Division of Psychology - Child, Adolescent and Family Multicultural Externship Program

The Child Psychiatry Outpatient Service of Beth Israel Medical Center offers six, two and a half-day externship positions in Child, Adolescent, and Family starting in September of each year. The following is a brief description of the training opportunities.

  • Supervision on four psychotherapy cases including dynamic, systemic, and integrative orientations; group supervision on a family case with use of one-way mirror and videotape.
  • Individual and group supervision of cases with emphasis on countertransference and transference issues from a multicultural and diversity perspective.
  • Development of clinical skills and therapeutic interventions relevant to working with diversity including factors such as ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, race, and culture.
  • Integration of theory and practice as applied to diversity and multicultural issues in psychotherapy.
  • Family Therapy training from a systemic perspective.
  • Live and videotape case supervision of individual, group, and family psychotherapy.

The requisites include:

  • Six psychological test batteries.
  • A minimum of two and a maximum of 4 child/family therapy cases.
  • Two weekly child and family intake assessments.
  • Participation in a two-semester didactic seminar taught by supervising faculty which introduces different therapy modalities, addresses issues of child and adolescent development, exposes externs to clinical theory and technique in child and family therapy.
  • Participation in a two-semester didactic seminar in which multicultural issues in treatment such as race, gender, intergenerational patterns, dynamics of the ethnically different (or similar) therapeutic dyad, and the therapist role are discussed and processed.
  • Participation and presentations in bi-weekly interdisciplinary case conferences.
  • Options are available to attend the Department of Psychiatry Grand Rounds.

This externship emphasizes didactic as well as clinical experiences. The didactics take place all day Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Clinical and supervision hours are scheduled according to the availability of students, patients and supervisors. The externship is most appropriate for those students at a relatively advanced stage of their clinical training (e.g. third year students). As our population is a challenging one, we prefer applicants who have already had some clinical experience. Candidates of diverse ethnicity and Spanish speaking are especially encouraged to apply.

To apply send your curriculum vitae, a cover letter stating current interests and professional goals, two letters of recommendation, preferably from people who are familiar with your clinical work, and a psychological test report.

Applications received by January 15, 2008 will be given preference for interviews to begin the second week of February 2008. Mail materials to:

Mabel E. Quiñones, Ph.D.
Psychologist-in-Charge of Multicultural Child and Family Training
Beth Israel Medical Center, POSC
2 Bernstein Pavillion
First Avenue at 16th Street
New York, N.Y. 10003