Jefferson Center - Mental Health and Substance Use Services

With you in mind

Psychology Doctoral Internships-NO

Jefferson Center’s Vision

A community where mental health matters and care is accessible to all.

Jefferson Center offers a 12 month, 2000 hour generalist psychology doctoral internship training program and has two full-time intern positions which start mid-August. Jefferson Center’s internship is accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA), and our program is also a member of the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC).

Jefferson Center and its Doctoral Psychology Internship Program are committed to the recruitment of culturally and ethnically diverse interns. We encourage inquiries and applications from all qualified individuals.

Click here for Internship Admission, Support, and Initial Placement Data

Date Program Tables are updated: 6/28/21

Training Brochure 2022 – 2023

Intern Manual 2021 – 2022

Overview of Jefferson Center

Jefferson Center is a private 501(c) (3) not-for-profit community mental health center serving Jefferson, Clear Creek and Gilpin counties for more than 60 years. Jefferson Center’s programs and services are designed to foster recovery and resilience for individuals of all ages who have mental health problems.  As a private non-profit, Jefferson Center served more than 34,000 people in 2020.  Our services are provided through numerous clinical locations in our three-county service area, in addition to schools, nursing homes, senior centers, and other partner locations throughout our community.

Training Philosophy

The Jefferson Center Psychology Doctoral Internship Program seeks to train interns to become clinical psychologists with a firm foundation in health services psychology.  Our philosophy is three-fold: (1) that training in health services psychology is a continual developmental process, (2) that providing a broad range of training opportunities is optimum for the growth of developing clinical skills, and (3) that clinical health services psychology is a science-based discipline, and it is important to apply research to inform practice.

COVID-19 Training Response
Response to COVID-19 by Jefferson Center Internship Training Program for 2019-2020

Jefferson Center Psychology Doctoral Internship follows the guidelines adopted by APPIC as a part of CCTC.

Guiding principles: 

  • Safety. The safety of HSP service recipients, trainees, trainers, and our communities is of utmost importance.
  • Equity. It is vital to make the HSP recruitment and selection process as accessible and fair as possible for diverse applicants and programs.  
  • Ethics. Reliance on an ethical framework for decision making to guard against bias and lapses during a stressful time when systems and the people in them are taxed.
  • Science. Use of science, evidence-based findings, and the recommendations of public health experts to inform our process and recommended procedures.

Modifications in training program due to COVID-19 in the 2019.2020 Training Year

Service Delivery Changes:

By mid-March all therapy was being conducted via telephone or zoom and by April all clinicians were converted to Zoom for individual therapy.  Group therapy was converted to virtual sessions by May with DBT program starting up again for virtual sessions mid-June.

All supervision was completed remotely.  All didactics were completed remotely with some in person trainings converted to webinar trainings to address immediate skills for telehealth. 

Rotation Changes:

Integrated Care rotation: Due to the UCH/Infectious Disease/HIV clinic going fully remote in mid-March, the Integrated care rotation was modified.  The intern assigned to that rotation was reassigned to a newly developed rotation on the Innovation team and was an integral part of the conversion of services to a video platform.  The intern also participated in a virtual group for newly diagnosed patients with HIV with the other intern who had done the integrated care rotation in the fall.

Adult Outpatient (AOP):  The intern assigned to the AOP rotation was assigned individual clients, but was unable to do intakes.  The DBT group experience was delayed until June 17 rather than beginning in March.

Psychological Assessment:  All cognitive assessments were cancelled until mid-June. The required battery of 6 assessments was lowered to 4 and the interns were able to complete social emotional test batteries remotely. 

Crisis rotation. This is considered an essential service at the Center. Intern participation on this rotation was delayed until full safety procedure at the Crisis Center was in place.

Changes to the Training Program for the 2020-21 Training Year due to COVID-19

Onboarding / Orientation: A hybrid of both in person and remote orientation process was used. Opportunities to engage in team building activities with the internship class, supervisors, and assigned team was present throughout the fall/winter in a combination of in person or remote events.

Supervision – All supervision was done remotely until June 2021 with both in person and remote supervision offered. 

Didactics/Trainings: Didactics occurred remotely with webinars augmenting regular trainings.

Rotation Changes:

Integrated Care rotation: The return to in person services at the Infectious Disease clinic at either full time or part time was delayed in the fall with restricted clinic days due to IDC protocol. Neuropsychological testing requirement was reduced and test administration was done onsite with the clinical interview and feedback sessions occurring remotely. Individual therapy cases remained remote. Interns participated in minor specialty rotation on the Innovative team to augment hours and carried cases from Jefferson Center’s Adult Outpatient team where services were delivered remotely. 

Adult Outpatient (AOP):  The intern assigned to the AOP rotation had the same training opportunities, however, services were delivered remotely. Mid-June services will be provided both remotely and in person. 

Psychological Assessment:  Following Center protocols and CDC guidelines, in person testing for cognitive testing referrals continued. Social emotional testing, clinical interviews, and feedback sessions occurred remotely. Interns were required to complete 6 psychological assessments over the training year.

Crisis rotation: This is considered an essential service at the Center. Based on interns’ preference, another training opportunity was provided in the fall and full return to Crisis training was available by January 2021. 

Changes to the Training Program for the 2021-22 Training Year due COVID-19

Jefferson Center has adopted a hybrid mode and interns will do a combination of remote and in person work. The impact on the training program will be as below and follow the same modifications that were in place for the 2020.2021 Training year. 

  1. Individual and group therapy will be done using a combination of in person and remote video platform. In person sessions will be done following CDC guidelines.
  2. All supervisions will be done in a combination of in person and virtual.
  3. Didactics and other trainings will be done both in person and remotely with webinars added to augment training
  4. Psychological assessments will continue in person for cognitive and neuropsychological referrals following CDC guidelines for in person testing. Social emotional testing, clinical interviews, and feedback sessions will be done remotely.
  5. Crisis Services are considered essential services and in person sessions are conducted following CDC guidelines.

Accreditation Disclosure Statement

Jefferson Center for is accredited by the Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation American Psychological Association and participates in the APPIC Internship Matching Program. Applicants must complete the APPIC online APPI. This internship site agrees to abide by the APPIC policy that no person at this training facility will solicit, accept, or use any ranking-related information from an intern applicant.

Questions related to Jefferson Center Internship program accreditation status should be directed to the Commission on Accreditation:

Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation
American Psychological Association
750 1st Street, NE
Washington, DC 20002-4242
Phone: 202-336-5979
Email: apaaccred@apa.org
www.apa.org/ed/accreditation

All other questions about the internship program may be directed to:

Kathy Baur, Ph.D. Psychological Doctoral Internship Training Director
Jefferson Center
4851 Independence St.
Wheat Ridge, CO 80033
Email: KathyB@jcmh.org

Getting to Know Us:

Supervisors

Kathy Baur, PhD is a licensed clinical psychologist who has been with Jefferson Center for 24 years.   She received her doctorate from the University of Wyoming and completed her internship and a fellowship in behavioral medicine.  In addition to being the Doctoral Internship Training Director, she provides clinical services to our clients through Crisis Services, Adult Outpatient services and Psychological Assessments. Her areas of interest are clinical supervision, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), anxiety disorders, and training.

 

Beth Chandler, Psy.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist who works for Jefferson Center as a co-located clinician in a primary care setting. She attended University of Denver’s Professional School of Psychology, completing her internship at Denver General Hospital (Denver Health). She specializes in the treatment of older adults and behavioral health integration.

 

Matthew Enright, PsyD is a licensed psychologist. He received his graduate degrees from the University of Northern Colorado in counseling psychology. He has worked for Jefferson Center for 21 years. He started his career working on the inpatient psychiatric unit of the University of Colorado Hospital. After working in the adult outpatient program at Jefferson Center, he transitioned to the emergency department. He is now the manager of Crisis Services, overseeing the operation of the 24/7 walk-in-crisis center. In addition to supervising doctoral interns, he does court ordered emergency evaluations and evaluates clients on long term commitments. He is also adjunct at the University of Denver where he supervises masters and doctoral students in their counseling clinic.

 

Kirsten Kloock, PsyD is a licensed clinical psychologist and has been with Jefferson Center for 5 years. Kirsten received her doctorate from the California School of Professional Psychology with an emphasis in multicultural awareness, and completed her postdoctoral residency specializing in psychological assessment. In her role as the Psychological Assessment Coordinator at the Center, Kirsten oversees the work of the Assessment Psychologists and supervises the Psychological Assessment rotation at the internship. Kirsten also provides forensic, pre-surgical, neuropsychological, ADHD, and social emotional testing for our clients.

 

Leah Krusich, PsyD, is a licensed clinical psychologist who has been at Jefferson Center for 10 years. Leah obtained her doctorate from the Illinois School of Professional Psychology, with a concentration in health psychology, and her postdoctoral internship focused on school-based prevention and therapy interventions. Through her current role as the Juvenile Behavioral Health Court and Family Services Assessment Specialist, Leah provides clinical assessments and consultation for juvenile justice community partners, as well as higher level of care assessments for the Colorado Community Health Alliance and the Children and Youth Mental Health Treatment Act.

 

Adam Maher, PsyD, is a graduate of California School of Professional Psychology, San Francisco, and completed his doctoral internship and post doctorate fellowship at Regina Caeli Clinical Services. He is a licensed clinical psychologist at the Jefferson Center and provides both individual psychotherapy and pre-surgical psychological assessments. Adam currently provides the Reflective supervision for the Internship as well as providing didactic seminars.

 

 

Priya McLennan, PhD received her doctorate from the University of Hawai‛i at Manoā with specializations in child psychology and dissemination and implementation sciences. She has been with the Jefferson Center for two years now as both as a psychology intern and a postdoctoral fellow. In her role as the research supervisor, she assists and supports the doctoral interns in conducting research and program development evaluations at Jefferson Center. In addition, Priya is also a clinical innovation consultant for the Jefferson Center Innovation team using design thinking to support and help transform core business and clinical practices within the Center.

 

Tiffany Shelton, PhD completed her postdoctoral assessment fellowship with Jefferson Center. Tiffany received her doctorate from the California School of Professional Psychology specializing in neuropsychology, and completed her postdoctoral residency at Sharp Healthcare in San Diego. Tiffany provides neuropsychological, social emotional, ADHD testing and provides support for interns during their psychological assessment rotation.

 

 

Amelia Spiegel, BS joined Jefferson Center as an Innovation Analyst in September 2020. In her role, Amelia employs the agile mindset and human centered design principles to understand the needs staff and people served in order to create solutions that satisfy all stakeholders and enhance community mental health and well-being.  Amelia works with interns on the Innovation minor rotation.

 

Brandon Ward, PsyD is a licensed psychologist and the current Chief Innovation Office and VP of Information Systems at Jefferson Center. He has been with Jefferson Center since the beginning of 2020 and joined the doctoral internship training program shortly after, offering rotations within the Center’s newly formed Innovation program. In addition to his clinical work, Dr. Ward has led a focused career in the areas of technology and practice innovation.

 

Joy Wishtun, LPC, is a licensed professional counselor serving as the Program Manager and Clinical Supervisor for the Early Childhood and Family Services team at Jefferson Center. As an infant and early childhood mental health specialist, Joy has provided clinical services to children and families and consultation services to education providers in a school based setting, with an emphasis on child development, social emotional growth, parenting and caregiving support, attachment, and the impact of trauma and toxic stress. Joy is passionate about supporting families and caregivers through the strengthening of and connection to community providers.

Virtual tours

 

What past interns have said about their experience:

“One of the most beneficial experiences was having the opportunity to conduct psychological assessments for a wide array of populations while utilizing cultural context as a means of interpreting assessment results.”

“Absolutely loved being able to supervise the externs & my supervisor was amazing at helping me through the experience. “

“The non-evaluative supervision experience was a supportive place to process my professional development.”

“I think the opportunities to supervise and be involved with the Center have really allowed me to grow and discover new interests.”

“The Professional Development Seminar was one of my favorite things as the topics were interesting and I liked the collaborative, conversational aspect.”

“The variety of experiences that my internship at Jefferson Center provided helped me to become a well-rounded early career psychologist. I especially enjoyed work with outpatient adults and work at Crisis doing evaluations.”

“My internship provided me with a very in-depth experience and well-rounded training. I really liked working at Jefferson Center.”

“The supervision was outstanding. I enjoyed getting to learn from multiple professional psychologists in the field who have different styles and different jobs. The assessment piece of the internship really helped me to develop and hone my assessment skills, particularly with writing cohesive and succinct reports.”

“I found that doing presentations for staff and the community helped me to gain confidence in my education and training.”

Non-Discrimination Statement

Jefferson Center is committed to a policy of providing educational opportunities to all qualified students regardless of economic or social status, and will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, marital status, beliefs, age, national origin, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability or any other legally protected category.  Jefferson Center is a Drug-Free and Tobacco Free Workplace.

 

COVID-19 Vaccination Policy

All employees must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by 10/30/2021. All persons offered a position will be required to provide valid proof of vaccination, or be approved for exemption prior to starting employment.

Updated 10/10/21