For more information, please visit the PEACS Education & Training page.

Externs will be asked to commit to a 12-month placement beginning in July or August 2024. Schedules will consist of 16 hours per week.

UCHealth offers a psychology externship training program in the PROMISE Clinic in the Department of Ob/Gyn. The PROMISE Clinic supports pregnant and postpartum women who are patients of UCH’s five obstetric and midwifery practices and are currently experiencing mental health symptoms. Combined, the obstetric and midwifery practices deliver approximately 3,000 babies annually and it is estimated that 10%-20% of these mothers have mental health symptoms. Patients are referred by their provider due to a wide range of medical and mental health diagnoses such as gestational diabetes, hyperemesis gravidarum, miscarriage/fetal loss, preterm labor/delivery, adjustment to pregnancy, mood disorders, anxiety, OCD, and PTSD. Patients are also identified for integrated behavioral health consultation by the PROMISE team based on a variety of risk factors (adolescent pregnancy, history of fetal loss, mental health history, high risk pregnancy, psychosocial stressors). PROMISE offers integrated behavioral health services, co-located psychotherapy and psychiatry, and pregnancy and postpartum support groups. PROMISE utilizes a multidisciplinary approach and is staffed by providers from psychology, psychiatry, obstetrics, midwifery, and nursing.

Unique qualifications: Psychology doctoral students who are in their 3^rd or 4^th year of training who have completed coursework in adult assessment and treatment and have an interest in perinatal mental health. Trainees from diverse backgrounds are encouraged to apply. 

Unique schedule requirements: 16 hours per week on site.

Unique roles:

• Increase knowledge and competence in treatment of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders
• Learn to effectively communicate and coordinate patient care on a multidisciplinary team within busy obstetric and midwifery practices
• Provide brief mental health consultation to perinatal women within the context of obstetric visits.
• Co-facilitate virtual support groups, therapy intake and return visits, and mental health consultation (Supervising psychologists will be on site in clinic with patient for the duration of patient's time in the rotation).
• Attend weekly staff meetings in which case presentation and article discussions will occur.
• Collaborate with nurses, MAs, OBGYNs, midwives, medical residents and fellows, and psychiatrists, psychiatry residents and fellows in vivo.

For more information, please visit the PROMISE Clinic Page.

The Department of Psychiatry (DoP) at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus (CU Anschutz) is a full-time 12-month externship with a focus on training in neuropsychological evaluation and inpatient/rehabilitation psychology.

• A full-time trainee will split time between an acute inpatient rehabilitation unit and outpatient neuropsychology clinic.

Settings:

Acute Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit (ARU)*: is a 12-bed unit interdisciplinary unit that offers comprehensive rehabilitation (physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, recreational therapy etc.) for individuals who have experienced major injury or illness. The primary focus is to restore maximum individual function in a holistic and caring manner. As a rehabilitation neuropsychologist on the unit, your role will be to assess and support cognitive, behavioral, and mental health-related concerns. This includes psychodiagnostics evaluations, cognitive screening, individual psychotherapy, family/patient/team psychoeducation, and consistent collaboration with providers.

Executive Functions Clinic (EF Clinic): is an outpatient clinic through which you will be completing neuropsychological evaluations. The core experience gained in this clinic is neuropsychological test administration. Patients will be referred to this clinic from multiple departments in the hospital including the ARU. Patients referred from the ARU provides the unique opportunity to work with the same individual across the full spectrum of care.

Patient Population: The patient’s served most often have experienced some form of physical and/or neurological illness or injury. These include stroke, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, central nervous system cancers, post-amputation care, post-transplant, and other complex medical conditions. As a public academic medical center, the patient’s served are diverse in their bio-psycho-social-cultural presentations making an individualized approach to care essential and emphasized.

Unique qualifications: The ideal candidate will be a trainee with experience administering and scoring a wide variety of cognitive, emotional, and personality measures. The trainee must have experience administering the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS version IV or V). The trainee would benefit from flexibility and adaptability (given highly dynamic settings), being a team player, and some familiarity with medical conditions and their possible psychiatric sequelae. These are vital traits and foundations for meaningful growth and enjoyment of this externship.

Unique schedule requirements: 20-24 hours per week; time varies depending on individual interests. Must be available full-day Thursday and an additional 1-2 days (on either a Monday, Wednesday, and/or Friday.   

Thursday (EF Clinic):

Other days (ARU):

Primary Supervisor Information: The primary supervisor for this externship identifies as a minority cisgender female and rehabilitation neuropsychologist. She completed a combination specialty fellowship in rehabilitation psychology and neuropsychology at the University of Michigan. Her research focuses on meaningfully addressing diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) in supervisory relationships.

Compensation: While a DEIB-focused grant was previously offered and will continue to be advocated for (with the hope it can be secured for this year’s extern later), budget cuts are such that compensation cannot be offered.

Application Requirements: Interested candidates should submit a cover letter, C.V., assessment-report sample, and a list of cognitive measures you are comfortable administering/scoring.

Please email Questions to:

Dominique Chao, PsyD

Rehabilitation Neuropsychologist

Department of Psychiatry

1890 N Revere Ct.

Anschutz Health Sciences Bldg, Suite 5240,

Aurora, CO 80045

dominique.chao@cuanschutz.edu

The Colorado Center for Women’s Behavioral Health and Wellness (WBHW) is seeking 2 psychology externs to join our service for the 2025-2026 academic year. The WBHW training program offers clinical experiences in the management of perinatal mental health concerns (e.g. prenatal counseling, infertility, fetal loss, high-risk pregnancy, perinatal mood and anxiety disorders) and integrated specialized women’s behavioral healthcare (e.g., polycystic ovary syndrome [PCOS], persistent pelvic pain, perimenopause). The extern will function as a member of our multidisciplinary teams in outpatient and integrated care settings.  Externs will participate in individual supervision, attend grand rounds and other training when possible, and contribute to clinical team meetings.  

The WBHW externship provides supervised opportunities to work with individuals across the life span in the following programs:    

Perinatal Track: Women’s Behavioral Health and Wellness Outpatient Services  

WBHW Outpatient Services provides patient-centered and evidence-based care to promote wellness in individuals across the lifespan. Our interdisciplinary team works collaboratively with primary care providers and specialists to provide consultative services and problem-focused care for women with behavioral health concerns related to periods of reproductive transition, medical conditions, or treatment impacting reproductive hormones and well-being.  

Perinatal Track: Healthy Expectations Perinatal Mental Health Program  

The Healthy Expectations Perinatal Mental Health Program supports pregnant people and those struggling with mood and anxiety issues after delivery, as well as their families. The program provides evaluations for psychiatric and psychosocial concerns before, during, and after birth along with intensive outpatient services, group therapy, and medication management. Healthy Expectations has been helping families in Colorado for more than 15 years and is recognized as the Rocky Mountain leader in perinatal mood disorder treatment for pregnant and postpartum caregivers.  

Integrated Track: Specialty Integrated Women’s Behavioral Healthcare and Multidisciplinary PCOS Program 

Specialty Integrated Women’s Behavioral Healthcare Services offers consultation and treatment across several UCH and CU Medicine women’s healthcare settings. Our integrated multidisciplinary team works collaboratively with physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, and care coordinators to provide trauma-informed care for individuals with a range of specialty women’s health concerns, including premenstrual dysphoric disorder, PCOS, persistent pelvic pain, sexual health, endometriosis, perimenopause, and other chronic gynecologic conditions. 

The Multidisciplinary PCOS Program is a unique partnership between the Division of Academic Specialties in OBGYN and WBHW. The multidisciplinary team of OBGYN medical providers, clinical health psychologists, registered dietitian, nurse navigator, and reproductive psychiatrist collaborate to provide comprehensive, whole-person care to adults with PCOS. The Multidisciplinary PCOS Program is Colorado’s only comprehensive program, collaborating closely with the Colorado Children’s Hospital PCOS Program to facilitate a lifespan approach to PCOS care.  

Unique qualifications: We are seeking psychology doctoral students who are in their 3^rd or 4^th year of training, have completed coursework in adult assessment and treatment, and possess a strong interest in perinatal mental health and/or specialty women’s health integrated services.  The Department of Psychiatry, CUSOM has a strong commitment to recruiting applicants of diverse backgrounds and identities.  Trainees from diverse backgrounds are encouraged to apply.  

Unique schedule requirements: 16-20 hours per week on site (dependent on track). 

Unique roles: 

• Increase knowledge and competence in treatment of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders and specialty integrated women’s behavioral health concerns. 
• Co-facilitate virtual support groups, conduct diagnostic intake evaluations, provide individual and dyadic therapy, and offer mental health consultation and short-term behavioral health interventions for patients across varied WBHW and integrated settings. (Supervising psychologists will be available at each location). 
• Coordinate care with WBHW team, CU and UCHealth providers, and outside entities as indicated.  
• Participate in multidisciplinary team meetings and consultation including case presentations and article discussion.  
• Complete clinical documentation within Epic in accordance with established policies and procedures.  

The Psychology Extern will have the opportunity to be an active member of an integrated interdisciplinary team comprised of surgeons, APPs, nurses, MAs, and dietitians within the Surgical Weight Loss program at UCHealth. The externship will involve conducting comprehensive pre-surgical psychosocial evaluations for bariatric surgery candidates, providing feedback and recommendations to patients and the surgical weight loss team, designing and collaborating on treatment plans, and providing individual and group therapy for patients with obesity and other complex chronic medical conditions. 

Training setting:  The Surgical Weight Loss program at the UCHealth Anschutz Outpatient Pavillion – Anschutz Medical Campus. 6^th Floor

Training goals:

• Gain comfort with working in a medical setting as a member of a highly integrated team
• Develop proficiency with documentation in an electronic medical record system (EPIC)
• Develop ability to conduct efficient medical chart reviews
• Develop case presentation skills
• Strengthen ability to provide verbal and written feedback to patients and medical or other team members
• Gain familiarity with obesity and other chronic medical conditions, surgical weight loss, and other evidence-based treatments for obesity

Unique Qualifications:

• Doctoral-level psychology students
• Completed one external practicum and coursework in and conduced adult assessment (typically students in their 3^rd or 4^th year of training)
• Good standing in program
• Interest in obesity and training in health psychology and integrated care

Unique Scheduling Requirements:

• 16-hours per week on site, Ideally Tuesday and Thursday
• 12-month placement beginning in August and ending in July

This position provides a unique opportunity to join the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Clinic, and work with our clinic to increase accurate OCD diagnosis and evidenced based treatment for OCD. The OCD Clinic offers outpatient individual and group therapy, medication management, and an Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP). The OCD Clinic works with individuals who are 13 years and older who have OCD and OC-spectrum disorders, often with comorbid concerns including depression, anxiety, eating disorders, trauma, substance use, and trauma. Our clinic aims to increase access to evidenced based treatment for individuals with OCD through educational events/trainings and decreasing financial barriers for treatment through insurance billing for appointments. This externship offers the opportunity to work with a multidisciplinary team of: Medical Doctors, a Physician Assistant, Licensed Masters Level Clinicians, Social Work trainees, and a Psychologist. This clinic has a weekly group supervision, to help increase collaboration and consultation across disciplines.

Unique qualifications: Applicants who have the following experience are preferred for this clinic:     

1. CBT, 2) knowledge of Exposure and Response Prevention; 3) treatment with adolescents, 4) at least 3rd year doctoral students

Unique schedule requirements: 16-24 hours per week, Fridays and attending of weekly group supervision on Wednesdays required. One evening preferred.

Unique roles: Training, supervision, and practice with the following activities:

• Specialized OCD assessment: Semi-structured interview, Yale Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (YBOCS), and consideration of differential diagnoses throughout treatment
• Psychosocial treatment: Carry a caseload of individual clients with a variety of OCD themes, and use of ERP in sessions. The supervisor works primarily from CBT/ERP, DBT, and ACT perspectives, and is open to conceptualizing patients from other therapeutic orientations. The OCD Clinic offers opportunities to address accommodation of OCD by family and supports, however, family therapy is not a specific modality offered in the clinic
• Opportunities for working with patients that are diverse in ethnicity/ culture, race, gender identity, sexual orientation, ability, and clinical presentation
• School support/care coordination: Many clients are experiencing symptoms that may impact their school and work functioning, and the extern may need to complete accommodation letters and leave of absence/medical leave requests. Trainees may also be involved in other aspects of clinical care for their clients, including referral to partial hospital programs, involvement in hospitalization, and referral
• Optional roles/opportunities: Research, grant writing, and fundraising events

We are an integrated, multidisciplinary team of psychiatrists, psychologists, licensed therapists, and researchers collaborating to offer comprehensive diagnostic assessments and early intervention for individuals on the bipolar spectrum. The CU STEADY Program provides standardized evaluations, research opportunities, and evidence-based treatment for individuals 6 – 30 years of age with bipolar disorder, and those who are at elevated risk for developing bipolar disorder.

We are excited to offer a 12-month externship placement, including approximately 16-20 hours per week, beginning in August 2025. Externs will play an integral role in both clinical (i.e., diagnostic assessment, intervention) and research (i.e., outcome assessor, interventionist) programming. In addition to participating in weekly team meetings, externs will have an opportunity to attend regular meetings of the Child Bipolar Network (CBN: CU, UCLA, University of Pittsburgh, University of Cincinnati). Specific responsibilities for this position are detailed below.

Training Goals:

• Develop expertise in using the Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (KSADS), a semi structured, standardized diagnostic interview for youth and young adults.
• Gain experience with navigating the challenges of symptom assessment in young patients, including general diagnostic considerations, pertinent differentials, effective report writing, and generation of comprehensive treatment plans.
• Work effectively with families who are seeking support for a child’s bipolar illness and/or elevated risk of future bipolar illness. This goal will be primarily supported through training in Family-Focused Therapy for bipolar disorder (FFT). You can learn more about FFT here.
• Provide evidence-based individual therapy (e.g., psychoeducation, IPSRT) to young adults who may not wish to attend psychotherapy with their family members.
• Collaborate with a dynamic, multidisciplinary team within a fast-paced hospital environment. Team meetings include discussion of recent evaluations, case conferences for challenging patients, and treatment planning as patients are exiting our program.
• Engage with multi-site research projects, including an observational study of medications for youth with bipolar disorder, and a novel feasibility study of a ketogenic diet. While not an expectation of this position, interested externs would be welcome to pursue shared or independent analyses of collected data.

Unique Qualifications: Applicants with the following qualifications will be particularly well-suited for this position-

1. Advanced doctoral student (i.e., starting at least third year in August ‘25)
2. Clinical experience with:
   • Children and/or adolescents
   • Severe mental illness and/or suicidality
   • Structured clinical interviews
   • Evidence-based psychotherapies, such as CBT or DBT
3. Interest in learning Family-Focused Therapy (FFT) within a co-therapist model (i.e., extern is one of two therapists in the room with the family)
4. Interest in preventative care and/or early intervention
5. Ability to drive to Anschutz Medical Campus two days a week

Unique Schedule Requirements: 16 – 20 hrs/week, to include:

• Monday afternoons (2pm – 5pm; on campus)
• Wednesdays (10am – 5pm; on campus)

For additional information about The STEADY Program, please visit our website.         

DAWN BH is considered a secondary training opportunity. Trainees average 5-15 hours per week depending on supervisor availability.

DAWN (Dedicated to Aurora’s Wellness and Needs) Health is an interdisciplinary student-run free clinic that serve uninsured patients from the Aurora community. Our goals are two-fold: to provide the best healthcare possible to our neighbors in need, and to provide an opportunity for University of Colorado students to collaborate with and learn from each other while serving the community surrounding the Anschutz Medical Campus. The clinic was created as a joint venture between the Fields Foundation and Primary Care Progress. The clinic serves uninsured adult patients, primarily living in Original Aurora.

DAWN Behavioral Health follows a primary care model of psychology: providing brief behavioral therapy often co-visiting with an inter-professional team (medicine, pharmacy, physical therapy, etc.) and following up with patients as needed. Trainees are primarily scheduled for Primary Care night (Tuesday evenings), from 5:30-9:00pm.

Trainees can opt into other specialty nights, depending on supervisor availability:

• Monday evenings for Diabetes Education
• 3^rd and 4^th Wednesdays for Women’s Health and Reproductive Health night,
• Other Wednesdays for Specialty services, including cardiovascular health.  

Description of Clients Served: Patients are eligible to receive services at the DAWN clinic who are:

• Adults, older than 18
• Do not have health insurance (including Medicare / Medicaid)

Many of our patients identify as Latino/a/x, have recently immigrated, and/or left their home country as a refugee or asylum seeker. The majority of patients seen at DAWN Health are Spanish speaking only and utilize language interpretive services.

Duties of Psychology Trainee: Integrate into multidisciplinary medical team; offer consultation/assessment and brief behavioral therapy for mood management and health behavior change.

On Diabetes Education nights (Mondays):

• Develop and deliver behavioral health modules covering topics such as stress management and health behavior change, alongside other trainees of various health-related professions (e.g., medicine, pharmacy).
• Implement appropriate care coordination to specialty mental health settings in the community for longer-term therapy.
• Consult around behavioral health problems to provide support to medical colleagues.
• Clear and concise documentation in the electronic medical record.

   

  On Primary Care/Specialty Care nights (Tuesdays/Wednesdays):

• Application of brief assessment and screeners for behavioral health concerns (e.g., anxiety, depression, insomnia)
• Deliver brief interventions in a short-term model using evidence based behavioral health interventions (e.g., brief cognitive behavioral therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, cognitive behavioral therapy for chronic pain).
• Provide psychoeducation and general knowledge of behavioral health treatments, including psychotropic or other relevant medications to patients and medical colleagues.
• Provide psychoeducation on the relationship between physical health and mental health issues to patients and medical colleagues.
• Facilitate risk assessment and safety planning.
• Appropriate care coordination to specialty mental health settings in the community for longer-term therapy.
• Consult around behavioral health problems to provide support to medical colleagues.
• Engage in warm-hand offs to provide same-day behavioral health care.
• Participate in multi-discipline patient visits alongside medicine, pharmacy, and other health professions.
• Clear and concise documentation and treatment plans in the electronic medical record.
• Brief review of medical charts to facilitate treatment planning.

Number of open positions: 2-4 (depending on supervisor availability)   

Student suitability: Previous experience with integrated behavioral health/ behavioral medicine preferred, either coursework or clinical experience. Must be interested in health psychology or integrated medical settings. Must be willing to work on interdisciplinary team.

Number of hours/week trainee works:  5-15 (depends on supervisor, trainee, and patient availability)

Website: https://www.dawnhealth.org/ 

Agency Address: Anschutz Health and Wellness Center, 12348 E Montview Blvd, Aurora, CO 80045                        

Phone:  303-800 9677                                                                                      

Contact for Applications: Noy Phimphasone-Brady, Ph.D. – Director of Behavioral Health and primary supervisor (noy.phimphasone-brady@cuanschutz.edu)

Supervision format: Precepting model - consult with supervisors during and immediately after patient encounters (45-60 minutes on primary care and specialty nights; ~120 minutes per week); Group supervision (30 minutes total on primary care and specialty nights; ~60 minutes per week).                                                       

Overview of training and services provided at DAWN Health: