Article archive / October 2019
Originally published: . Volume 10, No. 10. Source pages: 11.
Dr. Lauren Vines, Co- Director of Psychology Training, Health Behavior Coordinator, and Clinical Psychologist at the Alexandria VA Health Care System, noted to the Times that the internship program, started in 2015, has now received accreditation from the American Psychological Association.
"We will be offering three full-time positions for the next training year," Dr. Vines said. "The AVAHCS and the New Orleans VAMC are the only two accredited VA internships in Louisiana," she explained.
Dr. Leslie Drew, is Co- Director of Training for Psychology Training Program. Drew is also a clinical psychologist who has served as PTSD Program Coordinator.
The Alexandria VA Health Care System (AVAHCS) first funded the new pre-doctoral psychology internship program in 2015. The AVAHCS is located in Pineville, Louisiana, with four community based outpatient clinics (CBOCs) in Jennings, Lafayette, Natchitoches, and Fort Polk, Louisiana.
At its start-up, the internship training program included a generalist focus and fosters a general competence in trainees, over various areas of specialization. The goals of the program support the view that recovery-oriented, comprehensive, generalist skills are the foundation for competent, independent, professional services. The model of the training program is practitioner– scholar.
Innovative programs such as PTSD Awareness Month, National PTSD Screening Day, and the Gathering Program have been part of the comprehensive programs that interns may take part in at the VA. “The Gathering program is a recovery-oriented, social event for veterans to learn to tolerate their anxiety associated with large groups of people,” Drew previously explained to the Times.
The Times previously reported that the AVAHCS is also a teaching hospital with training programs for a number of disciplines and provides state-of-the-art technology and education.
The Psychology Service at the AVAHCS has provided without compensation training to psychology students for the past 24 years. It also provided a training rotation as part of an APA accredited pre- doctoral internship consortium with Central State Hospital and Pinecrest Rehabilitation Center for several years.
AVAHCS psychologists are regular presenters at state conferences. Dr. Drew and colleague Dr. Kelley Pears have presented numerous training workshops for others around the state, including workshops on Prolonged Exposure Therapy and PTSD topics. Dr. Pears has served as a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder/ Substance Use Disorders psychologist at the AVAHCS.
From our files: Dr. John Fanning (L) speaking with psychologists from the AVAHCS, Dr. Kelley Pears (C) and Dr. Leslie Drew (R). The AVAHCS post- doctoral internship at the AVSHCS has recently earned APA Accreditation.
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