehearsal Therapy (IRT); Integrative Behavioral Couples Therapy (IBCT); Integrative Health and Healing modalities (IHH); Interpersonal Therapy (IPT); Mindfulness Based Relapse Prevention (MBRP); Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and other Mindfulness approaches; Motivational Interviewing (MI); Problem Solving Therapy for Primary Care; Prolonged Exposure (PE); Reminiscence Therapy; Skills Training in Affective and Interpersonal Regulation (STAIR), among others.
For the General Track interns, the program will include: three major rotations, on a trimester basis (20 hours/week), 2-3 year-long or half-year specialty electives (12 hours/week), didactic training (2-2.5 hours/week), and elective involvement in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) activities (2 hours/week). We currently have five major rotations from which to choose: 1. Addictive Behaviors Clinic; 2. Behavioral Health Interdisciplinary Program (BHIP); 3. Health Psychology: Behavioral Medicine; 4. Primary Care Mental Health Integration; and 5. Women’s Health Clinic. Interns can choose anywhere from 2 to 3 specialty electives throughout the year with a time commitment of 12 hours/week from the following: 1. ACT Seminar (6 months or full year); 2. Behavioral Sleep Medicine Clinic (6 months or full year); 3. Couples Therapy Clinic (full year); and 4. Trauma Recovery Services (full year).
The Neuropsychology Track Interns will participate in a full-year clinical placement in the Outpatient Neuropsychology Clinic – 18 hours/week, and both interns will co-facilitate a Memory and Aging Group for the full year (2 hours). The interns will also participate in two additional six-month clinical placements in Geriatrics - 10 hours/week and in the Veterans Cognitive Assessment and Management Program (V-CAMP) - 10 hours/week. Each placement includes time for direct patient encounters, supervision, and administrative work/scoring/writing. The Neuropsychology Track Interns will also participate in six hours of didactics per week and will be offered elective involvement in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) activities (2 hours/week).
Didactics for both the General and Neuropsychology tracks include: a monthly Clinical Research Seminar, a twice monthly Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Seminar, a weekly Psychology Training Seminar, and a monthly Supervision Seminar. For the Neuropsychology Track, there are additional weekly Neuropsychology and Neurobehavior didactics as well as participation in a Neuroanatomy Lecture Series.