Aurora Wellness Integrated Behavioral Health and Assessment

Within this model, clinical psychology interns serve as behavioral health providers (BHPs) who function as consultants to primary care providers (PCPs) and patients by providing brief consultations with interdisciplinary team members, shared medical appointments with PCPs, patient warm handoffs, psychological assessment and screening, and targeted episodes of psychotherapy. There will also be opportunities to engage in other clinic activities such as implementing quality improvement and research initiatives and running behavioral health groups, depending on clinic needs. Interns will have the opportunity to supervise psychology practicum students and participate in supervision of supervision curriculum to support enhancing their supervision skills. 

The overarching goal of the primary care psychology major rotation is to train psychologists to provide a full range of clinical primary care psychology services as key members of interdisciplinary healthcare teams.

At the completion of this rotation, trainees will be able to:

1. Rapidly conduct assessments of a patient’s presenting problems to identify short- and long-term goals that align with patients’ values and PCP’s referral requests.
2. Provide appropriate levels of care to all patients ranging from one-time consultations to targeted episodes of psychotherapy/behavioral health interventions to coordinating outpatient mental health care.
3. Provide targeted therapy services inclusive of trauma-informed care and Whole Person Pain initiatives.
4. Conduct psychological testing and diagnostic clarification, using a variety of testing measures (e.g., Wechsler measures, PAI, diagnostic interviews, RBANS, D-KEFs, etc.)
5. Write integrated psychological reports and provide feedback to patients within a primary care setting.
6. Function as key members of interdisciplinary teams inclusive of physicians, physician assistants, psychologists, care managers, pharmacists, and social work consultants.
7. Be familiar with the varied roles that psychologists can have in medical teams and participate with team members in a myriad of ways to improve care for patients and populations.
   

Behavioral Health Clinic - Interns will see a mix of new and follow-up patients each week. Both in person and telehealth services are provided. After an initial training/observation period, interns will be responsible for conducting the initial consultation, developing an appropriate treatment plan in collaboration with the patient, and coordinating care inside and outside of the clinic. Differential diagnoses and treatment recommendations will be determined together with the supervisor (who will be present during the clinic).

Interns who choose to engage in psychological/cognitive assessment will be responsible, following training, for conducting diagnostic interviews, choosing an assessment battery, conducting testing, writing integrated reports, and providing feedback to patients. Interns will have supervisor support throughout this process in order to hone efficient and thorough diagnostic assessment and feedback skills.

Evidence based approaches to treatment are used with an emphasis on Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Behavioral Activation, Motivational Interviewing, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Initial consultations emphasize a case conceptualization that highlights the relationships between a patient’s life context, experience, and symptoms/behavior. Subsequent visits include evidence-based interventions based on collaborative decision-making between patients, trainees, and the clinical supervisor.

Our clinics serve patients from diverse cultural backgrounds across the lifespan. Patients most commonly present with depression, anxiety, trauma, adjustment disorder, parenting difficulties, substance use, insomnia, weight loss, and management of chronic pain and other chronic diseases. Additionally, many patients are seeking ADHD evaluations, as well as evaluation for learning disorder or cognitive impairments.

Interns receive regular supervision as stipulated by APA guidelines and the internship program. This includes both formal one-on-one supervision as well as live supervision via the precepting model. The precepting model is a framework for live clinical supervision in which experienced attending psychologists guide and teach interns through a structured framework of patient care and feedback. The attending psychologist provides live supervision during a portion of the intern’s appointment with each patient and is thereby able to provide effective, timely, and focused instruction enhancing the intern’s critical thinking, clinical skills, and overall learning experience.