Behavioral Health
Post-Graduate MSW Fellowship

Yale Behavioral Health (YBH) is a program established under the aegis of Yale University and managed by the Department of Psychiatry. Intended to meet the administrative, clinical and training needs of hospitals, agencies and practitioners in the public and private sectors, it utilizes the most current clinical concepts with state-of-the-art techniques in administration, management and consultation.

YBH offers Post-MSW Fellowships in adult psychiatry and adolescent school based services. Designed to augment an individual’s clinical training, these intensive fellowships focus on diagnosis, assessment and treatment.

Outpatient Psychiatry
Behavioral Health Services at Hamden

Location
95 Circular Avenue Hamden, CT 06514
Phone: 203-288-6253
Susan Brown, APRN, Executive Director

Description
Yale Behavioral Health Services (YBHS) is a licensed mental health and substance abuse facility managed through the Yale Department of Psychiatry. It offers a comprehensive range of treatment to individuals over the age of 18 with specialization in the treatment of patients who suffer from moderate to severe psychiatric and/or substance abuse disorders. Its general services include: intake and evaluation, crisis intervention, individualized and group treatment, couples and family counseling and medication evaluation and management. YBHS provides specialty programs in anger management, psychosocial rehabilitation, co-occurring disorders, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and geriatric services. This fellowship begins on July 1st and runs through June 30th.

Goals and Objectives

Assessment

• Conduct psychosocial evaluations on clients ages 18 and over presenting to clinic suffering from severe and persistent forms of psychiatric and substance abuse disorders.
  
• Learn and demonstrate in an ongoing manner, the ability to use motivational interviewing techniques with individuals diagnosed with mental health and substance abuse related disorders.

Treatment

• Identify clinical/recovery treatment planning needs for clients based on information provided at initial intake.
• Develop a working knowledge of DSM-IV diagnostic criteria, including identification of acute symptoms and stressors that exacerbate psychiatric status and/or substance use.
• Learn how to document patient’s clinical status and treatment planning progress in the context of third party payer requirements.
• Establish medically necessary treatment plans that meet third party payer requirements.
• Provide a range of clinical interventions, including crisis management, individual therapy, group therapy, and family/couples therapy.
• Understand and utilize the principles and techniques of the common cognitive therapies, including cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT).

Professional Development

• Attend a variety of on-site and off site multidisciplinary training opportunities.
• Participate weekly in a range of supervision opportunities focused on strengthening of assessment, diagnostic and treatment skills.

Supervision and Training

• On Site Supervision: Fellows receive a minimum of two hours per week of supervision by a Licensed Clinical Social Worker.
• Off Site Supervision: Fellows receive two hours per week of supervision from department of psychiatry faculty members.
• Didactic Seminars: Fellows will attend at least one didactic seminar per semester of their choice. There are multiple seminars fellows can select from, including subject matter related to pharmacology, forensics and co-occurring disorders.
• Grand Rounds: Fellows will have the option of attending Grand Rounds at Yale University.

School Social Work
Cedarhurst School

Location
871 Prospect St., Hamden, CT 06517
Phone: 203-764-9314
Betsy Donovan-Canas, Director

Description
Cedarhurst School is a private therapeutic school operated by Yale University. Serving as a junior and senior high school for grades 7-12, it offers a structured supportive learning environment for students who have difficulty functioning in the mainstream setting. The population served includes students with psychiatric illness or learning disorders, behavioral difficulties and school avoidance issues. Group therapy, crisis intervention and individual counseling provide a sound interface between the educational and clinical needs of the students. Treatment planning is focused on concrete, behaviorally based goals and helps trainees to develop a more clinically sophisticated knowledge of adolescents and their treatment needs. This is a 10-month fellowship beginning the last week of August and ending June 30th.

The Cedarhurst School Fellowship was established with the intent of providing post-graduate social workers with training and experience in a private special education school. It has two principal goals: (1) To broaden the supervisee’s knowledge of the interface between clinical services and education; and (2) To help the supervisee develop skills in understanding a child’s clinical needs and how to support them in an educational setting.

Objectives

• Learn the fundamentals of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEIA) and how to operationalize it in a special education setting.
  
• Learn the fundamentals of the DSM-IV and how to develop goal focused, quantifiable treatment plans for a special education setting.
  
• Learn how to provide crisis intervention in a special education setting, including how to conduct a mental status examination and utilization of de-escalation techniques.
  
• Learn and apply group therapy curricula to a special education setting. Examples include Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT).
  
• Learn the fundamentals of how to complete a biopsychosocial assessment in a special education setting. This will include disposition and treatment planning.
  
• Learn how to effectively collaborate with school districts, outside treaters, family members, social service agencies and collateral contacts.

Professional Development

• Attend a variety of on-site and off site multidisciplinary training opportunities.
  
• Participate weekly in a range of supervision opportunities to promote growth and strengthening of assessment, diagnostic and treatment skills.

Supervision and Training

• On Site Supervision: Fellows receive a minimum of two hours per week of supervision by a Licensed Clinical Social Worker.
  
• Off Site Supervision: Fellows receive two hours per week of supervision from department of psychiatry faculty members.
  
• Didactic Seminars: Fellows will attend at least one didactic seminar per semester of their choice. There are multiple seminars fellows can select from, including subject matter related to pharmacology, forensics and co-occurring disorders.
  
• Grand Rounds: Fellows will have the option of attending Grand Rounds at Yale University

Please note that the Peer Support and Acute Services positions offered through the Connecticut Mental health Center are not being offered for the 2009-2010 year.

Connecticut Mental Health Center

Location
34 Park St, New Haven, CT 06790
Phone: 203-974-7300

Description
The Connecticut Mental Health Center (CMHC), a collaborative endeavor of the Yale University Department of Psychiatry and the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, provides comprehensive psychiatric services to residents of the Greater New Haven area. Clinical services are focused on patients who are poor and who suffer severe psychiatric and/or substance abuse disorders.

There are two available fellowship positions at CMHC offered through Yale Behavioral Health: (1) Fellowship in Acute Services focused on diagnosis, assessment and triage; and (2) Fellowship in the Peer Support Program focused on its day to day clinical and administrative management and operations. The Peer Support Program position includes a small component around providing assessment and triage in the CMHC acute services unit.

A. ACUTE SERVICES FELLOWSHIP

The Acute Services Social Work Fellow will receive training in diagnostic assessment, clinical services, crisis management, mobile crisis, and case management services to adults suffering from psychiatric and/or substance abuse disorders.

Goals and Objectives

• Complete psychosocial assessments, mental status examinations, and diagnostic assessments.
  
• Develop risk assessment skills.
  
• Learn and provide brief individual cognitive therapies.
  
• Develop clinical triage skills focused on the facilitation of medically necessary dispositions, including inpatient and outpatient care.

This unique opportunity allows a post-graduate fellow to supervise a peer-based program within a hospital emergency department and at the acute services division of the CMHC. The program focuses on providing patients entering into the Hospital’s CIU and/or the CMHC Acute Services Division, education, information and support related to their mental health and recovery-based needs. The Peer Program has been enormously successful and allows a fellow to receive significant administrative experience around how to manage day to day program operations.

Goals and Objectives

• Facilitate the development and expansion of the Peer Support Program.
  
• Develop skills in recruitment, interviewing, and training of future Peers as needed to expand the program.
  
• Learn how to effectively assess staff training needs.
  
• Develop and conduct training sessions for Peer Support Team Members.
  
• Learn how to develop a shift schedule that meets the needs of Peers and Agencies.
  
• Learn how to effectively deliver supervision to Peer Team Members.
  
• Learn how to assess staff performance and conduct annual and semi-annual performance evaluations for the Peer Support Team.
  
• As noted above, a small component will be focused on the completion of psychosocial assessments, mental status examinations, and diagnostic assessments.

Professional Development

• Attend a variety of on-site and off site multidisciplinary training opportunities.
  
• Participate weekly in a range of supervision opportunities to promote growth and strengthening of assessment, diagnostic and treatment skills.

Supervision and Training

• On Site Supervision: Fellows receive a minimum of two hours per week of supervision by a Licensed Clinical Social Worker.
  
• Off Site Supervision: Fellows receive two hours per week of supervision from department of psychiatry faculty members.
  
• Didactic Seminars: Fellows will attend at least one didactic seminar per semester of their choice. There are multiple seminars fellows can select from, including subject matter related to pharmacology, forensics and co-occurring disorders.
  
• Grand Rounds: Fellows will have the option of attending Grand Rounds at Yale University

APPLICATION PROCESS

Applying for the fellowship program consists of addressing and completing the following requirements:

• MSW from a social work program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education
  
• One page statement of interest
  
• Three letters of reference
  
• Curriculum vitae
  
• A copy of both first and second year practicum evaluations
  
• Completion of interview may occur prior to final receipt of above listed items
  

Deadline for application materials for the 2009-2010 Fellowship term is February 27, 2009. The term begins July 1, 2009 and is a one-year appointment

Stipends/Benefits

• Yearly stipends available
  
• Full medical benefits are provided
  
• Optional Dental Plan available
  
• Vacation/Sick/Personal leave provided

Contact Information
Christie Hunnicutt, LCSW
Director of Training for Post-MSW Fellowship
Yale Behavioral Health Services of Hamden
95 Circular Avenue
Hamden, CT 06514
203.288.6253 (phone)
203.288.0948 (fax)
Christie.Hunnicutt@yale.edu

Program Staff and Faculty

Yale Behavioral Health management Team

Ezra E. H. Griffith, M.D., Medical Director
Phone: 203-288-2018
Email: ezra.griffith@yale.edu

Michael A. Hoge, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer
Phone: 203-785-5629
Email: michael.hoge@yale.edu

Scott Migdole, LCSW, Chief Operating Officer
Phone: 203-927-4767
Email: scott.migdole@yale.edu

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