Clinical Externship

The Position

Each year, Lorenz collaborates with the University of Minnesota School of Family Social Science and other doctoral programs to offer opportunities for doctoral students wishing to remain clinically active alongside school. The workload is much less than what is expected of a practicum student, and is scheduled around the candidate’s class schedule, which enables students to focus on their academic program while maintaining a minimum level of clinical activity. This position is paid and open to pre-licensed clinicians. Externs have the opportunity to provide direct therapy with couples and families. Candidates with interest in working with young children and their families are especially encouraged to apply.

Key Responsibilities

  • Provide clinical services (conducting diagnostic assessments, treatment planning, psychotherapy, day treatment, and discharge planning) for clients
  • Carry and maintain a psychotherapy caseload as defined by clinic, in-home or center-based as needed
  • Provide Crisis assistance as needed
  • Attend and participate in individual and/or group supervision, case consultation, Grand Rounds, business meetings, and other meetings as required by the Clinic
  • Comply with DHS and insurance standards for clinical documentation
  • Strictly comply with licensing board rules and APA and AAMFT Codes of Ethics
  • Maintain professionalism in all interactions with staff, patients, and business associates of the Clinic
  • Bill appropriate procedural codes accurately and timely, while keeping abreast of billing issues and discuss with patients when necessary
  • Assist in intermittent peer-reviews of patient files
  • Adhere to additional directives by applicable direct clinical and administrative supervisors
  • Other duties as assigned

Qualifications

  • A master’s or doctoral degree in psychology, clinical counseling, Marriage & Family Therapy, Social Work, or similar field from a regionally-accredited academic program.
  • Must comply with requirements for licensure or board certification as a mental health professional including supervised practice in the delivery of mental health services for the treatment of mental illness, or
  • Be a student in a bona fide field placement or internship under a program leading to completion of the requirements for licensure as a mental health professional

Training Program

Lorenz Clinic focus is that it is a training clinic. Our existing training program includes master’s-level family therapy practicum placements, post-master’s fellowships, and a postdoctoral psychology fellowship supervised by licensed psychologists and family therapists. Because the training program is an outgrowth of our fierce dedication to serving the underserved, we offer significantly reduced fee services to those in financial need. The clinic has a rich schedule of invited speakers; recent speakers have included Drs. Froma Walsh, Mac Baird, Irvin Yalom, Bruce Perry, Pauline Boss, Sue Johnson, Mary Catherine Bateson, and Harry Aponte. More information about the larger training program can be found here or by contacting the Training Director, Dr. BJ Suarez.

The Clinic

Lorenz Clinic is a private, outpatient practice focused on the mental health needs of children, families, and adults. While the majority of our services are provided under the umbrella of managed care, we have community partnerships that allow us to service those without insurance. Located on the edge of the Minneapolis Metropolitan area, our four locations (Victoria, Chaska, Prior Lake, and Rosemount) are located approximately 30 miles south/southwest of downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul and provide needed psychological services to both suburban and rural communities. In addition to its clinical mission, the clinic has a vibrant training program.

Benefits

Clinical Externs enjoy being part of an organized group learning dynamic. The program features a training cohort with many enriching learning activities. Fellows can receive most required licensure supervision and numerous opportunities for continuing education including monthly case consultation and didactic trainings. Full-time externs are eligible for employee benefits.

Covid 19 and Lorenz Clinic

Lorenz Clinic works to ensure the safety of our team and clients. To do so, we have implemented a series of requirements, as well as practices, to support our team during this challenging time. These requirements include: full vaccination (unless fully remote or exempt for medical or religious reasons), required masking, and strict adherence to CDC guidelines related to exposures, infection, and our work environment.

Understandably, issues related to Covid can and will impact our program participants. To help mitigate some of those challenges we have made the following accommodations: A Zoom interview process, client and supervision meetings held in a hybrid environment (combination of in-person and virtual), and a flexible PTO policy for unexpected Covid-related absences.

Our policies are evolving as things change and guidance is adjusted. We are doing what we can to make sure our team feels supported and able to fully execute their roles.

To Apply

To apply for this position, email your CV and a cover letter to Dr. BJ Suarez, Training Director, employment@lorenzclinic.com. In addition to your strengths, cover letters should broadly outline your professional goals, commitment to the common good, and a brief narrative of your experience providing psychotherapy. Applicants who are invited to interview may be asked to provide writing samples and a letter of recommendation from a past clinical supervisor.

Current Clinical Externs & Alumni

  • Connor Callahan, M.S. – University of Minnesota (2020-present)
  • Erin Guyette, M.S. – University of Minnesota (2020-present)
  • Kimberly Stewart, M.A. – University of Oklahoma (2019-20)
  • Eugene Hall, Ph.D. – University of Minnesota (2018-20)

Doctoral Internship in Health Service Psychology

Download our Internship Brochure

Lorenz offers a Doctoral Internship in Health Service Psychology. The placement starts in late August each year and requires a full-time, year-long commitment. Interns function in an applied, clinical role and receive structured training in the provision of direct client contact with contextually-informed psychotherapy, psychological assessment, and supervision. Interns present at the clinic’s grand rounds and provide a limited number of didactics in the larger training program.

The internship features a rich invited speaker series, monthly grand rounds, and regular case consultation in addition to professional development, assessment, and clinical supervision.

The internship is in the spirit of a practitioner-scholar model and requires enrollment in a doctoral degree from an APA/CPA-accredited graduate program in counseling, clinical, or school psychology or enrollment in a doctoral program eligible for participation in APPIC Post-Vacancy Match Service. Applications must be completed through APPIC’s AAPI portal with the appropriate letters of recommendation and integrated report. The internship includes a competitive annual stipend. Admission is competitive, as we select from a national pool of those with additional training in delivering services to children, families, and/or couples. The placement is designed to meet the predoctoral requirements for licensure as a psychologist in Minnesota. Consultation with graduate school programs will occur throughout the internship to ensure that the intern is making progress toward graduation upon completion of the internship.

Who is Eligible?

This position is open to graduate student clinicians in their final year of study seeking their doctoral internship within a structured and vibrant clinical training program. The internship is a unique position that involves a graduate-level clinical intern functioning in an applied clinical role as a clinical trainee within the clinic’s training program. The position is designed to be a one-year, 2000-hour, temporary, full-time training placement for trainees enrolled in a doctoral degree program in psychology in their final year of study.

Interns are required to train in the following competencies throughout the Internship. The American Psychological Association’s profession-wide competencies are in the following areas:

  • Research
  • Ethical and Legal Standards
  • Individual and Cultural Diversity
  • Professional Values and Attitudes
  • Communication and Interpersonal Skills
  • Assessment
  • Intervention
  • Supervision
  • Consultation and Interprofessional/Interdisciplinary Skills

Job Duties

Job duties include but are not limited to:

  • Carrying psychotherapy and assessment caseload as defined by clinic
  • Ability and availability to meet clients during times that work for them (typically at least 2 later evenings per week)
  • Ability to work a 5-day workweek and offer appointment times that work for clients
  • Ability to provide clinical services to a wide variety of populations (i.e., ages, populations, diagnoses, etc.) under clinical supervision
  • Ability to conduct supervised practice with children of all ages and their families
  • The provision of clinical services including conducting diagnostic assessments, psychological evaluations, treatment planning, psychotherapy, and discharge planning for patients of the clinic
  • Attending and participating in individual supervision, monthly case consultation, Grand Rounds, business meetings, and other meetings as required by Clinic
  • Providing intermittent didactics within clinic’s training program as assigned
  • Compliance with clinic documentation standards
  • Compliance with licensing board rules, APA Code of Ethics, and DHS regulations and guidelines
  • Maintain professionalism in all interactions with staff, patients, and business associates of clinic
  • Keeping abreast of billing issues and discussing same with patients when necessary
  • Assisting in intermittent peer-reviews of patient files
  • Adherence to directives by applicable direct clinical and administrative supervisors
  • Other duties as assigned

Requirements

  • Completion of the academic requirements from an APA/CPA-accredited doctoral degree in counseling, clinical, or school psychology prior to start date.
  • Compliance with respective board rule related to pursuit of licensure
  • Ability and willingness to service patients primarily on an outpatient basis (with some services done in-home or in the community as cases demand)
  • Flexibility to meet when patients are available to meet (usually requires some evenings)
  • Evidence of a high level of professionalism within the field
  • Strong clinical acumen
  • An expressed interest in working with children and families
  • Ability to work both independently and as part of a multidisciplinary treatment team
  • Excellent interpersonal and written/verbal communication skills
  • Ability and willingness to provide services to children, adolescents, and families
  • Ability to respect diversity and integrate issues of culture into case conceptualizations
  • Ability to engage with patients who may be ambivalent about treatment
  • Ability to adapt interventions to patients’ strengths, skills, and developmental levels
  • Commitment to empowering patients to solve their own problems when necessary
  • Ability to intervene decisively, when necessary, to protect patient safety
  • Ability to set appropriate boundaries and limits for best practice
  • Ability to comply with clinic documentation standards
  • Ability to maintain a full caseload as defined by clinic

Benefits

Interns receive three weeks of paid time off, access to employer-sponsored group medical and dental insurance, short-term disability insurance, long-term disability insurance, life insurance, 401K with company match, and paid holidays.

Application Process

Admission to our training program is competitive. To apply for a training placement, please submit your application via APPIC’s AAPI portal. The clinic’s selection policies are modeled on the APPIC selection guidelines. If you have questions about how to apply, please contact the Training Director BJ Suarez at employment@lorenzclinic.com. The training brochure is available here.

Note: All offers are contingent upon successful completion of reference checks, I9, and background checks including Minnesota Statute 148.01 “Minnesota Sexual Exploitation Act.” This statute requires Lorenz Clinic contact employers from at least the last five years to determine whether any sexual exploitation of clients has occurred. Applicants who do not successfully pass these background checks will be dismissed from the placement.

Master’s Practicum / Internship

Practica run for either 9 or 12 months, depending on the student’s needs and academic program requirements. Though not required, year-long placements are preferred in order to assure clients of the highest level of continuity between trainees. The Clinic offers both psychotherapy and assessment practicum placements. Lorenz Clinic recommends that interested applicants follow the specified application timelines as designated by their graduate programs, which is typically 5-8 months prior to placement. Applications should be submitted using the Clinic’s application portal.

Description:

For outpatient and day treatment therapy practica, the program typically takes master’s or doctoral students from counseling, Couples & Family Therapy, early childhood (infant mental health), social work, or child-focused degree programs. The placement requires at least 20-hours and at least two evenings per week (if in outpatient services). In our experience, the educational quality of a practicum is negatively correlated with a student’s concurrent credit load, and students are encouraged to begin practicum only after completing the majority of their degree requirements.

Prerequisite Coursework:

  • Ethics
  • Counseling theories
  • Psychopathology

Although the clinic serves clients throughout the lifespan, practicum students are able to focus on the client population that best suits their learning goals.

  • Psychotherapy
  • Psychological Assessment (Doctoral students only)

Application Process

Admission to the training program is competitive. Application materials are accepted starting mid-January and will be accepted through the spring for both June and September starts. To apply for a practicum placement, you will submit your resume/CV and letter of interest to the selection committee through our application portal. Letters of interest should broadly outline your learning goals and commitment to the common good and explicitly state the type of degree program you are in as well as the placement you are seeking. Interviews are typically done individually with the clinical supervisor and/or Training Director. Finalists will be required to submit writing samples.

  • MSW Internship
  • Predoctoral Psychology Practicum
  • Counseling Practicum/Internship
  • Marriage and Family Therapy Practicum

Note: All practicum placement offers are contingent upon successful completion of reference checks and background checks including Minnesota Statute 148.01 “Minnesota Sexual Exploitation Act.” This statute requires Lorenz Clinic contact employers from at least the last five years to determine whether any sexual exploitation of clients has occurred. Applicants who do not successfully pass these background checks will be dismissed from the placement.

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