PRE-DOCTORAL CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY INTERNSHIP
TRAINING BROCHURE
2016 – 2017
Palos Behavioral Health Professionals (PBHP) is an outpatient mental health practice combining the expertise of
psychology and psychiatry to offer multidisciplinary mental health services. The organization provides individual,
marital, family, and group psychotherapies; psychiatric evaluation and medication management; psychological
and neuropsychological assessments; psycho-neurotherapy; school interventions; and intensive adolescent
services. These services reach a population from ages four through adult.
PBHP Services
Psychotherapy – PBHP primarily is a child/adolescent- and family-driven practice. Many of our referrals come from
primary care physicians, local school districts, other mental health/medical providers, and as recommendations
from other patients. We currently combine the knowledge and expertise of more than 15 clinical staff to offer
individual, couples, family, and group therapies.
Psychiatry – Psychiatric services are available for children, adolescents, and adults at PBHP for the evaluation of
medication and follow-up medication management. The psychiatrists work closely with other PBHP therapists to
enhance the treatment plan and care of patients receiving psychotherapy services.
Psychological Assessment – Psychological assessments at PBHP are based on a combination of cognitive,
intellectual, personality, and neuropsychological instruments. These evaluations are utilized for assessing
diagnoses, as well as assisting in the development of treatment planning for both PBHP providers and external
referral sources.
Psycho-neurotherapy (PNT) – PNT involves combining psychotherapy with the techniques of CogMed, CogRehab,
and/or neurofeedback interventions to stimulate or enhance cognitive functioning and decrease symptoms. As
opposed to treating the mind through traditional psychotherapy, these services emphasize brain capacities
including problem-solving skills, decision-making, and improving attention.
Life Success Program for Adolescents (LSPA) – Designed to bridge the gap between traditional psychotherapy and
inpatient care, the LSPA is an integrated care program that fosters adolescents’ strengths and allows them and
their families to continue moving toward life success. This program provides a uniquely designed treatment
program, which integrates and coordinates the individual, family, group, psychiatry, and educational aspects into
a comprehensive program for treating behavioral and emotional difficulties. This program aims to alleviate the
acute symptoms adolescents experience by focusing on treatment stabilization as well as providing a link to the
longer term continuum of care.
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Internship Program
Mission
The mission of Palos Behavioral Health Professionals’ Internship Program is to competently train and supervise
the development of interns’ ability to provide doctoral-level clinical psychological services in an outpatient mental
health setting.
Philosophy
PBHP believes that the competent provision of outpatient mental health treatment combines the individual
psychologist’s abilities with that of a multi-interventional approach. Our multidisciplinary team and multiinterventional approach is a core component of the practice. We believe that patients and families deserve
multiple levels of treatment when necessary. We are able to combine traditional psychotherapy services, play
therapy, psychiatric services, group therapy, neuroenhancement services, psychological testing, and
individualized intensive care treatment.
Training Model
PBHP is committed to providing comprehensive training and believes that the internship is an integral part of the
practice. The training experience includes clinical exposure, supervision, didactic training, theoretical exploration
and development, and consultations with multiple members of the clinical team. We strive to develop
psychologists who competently provide psychotherapeutic services to treat mental illness, especially in
children/adolescent and family situations.
The clinical psychology internship is a significant component in the development of exceptional and independently
functioning clinical psychologists. Our internship is based on the Practitioner-Scholar model and provides a
challenging combination of experiences, offering interns both breadth and depth in their training. All of our
trainings and experiences are rooted in a balance between theoretical orientation, empirically-based methods,
and our staff’s wealth of clinical experience. Through exposure to various theoretical orientations, clinical
experiences, and feedback from clinicians within the practice, it is our goal that interns demonstrate proficiency
in core clinical and professional competencies and begin to develop their own therapeutic professional styles.
Goals
The following training goals and objectives form the foundation of the internship program:
Goal #1: Train interns in clinical diagnostic evaluation in the outpatient setting
Objectives: Proficiency in clinical diagnostic evaluation, providing DSM-5 and ICD-10 diagnoses, and using
diagnosis to inform treatment
Goal #2: Train and expose interns to various theoretical orientations and clinical research literature as it relates to
individual and group outpatient psychotherapy
Objectives: Exposure to theoretically- and evidence-based literature to guide interns in developing personal
therapeutic frames to inform their practice of professional services in an outpatient setting
Goal #3: Train interns to be proficient in provision of clinical psychotherapy
Objectives: Demonstrate the ability to provide psychotherapeutic treatment based on diagnostic decisions
and theoretical frame; establish positive therapeutic relationships; provide comprehensive treatment plans;
and use theoretically- and evidence-based interventions
Goal #4: Train interns in a multi-disciplinary team approach in outpatient behavioral health issues
Objectives: Effectively work within a multidisciplinary team to provide comprehensive outpatient treatment
services, and understand different treatment modalities and how to integrate these into a treatment plan
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Goal #5: Train interns to be proficient in the provision of psychological assessment services
Objectives: Complete psychological evaluations with a professional-level written report with minimal
supervisory input
Goal #6: Train interns in the professional practice of clinical psychology in outpatient behavioral mental health
setting
Objectives: Demonstrate abilities to successfully utilize clinical supervision; display professional behavioral
expectations and characteristics; and complete appropriate documentation of clinical- and practice-related
issues
Goal #7: Train interns to be aware of and appropriately utilize individual and cultural diversity in psychological
services
Objectives: Demonstrate awareness of individual and cultural diversity issues and the capacity to integrate
this knowledge within the provision of psychotherapy interventions, the assessment process, and other
psychological services
Goal #8: Promote the interns’ sense of passion for their field and social connectedness among their peers and
mentors
Objectives: Formed positive attitudes toward the profession of clinical psychology and display enthusiasm in
relation to peers and mentors
Goal #9: Train interns in the ethical and legal issues that apply to the provision of psychological services
Objectives: Demonstrate an understanding and application of clinical psychological services within accordance
to the APA Code of Ethics and Illinois law
Course of Internship
Our program is sequential and cumulative in therapeutic and clinical exposure and graded in complexity. At the
beginning of the year, we expose and train in basic skills, knowledge, and interventions at the doctoral internship
level. This includes didactics, reviews of lectures of the masters in our field, scholarly articles, training in PBHP’s
philosophy and methods, and introduction to and training of our intensive psychological assessment. They begin
in the first quarter with a minimum amount of individual psychotherapy and psychological testing cases to focus
on training, with caseloads and direct services increasing thereafter. By six months, interns can expect a larger
patient caseload, more testing cases, and continued participation in required didactics and trainings. Towards the
end of the internship year, the interns are performing as competent members of our multi-disciplinary team and
addressing clinical challenges. Upon completion of the year, interns are prepared to provide doctoral level clinical
psychological services in an outpatient mental health setting.
Evaluations
The first quarter is evaluated by review of case files, satisfactory scoring of assessment instruments, review of
intervention models, and identifying a baseline evaluation of competencies to meet the program’s goals and
objectives. At the six-month evaluation, interns are given a full-scaled evaluation of all competencies with the
expectation of being at an intermediate level (“Meets Expectations” on the evaluation form) for the internship.
At the nine-month evaluation, progress is based upon a clinical case review, which demonstrates diagnostic and
therapeutic competency, and an integrated psychological assessment. As part of the final evaluation, interns are
given a full-scaled evaluation of all competencies with the expectation of achieving a proficient level (“Above
Expectations” or “Excellent”) for the internship. Interns are also required to present to staff both a psychological
assessment case with near-independent interpretation and psychotherapy case demonstrating their clinical style.
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Internship Training Supervisors and Faculty
 Christopher Higgins, PsyD., Licensed Clinical Psychologist
Dr. Higgins is the Founder/President and Clinical Director of PBHP. He has advanced experience in Adlerian
and Systems treatment and has provided clinical services for marital, adolescent, and family systems for
over 25 years.
 Karen Taylor-Crawford, M.D., Medical Director
Dr. Taylor-Crawford has been providing psychiatric care for children, adolescents, and adults for over 25
years. She is Board Certified in both General and Child/Adolescent Psychiatry.
 Julie A. Johnson, PsyD., Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Training Director
Dr. Johnson is the Training Director, a primary supervisor, and individual therapist. She has experience in
play therapy, psychodynamic, and interpersonal treatment and has been primarily providing therapy
services for children, adolescent, and young adults for over 12 years.
 Richard Ackley, PhD., Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Supervisor
 Michael Caponi, PsyD. Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Supervisor
 Corey Cashen, PsyD., Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Supervisor
 Mandy Ejka, PsyD., Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Supervisor
 Catherine Jackson, PsyD., LPC
 Natasha Kang, PsyD., LPC, License-eligible Clinical Psychologist
 Jessica Mikulecky, PsyD., LPC, License-eligible Clinical Psychologist
 Christine Nolan, EdD., Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, Faculty
 Cindy Rangel, PsyD., LPC, License-eligible Clinical Psychologist
 Ari Richelson, PsyD., Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Supervisor
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PBHP Internship Overview
PBHP offers three or four full-time internship positions; the program start date is August 29, 2016. Interns will be
responsible for the maintenance of an outpatient clinical caseload consisting of a variety of diagnostic
presentations throughout the lifespan, with an emphasis on children and adolescents. Interns are to be at the
practice five days per week (including some Saturdays), working 45-plus hours with mandatory evening hours.
Components of the internship program include:
 Outpatient Clinical Work with children, adolescents, and adults
o Providing psychotherapy, neuroenhancement, and systems treatment (8-20 hours weekly)
o Co-leading group therapy, which may include social skills groups, adolescent process groups,
young adult groups, and others as needed based on patients’ needs
o Offering integrated care and coordinating psychological services with psychiatrists and other
mental health providers to determine recommendations for the clients based on their needs
 Psychological Testing including cognitive, neuropsychological, and personality measures
o Extensive psychological assessments including scoring, interpretation, and integrated report
writing to address referral questions from therapists, psychiatrists, schools, and families
 Supervision
o Two-hours of weekly of individual supervision with two different licensed clinical psychologists
o One-hour of weekly group supervision with a licensed clinical psychologist
o One-hour of testing supervision with a licensed clinical psychologist
o Audio taping of clinical sessions
o Supplemental testing supervision
o Monthly intern meetings with the Internship Training Director
 Trainings
o Weekly psychological testing and neuroenhancement didactics
o Clinical training didactics
o Staffings
o Multimedia trainings
o Case conference
o CEU-approved trainings on-site
o Possible off-site trainings
Evaluations
The training staff has quarterly scheduled meetings to review supervision and evaluate intern progress and needs.
These will occur at the following times:
 Baseline evaluation at three months
 Formal mid-year evaluation
 Third-quarter evaluation
 Formal final evaluation and case presentations
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Application Process
PBHP is offering a stipend of $19,500 for the 12-month training year, which includes at least 2000 hours. Each
intern will be provided with two weeks of vacation time; they are encouraged to take these prior to the last month
of internship. Our interns will be provided with professional liability insurance through PBHP, and are also required
to maintain any private insurance they may carry and/or insurance coverage through their graduate school.
We require the APPI Online Application with essays, three letters of recommendation, a sample psychological
testing report that has been fully de-identified, graduate transcripts, a CV, and a cover letter describing how the
applicants’ experiences and/or future goals match our training program. Internship applications are due on
November 20, 2015. On-site interviews are held in January.
PBHP is a member of APPIC and designed to meet clinical psychology doctoral level graduate and licensing
requirements. This internship site agrees to abide by the APPIC Policy that no person at this training facility will
solicit, accept, or use any ranking-related information from any intern applicant. For a full description of the APPIC
Match Policies, please refer to http://www.appic.org/.
Questions regarding the internship training program can be directed to Dr. Julie Johnson at juliepbhp@gmail.com.
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