The Psychology Internship Program at LLU School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry currently has three full-time predoctoral positions. Psychology interns are required to complete a minimum of 2000 hours during the course of the 12-month internship year. Psychology interns are assigned to general services (assessment and diagnosis, outpatient psychotherapy, supervision of practicum students, multidisciplinary treatment team, and program development/evaluation) as well as one or more minor concentration for concurrent yearly rotations. This rotation system provides a comprehensive training experience with severe and diverse psychopathology across the developmental continuum, exposure to numerous treatment modalities and assessment techniques, as well as experience with a variety of supervisors/mentors.

Our training program consists of foundational elements (i.e., aspirational educational components that are infused and interwoven across all training experiences), general domains of training (i.e., broad training experiences in general areas within the practice of clinical psychology), and specialized training (i.e., in-depth experiences in one or more specialty psych or medical setting).

Foundational Elements

Foundational elements are infused in all training experiences and rotations. Specifically, interns are exposed to and engage with the integration of science and practice. Under supervision, and in continued dialogue with peers and other professionals, they apply their understanding of professional ethics and laws in a variety of clinical contexts. Further, throughout their experiences, they continue to deepen their understanding of the impact of difference and diversity on people's lives, and its implications for working practices. Finally, consistent with LLU School of Medicine's commitment to "whole-person care," which emphasizes the bio-psycho-social-spiritual perspective in clinical care, interns learn about the role spirituality plays in emotional and overall health.

  • Integration of science and practice
  • Ethical and legal issues
  • Individual and cultural diversity
  • Emotional health and religion/spirituality

General Domains of Training

Specifically, all interns receive intensive training in the following core (or general) domains of professional psychology:

  • Psychological assessment and diagnosis: This is a year-long general training experience. All interns are assigned to a BMC assessment team (Child/Adolescent or Adult) through which they pick up referrals for psychological evaluation from the inpatient, partial, and intensive outpatient programs. In addition, all interns pick up assessment and treatment referrals through the BHI Outpatient Psychological Assessment Clinic. All interns attend didactic sessions and seminars focused on risk and other psychological assessment. Hours per week in each assessment setting vary for each intern according to their other assignments (e.g., elective concentrations). However, all interns are expected to complete a minimum of 10 comprehensive psychological assessments over the duration of the year
  • Psychological intervention: This is a year-long general training experience. Total hours per week vary for each intern according to their other assignments (e.g., elective concentrations); however, all interns are expected to maintain an average of 10 hours/week of direct patient contact in which they provide psychological interventions
  • Supervision: This is a year-long general training experience. All interns attend 1 hour per week seminar/supervision meeting throughout the year. Interns add 1 hour/week to meet in supervision with a Practicum trainee beginning in January
  • Professional consultation: This is a year-long general training experience. Interns engage in the provision of professional consultation on the following services: LLUBMC (inpatient psychiatry), Cancer Institute, and Heart Institute
  • Program evaluation/development: This is a year-long general training experience. Interns devote an average of 2 hours/week to the completion of a collaborative, product-focused project

Specialty Training

In addition, each intern chooses a different minor concentration, based on their prior experience and professional aspirations. Specialty trainings are designed to provide interns with exposure to more specialized areas of clinical psychology and/or populations with specific needs, including those with co-morbid medical and psychiatric diagnoses in medical care settings. These experiences provide interns with the opportunity to begin to flexibly transfer and apply the foundational elements and general skills to working with a range of patients, and across a range of settings. We offer elective concentration rotations in:

  • Cardiology
  • Partial Hospitalization 
  • Psychiatric inpatient
  • Bariatrics
  • Eating disorders
  • Child and adolescent assessment and intervention
  • Smoking Cessation
  • Diabetes
  • Chronic Heart Failure
  • Rheumatology
  • Women's Health
  • Geriatrics