Internship Program

UMD Health Services and the Range Mental Health Center in Hibbing are the two designated training sites for the Northeast Minnesota Pre-Doctoral Psychology Internship Program (APPIC approved). The UMD Health Services program is organized to provide a quality clinical experience for a pre-doctoral psychology student. Health Services is committed to providing an intern with important, sequential experiences that will prepare the student for the role of a professional psychologist. The internship will build upon skills and competencies already acquired in doctoral training, and will provide the opportunity to acquire new skills and knowledge.

The primary training method for the internship program is experiential. UMD Health Services has clients with varying diagnoses and varying degrees of severity. We work closely with the medical staff at Health Services so we are able to develop collaborative plans with interdisciplinary staff. We hope that the intern will be able to demonstrate an intermediate to advanced level of skills in assessment, diagnosis, intervention, consultation, and supervision. The goal for the end of the internship is that conceptualization and practice will become integrated for the intern.

Brief Description of the Program

Each intern will spend 90% of his/her time at their primary site and 10% of the time at the other site. One intern will be based at the University of Minnesota – Duluth Health Services Counseling Center. This is a multi-disciplinary primary care clinic at the University of Minnesota – Duluth addressing medical, counseling, and public health concerns of students. The program offers intensive therapy experiences with a variety of diagnoses typically found on a college campus. It offers a variety of experiences including individual and group counseling, crisis intervention and assessment, consultation, outreach programming and supervision.

UMD Health Services is closely allied with the UMD Medical School. One day per week is spent in the UMD Medical School Assessment Clinic on neuropsychological and ADHD assessments. Other collaborative experiences within the Medical School are also encouraged.

Program Philosophy

The goal of the Northeast MN Pre-Doctoral Psychology Internship Consortium is to train independent and competent psychologists able to assess and treat a wide variety of client needs within a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary agency. There are several components to this mission.

The first component is clinical. The intern will be thoroughly trained in psychodiagnosis; DSM-IV diagnostic criteria; relevant background history gathering; behavioral observations; psychological testing using a variety of instruments; and treating clients using individual, family and group therapy techniques. Professionally written assessments, intake and consultation reports will be emphasized. Interns will work for a full year in outpatient therapy. They will plan for client termination, do mid-course therapy evaluations, and make modifications of therapy approaches with their clients as they are needed. Use of referral resources and reference to specific therapy literature will also be taught. Supervision will be intense and continuous on these issues.

A second component is the practical and case management aspect of a clinical practice. Skills will include becoming efficient at paperwork, learning organizational skills, dealing with insurance requests and prior authorizations (if required), setting realistic goals, dealing with client resistance and attendance problems, understanding mandated reporting requirements, and handling ethical problems. The goal is a fully functioning, practicing psychologist versed in these practical issues, as well as demonstrating clinical competence.

A third component is developing an appreciation and understanding of the whole client: their personality, health and living situation. Our clients are not just suffering from anxiety, depression, or thought disorders. They are struggling with health issues, finances, parenting responsibilities, family conflicts, school performance, friendship issues, a lack of social support, and job performance issues or a lack of employment. The intern will come to understand clients within this context, design treatment interventions to address a variety of needs, and use other services within the two agencies or outside the agencies to meet these needs.

A fourth component is to develop the intern's effectiveness within a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary setting. In both the UMD and RMHC sites, our interns will work side by side with psychiatrists, social workers, other mental health professionals, medical doctors, nurses, and others. The intern will appreciate the unique perspective of these other professions and team with them to develop holistic treatment approaches, learn effective interactions with other professionals, and provide the unique contributions of a psychologist on a treatment team.

By the end of the year, the intern should become an independent psychologist and team player. He/She should be independent enough to diagnose, plan, and treat a variety of clinical problems, use supervision and the clinical literature to evaluate and modify treatment approaches, and perform routine paperwork and insurance and case management responsibilities without extensive supervision. As a team player, the intern will appreciate and become familiar with a variety of mental health services and other professionals; understand the client's social, family, and medical context; and work effectively with other professionals and other agencies to develop holistic approaches for clients' varied needs.

For more information about the internship program, please call or write:

Kathy Morris, Ph.D., UMD Health Services, 615 Niagara Court, Duluth, MN, 55812 (218) 726-8236

John Seldon, Ph.D., Range Mental Health Center, 3203 W. 3rd Ave., Hibbing, MN , 55746 (218) 263-9237