Pre-doctoral Internship Training in Psychology

Position Announcement

ACCREDITED BY THE AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION*

The Marcus Autism Center provides assessment and treatment services for a variety of pediatric populations and their families, emphasizing services for children with autism and other developmental disabilities. The Institute's behavioral programs offer training at several educational levels in applied behavior analysis, developmental disabilities, and pediatric psychology, including a full-time predoctoral internship in professional psychology, approved by the American Psychological Association.* The Internship Program's philosophy is that the principles and procedures of behavioral science are key components of effective clinical services for the populations served by the Marcus Autism Center. Accordingly, the Program promotes data-based diagnostic and treatment procedures that are consistent with basic principles of learning and behavior as embodied in the research literature. Specific treatment activities are designed to conform to established ethical guidelines of the American Psychological Association. The Program strives to provide a model of applied behavioral science in a pediatric medical setting through its service, training, and research programs. The philosophy of our internship program is to prepare students to function not only as psychologists in a variety of settings, but also as members of a multidisciplinary team providing health related services to children and their families. Training occurs through supervised experiences in intensive day treatment programs and outpatient programs as well as in psychological assessment. Interns completing our program are well qualified to enter clinical, medical or academic settings.

Description of Training Program

The Program's philosophy of education holds that one learns best by doing. Training proceeds in a progressive manner with interns initially observing clinical cases with feedback from the licensed psychologist supervisor, reading selected articles/chapters, and receiving other forms of instruction to familiarize the intern with the particular issues involved with the patient/family. The intern then proceeds to conducting cases independently with frequent supervision and feedback and then progresses to increasing the number and type of cases with more complexity or difficulty. Consequently, licensed psychologist supervisors arrange multiple opportunities for interns to acquire skills by providing clinical services and conducting research.

Training is conducted according to a curriculum that was developed by Program faculty. The training curriculum covers 14 content areas in applied behavior analysis and other areas of behavioral intervention, legal and ethical considerations, emergency procedures, biological bases of behavior, professionalism, cultural and individual differences, parent-child relationships, and Psycho-Educational assessment. Each content area includes objectives that the intern is expected to master prior to completion of the internship. Interns have the opportunity to achieve competence in each of the content areas by (a) providing different types of services (e.g., assessment, direct therapy, consultation), (b) participating in different methods of instruction (e.g., supervision, seminars, peer review, readings, direct observation), (c) providing services in different settings (e.g., home, community, outpatient clinic, school), and (d) participating in research activities.

Training Rotations

Interns spend three months in each of four treatment rotations over the course of the year. Interns maintain approximately 15-25 hours of direct patient contact per week. Case assignments to the various clinics and programs are designed to provide broad training experiences in professional psychology. We insure that interns are exposed to the diverse opportunities available through the clinical services, while also allowing them to gain additional experience in their areas of interest and expertise. Typically clinical activities involve a combination of direct care and supervision of behavioral technicians in implementing treatment protocols. In addition to the treatment rotations, interns complete one comprehensive psychoeducational assessment. All clinical rotations are supervised by licensed psychologists and include both clinical and research activities.

Language & Learning Clinic
The Language and Learning Clinic (LLC) provides intervention services to young children (18 months to 8 years) who are diagnosed with autism and other developmental disabilities that lead to a deficit in language development. The program uses verbal learning techniques to help children reach their potential in all areas of communications. Another central goal of the LLC is to develop pre-academic skills needed for a child to participate fully in society. The LLC uses research-based interventions that have documented effective outcomes to provide one-on-one, intensive interventions for both behavioral excesses and deficits, and it trains parents and other caregivers to implement the interventions that have been successful. Thus, program services are not limited to young children and their families, but incorporate transition and consultation services to the client's community as critical components of care.

Severe Behavior Disorders Programs

This program provides a continuum of services for individuals (2-21 years) with developmental disabilities who display severe destructive behavior such as self-injurious behavior (SIB), aggression, property destruction, noncompliance, tantrums and pica. Criteria for evaluation and treatment are that behavior is of such a severity and/or intensity that the individual is a danger to him or herself and is at risk for long term residential placement. Approximately 60% are diagnosed with autism or pervasive developmental disorder. The average age of patients in this program is 10 years. The primary goals of the program are to: (a) serve as a model for the evaluation and treatment of severe destructive behavior displayed by persons with developmental disabilities, (b) foster the development of new therapeutic procedures through systematic research on the nature and management of destructive behaviors, and (c) promote the effective application of currently available treatments through training and consultation.

The Intensive Outpatient Program provides intensive, behavior management services for children with severe destructive behavior. One or two therapists work with each child for approximately 10 to 30 hours per week under the direction of a licensed psychologist. While admitted to this program, patients reside at their homes.

The Severe Behavior Day Treatment Program is a more intensive form of the intensive outpatient program. Children in the Day Treatment Program spend 6 hours, daily (Monday - Friday) in intensive therapy. Children in this program are drawn from community referrals. These children are placed at the Marcus Institute on a temporary basis. The goal for each child is to decrease the occurrence of their problem behavior and discharge the child to their home environment and community school. Once the patient is discharged, continued follow-up services are provided through the Intensive Outpatient Program in the form of community-based services and ongoing case management.

Pediatric Feeding Disorders Program

The Pediatric Feeding Disorders program provides services for children who do not consume enough volume or enough variety to maintain adequate nutrition. The interdisciplinary team consists of a nutritionist, nurse, nurse practitioner, pediatrician, occupational and/or speech therapist, psychologist, and social worker. The Intensive Day Treatment Program provides treatment for children whose feeding problems require daily intensive therapy but who do not need around-the-clock medical supervision. The goals of the program are to increase appropriate and decrease inappropriate mealtime behaviors. Goals also may include increasing volume of food consumed by mouth, increasing texture of food, decreasing dependence on alternative forms of nutrition (e.g., G-tubes), and increasing variety of foods. The program involves intensive feeding sessions in three to five meals per day (2-4 hours of feeding therapy); medical and nutritional monitoring; oral motor therapy; psychosocial family support and caregiver training. The program lasts approximately seven weeks.

Psychoeducational and Clinical Assessment Clinic

This service provides psychoeducational, social skills, and clinical assessments of individuals with a wide range of congenital and acquired neurodevelopmental and neurological disorders. Interns are assigned to this minor rotation as permitted by their 3-month rotation. Evaluations address the learning and social needs of individuals in early childhood through adulthood with particular emphasis on successful transitions from one developmental period to the next. The program is diverse not only in the age of the patients, but in the spectrum of developmental disabilities it serves (e.g., cerebral palsy, spina bifida, mental retardation, learning disabilities, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, and traumatic brain injury). All Predoctoral Interns conduct at least one comprehensive Psycho-Educational assessment during the year. The broad goals of the experience include the following: (a) helping interns know when to make a referral for a comprehensive psychological assessment; (b) applied training in Psycho-Educational assessment, report preparation, and interpretation; and (c) training in screening procedures for neurobehavioral disorders.

Methods of Instruction

Seminars

Interns have the opportunity to attend a variety of research and training seminars. At the research seminar, investigators (including interns) propose new research, provide updates of ongoing studies, or summarize investigations recently completed. Throughout the year, the Program arranges presentations by faculty, staff, interns visiting scholars and staff members from other Marcus Institute disciplines on subjects as diverse as, ethics, manuscript review process, parent training, family therapy, self-injurious behavior, pediatric feeding disorders, behavioral covariation, pediatric psychopharmacology, hyperactivity, neuromuscular disorders, gastrointestinal disorders, autism, acceptability of behavioral treatments, and public relations of applied behavior analysis.

Peer Review

The purpose of the peer review process is to insure that treatment of patients is subjected to review by colleagues. The goals of this review are to (a) insure that patients are treated in an ethical and appropriate manner, (b) serve as a didactic tool by exposing the group to a variety of different assessment and treatment options, and (c) obtain input from the group regarding alternative assessment and treatment options that had not been otherwise considered. Through this peer review process, interns acquire skills pertaining to the selection of ethical clinical procedures, which are of high quality both in terms of methodology and effectiveness, as well as public presentation skills. Meetings typically consist of one or more case presentations. Each case presentation is approximately 10-15 minutes, and includes an overview of the case, review of assessment and treatment procedures, presentation of graphed data, and discussion of relevant conceptual issues. Faculty, interns, and staff may offer constructive criticism and recommend alternative assessment and intervention strategies. In addition, pertinent research articles often are presented and discussed as they relate to the case.

Supervision

At least one licensed psychologist is responsible for providing close supervision of the intern's work with each clinical case. Interns meet daily with a licensed psychologist to review case responsibilities, selection and implementation of measurement and treatment procedures, data interpretation, and treatment planning. In addition, there are opportunities for direct observations with feedback both in vivo and by videotape, as well as co-therapy with faculty members. The program adheres to the APA guidelines of two hours of individual (face to face) and two hours of group supervision per week.

Professional Development

In addition to the breadth of clinical and research experiences available, the internship provides instruction and training focusing specifically on the interns' continued growth and development as a professional. The professional development component of the training program is designed to facilitate the interns' acquisition of employment after the completion of the internship year. The training director also provides the interns with ongoing updates regarding job opportunities. Interns typically are notified via e-mail. The interns have the opportunity to practice a job talk during weekly teaching rounds or in a similar forum. Although delivering a job talk is not mandatory, it is an excellent opportunity to perform a "dry run" of the talk and improve the content and delivery before the actual interview. Finally, the faculty members make themselves available to assist the interns further in acquiring employment by writing letters of reference and contacting colleagues in the field on behalf of the interns. Our commitment to the interns extends beyond the training year, and the professional development component of the program allows us to facilitate the interns' continued success as they begin their careers.

Settings

The Marcus Autism Center functions as an academic program with patient care, research, community outreach, and training as its areas of focus. All interns have the opportunity to provide services in clinic, home, school, and other community settings.

Research

The Program faculty has a widely regarded record of research productivity. Whenever possible, interns are supported fully to participate in ongoing research projects encountered through clinical services. Interns may elect to participate in ongoing studies directed by faculty and/or to initiate independent research compatible with the Center's mission. Basic investigations of behavioral phenomena and innovative approaches to the assessment and treatment of clinical problems are encouraged. Historically, trainees have been active in research activities as evidenced by the number of publications that have included trainees.

The internship site is located in Atlanta, GA. Requirements include current enrollment in a doctoral program in professional psychology and completion of at least three years of study by the start of the appointment. Training brochure available online (see link below) or by surface mail, contact David L. Jaquess, Ph.D. at 404-785-9400.

Additional Resources

Qualifications for applying to the internship program include current enrollment in a doctoral program in professional psychology and completion of at least three years of graduate-level study by the start of the appointment. Because the Internship Program focuses on behavior analysis with children who have developmental disabilities, prospective interns without significant experience in behavior therapy and/or in treating children with disabilities are not encouraged to apply. Applicants to the Program must submit the following (received by November 15):

A complete typed APPIC Application for Psychology Internship, parts 1 and 2.
A copy of one's most recent curriculum vita including the names, mailing addresses, and telephone numbers of three references.
Representative professional papers, book chapters, or articles if applicable (not a copy of one's dissertation or thesis).
Transcripts of all graduate-level coursework.
Letters of recommendations written by three professors or work supervisors forwarded directly to the Marcus Autism Center.

All materials should be forwarded to:

David L. Jaquess, Ph.D., Director of Training
Predoctoral Internship in Psychology
Marcus Autism Center
1920 Briarcliff Road
Atlanta, GA 30329

Interviews

In the past, interns have cited the importance of the interview in their decision to accept our offer. After all application materials have been received and reviewed, interns will be notified of an invitation to interview.

Notification of Application Status
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. Offers of acceptance into the Internship program will be extended via the computer matching service.

Financial Support & Fringe Benefits

The Marcus Autism Center provides financial remuneration to interns. The current stipend for interns is a little over $25,000. In addition, interns typically receive funds to cover at least one professional conference. The Program provides individual health insurance benefits for the intern.

Starting Dates

The Internship program begins on the first Monday in July. Alternate starting dates are not negotiable.

Pre-Doctoral Training in Pediatric Psychology Brochure (Adobe PDF format)

Equal Employment Opportunity (M/F) Affirmative Action Employer.

* For more information regarding the APA accreditation status of the pre-doctoral internship in Professional Psychology, you may contact the
Committee on Accreditation, APA
Education Directorate, 750 First St., N.E.
Washington, DC 20002.
Phone: (202)-336-5979
E-mail:
web site