Internship and Postdoctoral Fellowship
Clinical psychology interns and postdoctoral fellows at Northwestern receive training in an environment which is multidisciplinary, scholarly, and conceptually pluralistic. Trainees work closely with physicians, nurses, occupational therapists, and social workers throughout the year. An emphasis is placed on evidence-based clinical practices, and on understanding the ways in which empirical research and clinical practice mutually inform one another. Interns receive advanced training in psychodynamic and cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy. They may also elect to receive specialized training in behavioral activation, cognitive-behavioral therapy for bipolar disorder, cognitive-behavioral therapy for psychosis, dialectical behavior therapy, and integrated dual diagnosis treatment. Clinical training is provided through individual and group supervision, complemented by an extensive curriculum of case conferences and seminars. Our goal is to prepare trainees for careers in academic clinical psychology in university or medical center settings.
The internship, the first year of the two-year program, offers advanced graduate students in clinical psychology a range of experiences upon which to build their theoretical and applied clinical skills. These include opportunities to work with patients experiencing a broad spectrum of psychopathology, including affective disorders, anxiety, personality disorders, and psychotic conditions. Interns conduct diagnostic evaluations, psychological assessment, and receive advanced training in individual and group psychotherapy.
The postdoctoral fellowship, the second year of the two-year program, is designed to build on the foundation of general skills developed in the internship year. The fellowship year focuses on areas of specialization selected by the student. Fellows may acquire the supervised postdoctoral training necessary for licensing eligibility as well as research skills needed for work as a clinical researcher.
Selection Process
We accept graduate students who are enrolled in American or Canadian clinical or counseling psychology programs. A strong preference is given to applicants from APA-accredited training programs in clinical psychology founded upon a Scientist-Practitioner or Clinical Scientist model. Applicants must have been admitted to candidacy for a doctoral degree. We expect applicants to have taken graduate-level courses in personality theory, psychopathology, psychotherapy, psychological testing, and professional ethics and to have completed practica in psychotherapy and psychological testing. Minority applicants and individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply. Students admitted to the program must have defended their dissertation or be near enough to completion that the dissertation defense can be reasonably anticipated during the internship year. Three students are accepted each year.
Selection of interns is overseen by the Internship and Fellowship Training Committee. All applications are screened by the Director of Training. Those that do not meet admission requirements are removed from further consideration. All remaining applicants are independently rated by at least two faculty on the Internship and Fellowship Training Committee, including the Chief Psychologist and Director of Training. Education, clinical training, research, competency, and fit with the program are considered. Approximately 24 to 32 will be invited for an interview. Applicants are invited for a day-long set of meetings. They are provided with an overview of the Program, interviewed by faculty, offered an open forum with current interns and fellows, and given the opportunity at the end of the day to ask questions. Interviews are conducted by the Chief Psychologist, Director of Training, and at least three other training faculty. Applicants are independently rated on a number of foundational and functional competencies: professionalism, reflective practice, scientific knowledge, individual and cultural diversity, interdisciplinary systems, assessment, intervention, and research/evaluation. Applicants are also assessed for the fit between their stated internship needs and career aims with the goals, objectives, training plan, and resources of the program. The Internship and Fellowship Training Committee meets and generates a final ranking by consensus.
Application Procedure
Our program participates in the national match, and uses the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC) standard application form. We strongly support the goals of APPIC and endorse their guidelines. Northwestern University agrees to abide by the APPIC policy that no person at the Feinberg School of Medicine will solicit, accept, or use any ranking-related information from any intern applicant before the day of uniform notification.
National Matching Services, Inc conducts the matching program for internship programs that are members of APPIC. All applicants to our program must obtain a Request for Applicant Agreement Package from National Matching Services, Inc. and register for the match. You may download an Applicant Agreement from their website at: www.natmatch.com/psychint or request that an agreement be mailed to you from their main office: National Matching Services, 20 Holly Street, Suite 301, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4S 3B1. The match code number for the Northwestern Memorial Hospital/Northwestern University School of Medicine program is 126211. Also available from the National Matching Services Web site are the rules for participation in the matching program for internships, a schedule, and a description of the matching process. We encourage all applicants to become familiar with the rules and procedures of the matching program.
Our application deadline is November 1st. Invitations for interview are made no later than December 15th. Interviews will be held during early January.