Intern Training Program

Training professionals in community mental health practice is an important part of the Brookline Community Mental Health Center's mission. We believe the best way to develop clinical skills is through a rich and challenging clinical experience in the context of strong supervision from our multi-disciplinary staff. The Center is dedicated to training that is multiculturally aware and sensitive to the needs of our diverse clientele.

The Internship Program provides clinical placements for graduate students in social work, psychology and counseling. All placements run for two semesters; there are no one-semester internships. The Clinical Associate Program offers advanced training for clinicians at the post-doctorate and post-master's level.

Following is a description of specific internship opportunities at Brookline Community Mental Health Center. Please note that there are different deadlines and contact information specific to each program. Please apply according to the instructions provided. All deadlines are final. All internships run from September through May or June; there are no summer or single-semester internships available.

General questions

For general questions about the Intern Training Program at the Brookline Community Mental Health Center, please contact:

Katie Garate, LICSW - Training Coordinator
(617) 277-8107

Clinical Psychology Pre-doctoral Internship

24 hour per week placement at Brookline Community Mental health Center working with adults, adolescents, and children (applicants interested in family/systems work as a primary focus should apply to the family program). Interns generally focus on either adult or child work, or split their time between the two. Interns provide 12 direct service hours per week. Interns receive 2-3 hours of supervision depending on size of caseload and subspecialties they add to their program. Interns also participate in several mandatory and optional seminars including: Psychological Testing (mandatory), General Topics in Psychotherapy (mandatory), Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy (optional), Advanced Child Therapy (optional), Multicultural Issues (optional), and Child and Adult Symposia (optional).

In addition to hours spent seeing clients, interns are expected to be at the center on Wednesdays and Fridays from about 8:00 am through 2:00 pm. Interns are also expected to provide one evening of service.

Candidates for the internship have usually completed at least one previous practicum and in general will be third or fourth year students.

The deadline for applications is January 6th. Please submit a cover letter of interest, resume, three letters of reference and a writing sample. Send in both electronic and hard copy forms to Larry Abrams, Ph. D. at labrams@comcast.net and c/o Brookline Community Mental Health, 41 Garrison Road, Brookline, MA 02445.

If you have questions about this program, please call Larry Abrams at 617-277-8107.

Social Work Internship

24 hour per week placement at Brookline Community Mental Health Center providing psychotherapy to adults, children or both. Work may be done individually, in groups, on-site and in clients' schools and homes. Interns provide 12 direct service hours per week. Interns will also participate in training seminars, a speaker's series and other administrative meetings.

MSW candidates from master's level Social Work programs are eligible to apply.

The deadline for applications to the social work program is February 10th. Applications should be made through the student's graduate school's placement department. Please direct any additional questions to David Spinner, LICSW at spinske@comcast.net or call him at 617-277-8107.

Family and Couples Therapy Internship

The family and couples therapy program at Brookline Community Mental Health Center specializes in the evaluation and treatment of couples and families. Training is provided in short and long term models of family therapy including structural, strategic, narrative, psychodynamic and transgenerational. This is done through the lens of the developmental life cycle with a multicultural and strengths based perspective. Opportunities exist to work with families in at the center as well as in the community (school and home based) with clients who represent a wide variety of socioeconomic, cultural and nontraditional backgrounds.

Interns provide 12 clinical hours per week in a 24-hour a week placement. Approximately half of those hours will be family and/or couples cases. Intern's primary supervisor is a staff member licensed in the same discipline. For psychology interns this is in compliance with APA regulations. Interns receive one hour of supervision in family therapy and can choose up to two additional hours of supervision in other clinical areas (I.e., adult, child, group, etc.). Family interns are members of the weekly Family Team meeting and fully participate in the Intern Training Program including seminars and other meetings required of interns.

Candidates have usually completed at least one previous practicum and in general will be third or fourth year students in Doctoral level Counseling and/or second year students in Social Work Masters programs. Applicants should have experience and course work in family work and theory, or one year of group work or larger community systems organizational work.

The deadline for applications is January 6th for Doctoral Psychology students and January 13th for Masters-level Social Work students. Doctoral Psychology students should submit a cover letter of interest, a resume, two letters of reference and a writing sample. Send in both electronic and hard copy forms to Phillip Laidlaw, Psy. D. at drplaidlaw@rcn.com and c/o Brookline Community Mental Health, 41 Garrison Road, Brookline, MA 02445. Social Work students should apply through their field placement departments. David Spinner, LICSW, will be in contact with social work schools.

Group Training at Brookline Community Mental Health

There is a special opportunity for those who desire in-depth training in group psychotherapy. A prospective intern could have a primary focus in child group psychotherapy or a secondary focus in adult group psychotherapy. The two possibilities are as follows:

1) Child group training. Co-lead 5-7 child groups with experienced leaders. The intern must be able to commit to working with these groups through May 13th. Supervision provided.

2) Adult group training. Co-lead two adult groups with experienced leaders. One group is long term and psychodynamic in focus; the other is time limited and behavioral. Supervision provided. In addition to the Wednesday/Friday training requirements, the adult group position requires that the intern be available on Tuesdays from 12:00-2:00 (1-1/2 hours group, 1/2 hour supervision.)

If interested in either of the above, please note in letter of interest. More information will be provided during interviews.

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