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Adult Psychotherapy Track

Adult Psychotherapy – Intern Track Description 2022-2023

This track focuses on the delivery of psychotherapy to healthcare workers within the UNC Health system. Interns in this track will spend roughly half of their time offering psychological assessment, individual psychotherapy, and group therapy in the Taking Care of Our Own Program (TCOO) at UNC, which offers mental health services to healthcare workers at UNC Health The TCOO Program has expanded as the pandemic has persisted and is borne out of the institution’s commitment to supporting the emotional health and well-being of health care workers who are supporting our patients. Research consistently highlights the rising rates of stress, burnout, and mood and anxiety symptoms among health care workers, and this has implications for the workers, their families, and patients. Therefore, our program is designed to meet this growing need for psychosocial interventions integrated into the workplace.

Interns in this track will receive comprehensive training in a range of therapeutic modalities to meet the needs of this diverse population whose presentations range from work-related stress to acute psychopathology. As a result, interns will participate in year-long training and ongoing supervision for evidence-based brief and long-term interventions (e.g., Behavioral Activation, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) and group therapy interventions with the option of pursuing further training through additional electives within the internship (e.g., Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Cognitive Processing Therapy, and Prolonged Exposure). Interns will also be encouraged to spend time in the Perinatal Psychiatry Inpatient Unit rotation to help them cultivate brief intervention skills for more acute psychopathology. In their other rotations, interns will see non-health care worker patients, though they will cultivate tools and frameworks that can be applied in their primary rotations.

 

Clinical Rotations and Patients:

  • Behavioral Activation Program (Crystal Schiller, PhD; Matthew Cohen, PhD)

The Behavioral Activation (BA) program is a federally funded, multi-site clinical trial that provides manualized behavioral activation therapy on an outpatient basis to pregnant and postpartum women with depression and anxiety. Interns will be trained in the manualized approach and receive weekly supervision from Dr. Schiller and/or Dr. Cohen. Interns will engage in both in-person and virtual clinical care.

  • Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (Matthew Cohen, PhD; Mary Hill, PhD)

The Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) clinic consists of a weekly ACT didactic seminar and outpatient clinical care. Interns will conduct clinical assessments with new patients, interpret results, and write an evaluative report. For patients appropriate for ACT treatment, interns will engage in at least 6 weekly sessions with patients, followed by ongoing intervention, as needed.

Recommended Minor Rotations:

  • Perinatal Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Program
  • Posttraumatic and Acute Trauma Treatment
  • Perinatal Psychiatry Inpatient Unit

 

Didactics:

General didactics are offered once weekly for one hour and are tailored to the training needs of interns on the service.

Didactics will aim to enhance trainee knowledge of oppression and marginalization issues as they relate to our patients and our clinical practice. Interns will be instructed in the use of the ADDRESSING Model to understand cultural influences as a multidimensional combination of age, developmental and acquired disabilities, religion, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, indigenous heritage, national origin, and gender. Interns will receive training to apply the ADDRESSING Model to clinical assessment using the DSM-5 Cultural Formulation Interview. Interns will be training to use the DSM-5 Cultural Formulation Interview to support case conceptualization and clinical interventions.

Didactics may also include instruction on health care worker well-being tools. the evidence-based modalities employed on the service, including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Behavioral Activation Therapy, Exposure Therapies, and mindfulness-based approaches, depending on fit and interest.

 

Professional Development:

Interns will receive extensive training in both evidence-based clinical assessment and treatment for mood and anxiety disorders.

 

Research Opportunities:

Interns will have the opportunity to explore data collected as part of the TCOO and Wellbeing program to generate original research projects. Additionally, interns may assist with developing new programming and test its implementation and effectiveness.

 

Supervision Training and Opportunities:

Interns will have opportunities to supervise post-bac clinical interviewers and graduate-level clinical psychology practicum students, and to provide education and training to medical students and psychiatry residents. Interns will be trained and supervised by core faculty to identify the training goals of the supervisees and design a training experience tailored to supervisees’ needs and goals.

 

Track Coordinator:

Matthew Cohen, PhD

 

Clinical Supervisors:

Matthew Cohen, PhD

Mary Hill, PhD

Crystal Schiller, PhD

Susannah Matthews, LCSW