| Brief description of the typical work day for an intern at this training site |
CMHIP is a 24/7 516-bed forensic inpatient state hospital. In response to the Covid-19 pandemic all CMHIP employees including our psychology interns are considered to be Critical and Essential Employees eligible for Covid-19 Incentive Pay. Although Covid-19 has significantly changed how services are delivered, it has not adversely impacted the demand for clinical services. Despite Covid-19, the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 intern cohorts completed all program requirements to include direct service hours. Our interns were members of a five person committee that determined procedural changes for psychological testing designed to protect psychologist, interns, and patients during Covid-19 pandemic. CMHIP’s Health Service Psychology internship provides supervised experiential training in the delivery of evidence-based treatment interventions, psycholegal evaluations, and applied clinical research to a culturally and clinically diverse patient population in a secure forensic inpatient state hospital. Our training year is divided into three four-month rotations with one required rotation on the Social Learning Program. This nationally recognized program is based in Social Learning Theory and serves patients diagnosed with seriously mental illnesses. Other four-month rotations, which are primarily scheduled on Tuesdays and Thursdays, include Forensic Assessment, Adolescent Behavior Treatment Unit and Advanced Cognitive Behavioral Treatment Unit (both DBT-based programs), and the Sexual Treatment and Evaluation Program/Violence Risk Assessment Rotation. Minor year-long rotations include General Assessment, Individual Therapy, Trauma Treatment, and Research. Individual and group supervision and seminars typically occur on Wednesdays. Interns’ days are filled with clinical activities such as milieu therapy, long and short-term individual psychotherapy sessions, scheduled psychoeducational and treatment groups, staff meetings, multidisciplinary team meetings, and psychological evaluations. Under the supervision of Colorado licensed psychologists, interns provide baseline psychological evaluations, neurocognitive screening evaluations, and objective and projective personality assessments. Rotations include individual and group treatment, clinical supervision in specialized assessment protocols, and integrated report writing including violence risk assessments, psychosexual risk assessment, cognitive evaluations, and adult and juvenile competency to proceed to court examinations. Our interns attend block training activities, regularly scheduled seminars developed specifically for interns, clinical supervision, state mandated behavioral health and mandatory hospital training modules, and subject specific professional development training activities sponsored by the Psychology Department. In addition to their assigned supervisors, interns have many opportunities to consult with and seek targeted supervision from members of the Department of Psychology as well as psychiatrists, mid-level providers, nursing staff, and ancillary service providers such as occupational therapists, addictions counselors, social workers and transition specialists, trauma-informed clinicians, and Peer-Support Specialists.
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