Education & Training | Psychology Pre-Doctoral | Training Sites | CT Mental Health Center | Young Adult Service

Young Adult Service (APPIC # 118321)

One predoctoral psychology intern is selected for a 12-month primary placement at the Young Adult Service (YAS) each year. This training option is structured with a secondary placement at the West Haven Mental Health Clinic.

The YAS is a specialty service within the CMHC that provides intensive psychiatric services to individuals 18 to 24 years of age whose psychosocial development has been disrupted by persistent psychiatric difficulty. Given the focus of this training option, interest in the principles of developmental psychopathology and previous experience working with adolescents or young adults diagnosed with serious psychiatric difficulty is desirable.

About the Internship Setting

  • Clients referred to the YAS typically present with moderate to severe psychiatric disturbance characterized by affective disturbance, psychosis, behavioral dyscontrol, self-injurious behavior, substance abuse, negative self-image, unstable interpersonal relations, disturbance in psychosexual development, learning problems, and other developmental difficulty. They typically have a history of psychiatric hospitalization, residential treatment, or out-of-home placement as a child, or they are at risk for recurrent psychiatric hospitalization as a young adult because of the recent onset of a primary psychotic or bipolar mood disorder.
  • The YAS provides developmentally informed, recovery-oriented services designed to promote normative development as much as possible in the context of whatever psychiatric difficulty the client might be experiencing.
  • The YAS has a capacity of approximately 65-75 clients. Fifteen of the clients reside in transitional living programs operated by a collaborating agency. The others live in the community alone, with family, friends, or a romantic partner.
  • The principles of developmental psychopathology guide assessment and intervention of the target population. An intensive, assertive, community-based approach to treatment that both targets problems and builds upon the strengths of clients, their families, and their community is utilized.
  • A full range of clinical and case management services are offered by a mobile, interdisciplinary treatment team with expertise in the assessment and treatment of children, adolescents, and young adults. Treatment planning is individualized and comprehensive, and services are delivered at the clinic, at the transitional living facility, and in the community.
  • All clients have more than one clinical contact weekly. Autonomous decision-making, vocational-educational intervention, and preparation for independent living are important dimensions of all treatment plans.
  • The YAS and the West Haven Mental Health Clinic are located in the same building.

Internship Overview

  • The intern functions as a primary clinician with responsibility to coordinate the care of five young adult clients and assist in the care of others.
  • The intern’s clinical assignments are varied to provide the broadest experience possible with this specific population while also allowing for pursuit of personal interests in clients with a particular clinical presentation.
  • Within a comprehensive treatment plan, motivational, cognitive-behavioral, interpersonal, supportive-expressive, problem-solving, and psychodynamic approaches to psychotherapy are utilized.
  • The placement also allows for involvement in the delivery of parent intervention, group therapy, family intervention, specialized trauma intervention, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), behavioral consultation, and vocational-educational consultation.
  • The intern also will assist with psychological testing on a limited basis.

Supervision and Evaluation

  • 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.

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