In addition to their core rotation, each Psychology Resident spends one day per week within a secondary rotation. Like the core rotations, the secondary rotations have been positioned strategically by the Training Committee. Consonant with the core rotations, the secondary rotations have sufficient variability within the treatment population to allow for adequate experiential exposure toward meeting internship goals. These placements are mostly at Rutgers UBHC. However, given our collaboration with Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, there are also opportunities to work with licensed psychologists who are Rutgers RWJMS faculty on clinically-based research projects and on service units affiliated with Rutgers RWJMS. As is the case with the major rotations, intern participation is typically limited to one Psychology Resident per minor rotation. Below is a list of currently available secondary rotations, including a description of each. Please note that availability is subject to change, in particular, in response to unforeseen COVID-19 policies.
Acute Psychiatric Services.
This emergency service department provides crisis assessment and intervention, both on site and through outreach programs. It services all ages. These services are provided to an average of 325 patients per month from the surrounding urban and suburban community. Activities include crisis assessment of patients and families, interdisciplinary consultation, case disposition, and referral to varying levels of care.
Edison School-Based Program.
This program is a unique collaboration between Rutgers UBHC and the Edison School District, a large, suburban, culturally diverse school district in central New Jersey. The program is funded through the school district, which allows for the students to receive mental health services within the school at no cost to them. This allows individuals who would otherwise not seek services to receive quality mental health therapy and psychiatry. This opportunity allows the Psychology Resident to see students in the setting where they spend the majority of their day and provides them access to a number of individuals that play a significant role in the child’s life - teachers, counselors, and child study team. This position is not a typical school counseling internship in that the Psychology Resident is not on the child study team. It is a highly clinical role where the Psychology Resident will work with the most at-risk students within the school, providing individual, group, and family counseling, as well as participating in crisis assessments for individuals presenting as suicidal, homicidal or actively psychotic. The program is located approximately 5 miles from the main Rutgers campus. Dr. Suzi Millar is the primary clinical supervisor for this rotation.
Employee Wellness Program.
Services are provided to clients from companies, organizations, and municipalities with whom UBHC has contracted to provide services. Clients span the age range from early childhood through later adulthood and represent the cultural diversity of the surrounding area. Services provided by the Psychology Resident include evaluation and treatment planning, individual brief therapy, family therapy, and referral for longer term treatment when indicated. The Psychology Resident functions as part of, and consults with, a multidisciplinary team. The Psychology Resident also has the opportunity to be involved in trainings provided to organizations which have contracted services with the Employee Wellness (previously called Employee Assistance Program (EAP) unit. This track is located in Piscataway, a few miles from the main Rutgers campus.
Integrated Pediatric Primary Care.
This minor rotation is in the Department of Pediatrics, with locations at Pediatrics in Somerset, and the Child Health Institute of New Jersey (CHI) in New Brunswick. As part of a multidisciplinary team of healthcare providers, the Psychology Resident will provide brief assessments and interventions for patients who have behavioral health needs in primary care medical settings. The range of consults will include care for depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, substance use, diabetes management, and lifestyle management around nutrition and physical exercise. Dr. Holly Lister is the clinical supervisor for this rotation.
Family Medicine.
This minor track is located in a medical clinic in New Brunswick in affiliation with RWJMS. Adolescent and adult medical patients who are deemed by medical personnel to be at potential psychological risk are referred to a psychologist/Psychology Resident/student team. Services provided by the Psychology Resident include evaluation and treatment planning; crisis screening; individual, and family therapy. The Psychology Resident consults with medical staff as well as psychology graduate students.
Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ) - Bright IDEAS-Young Adults, a problem-solving skills training intervention (NCI funded research study). Principal Investigator / Clinical supervisor: Katie Devine, Ph.D.
Psychology Resident would be trained in the “Bright IDEAS” problem-solving skills training and serving as a trainer for young adults recently diagnosed with cancer. Rutgers Cancer Institute is leading a 3-site randomized trial evaluating the efficacy of Bright IDEAS in reducing distress and improving quality of life for young adults ages 18-39. Bright IDEAS is an evidence-based manualized 6-session intervention that has been adapted for this population. Training can be conducted in about 3-4 hours, with some additional time required for practice and role-play prior to taking on a case. Cases are scheduled on an individual basis by the trainer and patient – must be flexible to find a time convenient for both (often outside of typical working hours, like evening or weekend). Sessions are typically 45 minutes long and scheduled weekly or biweekly for a total of 6 sessions. All sessions are conducted remotely (via doxy.me or Rutgers Zoom).
Tobacco Research and Intervention Lab.
Rutgers RWJMS Department of Psychiatry faculty member Marc Steinberg, Ph.D. is the director of the
Tobacco Research and Intervention (TRI) Lab. The TRI lab focuses on tobacco use and dependence, including tobacco dependence treatment development, tobacco use in smokers with psychiatric comorbidity, the relationship between smoking and task persistence/distress tolerance, and motivational interviewing as an approach to encourage smokers to make a quit attempt. We have used human laboratory designs to study predictors of initiation of quit attempts (i.e., task persistence / distress tolerance) and clinical trials to develop treatments to encourage and facilitate quit attempts (i.e., variations of cognitive behavioral therapy, motivational interviewing, and reduction-to-quit strategies). A minor rotation in the TRI lab is dependent upon funding for a clinical trial grant application submitted to the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Steinberg will serve as a research mentor to a Psychology Resident interested in doing their required research on issues related to tobacco or cannabis use disorder regardless of grant funding.
Children’s Specialized Hospital.
In affiliation with Rutgers RWJMS, this minor rotation offers Psychology Residents an opportunity to work in an inpatient rehabilitation pediatric hospital for patients in need of intensive and comprehensive therapy as a result of brain injury, chronic illness, spinal cord injury, prematurity of infancy, and chronic pain syndromes. In addition to individual therapy, Psychology Residents are able to facilitate groups, conduct psychological testing, work with family members, and consult with other disciplines.
Consultation / Liaison (C/L).
A Psychology Resident will have the opportunity to work on the C/L service in Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick working on a multidisciplinary treatment team.
Children's Center for Resilience and Trauma Recovery.
The Rutgers Children’s Center for Resilience and Trauma Recovery (CCRTR) is a SAMHSA-funded Category III Trauma Services Training Center. A Psychology Resident on this rotation is provided with training in evidence-informed approaches to trauma, including Attachment, Self-Regulation, and Competency (ARC), ARC Grow- A Caregiver Skill Building Intervention, and Youth Mental Health First Aid. In addition, the Psychology Resident has opportunities to provide education and consultation and to assist in ongoing trainings. Psychology Residents also develop important science communication skills by writing a monthly article for the CCRTR website and posting to the CCRTR social media accounts. Additional information may be found on their website at:
https://rukidsrresilient.org/program/
Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Treatment.
The SUD Treatment minor rotation will offer Psychology Residents the opportunity for training and service delivery in behavioral addictions and SUD, including OUD treatment. Rotation locations include:
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Adult SUD Treatment at New Brunswick Outpatient at Rutgers Health Specialized Addiction Treatment Services (SATS). SATS provides interdisciplinary treatment for people with SUD, in addition to an Acute Withdrawal Management (AWM) program for people who have OUD, which specifically offers buprenorphine induction. SATS also offers intensive outpatient programming (IOP) and a separate IOP at the Middlesex County jail. Interns would work alongside other psychology students and interns, RNs and APNs, MD/DOs, and social workers.
- Rutgers New Jersey Medical School (NJMS) Addiction Medicine Clinic. NJMS operates a large clinic that offers buprenorphine services to underserved Newark residents who have OUD. Interns will have the unique opportunity to train alongside medical residents, nurses, APNs, and social workers in the evaluation and treatment of patients who have OUD, other SUD, and behavioral addictions.
- RWJBarnabas Behavioral Health (RWJBBH). RWJBBH offers a full continuum of behavioral health services, SUD treatment, and comprehensive medical care, including inpatient and outpatient SUD programming for children/adolescents, adults, and older adults. Here, interns will train alongside APNs, MDs, social workers and medical and social work students.
- Rutgers Health Addictions Center (RHAC). Located 20-minutes from New Brunswick, research and training in evidence-based practice is a central part of this center’s mission. The Center has several SUD treatment components and levels of care including inpatient, inpatient withdrawal management, partial hospitalization, outpatient/intensive outpatient, and medication treatment services including for OUD.
Updated 7/14/2022