Match # coming soon
Internship positions available: 2
Residency/Job Positions Available: 2
Our Mission
The Central Iowa Family Institute’s (CIFI) mission is to provide: Innovative couple and family therapy services through its on-site Clinic. We also provide training programs for mental health and other professionals on-site and in community settings and strive to participate in cutting-edge research initiatives that focus on developing new treatment models and training techniques.
About Our Site
Central Iowa Family Institute (CIFI) is a multi-specialty group private practice in Central Iowa that provides medication management, outpatient mental health (psychotherapy and psychological testing), and couples and family behavioral health interventions. We strive to always collaborate with schools and medical practices in the community.
CIFI offers two internship positions focused on the provision of outpatient individual, couples, and family mental health therapy, psychological testing/evaluation, and working with two medical centers in the community (Mary Greeley Medical Center and Story County Medical Center) to provide mental health services within a medical setting.
Among other experiences, interns will:
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Develop their therapeutic skills with a choice of a variety of populations including children, teens, families, adults, older adults, and couples
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Develop and co-lead group interventions of interest to the intern. Some possibilities include: groups for LGBTQ+ youth and parents, cognitive flexibility groups for children, interpersonal psychotherapy groups, and other special interest groups such as mood disorders, anxiety, and SPACE therapy (empirically supported parental psychotherapy intervention for children with anxiety disorders)
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Develop their psychological testing skills with a variety of age ranges and with exposure to a wide variety of presenting concerns including ADHD, Learning Disorders, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Mood Disorders, Anxiety Disorders, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, PTSD and Trauma-Related Disorders, and a variety of Neurological Disorders and Dementias
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Have the opportunity to be fully trained in systemic family therapy models
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Develop consultation skills by providing psychological consultation to educational staff and psychoeducational presentations on mental health topics to parents and professionals in the community
About this Rotation
Central Iowa Family Institute (CIFI) is a multi-specialty group private practice in Central Iowa that provides psychiatric medication management, outpatient individual, couples, and family mental health interventions, comprehensive psychological testing, and collaboration with community-based educational, medical, and applied behavioral analysis settings.
CIFI offers two internship positions focused on providing outpatient individual, couples, and family mental health therapy, psychological testing/evaluation, and working with two of our medical community partners (Mary Greeley Medical Center and Story County Medical Center) for experience in a medical setting.
Psychology interns will work in six month rotations with one intern working in the outpatient setting of CIFI and one intern working with Mary Greeley Medical Center and Story County Medical Center. During the second six months interns will rotate setting such that the intern working at CIFI outpatient clinic (during the first six months) will move to Mary Greeley Medical Center and Story County Medical Center and the intern who worked in the medical settings will spend their second six months in CIFI outpatient clinic. Thus, every intern receives a comprehensive experience of working in both outpatient mental health and medical settings.
Among other experiences, interns will:
- Develop their therapeutic skills with a choice of a variety of populations including children, teens, families, adults, older adults, and couples
- Develop and co-lead group interventions of interest to the intern. Some possibilities include: groups for LGBTQ+ youth and parents, cognitive flexibility groups for children, interpersonal psychotherapy groups, and other special interest groups such as mood disorders, anxiety, and SPACE therapy (empirically supported parental psychotherapy intervention for children with anxiety disorders)
- Develop their psychological testing skills with a variety of age ranges and with exposure to a wide variety of presenting concerns including ADHD, Learning Disorders, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Mood Disorders, Anxiety Disorders, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, PTSD and Trauma-Related Disorders
- Learn how to fully integrate measurement based care into their therapeutic work with clients
- Have the opportunity to be fully trained in systems-based couples and family therapy
- Develop consultation skills by providing psychological consultation to educational staff and psychoeducational presentations on mental health topics to parents and professionals in the community
Training Opportunities
Psychology interns at Central Iowa Family Institute (CIFI) will have opportunities to provide a variety of services with a wide variety of client populations. During their rotation with CIFI outpatient services interns will provide individual, group, couples, and family therapy as well as psychological testing services to children (as young as age 4), teenagers, young adults, and adults. Therapeutic services include conceptualization and intervention using a variety of theoretical perspectives for individuals, couples, and families. Theoretical orientations to be taught to all interns include couples and family therapy (i.e., structural family therapy, strategic family therapy, systems therapy, Bowen family therapy, etc), cognitive behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, interpersonal therapy for all ages and cognitive behavioral play therapy for children. Interns will also have the opportunity to co-lead group therapy for a variety of topical interests which could include LGBTQ+IA, dialectical behavioral therapy, interpersonal process, parenting groups, and medical recovery groups. Interns will also provide psychological testing services to children, teens, and adults for a variety of presenting concerns including ADHD, autism spectrum conditions, anxiety disorders, mood disorders, trauma-related disorders, and presurgical evaluations (i.e., bariatric surgery).
During rotations at Mary Greeley Medical Center and Story County Medical Center interns will provide psychotherapy (using the above mentioned orientations) primarily with teenagers, families, young adults, and adult (including older adults) client populations through both their outpatient clinic and medical specialties in cardiology, diabetes management, and oncology. Interns will also be able to complete psychological testing and group therapy at both medical centers with adults and older adults.
Rotation Schedule
Interns will have the opportunity to work five days per week at their respective site location (Central Iowa Family Institute – CIFI outpatient, Story County Medical Center, Mary Greeley Medical Center) for a period of six months. After the first six months interns will switch to the other location. For example, the intern who works at CIFI Outpatient clinic for their first six months will move to Mary Greeley Medical Center (MGMC) and Story County Medical Center (SCMC), respectively, during their second six months. Alternatively, the intern who worked at MGMC and SCMC for their first six months will then work at CIFI Outpatient Clinic during their second six months.
Example Schedule
| Time of Day | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
| 8:00 am | Site meeting with interns and Training Director to set goals for week | Supervision | Supervision | Supervision | Supervision |
| 9:00 am | Training | Couples Therapy | Consultation w/colleagues | Case Management Time | Didactics |
| 10:00 am | Training | Individual Therapy | Case Management Time | Individual Therapy | Didactics |
| 11:00 am | Training | Individual Therapy | Individual Therapy | Individual Therapy | Didactics |
| 12:00 pm | Lunch/Time with Colleagues and Interns | Lunch/Time with Colleagues and Interns | Lunch/Time with Colleagues and Interns | Lunch/Time with Colleagues and Interns | Lunch/Time with Colleagues and Interns |
| 1:00 pm | Individual Therapy | Psychological Testing Intake | Case Management Time | Supervise a Practicum Student | Case Management Time |
| 2:00 pm | Individual Therapy | Psychological Testing Administration | Individual Therapy | Supervision of Supervision | Case Management Time |
| 3:00 pm | Individual Therapy | Psychological Testing Administration | Individual Therapy | Individual Therapy | Case Management Time |
| 4:00 pm | Child Therapy Group | Psychological Testing Interpretive Report Writing | Adult Therapy Group | Family Therapy | Case Management Time |
Placement Location
Central Iowa Family Institute is located in Ankeny, Iowa, 20 minutes north of Des Moines. CIFI is also the host location for at least 50% of the in-person didactic trainings. Interns at this location will rotate through CIFI as well as two partner agencies, Mary Greeley Medical Center and Story County Medical Center. All rotation clinics are within 30 minutes or less of each other.
| Title | Address | Description | Link |
|---|
APPIC Training Experiences
Treatment Modalities
Example treatment modalities (as listed by APPIC):
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Assessment
|
Emphasis (31% to 49%) |
|
Individual Intervention
|
Emphasis (31% to 49%) |
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Couples Intervention
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Exposure (1% to 20%) |
|
Family Intervention
|
Experience (21% to 30%) |
|
Group Intervention
|
Experience (21% to 30%) |
|
Community Intervention
|
Exposure (1% to 20%) |
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Consultation/Liaison
|
Exposure (1% to 20%) |
|
Crisis Intervention
|
Exposure (1% to 20%) |
|
Brief Intervention
|
Experience (21% to 30%) |
|
Long-Term Intervention
|
Experience (21% to 30%) |
|
Cognitive Rehabilitation
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N/A |
|
Primary Care
|
Experience (21% to 30%) |
|
Supervision of Prac. Students
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Exposure (1% to 20%) |
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Evidence-Based Practice
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Major Area (50%+) |
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Evidence-Based Research
|
N/A |
Supervised Experiences
Psychology interns at Central Iowa Family Institute and it’s rotations will work with children, teenagers, young adults, adults, and older adults with a variety of presenting concerns including ADHD, Autism spectrum disorders, PTSD and trauma-related disorders including survivors of abuse, anxiety disorders, mood disorders including major depression and bipolar disorder, behavioral problems for younger children, and substance use disorders. Integrated and co-located health care will also be a significant part of the internship experience. There will also be the opportunity to receive supervision of your own supervision of Psychology practicum students as part of the internship experience.
Example supervised experiences (as listed by APPIC):
| Health Psychology | Exposure (1% to 20%) |
Forensics / Corrections
|
N/A |
| Women’s Health | Exposure (1% to 20%) |
Sexual Offenders
|
N/A |
|
HIV / AIDS
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N/A | Geropsychology | Exposure (1% to 20%) |
| Eating Disorders | Exposure (1% to 20%) | Pediatrics | Experience (21% to 30%) |
| Sexual Disorders | N/A | School | Exposure (1% to 20%) |
| Sports Psychology | N/A | Counseling | Major Area (50%+) |
| Rehabilitation Psychology | N/A |
Vocational / Career Development
|
Exposure (1% to 20%) |
| Physical Disabilities | Exposure (1% to 20%) |
Multicultural Therapy
|
Exposure (1% to 20%) |
| Learning Disabilities |
Experience (21% to 30%)
|
Feminist Therapy
|
Exposure (1% to 20%) |
| Developmental Disabilities | Exposure (1% to 20%) |
Religion / Spirituality
|
Exposure (1% to 20%) |
| Assessment | Emphasis (31% to 49%) |
Empirically-Supported Treatment
|
Emphasis (31% to 49%) |
| Neuropsychology – Adult | Emphasis (31% to 49%) |
Public Policy / Advocacy
|
Exposure (1% to 20%) |
|
Neuropsychology – Child
|
Emphasis (31% to 49%) |
Program Development/Evaluation
|
Exposure (1% to 20%) |
| Serious Mental Illness | Exposure (1% to 20%) | Supervision | Exposure (1% to 20%) |
| Anxiety Disorders | Emphasis (31% to 49%) | Research | N/A |
| Trauma/PTSD | Emphasis (31% to 49%) | Administration | N/A |
|
Sexual Abuse
|
Experience (21% to 30%) |
Integrated Health Care–Primary
|
Experience (21% to 30%) |
| Substance Use Disorders | Exposure (1% to 20%) |
Integrated Health Care–Specialty
|
Experience (21% to 30%) |
Patient Population
Client populations for the Central Iowa Family Institute rotations include children (as young as age 3-4), adolescents, young adults, adults, and older adults. A large portion of our population is from rural and underserved areas and we emphasize work with the LGBTQ+IA community across all ages.
Our Supervisors
Site Training Director
Warren H. Phillips, Ph.D.
Annual Pay, Benefits, and Support
Annual Pay for the 2025-2026 Training Year: $38,000
Employment Requirements
Central Iowa Family Institute collects pre-employment background information from the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services for child and adult dependent abuse and from the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigations for criminal arrests. The only reasons we would break a match with an intern would be if they were flagged as on the Iowa child or dependent adult abuse registry, the Iowa sex offender registry, or were flagged as committing a felony on the Department of Criminal Investigations background check.
Intern Selection Process
Central Iowa Family Institute chooses intern candidates through a thorough review of internship application materials and either on-site or virtual interviews. Our primary supervisors, including the Internship Training Director, are part of the selection and interview process. We are looking for interns with a variety of training experiences that could include training with children, adolescents, families, adults, and couples and who are interested in deepening and extending their experience in individual, couples, and family psychotherapy as well as psychological testing. The ideal intern candidate for our site has an interest in developing “general” skills in psychotherapy and psychological testing with a variety of populations AND has an interest in developing area(s) of specialty such as working with children and families, learning systems-focused family therapy, specializing in trauma, specializing in psychological testing. or other areas of focus. We are looking for interns with a passion for serving the community, meeting the mental health needs of Iowans, and seeking new and exciting experiences.
Interview Process
Our Psychology Internship interview process will be conducted with our Training Director, virtually. Candidates will begin the day with an overview from the Regional Training Director of each of the sites in the Cy-Hawk Consortium. Following that, applicants will have the opportunity for a one hour interview with our Training Director. In this interview the applicant will be asked questions about their clinical training and experiences, ethical decision making, research interests, and goals for the internship year. This interview will last for approximately one hour. Candidates will have the opportunity to ask questions about the site during and after the interview. Our site will set specific days for interviews and share that with candidates for scheduling purposes.
COVID-19 Response
All services at Central Iowa Family Institute are a hybrid of in-person and virtual, depending on the comfort and preference of clients. While masks are provided on site they are not mandatory at the present time but can be worn by clients and staff depending on comfort level, preference, and Covid status. If a staff member has been diagnosed with Covid and completed any necessary quarantine (work from home) procedures they can return to work once they have tested “negative” for Covid for 24 hours. Covid vaccines are highly encouraged but not required at the present time. However, our policies on Covid-19 are reviewed anytime there is a change in recommendations from the CDC.
Ames, Ankeny, and Des Moines are excellent areas to live due to cost of living, childcare opportunities, quality of education, and entertainment and food choices. Des Moines, in particular, has a thriving night life, excellent shopping opportunities, and a variety of unique and specialty stores and restaurants, particularly in their East Village. Ames and Ankeny, Iowa provide exposure to the beautiful Iowa State University Campus and library as well as several bike and hiking trails. Public transportation is readily available in both Ames (through the Cy Ride) and the city of Des Moines through their bus system.