The Vanderbilt University (VU)-Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Clinical Psychology Training Program has been a cooperative effort between the VU Department of Psychiatry and the VA to offer doctoral internship training in clinical psychology. The Internship has been a consortium consisting of the following Agencies::
- VUMC Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences: Adult Psychology
- VUMC Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences: Child Psychology
- VUMC Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences: Psychological and Counseling Center
- Alvin C. York and Nashville campuses of the VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System (TVHS).
The Consortium is in transition and as of July 1, 2018 the VUMC and VA sites will operate as independent sites and both be accredited contingent on site visits in the fall of 2018. For questions about the transition, you may contact the VUMC Director, Blythe Corbett, Ph.D. at (615) 936-0280 or VA Director, Erin Patel, Psy.D. at (615) 873-6827.
For candidates interested in the VUMC Internship in Professional Psychology (VUMC-IPP) please visit https://www.vumc.org/psychiatry/vumc-internship-professional-psychology.
For candidates interested in the VA-TVHS please visit (https://www.tennesseevalley.va.gov/careers/PsychologyTraining.asp).
All of the consortium organizations are located in a large university medical center in Nashville, with the exception of the Alvin C. York campus which is located about 37 miles away in Murfreesboro. The VU-VA Clinical Psychology Training Program is a member of the Internship and Postdoctoral Programs in Professional Psychology (AAPIC) and has been continuously approved by the American Psychological Association (APA) since 1971. An APA site visit was completed in 2013 and the Consortium was approved for the maximum 7 years.
The number of different agencies and their different missions allows the Consortium to offer a wide variety of clinical training opportunities. Applicants apply to work at each agency separately (i.e. primary placement) and each interns’ experience is determined by his/her selection of a primary and secondary placement. The consortium is structured to provide an in-depth, immersive experience at one agency which should be congruent with the intern’s primary interest area (e.g. university counseling center, academic medical center, VA). The Consortium also provides a substantive training experience in a secondary placement, which allows for the pursuit of special interests or the strengthening of areas of weakness in the intern’s past training experience. The structure of the internship is described in detail here. The sites and rotations available at each agency are described in more detail in the “Agencies and Rotations” section.
The training program is conceptually grounded in the scientist-practitioner model of the profession. All of the Consortium agencies share the recognition that the primary focus of the internship year is on the acquisition of clinical experience in a well-supervised environment conducive to learning and professional development. Training in clinical techniques across the Consortium is presented in relation to the framework of science that underpins clinical practice. The internship is located in an academic/medical center setting which offers the opportunity for involvement in research and interns are strongly encouraged to avail themselves of these opportunities.
Each agency is administratively independent and represented on the Training Committee which, under the leadership of the Director of Training, is the coordinating body of the Consortium’s program’s polices and goals. The administrative structure and governance of the training program are described in detail in the “Administrative Structure” section. The Consortium’s By-laws are available in the “Downloads” section.
Internship Admissions, Support, and Initial Placement Data
