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Dept. of Psychiatry

Psychiatry Academics - Main

Clinical Psychology Training Overview

Core Staff

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TRAINING SITES AT CAMBRIDGE HEALTH ALLIANCE

General Psychiatry Teams, Adult Ambulatory Services
The core training experience revolves around an interdisciplinary outpatient teams. Outpatient training consists primarily of clinical experience with adult outpatients involving: comprehensive psychiatric evaluation and disposition; short and long-term individual psychotherapy (psychodynamic, supportive and/or cognitive and skills based); group therapy; and psychodiagnostic testing. Patients exhibit a variety of conditions, including severe and persistent mental illness. Weekly team meetings and case conferences sharpen skills at formulation, diagnosis, making treatment decisions, and conducting psychotherapy.

Cultural/Linguistic Specialty Clinics
In accord with its mission to provide comprehensive and culturally sensitive care, Cambridge Health Alliance has four specialized outpatient clinics that provide service to patients from a range of cultural and linguistic communities. In general, staff and trainees working in these clinics must be fluent in the appropriate language.

Latino Mental Health Clinic: The Latino Mental Health Clinic provides a full range of outpatient services to Spanish-speaking persons, including evaluations, psychological testing, and individual, group, child/adolescent, couples, and family therapy. The community is comprised of persons who emigrated from Central and South American Countries, and from the Caribbean. Many patients have been traumatized. Trainees work as part of a multidisciplinary team. The examination of cross-cultural issues is an ongoing part of the training. Spanish language proficiency required.

Portuguese Mental Health Clinic: Part of Cambridge Health Alliance's Adult Psychiatry Ambulatory Service, the Portuguese Mental Health Clinic provides a full range of outpatient services to monolingual Portuguese-speaking persons, including evaluation, psychological testing, and individual, child/adolescent, and family therapy. The community is comprised of persons who emigrated from Portuguese-speaking countries around the world, with the majority of persons coming from Brazil and the Azores. Trainees work as part of a multidisciplinary team, and carry a varied caseload. The consideration of cross-cultural issues is an ongoing part of the weekly supervision and team meetings. Portuguese language competency required.

Asian Mental Health Clinic: The Asian Clinic offers multilingual outpatient psychological and psychiatric services to Asian individuals and families in the greater Boston area. The Asian Clinic draws on a philosophy that appreciates a wide range of Asian backgrounds, experiences, and conflicts. Treatment attempts to address the individual's emotional and spiritual well being in a safe and culturally sensitive environment. Special attention is devoted to trauma survivors. Primary services include outpatient short- and long-term individual, family and group psychotherapy, psychodiagnostic testing and evaluation, psychopharmacology, crisis intervention, case management, and community outreach. The clinic also provides consultation to other branches of Cambridge Health Alliance, and serves as a liaison to community-based social agencies that serve the Asian community. Proficiency in an Asian language is preferred.

Haitian Mental Health Clinic: The Haitian Mental Health Clinic provides culturally competent care through appropriate languages to Haitian residents of the greater Boston area, and to French-speaking immigrants from the Caribbean and Africa. Treatment attempts to reduce the severity of psychosocial dysfunction in a variety of adult and child patients, and to provide these patients with additional coping mechanisms to better handle stressors triggered by the experience of migration. Primary services include child and adult individual psychotherapy, family psychotherapy, psychodiagnostic evaluations, psychopharmacology, and crisis intervention. The Clinic also acts as a liaison with community and social agencies that interface with Haitian patients. French or Haitian Creole proficiency is preferred. (Not accepting applicants for this option 2009-2010)

Adult Acute Services
The major site for the Adult Acute Service is the adult inpatient units located at the Cambridge hospital campus. Patients with psychiatric illnesses including the psychoses, major affective disorders, dual diagnosis (co-occurring major mental illness and chemical dependency), and severe post-traumatic stress disorders receive medical stabilization, acute intervention, and treatment planning for after-care. The training experience occurs in the context of multidisciplinary care involving psychiatry, psychology, social work, nursing, occupational therapy, and other forms of intervention. Clinical modalities include individual psychosocially oriented treatment, extended evaluation, psychodiagnostic testing, and group therapy. Daily team meetings and case conferences enhance understanding of the diagnosis and stabilization of those with severe and persistent forms of mental illness.

Interns placed on the Adult Acute Service may also rotate through the Psychiatric Emergency Service, the Partial Hospitalization Program, or other medical floors.

Child/Adolescent Ambulatory Services
Interns within the child/adult track are placed half time at the Child and Adolescent Ambulatory Services at the Cambridge Campus

Child and Adolescent Ambulatory Services at the Cambridge Campus: This site provides a broad array of clinical services to children, adolescents and their families. It is a multidisciplinary setting that includes psychotherapy, psychopharmacology, neuropsychologicalassessment, psychological testing, school consultation and parent education. The patient population ranges from the underprivileged to the middle class, and is ethnically and diagnostically diverse. Interns are members of multidisciplinary diagnostic evaluation teams that assess children and families in a setting that integrates teaching and clinical service. Psychodynamic, cognitive -behavioral, and family system approaches are emphasized throughout the process of evaluation, treatment planning, and psychotherapy.