Practicum Training Summary
Externship Training
PRACTICUM TRAINING SUMMARY
Dear Prospective Advanced Externship Applicant:
Thank you for considering IIT’s Student Health & Wellness Center (SHWC) as your advanced therapy externship training site. The SHWC staff are dedicated to providing the highest quality training possible in a safe environment that promotes both personal and professional development. Please take the time to review the information below and do not hesitate to contact us with any questions.
Student Health & Wellness Center is an integrated medical and mental health center offering a unique opportunity to train in a multidisciplinary college setting. The psychological staff consists of three licensed psychologists, one postdoctoral fellow, and one part-time on-sight psychiatrist all on our main campus as well as one part time therapist at our downtown campus. You will notice that while we do not promote any one theoretical orientation, there is an agency leaning towards contemporary psychodynamic/interpersonal psychotherapy. We pride ourselves on having a one-to-one ratio of trainees to supervisors.
We are very proud to have one of the most diverse student bodies of any school in the Chicagoland area with 48% of our student body identifying as an international student (representing 109 countries), and of our domestic students 16% identifying as a student of color. Our agency is committed to providing culturally sensitive services to our students as well as multi-culturally focused supervision to our trainees.
We are conveniently located within blocks of both the red and green lines of the “L”. Our campus has a reputation for being both beautiful and safe, made so in part by the fact that the Chicago police department headquarters are located directly across the street.
The primary goal of our21 hour per week program is to expose students to advanced generalist psychotherapy skills provided within a college counseling environment. Integrated into every activity is a commitment to ongoing expansion of our trainees’ and staff’s cultural competence. We achieve this goal through the following training and experiential activities:
Comprehensive Orientation: Trainees are exposed to a three full day orientation meant to orient them to IIT as well as review important skills such as intake assessment, risk assessment, agency policies, etc.
Intake Assessment: Trainees will conduct 2 fifty minute intakes per week. Trainees will learn to gather relevant information, conduct risk assessments, and be exposed to diagnosis, disposition planning, and case management.
Individual Therapy: Trainees will conduct 8-10 individual therapy sessions per week.
Group Therapy: While group therapy will not be a mandatory aspect of training, groups will be provided and trainees will have the option of co-leading groups with a senior staff member.
Supervision: Trainees will be assigned to two individual supervisors, at least 1 of whom will be a licensed clinical psychologist, and will meet with each for one hour per week (totaling 2 hours of individual supervision per week).
Didactic Seminars: Trainees will participate in a 1.5 hour weekly didactic seminar. At least half of all presentations will be given by professionals from the community. Topics include crisis intervention, counter-transference analysis, multicultural counseling, treating mood disorders, and sexual dysfunction, just to name a few.
Clinical Team Meeting: Trainees will participate in a weekly 1 hour meeting with senior staff in which they will learn to concisely present clinical cases, identify appropriate treatment plans, and decide on overall dispositions.
Outreach: Trainees will participate in half hour meetings to learn of the state of the art outreach paradigms and will conceptualize, develop, and deliver a minimum of two outreach presentations per year.
Dialogues in Diversity: Trainees will participate in a monthly one hour meeting led by one senior staff member. This meeting is meant to expose students to the societal impact of a multicultural society, exploring identity, increasing self-awareness as part of an ongoing commitment to multicultural awareness and competence, and exploring clinical applications of the topics addressed above.
Peer Support Group: Trainees will be offered one hour per month to meet without staff present as a means of supporting one another as they feel would be most useful. This is often viewed as one of the most appreciated aspects of our training.
Agency Wellness: Our agency is dedicated to staff and trainee wellness. We conduct “wellness activities” regularly. Past activities have included drum circles, “psychology bingo”, rousing games of Apples to Apples, and potlucks.
We currently utilize audio-taping of all intake and therapy sessions as a means of providing improved input during supervision. We are hoping to include the ability to video-record sessions in the coming training year to add another layer of depth in the supervisory exchange. Also, please note that Trainees must be on site Tuesdays from 9:00am to 2:00pm.
Again, thank you for considering our training site and we wish you the best of luck as you continue your education and work towards achieving your academic and professional goals.
Sincerely,
Colin F. Ennis, Psy.D.
Psychology Training Coordinator
IIT Student Health & Wellness Center
Application Process
Requirements for Applicants:
Applicants must be enrolled in a doctoral program in psychology or a closely related field at an accredited university. They must be approved by their program’s director of training or department chair for participation in a therapy practicum. Advanced practicum therapy students are preferred (as well as Therapy practicum students who have completed M.A. Therapy practicum). Applicants should send a letter expressing their specific reasons for being interested in this externship, with some description of their training goals for the year, a current vita, a graduate school transcript (unofficial transcript is acceptable), and two letters of recommendation. One of the letters should be from a clinical supervisor. No additional materials are required. Application materials should be submitted together.
Application Deadlines: Applications will be accepted beginning January 17th, 2012 and no later than January 24th, 2012.
Send application materials to:
Colin F. Ennis, Psy.D.
Training Coordinator
IIT Student Health & Wellness Center
10 West 35th St., 3rd floor
Chicago, IL 60616
All applications will be reviewed by the selection committee and highest ranking applicants will be invited for an on-site interview. The IIT Student Counseling Services invites applicants from both PhD and PsyD programs.
For additional information about our office or externship, call Dr. Ennis at 312-567-5879 or email at cennis@iit.edu. Please be sure to abide by your institutions policies about contacting prospective practicum supervisors/training coordinators.