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Site Name: Aspire Health Alliance (formerly South Shore Mental Health Center, Inc.)

Department: Doctoral Internship Program

Program Information: Doctoral Internship Program

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Member Site Information
APPIC Member Number: 1336
Program Type: Internship
Membership Type: Full Membership
Site: Aspire Health Alliance (formerly South Shore Mental Health Center, Inc.)
Department: Doctoral Internship Program
Address: 500 Victory Road
Quincy, Massachusetts 02171
Country: United States
Metro Area: Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH
Distance from Major City: 12 miles south of Boston
Phone: 617-745-2731x
Fax:
Email: eadkins@aspirehealthalliance.org
Web Address: https://www.aspirehealthalliance.org/internships/
Brochure Website's Address: https://www.aspirehealthalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Internship-Brochure-19-20.pdf
Primary Agency Type: Community Mental Health Center
Additional Agency Types:
  • Private Psychiatric Hospital
  • School District
Member of APPIC since:
Accreditation
APA Accreditation Accredited
CPA Accreditation Not Accredited
Internship Staff/Faculty Information
Training Director & Lead / Director: Emily Adkins
Chief Psychologist: Samantha O'Connell
Number of Full-Time Licensed Doctoral Psychologists on Staff/Faculty 11
Number of Part-Time Licensed Doctoral Psychologists on Staff/Faculty 5
Position Information
Start Date: 07/01/2022
Funded
Number of Full Time Slots Expected Next Class: 6
Number of Part Time Slots Expected Next Class: 0
Stipend
Full Time Annual Stipend for Next Class: 31200
Part Time Annual Stipend for Next Class: 15600
Fringe Benefits: Dissertation Release Time, Dental Insurance, Health Insurance, Professional Development Time, Sick Leave, Vacation
Other Fringe Benefits (not indicated above):
Brief description of the typical work day for an intern at this training site A typical day at our primary placements includes morning seminars and supervision, followed by outpatient sessions with clients. The day varies between each of our secondary placements. Most interns spend two full days and one half day at each of the two placements. During the 2 month crisis rotation, one day a week is spent at our Emergency Services Program, rather than the other two placements.
Does this site have practicum psychology students on site? No
Is this program fully affiliated with one or more doctoral programs? No
Is this program partially affiliated with one or more doctoral programs? No
Internship Application Process
Accepting Applicants: Yes
Application Due Date: 11/05/2021 11:59 PM EST
Application Due Date Time Zone:
This program uses the AAPI: Yes, with additions
An onsite interview is:
  • Virtual
Interview notification date: 12/06/2021
Tentative interview date:
Interview process description:

There are two interview days for adult track applicants and another two days for the child/adolescent and early childhood tracks during the first 2 weeks of January. Each interview day includes opportunities to meet internship supervisors, staff, and current interns in both formal and informal meetings, as well as structured group and individual interviews via Zoom. Candidates should plan to be available virtually during their interview day from 9:00 am until 2:30 pm.  Each interview day consists of introductions to the training faculty, 2 individual interviews, 1 group interview, and informal question/answer sessions with current interns and post-docs. Applicants selected to interview will also be provided with a video tour of our outpatient clinic.

 
How to obtain application info: Visit Website
Preferred method of contacting the program: Email the Program
We have matched with interns from these programs: Adler Sch. of Prof. Psych, Antioch U., Ball State U., Boston College, Cal. Sch. of Prof. Psych., Carlos Albizu U., Chicago Sch. of Prof. Psych., Clark U., Columbia Teachers College, Fielding Grad. U., Fuller Theological Seminary, Florida Sch. of Prof. Psych., George. Wash. U., Illinois Sch. of Prof. Psych., LaSalle U., Long Island U., Loyola U., Marywood U., MA Sch. of Prof. Psych./William James College, Northeastern U., Nova Southeastern U., Pace Univ., Pacific Grad. Sch. of Psych., Pacific U., Regent U., Roosevelt U., Spalding U., Springfield College, St. John's U., Suffolk U., U. of Conn., U. of Denver, U. of Hartford, U. of Ind., U. of Kansas, UMass -- Boston, U. of St. Thomas, U. of Virginia, Wayne State U., Wheaton College, William James College
Internship Applicant Requirements
US Citizenship Required: No
If NOT a U.S. Citizen, Authorization to Work or to Engage in Practical Training (CPT or OPT) in the US is Required: Yes
Canadian Citizenship Required: No
If NOT a Canadian Citizen, Authorization to Work in Canada or to Engage in Practical Training (CPT or OPT) in Canada is Required: No
Masters Degree Required: Yes, by application deadline
Comprehensive Exams Passed: Yes, by application deadline
Dissertation Proposal Approved: Yes, by ranking deadline
Dissertation Defended: No
Minimum Number of AAPI Intervention Hours: 350
Minimum Number of AAPI Assessment Hours: 50
Minimum Number of Years of Grad Training Required: 3
Accepted / Not-Accepted Program Types
Clinical Psychology Accepted
Counseling Psychology Accepted
School Psychology Accepted
APA-Accredited Accepted
CPA-Accredited Accepted
PCSAS-Accredited Not Accepted
Non-Accredited Not Accepted
Ph.D Degree Accepted
Psy.D. Degree Accepted
Ed.D. Degree Accepted
This institution, department, internship, or postdoctoral program requires trainees to sign a statement about personal behavior and/or religious beliefs as a condition of admission and/or retention in the program: No
How to obtain text of statement:
Other Requirements: **COVID-19 and flu vaccination are required** Applicants must be enrolled in a program currently accredited by APA or CPA. Applicants from programs that are not APA or CPA accredited (or are awaiting an accreditation decision) as of the time of the application deadline will not be considered at this time. Interns who match to our site must have successfully completed all required coursework (specified by their academic program) prior to the start of internship. Applicants who successfully match to our site must meet Aspire Health Alliance’s pre-employment qualifications. This review is conducted by Aspire’s human resources department and includes: 1) Complying with a Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) background check. A criminal record will not automatically disqualify an applicant. Rather, determinations of suitability based on CORI checks are made based on the context of the crime (e.g., relevance of the crime to the position sought, time since the conviction, seriousness and specific circumstances of the offense, etc.) 2) Consenting to the review of the applicant's motor vehicle records for the past 3 years. Applicants with driving records that include major violations, 3+ minor moving violations, and/or 3+ at-fault accidents would not be eligible for several of our secondary placements. 3) If on a student visa, verification that it is current. 4) Verification of the education listed on the applicant's CV.
Program Description

The Internship Program is divided into three distinct tracks, each of which has an outpatient placement at our Willard Street Outpatient Clinic in Quincy, MA and a secondary placement as described below.  Each of the two placements are 20 hrs/week for the year.         

1) The Adult Track has a primary placement working with adults in the outpatient clinic. The secondary placement includes half year rotations on both the inpatient and partial programs at McLean Hospital SouthEast (a private Psychiatric facility). See: https://www.mcleanhospital.org/treatment/adult-inpatient and https://www.mcleanhospital.org/treatment/mse-adult-partial-hospital-program

2)The Child/Adolescent Track has a primary outpatient placement working with children and adolescents, and a secondary placement at McLean Hospital SouthEast’s adolescent Acute Residential Treatment (https://www.mcleanhospital.org/treatment/adolescent-art) or at a therapeutic school (South Shore Educational Collaborative - http://www.ssec.org/).                        

3) The Early Childhood Track includes a primary placement working with young children (3-10 years) in the outpatient clinic and a secondary placement with our Step One Early Intervention Program treating infants and toddlers with developmental delays (from birth to 3 years).  For more information:  https://www.aspirehealthalliance.org/our-programs/for-children-families/early-intervention/

Additionally, interns complete a weekly shift for 2 months with our Crisis Team, which provides in-home, community, and hospital ER-based psychiatric evaluations, level of care determinations, and treatment to support and stabilize children, teens, and adults who are at risk of harming themselves or others.                                                                                         

All interns are required to complete a minimum of 5 testing batteries with integrated reports in order to graduate from the internship program. Projective testing experience (Rorschach training preferred) is preferred in all internship positions, but there is a greater emphasis on projective batteries at the McLean ART secondary placement.

Our supervisors encompass a wide range of theoretical orientations, with expertise in case conceptualization and integrative interventions drawing on psychodynamic, internal family systems (IFS), cognitive-behavioral, family systems, trauma-informed, attachment, and humanistic theories. 

Please see our website for more information on all aspects of our internship program: https://www.aspirehealthalliance.org/internships/

In regards to COVID-19, our interns are currently working onsite for all rotations providing a combination of in-person and telehealth clinical services utilizing masks. 

Internship Training Opportunities

Populations
Children: Yes
Adolescents: Yes
Adults: Yes
Family: Yes
Older Adults: Yes
Inpatients: Yes
Outpatients: Yes
Gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender: Yes
Ethnic minorities: Yes
Spanish-speaking: Yes
French-speaking:
Deaf/Hearing-impaired:
Students: Yes
International Students:
Rural: Yes
Urban: Yes
Low income: Yes
Homelessness:
Other:

(training opportunities continued)

Treatment Modalities
Assessment: EMPHASIS (31% to 49%)
Individual Therapy: Major Area of Study (50% or Greater)
Couples Therapy: EXPOSURE (1% to 20%)
Family Therapy: EMPHASIS (31% to 49%)
Group Therapy: EXPERIENCE (21% to 30%)
Community Intervention:
Consultation/Liaison:
Crisis Intervention: EXPERIENCE (21% to 30%)
Brief Psychotherapy: Major Area of Study (50% or Greater)
Long-term Psychotherapy: Major Area of Study (50% or Greater)
Cognitive Rehabilitation:
Primary Care:
Evidenced Based Practice: EMPHASIS (31% to 49%)
Evidence Based Research:
Supervision of Practicum students :
Other:

(training opportunities continued)

Experience
Health Psychology:
Women's Health:
HIV/AIDS:
Eating Disorders:
Sexual Disorders:
Sports Psychology:
Rehabilitation Psychology:
Physical Disabilities:
Learning Disabilities: EXPOSURE (1% to 20%)
Developmental Disabilities: EXPOSURE (1% to 20%)
Assessment: EMPHASIS (31% to 49%)
Neuropsychology-Adult: EXPOSURE (1% to 20%)
Neuropsychology-Child: EXPOSURE (1% to 20%)
Serious Mental Illness: EMPHASIS (31% to 49%)
Anxiety Disorders: Major Area of Study (50% or Greater)
Trauma/PTSD: Major Area of Study (50% or Greater)
Sexual Abuse: EXPERIENCE (21% to 30%)
Substance Use Disorders: EMPHASIS (31% to 49%)
Forensics/Corrections:
Sexual Offenders:
Geropsychology:
Pediatrics:
School: Major Area of Study (50% or Greater)
Counseling: Major Area of Study (50% or Greater)
Vocational/Career Development:
Multicultural Therapy: EXPERIENCE (21% to 30%)
Feminist Therapy:
Religion/Spirituality:
Empirically-Supported Treatments: Major Area of Study (50% or Greater)
Public Policy/Advocacy:
Program Development/Evaluation:
Supervision: EXPERIENCE (21% to 30%)
Research:
Administration:
Integrated health care - primary:
Integrated health care - specialty:
Other:

Aspire Health Alliance is committed to employing a variety of evidence-based practices such as DBT, ARC and TF-CBT.  We are especially interested in the evidenced based treatments that feature direct and immediate client feedback and emphasize the core common factors that are known to bolster the therapeutic alliance.

Additional information about training opportunities: Not all rotations or training experiences may be available as described in the APPIC Directory. Please consult the program's application materials or their website at: https://www.aspirehealthalliance.org/internships/  for a complete description of the training opportunities available at this training site. IF the site has not updated their information by August 1, feel free to contact the Training Director for additional information.

Summary of the Characteristics of the Specified Internship Class
2017-2018 2018-2019 2019-2020 2020-2021 2021-2022
Number of Completed Applications: 105 109 112 119
Number of applicants invited for interviews: 68 76 78 78
Total number of interns: 6 6 6 6 6
Total number of interns from APA/CPA accredited programs: 6 6 6 6 6
Total number of interns from Ph.D. programs: 1 1 2 2 2
Total number of interns from Psy.D. programs: 5 5 4 4 4
Total number of interns from Ed.D. programs: 0 0 0 0 0
Number of interns that come from a Clinical Psychology program 5 5 5 5 5
Number of interns that come from a Counseling Psychology program 1 1 1 1 1
Number of interns that come from a School Psychology program 0 0 1 0 0
Range of integrated assessment reports: lowest number of reports written 10 5 2 9 4
Range of integrated assessment reports: highest number of reports written 42 47 40 86 20
Summary of Post Internship Employment Settings of Each Internship Class
2016-2017 2017-2018 2018-2019 2019-2020 2020-2021
Working on dissertation/Student: 0 0 0 1 1
Postdoctoral Fellow: 6 6 6 5 5
Community Mental Health Center: 0 1 1 2 2
Health Maintenance Organization: 0 0 0 0 0
Veteran's Affairs Medical Center: 1 0 1 1 0
Military Medical Center: 0 0 0 0 0
Private General Hospital: 0 0 0 0 0
General Hospital: 0 0 0 0 0
Other Medical Center: 1 0 1 2 1
Private Psychiatric Hospital: 1 1 0 0 0
State/County/Other Public Hospital: 0 0 0 0 0
Correctional Facility: 0 0 0 0 0
School District/System: 0 0 1 1 1
University Counseling Center: 0 0 0 0 0
University Teaching Faculty: 0 1 0 0 0
2 or 4 year Undergraduate Teaching Position: 0 0 0 0 0
Medical School: 0 0 0 0 0
Academic Non-Teaching Position: 0 0 0 0 0
Research Position: 0 0 0 0 0
Independent Practice: 2 3 2 0 1
Other (e.g. consulting): 2 1 1 0 0 0
Not Currently Employed: 0 0 0 0 1
Changed to Other Career Field: 0 0 0 0 0
Unknown: 0 0 0 0 0
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