Program Design

The twelve month Residency Program consists of a nine-month Core Clinical Experience, and a three-month elective rotation.  Descriptions of training and core program activities, as well as evaluation criteria, are provided to Residents during orientation and updated during the year as appropriate.

The Core Clinical Experience occurs within a large Embedded Behavioral Health Clinic where Residents are provided ample opportunities to practice and obtain supervision in more “traditional, psychological assessment, intervention, and consultative skills.  Other core clinical activities include didactics in psychological assessment, psychotherapy, health psychology applications, ethics, individual and cultural diversity, and military-specific topics. Residents are assigned Training Supervisors who are responsible for supervision of all core clinical activities, including psychotherapy, assessment, and military-specific evaluations.  Didactics on the Core Clinical Experience include participation in a monthly Leadership Seminar which is taught by subject matter experts. The primary goal for Residents on the Core Clinical Rotation is to continually demonstrate ongoing professional development across all areas of competency.

Upon successful completion of the EPPP, Residents are also given opportunities to develop additional time-limited mini-rotations.  Options include Biofeedback Techniques, Clinical Hypnosis, Supervision, and Leadership assignments. Residents may also develop an independent area of interest as long as there is available supervision from the faculty.

Upon successful completion of the nine-month Core Clinical Experience, Residents in good standing may select one of four elective three-month rotations:

Neuropsychology Rotation

The Neuropsychology rotation consists of two days a week over three months of training and experiences in comprehensive neuropsychological evaluations for specific patient populations. The goal of the Neuropsychology Rotation is to expose Residents to advanced training in neuropsychological evaluations of bariatric candidates who may be retirees or military dependents. Residents also receive training and supervision in conducting transgender evaluations for active duty service members. Residents also receive exposure to complex neurological and psychiatric diagnoses and make recommendations for treatment planning and military decision-making. Residents learn a variety of neuropsychological assessments and intervention.

Inpatient Psychology Rotation

In general, the Inpatient Psychology rotation consists of two days a week over three months on the inpatient psychiatry unit of Womack Army Medical Center. Residents conduct psychological assessments and offer individual and group psychotherapy treatment to military service members requiring inpatient care. This rotation provides residents exposure to more severe forms of psychopathology.

Clinical Research

On the Clinical Research rotation, Residents develop and conduct original research on a clinical area of interest, with a military population. Residents spend two days a week over three months on the Clinical Research rotation. Residents have the option of becoming involved in one of the larger research projects within the Special Forces community. Residents also have the option of participating in and taking leadership of any of the professional improvement projects being conducted within the service member behavioral health line of the Department of Behavioral Health.

Operational Rotation

The Operational Psychology rotation consists of two days a week for three months of training and experiences related to supporting the psychological needs of a military Special Operations Unit or organization such as a Special Forces, Civil Affairs, or Psychological Operations unit. These skills include occupational selection and assessment, teaching/instruction, command consultation and leadership development. During the operational psychology rotation, residents provide psychological support to Leader Development programs and schools such as Special Forces Sniper School, Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations training exercises and adaptive thinking and leadership programs. Supervision in these areas and other command consultation services (i.e., presenting cases to a selection board) occurs. In addition, residents participate in other clinical activities to include routine psychological evaluations, research with the Army Research Institute (ARI) and didactics in performance psychology. Because of the brevity of this rotation, residents do not participate in the Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape (SERE) Psychology course.

Advanced Primary Care Rotation

This rotation is currently under development with the plan to offer residents this option during the late 2019 academic year. The plan is for residents to receive exposure to providing services in a primary care clinic with a specific emphasis on psychological evaluations of, and the provision of culturally sensitive, evidence-based care to transgendered service members. Residents will be supervised on site by a licensed clinical psychologist with specialty training in this area.