Fellowships and Internships
Medical Family Therapy Program fellows and interns have a choice between a three fellowship and internship opportunities.
Fellowship Opportunities
The pre-doctoral fellowship is an advanced training position that helps mentor a student in clinical, research and teaching skills. The position prepares a student for a future role in academia, family medicine, health care, or medically based setting. Faculty from both Medical Family Therapy and the Department of Family and Community Medicine help coordinate the schedule of the fellowship. Students have the opportunity to practice at one of the three SLUCare sites, along with working in specialty areas of medicine.
Details
- 11-month commitment of 20 hours per week
- Opportunities to work with research faculty on multiple projects within the Department of Family and Community Medicine
- Experiences in providing clinical services in a variety of health care settings
- Teaching family medicine residents in both behavioral health and psychosocial areas of care
- Supervising master's level clinicians in hospital and primary care settings
- Opportunities to submit peer-reviewed publications and present at regional/national conferences
Minimum Qualifications
- Doctoral candidate from a COAMFTE-accredited marriage and family therapy program.
- Coursework and experience in medical family therapy
- Licensed or provisionally licensed marital and family therapist in the state of Missouri.
- Knowledge of research field-related terminology
- Ability to manage work schedule independently and in a timely manner
In 2019, Saint Louis University's Medical Family Therapy Program introduced the advanced clinical internship. This paid position allows an advanced doctoral student to provide comprehensive integrated behavioral healthcare services for different populations. The internship is a 16-hour position (two full days) where the intern gets to practice care in both family medicine and a specialty area of medicine. Students must have completed two years of coursework and currently taking internship credits to apply. The position includes:
- One full day in providing behavioral health services to patients in SLUCare Family Medicine Clinics
- One full day in providing behavioral health services and/or observations in one of the SLUCare specialty departments (e.g Psychiatry, Internal Medicine, OBGYN)
- Conducting routine behavioral health huddles with physicians, nurses and other providers on a regular basis
- Taking part in team meetings at the clinic as part of routine care and communication of presenting issues
- Participating on in-service talks with providers and staff at different clinical sites
Integrated Behavioral Health Practice Fellowship for Children and Youth
Over a third of youth in Missouri live in an area experiencing a mental health professional shortage. To address this workforce shortage, a multidisciplinary team consisting of faculty from various Saint Louis University programs (Medical Family Therapy, Clinical Psychology, Psychiatry and Social Work) has developed the Integrated Behavioral Health Practice Fellowship for Children and Youth (IBHP-CY).
The IBHP-CY recruits graduate students and residents from the above mentioned SLU programs to:
- Participate in paid training and field experiences focused on providing multidisciplinary,
team-based behavioral health care services for children, adolescents and their families;
- Trainees from SLU's master’s-level training programs (Social Work and Marriage and Family Therapy) are paid a stipend of $10,000.
- Trainees from our doctoral-level training program (Clinical Psychology) are paid a stipend of $25,000.
- Trainees from our residency program are paid a stipend of $40,000.
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Prepare students to provide integrated behavioral health care in team-based settings via telehealth and in-person settings. IBHP-CY fellows will gain critical knowledge and skills through coursework, service learning, mentorship and interprofessional trainings focused on prevention, assessment and intervention for youth violence, and its associated behavioral health problems, occurring across diverse families and communities.
- Enhance behavioral health workforce capacity by providing multiple professional development and continuing education opportunities for behavioral health professionals in the region to enhance their practice skills and competencies.
- Evaluate the impact of the IBHP-CY activities on program outcomes.
Faculty Mentors
Annie Garner, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Department of Psychology at Saint Louis University, which is home to an APA-accredited clinical psychology doctoral program. In the clinical psychology program, Dr. Garner teaches child-and adolescent-related courses and supervises a specialty child/adolescent clinical vertical supervision team (CVT). Students are trained to work collaboratively with professionals from various disciplines including teachers and medical providers. Dr. Garner’s area of clinical and research expertise focuses on issues relevant to neurodiverse youth with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
Dr. Garner’s role on the IBHP-CY fellowship is to mentor Clinical Psychology IBHP-CY fellows working at interdisciplinary placements such as the St. Louis Children’s Hospital Cleft Palate and Craniofacial Institute.
Katie Heiden-Rootes, Ph.D., LMFT is an associate professor in the COAMFTE-accredited Medical Family Therapy program in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, School of Medicine at Saint Louis University. Dr. Heiden-Rootes teaches and supervises master's and doctoral students on gender, sexuality and cultural humility in couple and family therapy practice. She is a certified sex therapist and licensed marital and family therapist. She oversees the Queer and Trans Wellness Clinic housed in the Center for Counseling and Family Therapy, a community mental health clinic located in Morrissey Hall. Dr. Heiden-Rootes' area of research expertise is with LGBTQ youth and adults. Her research aims to describe the impact of close relationships on the health and well-being of LGBTQ people.
Dr. Heiden-Rootes’ role on the IBHP-CY fellowship is to mentor Medical Family Therapy IBHP-CY fellows at community internship placements and in their interdisciplinary practice at Queer and Trans Wellness Clinic.
Alicia Barnes, D.O., M.P.H., is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Saint Louis University. She is a double board-certified in adult and child and adolescent psychiatry. Her practice is based in community organizations, including federally qualified health centers, community mental health centers and juvenile detention centers. She teaches didactics on child and adolescent development and interview skills to medical students and psychiatry residents. Dr. Barnes' area of clinical and research expertise is in childhood trauma, environmental stress and improving clinical outcomes and health equity of marginalized and racialized youth.
Dr. Barnes’s role on the IBHP-CY fellowship is to mentor psychiatry resident IBHP-CY fellows working at interdisciplinary placements such as Affinia Health Care, Casa de Salud, and the Juvenile Detention Center.
As an associate professor of social work in the College for Public Health and Social Justice (CPHSJ) at Saint Louis University, Michael Mancini, Ph.D., M.S.W, conducts research from a collaborative, person-centered and social justice orientation. His research focuses on the implementation of integrated behavioral health practices in health and mental health settings. Dr. Mancini has recently published a book with Springer (2021) titled "Integrated Behavioral Health Practice," focused on the integration of evidence-based behavioral health practices in health settings for common behavioral health issues including depression, anxiety, trauma, addiction and violence. Dr. Mancini has extensive experience in community-based participatory action research methods, organizational ethnography, implementation science and qualitative inquiry to examine the factors that facilitate and impede implementation of integrated behavioral health practices in community-based settings.
Dr. Mancini has also published in a range of social work and mental health journals including: "Community Mental Health Journal," "Qualitative Health Research," "Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal," "British Journal of Social Work," "Journal of Social Work Education," "Journal of Behavioral Health Services and Research," and the "American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse." Dr. Mancini also teaches graduate-level courses on clinical assessment and treatment of behavioral health disorder to better understand the best practices in integrated behavioral health settings. As a direct service practitioner, Dr. Mancini has served in inpatient and outpatient behavioral health and criminal justice settings.