Doctoral Internship Program in Professional Psychology

Rotations

The Primary Rotation is at Zephyrhills Correctional Institution’s Mental Health Unit located just 30 minutes outside Tampa , Florida. Typically, 4 out of 5 days per week are spent at Zephyrhills Correctional Institution where interns work in our 100-bed inpatient Mental Health Unit. It houses a Crisis Stabilization Unit, a Transitional Care Unit, and Infirmary beds. Court commitments to the Correctional Mental Health Treatment Facility (CMHTF) and civil commitment hearings are held at the Mental Health Unit. These patients suffer from a wide array of disorders ranging from serious chronic mental illness and progressive disorders to transient crisis based disturbances. The more serious cases often require in-depth psychological assessments and diagnostic work-ups due to their complexity.

The Secondary Rotations are included to augment the intern's exposure to a wide range of patient populations, supervisors and correctional settings. Interns will spend one day a week at one of these Secondary Rotations during at least two quarters of the internship year. These rotations will include working in the outpatient setting at Zephyrhills CI, working with women at one of our female institutions and learning about the reception process, at Lowell CI. During the remaining quarter(s) of the year interns may be able to repeat a rotation, take on additional work in the inpatient unit at Zephyrhills CI or plan an alternative rotation with the Training Director's approval.

Hernando Correctional Institution is a female institution located in Brooksville, Florida. It will provide the intern with outpatient treatment experience with adult and possibly youthful female patients. Individual and group treatment services, as well as crisis management and assessment are all essential here.

Lake Correctional Institution is located in Clermont, FL and houses a 180-bed psychiatric facility. Interns may rotate through the Inpatient Services to work with Corrections Mental Health Treatment Facility patients who are court ordered into treatment.

Lowell Correctional Institution is located on the northern edge of Ocala, Florida. It is an exceptionally large female institution that is scheduled to soon grow to be the largest in the country. It serves as the receiving facility for female inmates. Interns may gain their experience in the reception process here. Training opportunities include the screening and assessment of women entering the corrections system, assessment of psychological emergencies and provision of crisis interventions as well as ongoing individual and group outpatient services with women.

Zephyrhills Correctional Institution Outpatient Service provides several opportunities for interns. First they may work with male patients in a general outpatient setting providing individual, group and psychological assessment services. They may also complete more advanced rotations working with the geriatric population or with the medically impaired and hospice patients housed at Zephyrhills CI.