OFFICE OF CORRECTIONAL HEALTH AO..

PROVIDED BY THE LEGISLATIVE

CORRECTIONAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES REFERENCE LIBRARY

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Florida Department of Corrections

First in the nation to achieve APA accreditation of psychology residency
By Dean Aufderheide, Ph.D. and Thomas Culbreath, Psy.D.

he Florida Department of Cor- in attracting the best and brightest doctoral internship program in 2007,

T rections (FDC) has become

the first correctional system in
the United States to have a psychol-
candidates who are interested in
pursuing a career in correctional
psychology. We are proud of our
still one of only three APA accredited
internships in a state prison system
in the U.S. Applying lessons learned
ogy post-doctoral residency program team who has been involved with the from starting the internship, we were
accredited by the American Psycho- psychology residency program and determined to dream big, structuring
logical Association (APA). The APA its success in becoming the first of its the psychology residency to attract
Commission on Accreditation recent- kind in the United States." the best and brightest candidates and
ly made this decision at its meeting in preparing for the rigorous review
Washington, D.C. The accreditation process by the APA's Commission
was granted for a period of 10 years,
All beginnings on Accreditation. Our goal was to
the maximum allowed by the APA. The German proverb, "Aller "train and retain" highly competent
FDC Secretary Mark Inch said, anfang ist schwer" means, "All be- correctional psychologists. An APA-
"Accreditation by the American ginnings are difficult." We certainly accredited psychology residency was
Psychological Association is a hall- learned the meaning of that proverb the next logical step in ~ur vision
mark accomplishment and will result when we began the department's to create a center of excellence for

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76 - November/December 2019 Corrections Today

 Correctional Health Perspectives

correctional psychology. All begin-

nings may be difficult, but when we
all moved forward together, we were
confident the success of the psychol-
ogy post-doctoral residency program
would take care of itself.

National recruitment
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process used by the program. The

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provides national recruiting for our
program and ensures that eligible
and interested candidates nation-
wide will have an opportunity to
explore the benefits of a psychology
residency training program within a
correctional setting. Brian Riedl, a
regional director for the FDC, said,
"The psychology residency program
is a 'win-win' for the psychology
residents and our agency. The pro-
gram is also a great recruiting tool
for the agency, as we have been able
to benefit with many of our residents
continuing to serve our institutions
as permanent employees." Our suc-
cess in national recruitment has been
evident in our results. In the past six
years, applicants from California,
Texas, Oregon, Washington, Alaska,
Illinois, Florida, Georgia, Virginia,
Kansas and the Bahamas, to name a
few, have all completed their formal
Psychology residents learn to lead a multidisciplinary treatment and services team.
supervision and training as members
of our psychology residency program.
Psychology residents
Security staff has seen the benefits
of the psychology residency, and
leadership at the institutions where
psychology residents train could not
speak more highly of the program.
Jeffrey Trovillion, a warden dur-
ing the early development of the
psychology internship and resi-
dency programs, recalled, "It was an
amazing experience, as a warden, to
watch the evolution of our psychol-
ogy residents from the beginning,
as an outsider, to the end as a large
part of the facility's team. Having
observed our psychology residents
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firsthand, they are obviously the best
of the best and provide an important
service to our agency."
Former warden and FDC's cur-
rent director of Institutions, Hope
Gartman, added, "The psychol-
ogy residents provide invaluable
assistance in the management/devel-
opment of effective mental health
services."
The psychology residency
program rotates the psychology resi-
dents to two different correctional
institutions over the course of the
year to ensure they are exposed to a
wide array of patient needs and lev-
els of care. They spend six months in
one of the three outpatient units and
the other six months is comprised of
a rotation at one of the two inpatient

Corrections Today November/December 2019 - 77

 OFFICE OF CORRECTIONAL HEALTH ~

residency program is to train license-

ready professionals in the field of
psychology with specific training
and insight into the complex systems
found in a correctional setting.

The scientist-practitioner
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Psychology residents use the scientist-practitioner model to solve problems.
mental health units. The wardens of
these facilities have noted the benefit
of having exceptionally trained
and highly motivated psychology
residents joining these mental health
teams. For example, Warden Tamera
Poynter stated, "The psychology
internship and residency programs
provide opportunities to learn in an
environment like no other, while
building additional knowledge and
teamwork skills working with secu-
rity. The results have been amazing."
A multidisciplinary
approach
The psychology residents, who
have completed all the requisite
coursework and training for their
doctoral degrees and operate under
the title "psychology resident" in our
facilities are credentialed and receive
the same required training as other
senior mental health clinicians in the
department. Throughout the training
year, they provide services to those in
FDC custody across the spectrum of
clinical settings within a multidisci-
plinary services team model.
The psychology residents acquire
experience across clinical settings,
including reception intake, inpatient,
outpatient and court-ordered mental
health treatment. Elevating the train-
ing of psychology residents beyond
the training in the internship, they
learn the complex administrative and
supervisory demands fulfilled by
doctoral-level clinicians in a cor-
rectional environment. Accordingly,
the goal and focus of the psychology
and administration and interpersonal
communication. Consistent with the
scientist-practitioner training model,
part of the psychology residents'
time in the program is spent in the
improvement of research skills and
self-directed learning. Each psychol-
ogy resident, for example, researches
a specific psychometric jnstrument,
presents the research findings in a
didactic format and includes the util-
ity of the instrument in a correctional
environment as well as training
staff in the use of the assessment
tool. Additionally, they develop a
training module meant to target the
improvement of clinical skills among
the larger mental health treatment
team located at the facility where
they are assigned. This allows them
to learn to be more than just good
consumers of research, but rather
good disseminators of that research.
Because the psychology residents
use the latest scientific research in
professional psychology to inform

78 - November/December 2019 Corrections Today

a:·. . .to. • - -

practical application of treatment and gave me the opportunity to utilize ad-

interventions, it makes them more ministrative and management skills. I
capable to handle the complex men- want to thank Dr. Aufderheide for his
tal health problems we encounter in leadership in starting the psychology
corrections every day. Accordingly, internship and residency programs."
they become better clinicians, better Former psychology resident and
managers and better supervisors. current psychologist, Dr. Daniele
Over the past six years, the Profilo, stated, "These training years
psychology residents have pro- have helped me form a more accu-
vided high-quality, in-depth patient rate view of the prevalence of mental
assessments. From neuropsycho- health concerns in corrections.
logical screening and personality I appreciate the fast-paced environ-
assessments to using psychometric ment of corrections and am looking
instruments for assessments of intel- Dr. Dean Aufderheide forward to a career in correctional
lectual disability, they provide an Chief of Mental Health Services psychology."~
invaluable resource to the mission of
the mental health delivery system.
Amy Frizzell, warden at an institu-
tion with the most psychological and
behaviorally complex inmates from
across the state, said, "The psychol-
ogy residents have been a tremendous
asset to our institution's mental health
mission. This process has ensured
that our inpatient inmates receive the
highest quality of care. We're very
fortunate to have this program."

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ous facilities, this program not only Psychology residents collaborate with security to create a safe treatment
influenced my clinical expertise, but environment.

Corrections Today November/December 2019 - 79

 OFFICE OF CORRECTIONAL HEALTH .ct..
A current psychology resident, Dr.
Allison Foerschner, recognized the
benefits of the psychology residency
program's training methods, saying,
"One of the most valuable aspects
of the psychology residency training
program is its broad, systems-
focused perspective. The training
provides us with a more informed
perspective with which to better
understand the responsibilities of
the various professionals within the
complex correctional system, and to
collaborate more successfully across
disciplines."
Other psychology residents spoke
of the positive experience they had
with the program and affirmed their
intentions to continue working in
correctional mental health care. In
fact, over 80% of the psychology
residents take their first professional
position within a correctional set-
ting and 70% find a position within
the FDC. Fortunately, the require-
ments set by the APA regarding a
psychology residency's structure
match nicely with the requirements
for licensure in the state of Florida.
As such, the program allows them
to spend the training year complet-
ing these requirements towards state
licensure, which include accruing
2,000 hours of supervised experi-
ence, working to pass the national
exam known as the Examination for
Professional Practice in Psychology
(EPPP) and preparing for the juris-
prudence exam for Florida or a state
for which they seek licensure. Since
the program began in 2012, every
80 - November/December 2019 Corrections Today
As Secretary Inch said,
"We have success based
on our many teams
that form our incredible
agency ... a team of
teams."
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FDC Secretary Mark Inch
graduate of the psychology residency
program has successfully passed the
EPPP and is currently licensed as a
psychologist. "Achieving this level
of distinction in a correctional setting
is unprecedented and acknowledges
the commitment made by the FDC
and its administration to strive for
excellence and a position of national
leadership in the provision of men-
tal health care to those in our state
facilities," said Thomas Reimers,
director of Health Services.
Dr. Aufderheide and Dr. Culbreath
attribute the success of the psychology
internship and residency programs
to teamwork. Coming together was
the beginning, and working together
was the success. From the support
of the department's leadership team
and the institutional leadership teams
to the unit teams, the success of the
residency program is based on teams
working together. As Secretary Inch
said, "We have success based on our
many teams that form our incredible
agency ... a team of teams."
The Florida Department of Cor-
rections is the third largest state
prison system in the country and a
respected national leader in correc-
tions. The American Psychological
Association is the largest association
of psychologists in the world.
how to start a psychology doctoral
internship or post-doctoral residency
program in a correctional setting
and/or prepare/or APA 'accredita-
tion, please contact Dr. Aufderheide
at dean. aufderheide@fdc. myfiorida.
com or Dr. Culbreath at thomas.
culbreath@fdc. myfiorida. com.
Dr. Dean Aufderheide is the chief of
Mental Health Services for the Florida
Department of Corrections and president
for the Psychology Doctoral Internship and
Residency programs.
Dr. Thomas Culbreath, a graduate of the
internship class of 2008, is the training
director for the Psychology Doctoral
Internship and Post-Doctoral Residency
programs and spearheaded the preparation
for accreditation of the residency program.