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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
2008-2009)
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
Cambridge Health Alliance currently has two training sites for outpatient
evaluation, testing and treatment of children, adolescents, and
their families.
Cambridge Youth Guidance Center
The Guidance Center serves children and adolescents age three
to eighteen, as well as their parents and families. It emphasizes
service to poorer families from diverse backgrounds, and those
suffering from serious emotional difficulties. It employs systemic,
psychodynamic, and behavioral approaches, with special emphasis
on the cultural and linguistic needs of clients. Training is a
major part of the intern's clinical activity as are individual,
family, and group therapy, and consultation. There are also opportunities
for participation in innovative community programs, such as supervising
therapeutic big brothers/sisters, consulting to Head Start and
Early Intervention; and working with a therapeutic after-school
program, a home based family stabilization program, violence prevention
programs, and several therapeutic programs in the public schools.
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.
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