Externship Program

Baruch College, named after Bernard M. Baruch in 1953, originated from the United States’ first free public higher education institution, the Free Academy. It was founded by Townsend Harris who, in 1847, challenged the city to “let the children of the rich and poor take their seats together and know no distinctions save that of industry, good conduct, and intellect.” This later became the mission of Baruch College.

Baruch College of the City University of New York remains dedicated to being a catalyst for the social, cultural, and financial mobility of a diverse student body, reflective of its historical mission. It offers rigorous baccalaureate, masters, and doctoral programs to qualified students who seek careers in business, public affairs, and the arts and sciences.

Baruch attracts motivated students of proven achievement, who are seriously committed to making their dreams a reality, while offering a high-quality, low-cost education to students who might not otherwise be able to attend college. The College is ranked among the region’s and nation’s top colleges by U.S. News & World Report, Forbes, Princeton Review, and others. The College’s 20,000+ students, who speak more than 110 languages and trace their heritage to more than 168 countries, have been repeatedly named the most ethnically diverse student populations in the United Sates. Baruch serves many students with limited financial means – 27% with household incomes of $20,000 or less, 57% with household incomes of $40,000 or less, and 37% are the first in their family to attend college.

The Counseling Center has been offering psychological services since the 1970s. The mission of the Baruch College Counseling Center is to provide free culturally-responsive and trauma-informed mental health services to undergraduate and graduate students through a social justice lens. Our diverse staff work to facilitate growth, connection, and psychological well-being so students can be successful in college and beyond.

Over 83% of students who use the Center’s services are BIPOC, and a vast majority of our students are 1st generation Americans or international students. Over 23% of our clients identify as LGBTQI+ lesbian and 83% report a history of trauma. Many of the students who come to the Counseling Center typically would not—or could not—obtain or pay for mental health services. In line with national trends, over the past several years, the Counseling Center has observed a significant increase in the demand for its services and in the severity and complexity of student symptoms.

The Center offers an array of free and confidential diagnostic and treatment mental health services, including trauma, depression, alcohol use, and cannabis use screenings. All students seeking treatment at the Center are initially assessed by the triage team and specialized treatment recommendations occur during our collaborative multidisciplinary disposition meetings. Treatment recommendations include individual therapy, group therapy, crisis management, psychological testing, evaluations for psychiatric medications and ongoing medication management, and consultation and referral. The Center’s mental health workshops and other outreach events create collaborative opportunities across Baruch, including the Student Health and Wellness Center, the Campus Intervention Team (CIT), Residential Life, SEEK (Baruch’s Higer Education Opportunity Program), Office of International Students, Office of Student Disability Services, the Honors Program, and multiple student organizations.

The Center is staffed by five full-time NY-state licensed psychologists, five part-time psychologists, four part-time counselors, three psychiatry residents from Mount Sinai Beth Israel, one part-time research coordinator, and an office manager. For 2025-2026, our training class will consist of two part-time CUNY pre-doctoral fellows and approximately ten part-time graduate level psychology practicum externs.

The emphasis of our externship training program is on clinical practice in which scholarly skills, including critical thinking, conceptualization, and problem-solving, are embedded. We are committed to training reflective and informed practitioners. As part of a university setting, Baruch’s Counseling Center is connected to a wider academic environment. We believe in the importance of teaching externs not just a set of skills; rather, we are committed to teaching externs how to learn, be reflective about their work, and assess the ways their experiences fit with what they have learned.

Another important philosophy is our awareness that we are training externs to work in a diverse world. Baruch serves students from varied economic, religious, and ethnic backgrounds who present with a wide range of concerns. As such, we are committed to culturally-responsive clinical practice and outreach. Our model stresses the need for externs to develop an understanding of how their own personal histories and cultural identities affect how they understand and interact with people different from themselves and to develop relevant interventions to meet a wide range of needs. Our commitment to this area goes beyond one domain, and it runs across the different modalities we offer. In support of our multicultural model, externs who speak a second or third language are able to offer individual therapy in languages other than English.

We value a trauma-informed multi-disciplinary approach to working with students. As a training staff, our backgrounds are in clinical and counseling psychology, and we offer a range of perspectives – including humanistic, somatic, multicultural, mindfulness-informed cognitive-behavioral, psychodynamic, gestalt, feminist, and creative arts. We model the value of utilizing different approaches to understanding and treating a diverse college population through our multidisciplinary collaborations and supervisory activities.

The externship program provides experience throughout the adult life span that may be tailored to meet individual educational, counseling, and training goals. As part of their experience, and because we value an interdisciplinary approach to care and training, externs will work with other professionals, including psychiatry residents who are on staff.

Externs receive at least one weekly individual supervision and one weekly trauma-informed group supervision with licensed psychologists.

Supervised clinical training is complimented with weekly didactic seminars. Training seminars include topics such as suicide assessment and prevention, psychopharmacology, multicultural counseling, creative arts interventions, somatic-based trauma intervention, and biofeedback.

Two-hour case conference presentations occur approximately 6 times per semester in lieu of the two hour didactic seminar. Externs take turns presenting in-depth on an individual psychotherapy case with a written intake and case conceptualization. Externs present one case per semester, and senior supervisor staff collaborate with the training team to provide feedback about the case.

Externs will have the opportunity to provide weekly individual therapy to approximately 8 to 12 students. Additionally, externs may have the opportunity to facilitate workshops on campus or co-facilitate a psychotherapy group. An hour of weekly group supervision is provided for those externs co-facilitating a psychotherapy group. Example workshop and outreach topics include: introduction to counseling, overcoming mental health stigma within Latinx or Black communities, managing stress, mental health issues within the LGBTQI community.

Testing experience is available if applicable to extern’s interest and is conducted on a voluntary basis above the clinical hour requirement described above or during the summer and winter breaks.

Populations commonly served:

·         First generation college students

·         First generation Americans

·         International students

·         BIPOC students

·         Students with LGBTQI+ identities

·         Adults clients with complex trauma histories

·         Students from low income households/families

Various diagnoses include:

·         Anxiety Disorders

·         Depressive Disorders

·         Psychotic Disorders

·         Eating Disorders

·         Personality Disorders

·         Substance Use Disorders

Types of tests used in assessments:

·         WAIS IV

·         PAI

·         CPT-3

·         MMPI

·         D-KEFS

·         RORSCHACH

·         TAT

·         BENDER

·         WIAT

Expected number of full assessment batteries completed during externship (defined as administration of a battery of standardized tests): As needed or requested

Expected number of assessment reports completed during externship (defined as writing reports based on a battery of standardized tests: As needed or requested

Address: 137 E. 25th Street between Lexington and 3rd Avenues, 9th floor, New York, NY

Program Director: Teresa Hurst, PhD

Contact for Questions: Associate Director, Dr. Lynn Kaplan – lynn.kaplan@baruch.cuny.edu

Start Date: August 22, 2025 with option to start earlier in summer

End Date: May 22, 2026 with option to continue into summer

Scheduling:
Group supervision is held on Fridays from 9-10am and didactic seminars and case conferences are held on Fridays from 10-12pm. As such, all trainees are required to be present during this block of time. Trainees are also expected to be available an additional 1.5 – 2 days for counseling services (depending on training year and eligibility).

Required level of readiness:
Clinical/counseling/school psychology doctoral students who will be in their third, fourth and fifth years for the 2025-2026 academic year are invited to apply. Doctoral students with sufficient clinical experience who will be in their second year will also be considered.

Preferred level of readiness (any prior experiences preferred for applicants):
Preference will be given to applicants with relevant clinical/research/assessment experiences.

Is there a stipend for externs? No
Wheelchair accessible: Yes
Is the site accessible through public transportation: Yes
Are home visits required as part of the trainee’s duties? No

Additional dates for applications:
Applications will be accepted through the APA externship portal site nynjadot.apa.org in January of 2025. Exact dates can be found on the portal site. We will not be accepting applications past the portal dates (or via email).

What materials need to be submitted?

• Cover letter
• CV
• Eligibility letter
• EITHER a case summary or an assessment report
• Two letters of recommendation (LOR) – at least one from a clinical supervisor or someone who can speak about the student’s clinical skills

Options for LOR’s: 1) If the letter writer permits the applicant to read the LOR, then the applicant can upload the LOR to the site directly through the portal as part of their application, OR 2) If the letter writer does not permit the applicant to see the LOR, then the letter writer should email the letter to lynn.kaplan@baruch.cuny.edu before the application deadline.

Any details of the application process (e.g., interviewing, time frame, how decisions are made):
Group interviews will be held throughout the month of February, 2025. Offers will be made to candidates in March of 2025 (exact date will be announced on the nynjadot.apa.org portal).