For additional information about the UCHSC Psychology Predoctoral Internship, please call or write:
Clinical Psychology
UCHSC
Box C258-48
4200 E. 9th Ave.
Denver, CO 80262
(303) 315-8848
DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS
Denver Reception and Diagnostic Center
(DRDC)
Denver Women’s
Correctional Facility (DWCF)
Brief Description of Program
The
Denver Reception and
DRDC
operates a 36 bed infirmary, which provides acute and long term and
hospice medical care. Offenders requiring psychiatric stabilization
may be admitted to the infirmary by mental health staff or transferred
to the Colorado Mental Health Institute at
Denver Women's Correctional Facility (DWCF) is a 900 bed multicustody facility which opened in July of 1998. DWCF is the intake facility for all female offenders who enter the Department of Corrections. It also serves as a permanent assignment facility, offering a variety of specialized programs to help with rehabilitation. Additionally, there is a 36-bed Special Needs Unit that is designed to house female offenders who have debilitating mental health conditions and/or developmental disabilities. The primary focus in both facilities (DRDC & DWCF) is assessment, diagnosis, crisis intervention and stabilization, and referral to appropriate mental health programs. Psychiatric care, substance abuse assessments, and sex offender evaluations are also available to male and female offenders.
Goals of the Training Program
DRDC/DWCF is a forensic training program with a commitment to the following goals for psychology interns.
The goals are to teach the trainee:
2.
to triage, assess, and stabilize adults entering the
3. to assess and develop treatment plans for individual offenders
4. to work in a primarily non mental health setting while ensuring the provision of appropriate services with due respect for the special rights and problems of a corrections population
5. to work with offenders with chronic and terminal health conditions
6.to provide intervention and stabilization for emergency mental health needs.
Objectives of the Training Program
Specific Training Activities
Psychological Assessments: Each week the intern is expected to complete a minimum of three diagnostic assessments of adult male offenders during the initial evaluation period of incarceration. On a less frequent basis, female offenders may also be evaluated. A determination will be made, in consultation with mental health staff, whether more extensive or specialized assessments are warranted. Full psychological batteries may be completed as well as specialized assessments for developmental disabilities. Familiarity with DSM-IVTR diagnoses will be developed.
Crisis Intervention: The intern will be expected to assess changing mental status of self destructive and violent offenders to provide direction to security staff. Rapid assessment and clinical intervention will be expected to ensure the safety and stability of the offender. The level of intervention will be determined within the limitations of a correctional facility.
Psychotherapy: The intern will treat a number of offenders during either their initial stay at DRDC or long-term placement at DWCF within the Department of Corrections. There will be additional opportunities to provide treatment for the seriously and chronically medically ill adult male and female populations, The primary focus in both facilities is diagnosis, crisis intervention, stabilization, and referral for appropriate psychiatric care.
Educational Activities: The intern will be expected to attend staff meetings, clinical case consultations, supervision, as well as initial orientation and ongoing facility wide training.
Inpatient Treatment: The intern will be expected to develop care plans for psychiatrically unstable individuals housed in the DRDC infirmary. Assessment of the need for long term inpatient treatment and referral to appropriate facilities will be made. Inpatient opportunities will also be made available in DWCF’s Special Needs program for Initial intake, treatment plan development, group therapy, individual therapy, and reintegration to the general population.
Theoretical Approaches
The psychology staff works in a number of different modalities. Cognitive behavioral approaches, including DBT, as well as assessments grounded in an understanding of human development and cultural diversity, are intrinsic parts of the program in DOC. The ability to problem solve, negotiate, communicate clearly, and de-escalate difficult situations with, unpredictable offenders are necessary skills to be developed. Theory is important, but so is being efficient and practical given the resources of the setting.
Types of Clinical Approaches
- Assessment, formal and informal
- Cognitive behavioral therapy groups
- Individual psychotherapy: Eclectic approaches.
- Crisis intervention
- Dialectical Behavioral Treatment
Population
of Clients:
Individuals referred to the Mental Health Department are all sentenced
as adults, but may be as young as 14, and who may present with
a wide range of mental health diagnoses and related needs.. Department
of Corrections serves individuals of all ethnic, racial, economic,
educational, gender identities, and intellectual levels. Offenders
come from rural and urban settings throughout
Supervision: The intern will receive supervision for all clinical activities, including formal and informal psychological assessment, triage, psychotherapy, and consultation with correctional staff.
Site
Training Supervisor Todd Helvig, Ph.D., (Clinical Psychology,
Other staff Psychologists at DRDC/DWCF include:
Amy Flack, Ph.D. (Clinical Psychology, California School of Professional Psychology, 1998) Areas of expertise: treatment of female offenders; DBT; treatment of personality disorders
Trent
Engel, Psy.D. (Clinical Psychology,
Roz Simon, Psy.D., JD (Clinical Psychology, University of Denver, 1993) Areas of expertise: crisis intervention; personality disorders; trauma; psychoanalysis; law and legal research.
