The Wyoming State Hospital Pre-Doctoral Internship program is accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA) and is a member of the Association of Pre-doctoral and Post-doctoral Internship Centers (APPIC). Committed to training generalist practitioners, the WSH internship encourages trainees to acquire and consolidate scholarly and scientific knowledge while focusing training on working with adults with severe mental illness. Our interns further refine and develop their clinical skills through working from multiple treatment modalities and varied client populations within an inpatient setting.

Internship training at WSH is based on the scholar-practitioner model, built upon the assumption that excellent psychological services are based upon the best available science of psychology and are consistent with current and evolving professional and ethical standards of care. All WSH psychologists are expected to be aware of the current scientific literature in their areas of expertise, to discuss and apply that knowledge with interns both in supervision and didactic seminars, and to model ongoing professional development.

Internship training progresses based on a developmental model. At the beginning of the year, supervisors and interns determine each trainee’s strengths and training needs and develop training goals based upon these and our six core competencies, which are discussed below. At the beginning of the internship year, interns shadow their supervisors, co-facilitate groups with supervisors and as the year progresses, they facilitate groups independently and take more responsibility for very challenging treatment and assessment cases. Interns gain experience and expertise and work more independently as the year progresses, with the goal of preparing interns to function as entry-level practitioners in a variety of settings.

Letter from the WSH Psychology Training Director (click here)

Complete Program Information

• Program Information
• General Information
• Application Information
• Training Experiences
• Seminars & Resources
• Contact Information
• Community
• Psychology Department Staff & Consultation Members

PROGRAM INFORMATION

Program Overview:
The Wyoming State Hospital (WSH) offers two one-year, full-time pre-doctoral internship training positions in professional psychology. The program is committed to providing interns with opportunities to achieve increasing autonomy and clinical responsibility appropriate with their education, training, and professional competence. Our goal is to assist interns in becoming well-rounded entry level professionals, prepared to function as psychologists in a variety of settings and with persons presenting a wide range of diagnoses. Interns at WSH have opportunities to work with individuals diagnosed with a broad range of emotional, behavioral, and thought disturbances, particularly severe and persistent mental illness. Through primary and secondary rotation experiences, interns receive both depth and breadth of training in order to achieve our training goals of producing well-rounded professionals with the breadth of experience necessary for rural practice and depth of experience with adults with SPMI.

Interns spend about 20 hours per week in direct patient care activities, usually dividing this time about equally between assessment and treatment (individual and group). Interns primary experience involves working with severely mentally ill individuals with complex problems, including major mental illness often co-occurring with substance abuse or dependence, personality disorders, medical problems, and/or intellectual or developmental disabilities. Interns also have the opportunity to work with geriatric and forensic patients.

We believe that excellent psychological services come from empirically-based methods modified based on family, individual, and cultural preferences. We value a diverse staff, with regard to both professional and personal backgrounds, as it enriches our department and in turn, our contribution to patient care.

Primary Rotation Experiences (Overview):
Primary Rotations are full-year training experiences.

• Adult Acute Inpatient Care — 2 positions

 

Program Philosophy, Training Model and Core Competencies:
The philosophy of the Internship Training Program flows from the mission and vision of the Wyoming State Hospital. That mission and vision are centered on improving the lives of persons served by WSH and promoting a sense of empowerment and inclusion for persons with mental illness. Consistent with that mission and vision, the department and the training program are dedicated to excellent service delivery, high quality intern training to enable delivery of such services, and assistance to treatment teams in delivering services. Briefly stated, the Internship Training Program operates within a practitioner-scholar model of training. Supervisors are concerned primarily with training interns to function as independently practicing clinicians in a wide variety of settings including inpatient, outpatient, residential or private practice settings. The training experiences are built upon the idea of understanding intern's strengths and training needs, then building proficiency in a set of “core competency” areas that are central to ethical and effective practice in a variety of settings. These core areas include proficiency in:

• Individual therapy
• Group psychotherapy
• Diagnosis and assessment (administration, scoring, interpretation, and report writing)
• Functioning in a multi-disciplinary environment
• Professionalism (ethical practice, development of one's personal identity as a professional)
• Understanding of individual differences and diversity issues.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Start & End Dates:
The internship year begins on July 29, 2013 and ends the last Friday in July 2014. This is a full-time internship (52 weeks, 2000 hours).

Selection Process:
The WSH Psychology Internship adheres to the selection policies and procedures outlined in the APPIC Guidelines. A full listing of APPIC Match Policies is available at www.appic.org.

Interns are selected based on their goodness of fit with their rotation interests. Interns who have coursework, practicum experience, and interest in the populations served by WSH are considered good matches for our program. We also consider writing skills, and thus require a work sample as part of the application process. We prefer interns have completed their comprehensive exams and have proposed their dissertations prior to the beginning of the internship. We seek interns who are responsible, eager to learn, and self-motivated. As we work in a multidisciplinary team setting, we prefer interns who work well with others and respect the contributions of all disciplines to client care. As noted above, we value diversity among our staff and interns. Individuals from diverse personal backgrounds are encouraged to apply.

Stipend & Benefits:
The WSH offers a one-year, full-time predoctoral internship with a stipend of $20,425.60 (see also Cost of Living information on the Community page). The cost of living is relatively low in Evanston, making this a living (though thrifty) wage. Health and dental benefits are also available, with additional information provided upon request.

Offices, Workspace & Computer Access:
Interns have office space near their primary supervisor’s office, and a private office with a personal computer within the Psychological Services area. Interns also have a desk in one of the treatment team rooms on the Adult Acute Inpatient Unit.

Summary of Training Hours:
The amount of time per week in experiential and scholarly learning can vary each week depending on training interests and needs. WSH interns can expect that their clinical and training responsibilities will be approximately 40 to 50 hours per week. These time estimates account for clinical service, supervision, seminars and didactic experiences, as well as administration, scoring, and writing psychological assessments, progress notes, etc. Typically, interns complete 10-12 psychological assessment batteries and 15-20 psychological intakes during their internship year. Each week, interns provide about 4 hours of group therapy and at least 6 hours of individual therapy.

Interns spend 2 hours per week in individual supervision with their primary supervisors, and 2 hours per week group supervision. Interns have the opportunity to work alongside their supervisors on treatment units and in group therapy. Supervisors are readily available for informal consultation. The approach to supervision is developmental and aimed at assisting the intern in developing clinical skills, their own theoretical orientation, and sense of identity as a professional psychologist.

Guidelines Regarding Outside Professional Activities:
As a Psychology Intern at WSH, your training experiences and responsibilities are to be the highest priority. Given the priority of training, the training director determines whether its training needs are compatible with outside activities. The Training Director must approve any outside employment during internship.

APPLICATION INFORMATION

Information Applicable to: Class of 2013-2014

Applications:
WSH accepts applications beginning in September 2011 for the internship year 2012-2013. Applicants must submit their application materials online. We require the AAPI, vita, graduate transcripts, 3 letters of recommendation, and a de-identified psychological report to be submitted.

Receiving Materials:
Application materials are to be submitted no later than November 30, 2012.

Reviewing Materials:
Completed applications are reviewed on an ongoing basis, beginning in October of the application year.

Application Requirements:

• Enrollment in APA-approved program
• 400 hours direct client contact (assessment and intervention hours), minimum of 300 hours with adults
• Experience (assessment or intervention) with at least 20 individuals with SPMI
• Assessment experience: at least 4 WAIS-III or IV administrations; at least 6 MMPI-2 and/or PAI
• Interest in populations served at WSH
• Completed comprehensive exams by application deadline
• Strongly preferred: applicants who have defended their dissertation proposals by the time of application
• If matched with WSH, applicant must pass a criminal background check to be eligible for state employment during internship

Interview Invitations:
Invitations for interview are offered on or before December 15.

Interviews: (telephone, in-person)
The WSH offers either in-person or teleconference interviews. Interviews are held in January and are completed one to two weeks before the deadline for submitting ranking information to the Match. In-person interviews are held during open house days and include orientation to the facility, individual interviews with staff, hospital tour, lunch with current interns and informal question and answer periods. Interviews follow a standardized set of questions regarding the applicant’s interest in the position, experience, and goals for internship.

Persons selecting a telephone interview have the opportunity to speak with the interns. Email addresses of staff are also listed under the Staff section.

Please note that inclement weather is always a possibility during the winter months of Wyoming. While we make every effort to proceed with interviews as planned, there may be occasions in which this becomes impossible or during which applicants are unable to maintain travel arrangements. In the event of bad weather or difficulty maintaining travel arrangements, you may call the Psychology Office (307-789-3464, ext. 675) to make alternate plans (e.g., schedule a telephone interview) and/or reschedule your interview.

APPIC Policies and Information:
Submit application materials to WSH online. The current edition of the APPIC Application for Psychology Internship (AAPI) and APPIC Match Policies can be accessed at the APPIC Web site (www.appic.org). The Wyoming State Hospital Internship in Psychology is an APA Approved Internship program and member of APPIC. The APPIC Match Policies are available at http://www.appic.org. WSH participates in the National Matching Services program for intern matching.

APPIC Internship Matching Information:

Program Code #	Program Description	# of Positions
164216	Adult Acute Inpatient Care.	2

(for more detailed Primary Rotation Assignment information, click the rotation title)