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Psychology Training Programs

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And hear from faculty and trainees about CHA's outstanding Psychology training experiences.

Our System and Department

Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA), has two hospital campuses (Cambridge and Everett) and a network of primary care and specialty practices serving Boston's metro-North region. Since the mid-1960's, the CHA Department of Psychiatry has been committed to preventing and treating mental illness. With an orientation to psychodynamically informed treatment and community mental health, CHA is a nationally recognized center emphasizing the individual and his or her social systems.

This commitment includes clinical responsibility for traditionally underserved populations, such as the persistently and severely disturbed, the unprotected (infants and children at risk), the impoverished and the underprivileged. Our training programs aim to increase understanding of the forces that promote health and adaptation within the individual and community. Our multi-ethnic and multilingual staff is experienced in providing services (including preventive services) to minority and low-income groups as well as to university and middle-income communities.

Cambridge Health Alliance is a designated Community Behavioral Health Center (CBHC)


Beginning January 2023, designated Community Behavioral Health Centers (CBHCs) will provide expanded access to behavioral health evaluation and treatment in communities across the Commonwealth. CBHCs will serve as an entry point for timely, high-quality and evidence-based treatment for mental health conditions and substance use disorders, including routine appointments, urgent visits, and 24/7 community-based crisis intervention as an alternative to hospital emergency departments.

CBHCs will provide the following services, in person and via telehealth:

  • Same-day evaluation and access to treatment, with timely follow-up appointments
  • Evening and weekend hours
  • Behavioral health urgent care
  • Evidence-based treatment for mental health conditions and substance use disorders, including clinical services and peer support services
  • 24/7 community-based locations for crisis intervention, and mobile crisis teams
  • Crisis stabilization beds

These Centers will serve all ages and all communities across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.    

OF NOTE: PSYCHOLOGY TRAINEES MAY HAVE OPPORTUNITIES TO ROTATE THROUGH SOME CBHC SERVICES, DEPENDING ON THEIR TRAINING PROGRAM. IF SO, TRAINEE WORK IN THESE SERVICES WILL OCCUR DURING TYPICAL M-F (e.g, 8-6pm) WORK HOURS.  AFTER HOURS AND WEEKENDS WILL NOT BE REQUIRED.

About our Division of Psychology

The CHA Division of Psychology includes approximately thirty-five core faculty and staff and draws on a large pool of psychologists affiliated with Harvard Medical School for supervision and supplementary services. The Division includes licensed full-time and part-time staff (including clinical psychologists, psychoanalysts, health psychologists, personality and developmental psychologists). We place a strong emphasis on interdisciplinary training in psychiatry, psychology, social work and nursing. Psychologists also hold central leadership positions in the Adult Ambulatory Psychiatry Service, Center for Child and Adolescent Development, Child and Adolescent Ambulatory Service, Victims of Violence Program, Behavioral Medicine Program, Program for Psychotherapy, Portuguese Mental Health Clinic, Latino Mental Health Clinic, Asian Mental Health Clinic and Adult, Child and Adolescent Inpatient Units, as well as a variety of research teams.

Clinical Psychology Training Programs

CHA offers an internship in clinical psychology accredited by the Committee of Accreditation of the American Psychological Association. This is based at its Cambridge campus and its community locations. The Division of Psychology also sponsors an extensive post-doctoral training program in clinical psychology with fellows based in core clinical services throughout our system. Additionally, doctoral students in clinical and counseling psychology are eligible to apply for advanced practicum experiences.

The Clinical Psychology Training Programs prepare doctoral candidates and postdoctoral fellows in clinical psychology to understand and treat persons suffering with a broad spectrum of emotional distress. In addition, we aim to prepare psychology students in all of our programs to be future leaders in service and training. Using a scholar-practitioner model, our curriculum emphasizes a biopsychosocial approach to the understanding of people and values the use of psychological intervention and psychotherapy. Our talented and multidisciplinary faculty engage trainees in didactics and in individual and group supervision designed to teach about sponsoring change. With close faculty-trainee interaction, we provide a solid grounding in case formulation utilizing psychodynamic and developmental theories that take into account ethnic and cultural influences. We also teach all psychology students to integrate a variety of treatment modalities while working with persons with an array of psychological problems, including persons diagnosed with major mental illness and severe personality disorders.

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