Pre-Doctoral Psychology Externship in University Mental Health at Fordham University

Fordham University’s Counseling and Psychological Services (CPS) seeks to promote the overall personal, social, and academic development of the student body through a variety of specialized professional services. It functions within the Division of Student Affairs in concert with other departments united in promoting student development and wellness. CPS’s approach to mental health care is in line with cura personalis, where a holistic approach to the emotional, physical, academic, social and spiritual functioning of each student is applied. CPS is also committed to the provision of culturally-sensitive counseling and outreach services, and to the training of mental health practitioners who seek to develop their multicultural competencies in a college setting. CPS staff is comprised of full and part time-psychologists, psychiatric consultants, a post-doctoral psychology fellow, pre-doctoral psychology interns and externs, psychiatric residents, and administrative support staff.  CPS has offices on both the Rose Hill campus in the Bronx and the Lincoln Center campus in Manhattan. The large, urban university environment offers an appealing combination of challenging and varied clinical work in a supportive professional setting.  

CPS offers a nine-month pre-doctoral externship at both our Rose Hill and Lincoln Center offices that commences in August, 2013.  The externship provides a comprehensive training experience in university mental health with an emphasis on clinical assessment, short and long term individual therapy, group therapy, and outreach to a diverse undergraduate and graduate population of approximately 15,000 students. The externship requires a commitment of 16-18 hours per week commensurate with clinical experience. Externs are expected to maintain an active caseload of 6-8 individual psychotherapy clients and will have the opportunity to co-lead a psychotherapy group. They will also be expected to participate in at least two outreach workshops/presentations per semester, and may be responsible for research, assessment and/or analysis of CPS clinical data.

Externs will receive 1 hour of weekly individual supervision with a staff psychologist, and will be provided with additional supervision for co-leading groups and developing/implementing outreach activities. The externship also includes a weekly four-hour formal training component that consists of a case conference, a case formulation/disposition meeting, a seminar on psychotherapy theory and process, and a staff meeting.Externs will receive an additional hour of individual supervision with a pre-doctoral intern during the spring semester.

We accept doctoral students from APA-accredited programs in clinical, school, and counseling psychology. Preference will be given to students with at least one year of clinical experience and/or who have worked previously in a college setting.  Completed applications, which include a cover letter, curriculum vitae, transcript (unofficial is fine), and two letters of recommendation, should be emailed to the email addresses below. If it is not possible to email recommendation letters, please send paper copies to the postal address below.

If you are interested in an externship at only the Rose Hill campus, OR if you are open to either the Lincoln Center or Rose Hill campus, please send your application materials to:

Rachel Nilsen, Ph.D.

Counseling and Psychological Services

Fordham University

441 East Fordham Road

O'Hare Hall Basement

Bronx, NY 10458

rnilsen@fordham.edu

If you are only interested in an externship at the Lincoln Center campus, please send your application materials to:

Jessica del Vita, Psy.D.
Counseling and Psycholocgical Services
Fordham University
155 West 60 Street
McMahon Hall
New York, NY 10023
jdelvita@fordham.edu

Applications for 2013-14 wll be received beginning in January, 2013, in compliance with the New York State Psychological Association guidelines. For more information on the NYSPA guidelines, please go to http://nyspa.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=845&Itemid=711.  Questions about the externship should be directed to either Dr. del Vita (212 636 6225) or Dr. Nilsen (718 817 3725).