Psychology Internship Program
Queens Children's Psychiatric Center

74-03 Commonwealth Blvd.
Bellerose, New York 11426
(718) 264–4500

An APA Approved Psychology Internship

Program Description

Dear Applicant:

Thank you for your interest in applying for a Psychology Internship at Queens Children's Psychiatric Center.  The Internship has been in existence since 1972, and it has been APA fully approved since 1979. In 2004, Sagamore Children’s Psychiatric Center in Dix Hills, NY was accredited by the APA as a second Internship training site of the Queens Children’s Psychiatric Center Internship. Applicants to Queens Children’s Psychiatric Center’s Psychology Internship Program must specify in their application whether they want to be considered for both sites, or to restrict their application to either the Queens or the Sagamore sites.

If you are submitting an on-line application through APPIC, please make sure that your application includes the following:

• A Transcript of your graduate education
• A Resume (CV)
• Three Letters of Reference

And in the Supplemental Section:

1. A copy of a recent psychological assessment (including projective testing), with all identifying information removed, that you consider to be a good example of your current level of competence at testing and evaluation.
2. A list of up to 3 extern placements during your graduate years. These must include the name of the facility, location, supervisor’s name and title, your title, the number of hours per week, and description of your duties.

The Application Deadline is November 21st.  As in past years we will participate in the APPIC notification system, and we will be in touch with you at the appropriate time.

Please Return Application Materials To:

Allan M. Eisenberg, Ph.D.
Co‑Director Psychology Training
Queens Children's Psychiatric Center
74‑03 Commonwealth Boulevard
Bellerose, New York 11426
(718) 264‑4574

Fact Sheet

Hospital Facilities:  Situated in Northeastern Queens, the Queens hospital complex consists of two modern buildings. Colorful and cheerful, it is located on part of the site of an 18th century farm in a setting of green fields, landscaped grounds.  The hospital has its own playgrounds, gymnasium, auditorium, swimming pool and finished courtyards. Building 55, which opened in 1970, contains the inpatient units, the outpatient clinic and administrative offices. Building 57, completed in 2008, contains four Queens based day treatment programs and the Intensive Case Manager Program. In addition to providing inpatient services for all of Queens County, Queens Children’s Psychiatric Center (QCPC) treats some children and adolescents from Brooklyn and the Bronx. In addition, since 1995, QCPC has also been responsible for inpatient services for most of Manhattan as well as day hospital treatment for both children, and adolescents in Manhattan.

Sagamore Children’s Psychiatric Center (SCPC), a sister institution to QCPC, is located in Dix Hills, New York. This is a suburban/semi-rural setting in Suffolk County in Long Island. Sagamore Children’s provides a wide range of community based programs and inpatient hospitalization for seriously emotionally disturbed youth residing in Nassau and Suffolk Counties. The main campus is a large,  modern two-story building set in an attractive park-like setting which serves 65 inpatients, many of whom are remanded from the court system for short- term evaluation and treatment, and day hospital patients who are in intensive treatment on-site for 30 to 45 days before being referred to community programs. The three interns at SCPC and the three interns at QCPC join each other for seminars and a variety of programs while their daily clinical assignments remain at their respective sites.

Accreditation:  Queens Children's Psychiatric Center and Sagamore Children’s Psychiatric Center are accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals, and the Psychology Internship Program is approved by the American Psychological Association (APA).

Serves: The QCPC population averages 84 inpatients, a minimum of 300 community services patients, and over 50 clinic patients. The SCPC population averages 65 inpatients and 300 to 400 community services patients.

Eligibility:  Emotionally disturbed, chronically ill children and adolescents up to the age of 18 are accepted.  Admissions are generally on a voluntary basis, with patients referred mostly from acute care psychiatric hospitals, schools, clinics, courts and community agencies.

Administration and staff: QCPC’s original founder, Dr. Lauretta Bender, conducted some of her pioneering research on childhood psychoses in a children’s unit which opened as an autonomous hospital in 1970. QCPC’s present Executive Director is Martin Darcy, L.C.S.W The hospital is affiliated with Columbia University College of Physician and Surgeons, Harlem Hospital Center, and Long Island Jewish Medical Center for the training of advanced fellows in child psychiatry, and with local universities for psychology practicum students. SCPC’s current Executive Director is Dennis Dubey, Ph.D. It is affiliated with Long Island Jewish Medical Center and with local universities for psychology practicum students. 

QCPC and SCPC are among the largest psychiatric facilities for children and adolescents in the United States, and they have a large staff of professional and child care workers.  Treatment plans are individualized for each patient, and carried out by multi‑discipline teams of psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, nurses, recreational therapists, and other specialized child care staff.

Services:  As state psychiatric centers under the auspices of the New York State Office of Mental Health, the missions of both QCPC and SCPC are to provide mental health care to individuals too severely impaired to be treated by other mental health facilities.

Hospital services and programs are designed to facilitate the earliest possible return of patients to community treatment programs.  The comprehensive program of care includes complete medical, psychiatric and psychological evaluation; individualized treatment; education in a fully equipped school; group living experience to develop social skills; family counseling; day hospital treatment; and the development of community responsiveness to the children's needs.

The QCPC Community Services Division services the day hospital programs and an outpatient clinic.  It also provides psychological screening and consultation for outpatients, intensive case management services, court related referrals and referrals to the New York City Committee on Special Education. QCPC day hospital treatment services are provided for 6 to 8 year old children in the Iris Hill Unit, for 9 to 12 year old patients in the Middle School Day Treatment Program, and for 13 to 18 year olds in the Upper School Day Treatment Program in Queens. Manhattan day treatment and intensive day treatment services are provided for children in a New York City Public School in lower Manhattan. Adolescent day hospital services for Manhattan are provided by QCPC staff at the Robert F. Kennedy Junior High School on the upper east side of Manhattan.

Community Participation: Both QCPC and SCPC have a large number of volunteers, including community residents and college students, who work with the children under supervision. 

For each hospital, a Board of Visitors is appointed by the Governor. The hospitals also have active Advisory Councils of representatives of community groups, professionals, parents and legislators. In addition, QCPC and SCPC have Parent Advocates who facilitate staff‑family involvement and advise the hospitals on consumer oriented quality improvement projects.

Family Involvement:  QCPC and SCPC are committed to the participation of parents, guardians and family members in all aspects of treatment and treatment planning. Family therapy and family counseling is strongly encouraged, and when appropriate, supportive services are provided for families, including intensive case managers, homemaker services and periodic home visits.

Parents and family members are asked to meet with the children's therapists regularly, to attend the child's Treatment Plan Review Conferences and to participate in the Parents' Advisory Committee Meetings.  Parenting Classes are regularly conducted for all units, and interns have been asked to co‑lead some of the Parenting Classes.

Cultural Competency Training:  Cultural Competence Training is an active training priority for the QCPC and SCPC administration and staff.  Each year interns and staff participate in hospital sponsored training seminars on multiculturalism, immigration and clinical issues that reflect the diverse racial, ethnic and cultural backgrounds of patients and families from Queens, Manhattan, Nassau and Suffolk.

Locations: QCPC's Queens campus is a few miles from Manhattan, and is accessible by subway and bus transportation.  Several major highways are close by, offering convenient travel to Long Island, and to Manhattan which is about 30 minutes away.  SCPC is approximately 25 miles east of QCPC in western Suffolk County and accessible by a number of excellent highways.

Psychology Internship Program

1. Philosophy and Goals: The Internship Program provides training for  psychology students who are advanced candidates in doctoral programs.  Three of  our supervisors have had advanced post doctoral training in psychoanalysis and  provide a psychodynamic perspective, and others provide a variety of clinical perspectives. One supervisor has advanced training in psychopharmacology and another in neuropsychology. All of our supervisors are comfortable with cognitive behavioral approaches, as well as family and group modalities. Familiarity with evidence-based treatments is facilitated through readings, Grand Rounds, and periodic workshops. Interns are encouraged to make use of the experience of our staff as a stepping stone to developing their own clinical identity. Training by experienced staff psychologists is provided in advanced diagnostics, through case seminars and supervision of  testing, interviewing and diagnostic report writing. Training in psychotherapy, group and family therapy is provided through seminars and supervision on most training units. The major goals of the program are to develop existing professional skills, to teach new skills, and to encourage and provide opportunities for personal and professional growth of the interns.  Interns' clinical work with families is strongly encouraged and is considered a crucial aspect of the treatment philosophy and the training.  Sensitivity to both cultural diversity and ethical standards is also considered essential for interns' professional growth.
2. Prerequisites: Applications for the three QCPC and the three SCPC Internship positions will be considered from matriculated doctoral candidates enrolled in APA approved clinical and school psychology programs. Applicants must have completed three full years of training combined with appropriate practicum placement(s) by the beginning of the internship year.
3. Duties:  Interns are expected to work for a full calendar year, beginning each September.  The work week is approximately 45 hours, consisting of 5 eight hour days. Early evening hours are necessary one day a week in order to see some outpatients and families.  Holidays, vacation and sick time are the same as for staff members.  After a brief period of orientation, the intern will be assigned to a staff psychologist, and will share responsibility, under close and direct supervision, for provision of psychological services on the staff member's unit.  In this, the intern's main work sight, he/she will serve as primary therapist and case manager for up to 5 child/adolescent patients on either an inpatient or day hospital unit.  Interns work under the supervision of the team psychologist and are responsible for intake, treatment planning, discharge planning and individual psychotherapy as well as group and family therapy. Interns participate in a variety of ward and unit meetings, contributing according to their expertise and engaging in the team treatment process. After the first 6 months, interns will rotate to another unit and clinical supervisor in order to provide an opportunity for contact with different types of patients and a different team atmosphere. Typically, an intern will spend 6 months on an inpatient unit and 6 months on a day treatment unit. Interns are expected to see all child/adolescent patients a minimum of twice per week in individual therapy and to do family work with each of the patient's families.  Group therapy is typically conducted by interns and an experienced co therapist.

   In the interest of broadening clinical exposure, each intern will also provide individual psychotherapy for at least one child outpatient at QCPC. Since interns do not rotate off of the outpatient units, these treatment cases offer the opportunity for continuous treatment of up to a year's duration.

   Testing and report writing comprise another major responsibility of interns at QCPC.  It is expected that each intern will complete a minimum of 14 to 16 reports during the year.  Interns are also given an exposure to the administration and scoring of some neurological tests. Most testing is done on the intern's own unit with off unit testing encouraged to increase the diversity of experience.

4. Supervision:  Each intern works under the administrative supervision of the team psychologist and the team leader of the unit.  Primary clinical supervision is provided by the team psychologists, with a minimum of 1 hour per week for testing supervision and 1 hour per week for psychotherapy supervision.  From other senior members of the Psychology Departments interns also receive at least one hour of supervision on their outpatient cases. A fourth hour of group supervision is offered through the Seminar on Psychopathology and Psychological Assessment. Additional supervision for group and family therapy is arranged as needed.
   • Training Orientation: The Internship training and supervision orientation provides an integrative, child-based approach that helps interns conceptualize individual therapy in psychodynamic, developmental and systemic terms while also applying appropriate cognitive behavioral and family interventions. Most senior members of the Psychology Departments are familiar with behavioral approaches, many are experienced in clinical work with families. Three supervisors have graduated from advanced, postdoctoral psychoanalytic training programs. Psychological assessment training is based on the goal of integrating research on psychopathology with clinical practice.
   • Mentors: Each intern is provided with an off unit psychologist Mentor, who serves as ombudsman and informal guide through the thickets of institutional adjustment. Interns use of the mentor relationship is at the intern's discretion.
5. Seminars and Didactic Experiences:  Interns will participate in the following seminar programs which may provide assigned and additional readings:
   • Seminar on Psychotherapeutic Process
   • Seminar on Psychopathology and Psychological Assessment
   • Seminar on the Role of the Psychologist in Institutional Settings.
   • Seminar on Supervision and the Supervisory Process

   Seminar on Dialectical Behavior Therapy is provided for interns who train in the Dialectical Behavior Therapy Units. The use of DBT is being increasingly applied in both hospitals.

   Seminar on Psychopharmacology, a brief didactic course on Psychopharmacology is provided for interns who also have the opportunity to attend regular Psychopharmacology Case Consultations.

   Seminar on Clinical Research, research using psychological testing data is strongly encouraged. In some years, a research study is designed and initiated that involves interns' participation in clinical research as a group for up to two hours per week. Interns’ research studies are supervised by the QCPC Director of Psychology who oversees all QCPC and SCPC research.

   Psychology Department Meetings, attended by both interns and staff psychologists, this monthly meeting involves case discussions, continuing education, and the discussion of administrative issues.

   Continuing Education for psychologists emphasizes current research on evidenced- based practices, cultural competence, and professional ethics.

   Hospital Sponsored Events   Interns also have an opportunity to attend a range of hospital‑sponsored lectures and workshops, including Grand Rounds and a variety of invited speakers and programs. Attendance at outside professional meetings and conferences is encouraged and leave is provided for this purpose.

6. Physical Arrangements:  Interns will be provided with an office, a desk, telephone, filing facilities and access to a computer. Reference materials are available from the New York State professional library.  Test materials and secretarial services are provided.
7. Remuneration: Interns are hired on NS‑600 Civil Service items which are specifically allotted for psychology interns.  The salary for this position during the 2009‑2010 internship year, will be at least $31,000.  Leave is provided in accordance with Civil Service contract and currently amounts to 3 days personal leave, 12 days vacation, and 10 holidays.  Health Insurance benefits include allowances for personal psychotherapy.
8. Training Sites: Cases will be assigned to interns from the following units.  With the exception of outpatients, patients on all units are typically seen a minimum of twice a week.  In most instances, interns are expected to do family therapy with the families of their assigned patients.  Interns see at least 4 to 5 cases on their unit plus 1 or 2 outpatient cases each rotation.

   QCPC Outpatient Clinic: Interns see long term psychotherapy cases from the outpatient clinic for a full year when possible. This includes both child and family therapy.

   QCPC Iris Hill Day Hospital:  Interns in the Iris Hill Day Treatment Program do individual, play, family and group therapy with our youngest patients, aged 6 to 9 year olds, and with these patients' families.

   QCPC Middle School Day Hospital: Interns in the Middle School Day Treatment Program work in a children’s day hospital which treats 10 to 13 year old patients. Individual therapy, play therapy, group therapy and family therapy approaches are utilized.

   QCPC Upper School Day Hospital: Interns in the Upper School Day Treatment Program work in a day hospital setting which treats 13 to 18 year old youth. Individual therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, group therapy and family therapy are provided.

   QCPC Intensive Day Treatment Program: Interns in the Intensive Day Treatment Program work with a variety of children and youth daily for up to 45 days providing in-depth assessment, short-term treatment, group and family therapy based on a Dialectical Behavior Therapy model.

   QCPC Boys Team Inpatient Unit:  Interns' work in this service involves intensive team treatment of hospitalized children usually from the ages of eight through eighteen years old.  Family, individual and play therapy, and group therapy approaches are also used with these patients.

   QCPC Girls Team Inpatient Unit:  Interns assigned to this unit work intensively with female patients who have been hospitalized for psychiatric reasons. Their ages range from eight to eighteen and individual, family and group therapy approaches are also used with these patients.

   Sagamore CPC Wantagh Day Treatment Center: This is a high school program run in close collaboration with the Nassau County Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES). Interns work intensively with three to six youngsters classified as suffering from severe emotional disturbance and being treated with their families in this centralized special education setting.

   Sagamore CPC Day Hospital: Interns who work in this Day Hospital, which has a similar structure to the QCPC Intensive Day Treatment Program, see children and  youth for up to 45 days providing individual, group, and family therapy before they are referred to community based programs.

   Sagamore CPC Inpatient Units:  Interns who work in these units see twelve to eighteen year old boys and girls in individual, group and family therapy. Inpatients who are seen by interns may either be adolescents who are court-referred and have brief, acute admissions or those who are hospitalized for longer term hospitalization from other psychiatric hospitals. Interns who train in these units also learn how to interface with the court systems.

   Psychologists from the Queens and Sagamore hospital centers provide the supervising faculty for all of the interns’ work at these sites.

9. Intern Selection Criteria: Interns are selected on the basis of a careful review of their applications and a personal interview. Preference is given to applicants who have prior experience with children and adolescents and psychological assessment. In their application, candidates must indicate whether they are applying to the QCPC site, the SCPC site, or to both. The QCPC Psychology Internship Program adheres to the APPIC guidelines for the selection of interns and participates in the computerized matching service.

Summary:

Integral to the training on all units, interns receive supervision and instruction in the following areas: psychological assessment and the diagnosis of psychiatric disorders, crisis intervention, behavioral treatment interventions, individual, group and family therapy, patient management, charting of progress notes and treatment plans, consultation with school and community agencies, psychopharmacology, administrative issues, cultural competence, evidenced based practices for psychologists, and professional ethics. Interns learn to work with patients who have a broad spectrum of psychopathology and to develop expertise in the assessment, management, and therapy of very severely disturbed children, adolescents, and families.