Current Covid-19 requirements and precautions: proof of vaccination or valid exemption; use of mandatory masks for staff and patients; hand hygiene practice; social distancing requirements. For more details please see brochure or contact training director.
OUR INTERNSHIP TRAINING BROCHURE FOR TY 2023-24 IS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE (AS OF 8/19/22). BELOW PLEASE FIND A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PROGRAM (updated July 2022)
Spring Grove Hospital Center (SGHC) is a large psychiatric hospital owned and operated by the State of Maryland, and is under the governance of the Maryland Department of Health. It is accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. The hospital provides a broad spectrum of inpatient psychiatric services to adults and adolescents. Psychology interns are State of Maryland employees and are currently designated as essential which is defined as "an employee whose duties are of such a nature as to require the employee to report for work or remain at the work site to continue agency operations during an emergency situation. The appointing authority or designee may excuse emergency essential employees from duty, or require their presence, as circumstances and conditions warrant, to maintain minimum staffing requirements for the affected facilities."
The Psychology Department at SGHC offers a generalist Psychology Internship Training Program which employs a practitioner-scholar model of training. The Internship is designed to train and prepare competent, health service psychology practitioners who will deliver clinical psychology services and lead mental health providers in the delivery of services to the public in various settings, with a particular focus on service provision to the seriously mentally ill patient population. The program strongly encourages the integration of the theoretical and empirical literature in all areas of professional decision-making. The program further trains and develops early career psychologists who are able to critically evaluate and use available literature in the field and who will approach assessment, intervention, and consultation from a scholarly, evidence-based approach. At the same time, the program encourages interns to develop a unique identity consistent with the best practices in the field, professional ethics and values, and the individual’s own personal therapeutic style with a sensitivity towards diversity and individual differences.
Emphasis of the Internship is on incorporating evidenced-based validated clinical skills with a diverse SMI inpatient adult and adolescent population. Two primary rotations over the course of the year typically include: Admissions- adult or adolescent and Continued Care-adult. Opportunity for enhanced/specialized training one to two days per week (e.g., forensics, substance abuse) may be available during the second rotation. While forensic populations are dispersed throughout the hospital the primary focus of the internship is on general clinical services (i.e., psychological assessment, individual and group interventions, behavioral consultation). Other training activities include peer supervision of psychology externs, training in CBTp, and making a presentation to the psychology department staff focusing on a research-based topic related to health service psychology. Didactics (year-long) include Diversity, Supervision, Evidenced-Based Practice, and Neuropsychology. Other trainings are offered throughout the year.
The Psychology Internship Training Program at SGHC is committed to maintaining and enhancing diversity in ideas, orientation, culture, ethnicity and experience. To that end the program encourages and solicits qualified applications from all localities, schools, minorities and diverse backgrounds to apply.
As an agency of the Maryland Department of Health, SGHC prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, religion or belief, marital status, sexual orientation, genetic testing, political affiliation, and mental and/or physical disability in the operation and administration of its services, facilities, programs, benefits, and employment opportunities. The Psychology Internship Training Program at SGHC recruits qualified doctoral interns based upon the individual merits and achievements of applicants. All selection decisions including, but not limited to, recruitment, selection, graduation, and termination are made without regard to the race, color, religion, national origin, veteran’s status, sex, age, physical or mental disability, and/or any other characteristics protected by law. The Psychology Internship Training Program does not discriminate on the basis of any factor that is irrelevant to the successful completion of internship training.
FYI: Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation, (202) 336-5979.