Training and Rotations

Track Lead: Stephanie Simmons, PsyD

Supervisors: Kiley Schneider, PsyD, Cory Knight, PsyD, Halle Ross-Young, PsyD, Da’Mere Wilson, PsyD, Heidys Prieto, PsyD

The General Health Psychology Track at UTTHSC offers robust, generalist training that equips doctoral-level interns for careers in health service psychology. Interns partake in a breadth of training experiences that equip them for careers in academic medicine, integrated care, private practice, and more. The track includes two days focused on integrated behavioral health care, one day focused on psychotherapy, one day focused on inpatient psychology, and one day of supervised supervision, group supervision, and didactics. 

Integrated Behavioral Health Care Experience (2 days per week)

The Integrated Behavioral Health Care experience uses a collaborative and interprofessional approach in a teaching hospital.  The experience utilizes the biopsychosocial model of medicine while integrating the latest research in primary care behavioral health implementation.  This model places an emphasis on a collaborative versus prescriptive patient relationship in order to foster improvement in health and wellness in a medical environment.

The Integrated Behavioral Health experience consists of providing consultation and liaison services in primary and specialty care clinics. Family Medicine is the center of this experience, where interns work closely with faculty, medical residents, and medical students. Interns provide consultations or “warm handoffs”, in addition to brief interventions. A “warm-handoff” consists of the intern coming into a medical appointment to address acute psychological symptoms that a patient may be experiencing. Interns may also provider brief integrated behavioral health follow up appointments. These consist of 6 to 8, 30-minute sessions focused on behavioral changes, medical regimen adherence, and mild mental health concerns utilizing motivational interviewing, solution-focused therapy, and CBT. Interns can expect to carry 2-4 IBH follow up cases at any time. Interns additionally provide warm handoffs in specialty clinics around the hospital, including Cardiology, Emergency Department, Gastroenterology, Inpatient medical setting, Pulmonology, Physical and Occupational therapy, and Internal Medicine. 

The Integrated Behavioral Health Care Experience also includes health psychology assessment and adult psychological assessments. Health psychology assessment will primarily involve evaluations for bariatric surgery. Adult psychological assessments involve brief adult ADHD assessments in a primary care setting. Interns will be expected to administer, interpret, and provide written syntheses of these psychological test batteries. Interns will have opportunities to write reports and make recommendations that convey meaningful information to clients/patients and their referral sources. Interns can expect to carry 1 psychological assessment per week, dependent on scheduling and patient attendance.

Psychotherapy Experience (1 day per week)

Interns spend one day per week providing psychotherapy services to both adult and child/adolescent patients. Common presenting concerns include mood disorders, trauma, externalizing disorders, and substance use disorders. Treatment modalities may include cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), trauma-informed care, acceptance and commitment therapy, psychoeducation, and behavioral interventions. A typical course of treatment is 16 to 20 sessions with the goal of successful termination at the conclusion of the internship year. Interns can expect to carry a caseload of 5-7 therapy patients at any time.

Inpatient Psychology Experience (1 day per week)
 

The Inpatient Psychology Experience utilizes a collaborative and interprofessional approach in the four on-campus psychiatric units at UTTHSC-North Campus. All clinical service provision utilizes an evidence-based, brief psychotherapy approach. Primary modalities utilized for individual and group psychotherapy include cognitive-behavioral, acceptance and commitment, Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Training, motivation-enhancement techniques, safety planning, and psychoeducational materials. Opportunities in group psychotherapy across units include DBT Skills Training, Seeking Safety, Illness Management and Recovery, ACT for Psychosis Recovery, Social Skills Training for SMI, and relaxation skills training. Interns will also engage in interdisciplinary collaboration through consultation with physicians and nursing staff and provide education and training to medical residents and nursing staff. Each intern will also have the opportunity to join a unit Treatment Team meeting at least two times during the training year. This may be done on the same unit or on different units, according to intern preference.

3-West

The 3-West unit is a 14-bed acute-stay, psychiatric unit. Typical length of stay varies from 3 days to several weeks. Interns on this unit will have the opportunity to engage in brief psychotherapy (1-2 sessions per patient on average), brief psychodiagnostics assessments, and clinical research involving assessment data collection and data management. Interns interested in research may select this rotation and complete a research project by the end of internship year. Interns may participate in this unit’s treatment team meeting according to intern interest. 

3-East

The 3-East unit is a 30-bed, subacute psychiatric unit which serves as a rehabilitation program for many patients who have been civilly committed to psychiatric treatment. Most individuals on the unit are diagnosed with a serious mental illness and live on the unit for 2-3 years. Interns on this unit will have opportunities for longer-term psychotherapy with SMI, including CBT for SMI, ACT for Psychosis Recovery, and Metacognitive Therapy+. Interns will also have the opportunity to co-facilitate SMI groups on the unit, such as Social Skills Training, Illness Management and Recovery, and ACT for Psychosis Recovery. Interns may participate in this unit’s treatment team meeting according to intern interest. 

4-East

The 4-East unit is a 24-bed acute-stay, psychiatric unit. Interns on this unit will have opportunities for brief individual psychotherapy (1-2 sessions per patient) and group psychotherapy. Groups on the unit include DBT Skills Training and Seeking Safety. Opportunities for behavior plan development and implementation and brief psychodiagnostics evaluations may be available dependent on staffing.

4-West

The 4-West unit is a 10-bed, acute-stay psychiatric unit for geriatric patients (ages 55+). Interns on this unit will have the opportunity to provide brief individual psychotherapy. Psychotherapy groups may be offered twice per week on the unit, should there be a sufficient number of appropriate patients. Interns may have opportunities to complete brief cognitive and neuropsychological screening assessments dependent on staffing. Additionally, interns on this rotation will have the opportunity to engage in clinical training opportunities with medical residents and medical students on the treatment team (e.g., Motivational Interviewing, clinical interviewing, basic helping skills, etc.).

Supervised Supervision (1/2 day per week)

Interns will supervise master’s or doctoral level practicum students from the University of Texas at Tyler. The practicum experience takes place as part of a course for these students which is taught by UT Tyler faculty and/or UTTHSC faculty.  Faculty supervise interns’ supervision.  Additional supervision of the interns as supervisors is provided by internship faculty as needed or requested by the intern.

Additional Didactics and Training

In addition to the weekly minimum didactic training required by the Program, general health psychology interns receive specific education. A sample of these opportunities includes attending Grand Rounds each Friday on various medical, psychological, and professional topics, remote attendance of Tuesday Grand Rounds at the downtown hospital, and interdisciplinary treatment team meetings. Interns are provided with a schedule of these opportunities.

Sample Schedule

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
AM	Inpatient Psychiatry	Integrated Behavioral Health	Supervised Supervision	Psychotherapy	Integrated Behavoiral Health
PM			Didactics and Group Supervision

 

TrackLead: Kiley Schneider, PsyD

Supervisors: Mary Baker, PsyD, Stephanie Simmons, PsyD, Natasha Benatti, PsyD

The Child Clinical Track at UTTHSC offers robust, focused training with children and adolescents within an academic medical center. Interns are exposed to a breadth of experiences with children, adolescents, and families that prepare them for specialization in clinical child work. The track includes one and one-half day focused on child assessment and psychotherapy, one day focused on child inpatient psychology, one and one-half day focused on pediatric consultation and liaison services, and one day of supervised supervision, group supervision, and didactics. 

Child Clinical Experience (1.5 days per week)

The Child Clinical Psychology experience serves children and adolescents ages 3-18 within the UTTHSC Outpatient Child Behavioral Health Clinic. Diverse families and their children present with a variety of diagnoses and needs; typical presenting concerns include mood disorders, trauma related disorders, disruptive behavior, and developmental concerns. The intervention skills learned and practiced in this setting include individual psychotherapy, family psychotherapy, parent management training, differential diagnostics, identification and use of evidence-based treatments and/or their components following a targeted assessment. The intern can expect to carry a caseload of 5-7 therapy patients at any time.

Additionally, the child clinical intern will complete comprehensive psychological assessments for developmental concerns, ADHD, learning disorders, and differential diagnoses. Interns will be expected to administer, interpret, and provide written syntheses of findings. Engagement of families, providing feedback to families, and incorporating ongoing feedback from families is emphasized. The intern can expect to complete a minimum of 6-8 full assessments during the training year.

Child Inpatient Psychology Experience (1 day per week)

The intern spends one day per week at Terrell State Hospital, a state-funded psychiatric hospital 90-miles from UTTHSC. The intern works directly with state-hospital psychologists and will have opportunities to provide individual and group treatment to children and adolescents. The intern will also administer psychological assessments in the inpatient setting, develop behavioral management plans, and collaborate with interdisciplinary treatment teams that include psychology, psychiatry, nursing, and educational staff.

Pediatric Consultation and Liaison Experience (1.5 days per week)

The intern will provide consultation and liaison services focused on children and adolescents in pediatric medical settings. Interns will spend one day per week at a pediatric primary care office providing brief interventions for mood disorders, behavioral concerns, and developmental concerns, as well as behavioral health concerns associated with physical health needs. Interventions may include single session “warm handoffs” as well as brief psychotherapy focused on acute concerns. The intern will collaborate with pediatricians, child psychiatry fellows, and speech-language pathologists. The Child Clinic Intern will also spend one-half day serving as a behavioral health consultant in the specialty Pediatric Cystic Fibrosis Clinic. As an integral part of the integrated care time, the intern will provide brief consultations, annual needs assessments, and transitional-age education for children ages 0-18 diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis.  The intern will participate on an interdisciplinary treatment team with medical provider, respiratory therapist, nutritionist, nursing staff, and a social worker.

Supervised Supervision (1/2 day per week)

The Child Clinical Intern will supervise master’s or doctoral level practicum students from the University of Texas at Tyler. The practicum experience takes place as part of a course for these students which is taught by UT Tyler faculty and/or UTTHSC faculty.  Faculty supervise interns’ supervision.  Additional supervision of the interns as supervisors is provided by internship faculty as needed or requested by the intern.

Additional Didactics and Trainings

In addition to the weekly minimum didactic training required by the Program, the child clinical intern receives specific education. A sample of these opportunities includes joint didactics with Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellows, lectures offered through the Child Psychiatry Access Network and the Perinatal Psychiatry Access Network, Thursday Pediatric Grand Rounds, and interdisciplinary team meetings. Additionally, the child clinical intern will receive funding to begin the certification process for Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. 

Sample Schedule

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
AM	Clinical Child (Psychotherapy / Assessment)	Child Inpatient at Terrell State Hospital	Supervised Supervision	Pediatric Cystic Fibrosis Clinic	Pediatric Consultation and Liaison
PM			Didactics and Group Supervision	Clinical Child (Psychotherapy)

 

Track Lead: David Denney, PhD

Supervisors: Heidys Prieto, PsyD, Andrew Schmitt, PhD, and Stephanie Simmons, PsyD

The Adult Neuropsychology Track at UTTHSC offers a rigorous and well-rounded training experience designed to prepare doctoral-level interns for future specialization in clinical neuropsychology. The track includes three full days per week dedicated to outpatient neuropsychological services, one-half day focused on adult and child/adolescent psychotherapy, and one-half day focused on integrated behavioral health care, and one day of supervised supervision, group supervision, and didactics.

Outpatient Neuropsychology Experience (3 days per week)

During the outpatient neuropsychology rotation, the neuropsychology intern will gain intensive, hands-on experience with a diverse adult and geriatric clinical population. Trainees will learn to conduct thorough clinical interviews, administer, score, and interpret comprehensive neuropsychological evaluations, develop diagnostic formulations and comprehensive reports, and provide feedback to patients and referring providers. All assessments are currently conducted face-to-face, with flexibility for feedback sessions to occur via telehealth, depending on clinical appropriateness and patient preference. The intern should generally expect to complete one testing case per week once fully onboarded, dependent on rotation structure, case complexity, and stage of training. Number of reports are expected to scale upwards as the intern demonstrates adequate independence, competence, and efficiency.

Referral questions and populations served in the outpatient neuropsychology clinic include differential diagnosis and treatment planning consultation among a variety of known or suspected brain disorders. Frequently seen conditions include neurodegenerative and other dementing conditions (e.g., Alzheimer’s disease, stroke/vascular dementia, Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders, frontotemporal dementia); epilepsy and other seizure disorders; acquired brain injury (e.g., non-acute traumatic brain injury, anoxic brain injury); demyelinating diseases, brain tumor, hydrocephalus, and other conditions affecting the central nervous system; as well as various psychiatric and functional conditions (e.g., cognitive concerns related to functional and emotional disturbances versus neurological processes, substance-related cognitive dysfunction). The UT Tyler School of Medicine has robust functional neurological disorder and deep brain stimulation surgery services that regularly refer to our neuropsychology clinic and provide unique opportunities for neuropsychology trainees. 

The neuropsychology intern receives individual supervision for their neuropsychological cases focused on case conceptualization, differential diagnoses, test selection, report writing, and culturally competent care. Emphasis is also placed on integrating cognitive, emotional, and behavioral findings into meaningful and actionable clinical feedback.

Psychotherapy Experience (1/2 day per week)

The neuropsychology intern spends one-half day per week providing psychotherapy services to both adult and child/adolescent patients. Treatment modalities may include cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), trauma-informed care, acceptance and commitment therapy, psychoeducation, and behavioral interventions. This component ensures that interns maintain and strengthen generalist clinical skills while exploring the integration of cognitive and psychological functioning in therapy. The intern can expect to carry 2-4 therapy patients at any time.

Integrated Behavioral Health Experience (1/2 day per week) 

The Integrated Behavioral Health experience consists of providing consultation and liaison services in primary and specialty care clinics. Family Medicine is the center of this experience, where interns work closely with faculty, medical residents, and medical students. Interns provide consultations or “warm handoffs”, in addition to brief interventions. A “warm-handoff” consists of the intern coming into a medical appointment to address acute psychological symptoms that a patient may be experiencing. Interns may also provider brief integrated behavioral health follow up appointments. These consist of 6 to 8, 30-minute sessions focused on behavioral changes, medical regimen adherence, and mild mental health concerns utilizing motivational interviewing, solution-focused therapy, and CBT. The intern can expect to carry 2-4 IBH follow up cases at any time. Interns additionally provide warm handoffs in specialty clinics around the hospital, including Cardiology, Emergency Department, Gastroenterology, Inpatient medical setting, Pulmonology, Physical and Occupational therapy, and Internal Medicine.

Supervised Supervision (1/2 day per week)

The neuropsychology intern will supervise master’s or doctoral level neuropsychology practicum students from the University of Texas at Tyler. The practicum experience takes place as part of a course for these students which is taught by UT Tyler faculty and/or UTTHSC faculty.  Practicum students work as psychometrists in the clinic; the neuropsychology intern is involved in training students on test administration, interpretation, and report preparation. Program faculty serve as umbrella supervisors and provide additional support for the intern and practicum student.

Additional Didactics and Trainings

In addition to the weekly minimum didactic training required by the Program, the neuropsychology intern receives specific education. A sample of these opportunities includes joint didactics with Neuropsychology Fellows at UTTHSC and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, attending Grand Rounds each Friday on various medical, psychological, and professional topics, and remote attendance of Tuesday Grand Rounds at the downtown hospital.

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
AM	Outpatient Neuropsychology (scoring, feedback, report writing, supervision)	Outpatient Neuropsychology (scoring, feedback, report writing, supervision)	Supervised Supervision	Outpatient Neuropsychology (scoring, feedback, report writing, supervision)	Psychotherapy
PM			Didactics and Group Supervision		Integrated Behavioral Health Care