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Match # 260315 – Central Iowa Family Institute
About Us
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.
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.
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
Positions: 2
Interns at Central Iowa Family Institute will rotate through two 6-month rotations.
Outpatient Rotation
Setting
Outpatient
Services Provided by Interns
Interns will have opportunities to provide a variety of services with a wide variety of client populations. During this rotation, 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).
Medical Rotation
Setting
Medical
Services Provided by Interns
During rotations at Mary Greeley Medical Center and Story County Medical Center, interns will provide psychotherapy 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.
Didactics
Didactic trainings are typically held every other Friday from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm. Two times per year interns will attend an all-day training from 8:30 am - 4:30 pm which will allow in-person socialization and interaction. Interns spend a minimum of eight hours each month in seminars and workshops with required learning objectives and a reading list covering relevant journal articles, etc. Please email applicant@psychologyinterns.org for access to our current training manual which includes the full didactic training policy (policies subject to change).
Supervision
All interns receive at least four hours of supervision per week. The requirement includes at least two hours with a licensed psychologist in individual, face-to-face supervision. The other two hours include secondary supervision with a licensed psychologist and/or ancillary supervisor in a group or individual setting. Please email applicant@psychologyinterns.org for access to our current training manual which includes the full supervision policy (policies subject to change).
Clerical and Technical Support
Central Iowa Family Institute has two full time administrative staff and two part-time administrative staff. Administrative staff provide support for reception, booking, scheduling, billing, and payroll.
Training Materials and Equipment
Interns will have access to the electronic medical record system, file storage system, website access, business cards, and research materials.
Schedule
Each intern’s schedule may vary according to special interests and needs of the training site.
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 |
Example treatment modalities (as listed by APPIC):
|
Assessment
|
Emphasis (31% to 49%) |
|
Individual Intervention
|
Emphasis (31% to 49%) |
|
Couples Intervention
|
Exposure (1% to 20%) |
|
Family Intervention
|
Experience (21% to 30%) |
|
Group Intervention
|
Experience (21% to 30%) |
|
Community Intervention
|
Exposure (1% to 20%) |
|
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
|
N/A |
|
Primary Care
|
Experience (21% to 30%) |
|
Supervision of Prac. Students
|
Exposure (1% to 20%) |
|
Evidence-Based Practice
|
Major Area (50%+) |
|
Evidence-Based Research
|
N/A |
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
|
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%) |
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
While we won’t know your exact supervisor assignments until the internship starts, these are examples of some of the individuals you may work with over the course of your year at the site.
Site Training Director
Warren H. Phillips, Ph.D.
Annual Pay for the 2025-2026 Training Year: $38,000
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.
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. Ideally, applicants would be eligible for provisional licensure in Iowa prior to the start of internship, however this does not require the applicant to have received a master’s degree in order to qualify.
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.