PRE-DOCTORAL EXTERNSHIPS IN PROFESSIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
The Steven and Alexandra Cohen Military Family Clinic
NYU Langone Medical Center
One Park Avenue, 8th Floor
New York, New York 10016
Overview: The Steven and Alexandra Cohen Military Family Clinic provides pro bono
psychological care to active duty and veteran service members (regardless of their discharge status)
as well as their families. The externship program at the Cohen Military Family Clinic is a year-long
training opportunity with a focus in working with veteran families through a variety of theoretical
approaches, best suited for an advanced graduate student. The extern will provide individual and
couples psychotherapy to active duty and veteran service members, in addition to their families.
These cases will be supervised using an integrative model based on both cognitive-behavioral and
psychodynamic theory, with specific training in prolonged exposure, cognitive processing therapy,
emotional focused therapy, and STAIR available. Cases will be assigned based on the training
interests of the student and the needs of the clinic, and students can elect to focus on a variety of
common difficulties that our patients present with (e.g., complex trauma, TBI, substance use
disorder, etc.). The caseload will be approximately 6-8 individual, and if desired couples, cases.
Additional opportunities include co-leading psychotherapy groups (e.g., harm-reduction
based group for patients with addiction), psychological testing, involvement in outreach throughout
the veteran and military community, and engaging in research activities. The extern will be invited
to attend weekly disposition meetings, case presentations, and journal clubs. There is a required
weekly intern seminar focused on teaching a variety of treatments, including but not limited to the
approaches discussed above. Interns will receive a minimum of 2 hours face-to-face individual
supervision and 1 hour of group supervision per week. Two extern positions will be offered.
Eligibility and Requirements: This externship is for advanced graduate students in clinical or
counseling psychology doctoral programs. Applicants must have completed two full years of
psychotherapy training/supervision by the start of the externship. Externship begins in July 2015 for
one calendar year. A commitment of 2 days per week (16 hours) is required.
Interested applicants should email a cover letter, curriculum vitae, and 2 letters of reference to:
Amanda Spray, Ph.D.
Licensed Psychologist
The Steven & Alexandra Cohen Military Family Clinic
NYU Langone Medical Center
One Park Avenue, 8th Floor, Rm # 8-141
Tel. 646.754.4822
Email: Amanda.Spray@nyumc.org
PLEASE NOTE: We follow the recommendations set forth by PSYDNYS (Psychology Directors
of NYS) and NYNJADOT (New York New Jersey Association of Directors of Training).
PSYDNYS and NYNJADOT have developed recommended policies to govern the process of
applying to externships and accepting internship offers. These guidelines stipulate in part:
PSYDNYS-NYNJADOT Externship Guidelines for 2015-16
1. There will be a six-week period between submission of applications and the first date on
which offers may be made to students. The earliest date that students can submit
applications is Tuesday, January 20, 2015. The earliest date on which an offer can be made to
a student is Monday, March 2 at 9 am. (In future years, the submission date will be the
Tuesday immediately after Martin Luther King’s birthday. The notification date will be the
first or second Monday in March).
2. Offers can be made between 9am and 5 pm. Offers can only be made via email. Phone calls
are not acceptable.
STUDENTS:
3. Students can hold an initial offer until 10 am on the morning after the offer is made.
(REGARDLESS OF THE TIME OF DAY (9-5) THAT THE OFFER IS MADE). The
student must either accept or reject that offer by 10 am the next morning. This is
approximately a 24-hour window. What this means is:
a. If an offer is made on Monday, the student has until Tuesday at 10:00am to accept or
reject the offer;
b. If an offer is made on Tuesday, the student has until Wednesday at 10:00 am to
accept or reject the offer;
c. If an offer is made on Wednesday, the student has until Thursday at 10:00 am to
accept or reject the offer;
d. If an offer is made on Friday, the student has until Monday at 10:00am to accept or
reject the offer.
4. Once a student gets any additional offers, regardless of the time that offer is made, they must
drop all offers but one by 7 pm and, have until 10 am the next morning to decide on the
remaining offer. A student cannot hold more than one offer past 7pm on any day.
a. Example #1: If a student gets offer #1 on Monday at 9:00 AM and offer #2 on
Monday at 4:00 PM they must drop one of those offers by 7pm on Monday and
make a decision on the other offer by 10am.
b. Example #2: If a student gets offer #1 on Monday at 9:00 AM and offer #2 on
Tuesday at 11:00AM, they would have had until Tuesday at 10:00 AM to drop or
accept the first offer. If they dropped the first offer, the “24 hr clock” begins on the
second offer and they have until 10 on Wednesday to decide.
c. An offer made on Friday: The student will have until 10am on Monday to decide.
5. Students must confirm receipt of any interview offer by emailing the EC.
6. Students must inform (via email) their DCT of any offer, rejection, acceptance and
withdrawal
7. Students should check their SPAM folders to ascertain if any interview or acceptance offer
has been directed to SPAM.
8. Immediately after accepting an offer, students are required to send emails to ALL sites they
applied to indicating that they are withdrawing from consideration. Students must also notify
the DCT of their decision as soon as a decision is made.
9. Students should ask for letters of recommendation from their faculty or others as early as
possible in the semester.
10. Students need to include the name, email address and phone number for their DCTs on
their cvs.
11. Students are not to send “Thank you” notes to their interviewers or to other professionals at
the externship site.
Please see the full details of these guidelines at the link below, Fairleigh Dickinson University's index
of externship opportunities in the metropolitan area:
http://psychpracticum.fdu.edu/index.php/Externship_Recommendations