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THE CORE POST-DOC FELLOWSHIP TRAINING EXPERIENCE
Therapy Supervision
Fellows conducting therapy receive one-to-one supervision for their
work with individuals, groups, families, and children and adolescents.
Supervisors are drawn from all the mental health disciplines, and
have staff positions in Cambridge Health Alliance, are on the faculty
of the Harvard Medical School appointed through the Cambridge Health
Alliance Department of Psychiatry, or both. Each fellow usually
receives two to three hours per week of individual supervision for
therapy cases. Additional group supervision is provided in most
settings, which allows fellows to observe the work of other trainees
and staff. The quality of supervision and the clinical work with
patients are viewed by interns as two of the strongest parts of
the training program.
Testing Supervision
For neuropsychology fellows, fellows in the acute child and adolescent
services, and for other fellows seeking continued testing experience,
the program emphasizes the development of psychodiagnostic and clinical
inference skills. Fellows typically receive two to three hours per
battery. The high ratio of supervision to testing time provides
an opportunity to analyze the data in depth, and to understand the
person's psychopathology and adaptive capacities.
Precepting
The Director of Postdoctoral Training serves as a division preceptor
for all postdoctoral Fellows, and in that capacity meets individually
with fellows periodically throughout the year, and is available
for consultation and advice at any time. Fellows also meet with
the Director of Postdoctoral Training in a weekly seminar, and in
regularly scheduled Fellows Meetings. Fellows also have a psychology
preceptor at each training site who oversees the work of the Fellow,
and makes suggestions to help tailor the program around case assignments
and seminars. Fellows meet monthly with site preceptors, who also
aid the psychology division in evaluating fellows at midyear, and
at the end of the fellowship year.
Seminars and Conferences
Each fellow is required to participate in the following didactic
seminars:
1) Professional Development Seminar (Weekly): Discusses issues
such as licensing, professional writing, supervision, research
and grant writing, teaching, and the use of library resources.
2) Multicultural Seminar (Weekly in July and August): Discusses
issues of race, ethnicity, class, and gender identity in professional
psychology.
Fellows attend weekly clinical case conferences at their clinical
sites. The Cambridge Health Alliance Department of Psychiatry also
has an extensive offering of elective seminars and conferences which
are available to the interns, with topics such as the treatment
of severely disturbed persons from various theoretical orientations,
behavioral medicine, trauma, couples and family therapy, treatment
of narcissism, cross-cultural issues, and psychopharmacology. Attendance
is required at the weekly academic Grand Rounds, which draws speakers
on current clinical, theoretical, and research issues. Continuing
Education courses are offered throughout the year sponsored by the
Department of Psychiatry alone, or jointly with the Harvard Medical
School. These optional courses include nationally recognized speakers
on topics such as Psychotherapy, Substance Abuse, Suicide, Women's
and Men's Issues, Spirituality, Couples and Family Treatment, and
Psychopharmacology. Interns attend these conferences at a scholarship
rate as trainees of Harvard Medical School and Cambridge Health
Alliance. Fellows may also elect to participate in the Expert Witness
Training, a simulated courtroom experience with training offered
jointly by the Department of Psychiatry and the Harvard Law School.
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