Neuropsych questions

[wv7887]

Hi,

I am debating completing another therapy practicum this year prior to applying for internship in the fall and am wondering if it is necessary, as I definitely want to continue with neuropsych practicums. At this time, I have 161 intervention hours with 56 for therapy, 24 for group, and the rest for milieu/crisis intervention and intake interviews. My individual therapy hours are low as I only had 2 clients and worked in a school where sessions were generally 30-40 mins rather than a full hour. By May, I should have 180 or so hours due to intakes (and this should continue to increase I will have intakes at other testing practicums). I'm wondering if this is sufficient for a neuropsychology focused internship (most likely a pediatric one) or if I should apply for additional therapy practicums now to gain more hours?

Thanks for your help in advance!

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[Kadhir]

It depends on the internship site. Low intervention hours at some sites, even with a neuropsych track, will hurt you, and others won't care as much. I think breaking at least 200-250 is important, but I am adult-focused and can't advise on what is normative for peds.

Also, what do your neuro experiences/hrs look like? If you already have a lot, I would focus on strengthening the weaker parts of your application.

 

[RejectClinical]

Do you know which internship sites you're applying to? My impression from talking to adult neuro candidates with low intervention hours was that they had a hard time getting interviews at [some] VAs. I've seen this even be true with AMCs. You say you'd like a pediatric internship....my impression again is that they really want some therapy hours. My friend interviewed at several peds neuro sites and all of them had a significant therapy component. Considering that you'll be competing against other candidates with a lot of peds therapy experience, it seems like you would want to get more therapy hours. With all of that said, how many neuro hours and integrated reports do you have?

 

[LETSGONYR]

Hi,

I am debating completing another therapy practicum this year prior to applying for internship in the fall and am wondering if it is necessary, as I definitely want to continue with neuropsych practicums. At this time, I have 161 intervention hours with 56 for therapy, 24 for group, and the rest for milieu/crisis intervention and intake interviews. My individual therapy hours are low as I only had 2 clients and worked in a school where sessions were generally 30-40 mins rather than a full hour. By May, I should have 180 or so hours due to intakes (and this should continue to increase I will have intakes at other testing practicums). I'm wondering if this is sufficient for a neuropsychology focused internship (most likely a pediatric one) or if I should apply for additional therapy practicums now to gain more hours?

Thanks for your help in advance!

I'd get more therapy hours. You can find a way to sell it as relevant (it helps guide assessment recommendations, I know how to do treatment I just don't want to do it long term, it helps me manage kids during an evaluation, etc.), but having too few intervention hours will get you cut at a fair number of sites.

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[wv7887]

Do you know which internship sites you're applying to? My impression from talking to adult neuro candidates with low intervention hours was that they had a hard time getting interviews at [some] VAs. I've seen this even be true with AMCs. You say you'd like a pediatric internship....my impression again is that they really want some therapy hours. My friend interviewed at several peds neuro sites and all of them had a significant therapy component. Considering that you'll be competing against other candidates with a lot of peds therapy experience, it seems like you would want to get more therapy hours. With all of that said, how many neuro hours and integrated reports do you have?

I don't know which ones specifically, but I am not applying to any VA's as they tend to be adult focused. By May, I will have over 200 assessment hours and probably over 30 reports. And hopefully by October, I should be around 350+ hours. Thanks for your input, I will definitely look into getting more therapy hours.

 

[wv7887]

I'd get more therapy hours. You can find a way to sell it as relevant (it helps guide assessment recommendations, I know how to do treatment I just don't want to do it long term, it helps me manage kids during an evaluation, etc.), but having too few intervention hours will get you cut at a fair number of sites.

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That's a great point and I don't want that to cut my chances significantly. Thanks!

 

[psych.meout]

I don't know which ones specifically, but I am not applying to any VA's as they tend to be adult focused. By May, I will have over 200 assessment hours and probably over 30 reports. And hopefully by October, I should be around 350+ hours. Thanks for your input, I will definitely look into getting more therapy hours.

Are those just your actual testing hours or total F2F hours with patients for assessment?

 

[wv7887]

120 is the current total assessment including feedback (14), psychodiagnostic (27), and neuropsych (80). I didn't include feedback in my projections so I'm sure the total hours will be slightly higher. From the sites I've researched, most have listed total assessment or face-to-face hours, but haven't said anything about neuropsych assessment hours specifically.

 

[wv7887]

Are those just your actual testing hours or total F2F hours with patients for assessment?

20 is the current total assessment including feedback (14), psychodiagnostic (27), and neuropsych (80). I didn't include feedback in my projections so I'm sure the total hours will be slightly higher. From the sites I've researched, most have listed total assessment or face-to-face hours, but haven't said anything about neuropsych assessment hours specifically.

 

[psych.meout]

Maybe others here can comment with more authority, but from other threads I've seen here, that seems kind of low for total F2F hours for combined assessment and intervention.

 

[wv7887]

Maybe others here can comment with more authority, but from other threads I've seen here, that seems kind of low for total F2F hours for combined assessment and intervention.

I'm not near where I need to be right now, but I should be able to get between 500-600 total hours by the time I apply. I know some places require 800+ hours, but those are clearly not an option for me and typically not what I am looking for. I've spoken with several students in my cohort who had between 550-600 total face-to-face hours and had several interviews both for neuropsych and non-neuropsych sites. I've noticed that sites' requirements differ anywhere from 500-1000+ so it seems to be site-dependent and based on what training experiences they offer or are looking for.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Higher isn't always better and sometimes it's a red flag. I'm too far removed from intern review stuff to know the going #'s, but 500 and above seems pretty consistent.

 

[RejectClinical]

Maybe others here can comment with more authority, but from other threads I've seen here, that seems kind of low for total F2F hours for combined assessment and intervention.

It does seem low (at least from what I've heard from others). I thought I read on another thread that typically people have 500 assessment hours at competitive sites. I've known people who have gotten interviews around the 400ish mark as well, but that number in general seems low for neuro.

 

[NeuroWise]

Hi,

I am debating completing another therapy practicum this year prior to applying for internship in the fall and am wondering if it is necessary, as I definitely want to continue with neuropsych practicums. At this time, I have 161 intervention hours with 56 for therapy, 24 for group, and the rest for milieu/crisis intervention and intake interviews. My individual therapy hours are low as I only had 2 clients and worked in a school where sessions were generally 30-40 mins rather than a full hour. By May, I should have 180 or so hours due to intakes (and this should continue to increase I will have intakes at other testing practicums). I'm wondering if this is sufficient for a neuropsychology focused internship (most likely a pediatric one) or if I should apply for additional therapy practicums now to gain more hours?

Thanks for your help in advance!

Myself and others in my program have asked similar questions for a while now. After speaking with faculty in our program and others at INS (including a couple of internship directors), it's clear that the number of hours accrued is less important than the experiences the trainee has. Meaning, doing neuropsych evals at different sites with different populations is preferred over accruing a ton of hours within a single setting and narrow population. The individuals who consider neuropsych internship applications will appreciate, for example, that the adult-focused trainee spent a significant amount of time doing pediatrics and geriatrics as this demonstrates the trainee has a broad training base. Obviously, the broad training base includes traditional therapy experiences as well. Multiple peeps in the know told me that they want to see that the neuropsych trainee has made efforts to be a competent therapist because the skills learned in therapy make one a better neuropsychologist, and one can't be a neuropsychologist without first being a clinical psychologist.

All of this being said, certain (approximate) benchmarks for hours need to be met to ensure your application is considered. From what I have gathered personally and as mentioned by previous posters those are ~550 neuropsych assessment hours and ~200 individual therapy hours. These figures will fluctuate depending on the types of sites you apply to--sites with a research component (e.g., Brown, MUSC, UCLA Semel) will not worry as much about your hours.