Therapy Oriented Programs in the Midwest

[subalpinesun]

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hi all;

i'm an M4 in the process of applying to psychiatry residency programs. therapy training is very important to me and i'm looking for programs in the midwest. does anybody (eg residents) have any inside info on good therapy based programs in this region? talking with the faculty and residents at my school has been a little disappointing because none of them seem to have much interest in therapy at all.

thanks

 

[mkeguy]

since no one else responded i'll give it a shot...

MCW in milwaukee has a psychoanalytic institute affiliated with it and stresses therapy more than most programs. they have outpatient as a second year, which is a little unusual as well.

University of Wisconsin- Madison had more of an outpatient bent, and had part of the interview day given by a psychoanalyst. because of the patient population in madison therapy is a bit more important. they call themselves a "well rounded" program but they struck me personally as more therapy oriented.

hope that gives you something to go on.

 

[subalpinesun]

thanks guys;

mkeguy - are you at MCW now?

yes MCW has outpatient second year, but as i understand it they go back and do inpatient third year.

splik - are you saying that no matter which residency program i go to i would need to get extra training to be competent in psychotherapy? would taking electives be enough? also, it's my understanding that most analytic institutes don't really allow any formal training until you're done with residency.

this is pretty confusing to me. a psychiatry residency is 4 years long (internal medicine is 3) and it seems to me that understanding the pharmacology and associated pathology in psych would take *way less* time than medicine. so i can't imagine time constraints are an issue, why are psych programs not emphsizing psychotherapy??

 

[OldPsychDoc]

Michigan is also "well rounded", with ready access to psychoanalytic supervision if you're inclined that way. Also strong on alphabet therapies--CBT, IPT, DBT...

 

[peppy]

yes MCW has outpatient second year, but as i understand it they go back and do inpatient third year.

MCW, UW-Madison, and UMich were the ones I was going to suggest looking at for a therapy focus in the midwest based on my experience interviewing at all three. Like MCW, UW-Madison does the outpatient PGY-2 thing too (I don't think UMich does). I don't think you're going to find a program that does more than 1 year of 100% outpatient time because of the requirements for graduation, however at these places that do it the 2nd year, you will have time in the following years for a therapy "continuity clinic" even while on inpatient rotations. The rationale at these programs that start you in outpatient 2nd year is that then you can have 3 years to do therapy with the same patients (carrying some of the ones you picked up 2nd year into 3rd and 4th year) and therefore get a true long-term psychotherapy experience.

 

[pingouin]

I would throw Cincinnati and Indiana into the mix as well. Was also going to add Michigan to the list but OPD beat me to it.

 

[subalpinesun]

yeah i agree, based on my limited knoweldge becoming competent in *psychoanalysis* is beyond the scope of residency. but not the more standard therapies that any psychologist would be able to perform. im still pretty suprised that to "be able to use the principles of supportive psychotherapy and have treated a simple case of depression or an anxiety disorder using CBT and seen a patient for more exploratory therapy" is the best these programs are shooting for during a 4 year program? i think psychiatrists should be comfortable treating patients with both pharmacology and therapy directly out of residency. it's baffling to me that this is not the expectation of residency programs as well.

 

[subalpinesun]

thanks splik, very informative

 

[Doctor Bagel]

I'd add Northwestern as well. They start heavier (as I recall) outpatient work in 2nd year and apparently have a reputation for producing psychiatrists for the more affluent folks in Chicago.

 

[vistaril]

You are not going to find therapy oriented programs in the mid west.QUOTE]

the wright state program is incredibly therapy oriented....

 

[subalpinesun]

the wright state program is incredibly therapy oriented....

can you elaborate?

 

[vistaril]

can you elaborate?

the chair and pd are both hard core analysts...they require you to have far more exposure/cases to dynamic therapy than is required...they have regular meetings where the whole residency program gets together to watch tapes of dynamic sessions...