Psychology Training

The Psychiatric Institute of Washington is a private, 130-bed inpatient facility with programs for adolescents and adults, as well as a partial hospitalization program for adults. Excellence in behavioral health programs has been the mission of The Psychiatric Institute of Washington since it opened nearly 50 years ago. PIW is the first and only free standing psychiatric care facility in Washington, DC.

The Psychology Department offers consistent groups, psychological testing, individual psychotherapy and consultation to all units at PIW, as well as consultative/support services and psychological assessments to PIW’s Partial Hospitalization (PHP) and Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP). We also provide some limited interdepartmental education.

Our department offers a Pre-Doctoral Externship, which is outlined below.

The Psychology Department offers an intensive assessment externship focusing on psychological assessment and group psychotherapy, with opportunities for individual psychotherapy with adolescents and adults in a locked inpatient setting. Additionally, externs also have the opportunity to provide assessments to patients within the PHP and IOP program, as well as self-referred assessment clients. This is an advanced externship, most typically training students with some previous assessment and psychotherapy experience. Our department relies on structured and semi-structured types of psychological tests, and focuses on cross-battery, transtheoretical evaluations designed to diagnose and make support patient functioning.

Students receive individual assessment supervision as well as group supervision. Students also participate in a weekly assessment and a weekly psychotherapy seminar. In addition, students have the opportunity to participate in treatment planning and/or family meetings with their patient and multidisciplinary treatment team members.

Candidates interested in the Assessment Externship at PIW should have a working knowledge of cognitive and projective tests, and be comfortable with the Rorschach (RPAS Preferred).

The psychology department offers the opportunity to develop clinical skills while working with patients, adults and adolescents, managing acute and chronic mental health challenges and diagnoses. Candidates interested in the Psychotherapy Externship at PIW should have a working knowledge of therapeutic rapport building skills, basic crisis management skills and a foundation in evidence-based interventions. Students will have the opportunity to rotate between the adolescent unit, adult units and consultative/support services within the PHP/IOP, providing them with a wide range of clinical experiences and opportunities for learning appropriate interventions for the populations we serve. An emphasis is placed on providing group psychotherapy, and students will also have the opportunity to see patients in short-term individual psychotherapy and to consult in treatment teams. Students also receive weekly individual supervision, group supervision and psychotherapy seminar.

The externship is restricted to doctoral candidates in the field of Psychology. Students are required to work 16 to 20 hours per week. The externship extends from June to June of the following year.

To apply, email the following to: [email protected]

Please DO NOT email application materials to the [email protected] email. 

• In the subject of the email please include “NAME – FOCUS” (E.G. Jane Doe – Assessment Focus).
• Letter of interest
• Curriculum vitae
• Two letters of recommendation
• A de-identified test report (Only required if applying to the assessment track)

For questions, please email Dr. Stephanie Lopetegui, Director of Psychology, at [email protected]

** Deadline for applications is on the 1st of February