Neuropsychological & Psychological Assessment Service (APPIC #118317)

Two predoctoral psychology interns are selected for a 12-month primary placement within the Neuropsychological & Psychological Assessment Service of the Connecticut Mental Health Center.

Secondary placement experiences include the following:

• Gaylord Rehabilitation Hospital - a neurological setting where assessments are undertaken on non-psychiatric patients with brain compromise in a rehabilitative context (1 day per week);
• The Adler Geriatric Center - geriatric consulting, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and dementia assessments (episodic);
• A Parkinson’s Disease and dementia (primarily Alzheimer’s Disease) research facility – clinical research (1 day per week);
• Yale Department of Psychiatry Neuropsychological Assessment Service (forensic and clinical) - handling of referrals received from the broader community; and
• Conducting assessments in various research protocols (e.g., Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for intractable hallucinations).

About the Internship Settings

• The CMHC Inpatient Division accepts both voluntary and involuntary psychiatric admissions.
• The Outpatient and related divisions of CMHC treat large numbers of psychiatric patients annually. Patients are 18 years of age or older.
• Gaylord Rehabilitation Hospital treats neurological patients recovering from brain compromise (e.g., stroke, neurosurgery, trauma) on both an inpatient and outpatient basis.
• The Yale Department of Psychiatry Neuropsychological Assessment Service offers services to diverse settings via clinical and research contracts, and handles adult clinical and forensic referrals from the broader community.
• The Adler Geriatric Clinic assesses over 400 patients per year.

Internship Overview

• The major focus is on the development of neuropsychological assessment and consultation skills. This involves liaison with multidisciplinary teams, integration of diverse clinical data (patient history, medical, interview, and test results), and the communication of findings/ recommendations.
• Interns refine their psychodiagnostic skills and gain a comprehensive understanding of the workings of a psychiatric treatment facility via exposure to diverse clinical issues (e.g., differential diagnosis, psychopharmacology, and disposition planning). Consultations involve both inpatient and outpatient cases.
• Interns participate in the neuropsychological components of several major research studies within CMHC, the Yale Department of Psychiatry, and neighboring research institutions.
• In addition to the core seminars offered to all interns, Neuropsychological & Psychological Assessment Service interns participate in a neuropsychological seminar throughout the year covering procedures, interpretation, brain-behavior relations and neuropsychological theory, neuropsychiatric conditions, psychometric issues, and ongoing research projects.
• Interns may attend Gaylord Rehabilitation Hospital neuropsychological seminars and rounds.
• Interns also typically attend elective seminars within the School of Medicine (e.g., on dementia, imaging, etc, or in neuropsychiatry and psychopathology more broadly).

Supervision and Evaluation

• Intensive supervision of all neuropsychological assessment activity is provided. Interns receive ongoing feedback during the internship from their advisor and supervisors.
• Quarterly formal evaluations are completed that serve as opportunities to review progress on training goals and address progress toward core competency areas.
• After completion of the year at Yale, interns have typically gone on to neuropsychological postdoctoral placements in either neurological or neuropsychiatric settings. Several now hold faculty appointments in neuropsychology at various universities (e.g., Harvard, Brown, and Dartmouth).

For More Information

• If you have a specific question regarding the Neuropsychological & Psychological Assessment Service training option, please contact Dr. Keith Hawkins preferably by telephone at (203) 974-7831, or by email at keith.hawkins@yale.edu.
• To learn about the research interests of Dr. Hawkins, go to his faculty profile, or check PubMed, Psychinfo, or Medline.