NYU Langone’s Rusk Rehabilitation offers a Rehabilitation Clinical Psychology Internship designed to prepare interns for entry-level positions in psychology by introducing them to various professional roles psychologists can pursue.

Supported by hospital-based funding, the one-year internship has been accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA) since 1955 and is the second oldest accredited internship program in the United States. As a member of the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC), the internship follows a practitioner–scholar model of clinical training and totals 2,000 hours of supervised clinical experiences.

Internship Training

Training begins with a comprehensive two-week orientation program designed to acquaint you with rehabilitation medicine and the role psychologists play in the rehabilitation setting. During the remainder of the year, you attend four hours of didactic seminars per week on neuropsychology, leadership development, diversity and inclusion, and neurorehabilitation psychology skills.

You receive intensive training in neuropsychological testing, individual and group psychotherapy and cognitive rehabilitation, and staff and family consultation. Together with supervising psychologists, you work with patients from diverse cultural and disability backgrounds who have complex physical, neurologic, emotional, cognitive, and psychosocial conditions. These include cancer, diabetes, long COVID, cardiopulmonary, concussion, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, stroke, and traumatic brain injury. You also get firsthand experience working with patients who have comorbid psychiatric conditions, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety disorders.

Each intern receives a minimum of four hours of weekly supervision. During the year, interns are evaluated on all nine APA profession-wide competencies (PWCs) and the program’s three program-specific competencies. Evaluation ratings are based on direct observation, documentation review, supervision discussions, and interdisciplinary feedback.

Interns can complete intensive six-month inpatient and outpatient rotations, pursuing either an adult or a pediatric track/lifespan. Rotations are completed at Rusk Rehabilitation at NYU Langone Ambulatory Care Center East 38th Street, Rusk Rehabilitation at NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital, and Rusk Rehabilitation at Tisch Hospital. Interns who pursue the pediatric rotation have the opportunity to work at NYU Langone Slope Pediatrics and Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at NYU Langone. A minimum of two psychologists supervise interns per rotation.

Internship Application Process and Prerequisites

This internship starts in the first week of September. Eligible candidates must apply through the APPIC Application for Psychology Internships (AAPI) online portal (username and password required). We follow the standard APPIC Matching Program guidelines.

To be eligible, candidates must have completed all academic coursework and comprehensive examinations leading to a doctoral degree before the start of the internship. We prefer candidates who have completed a significant part of their dissertation before the internship.

A minimum of 500 hours of supervised practicum experience in child or adult settings dealing with psychological, physical, cognitive, and health issues is required before the start of the internship. One of these experiences should be in a hospital setting with previous rehabilitation experiences in the practice. We prefer candidates to have completed at least 10 integrated psychological or neuropsychological reports. Knowledge of neuropsychological testing obtained during formal coursework is required for this internship.

Please include the following materials with your application, which must be submitted through the APPIC website:

• graduate school transcript
• CV
• cover letter indicating whether you are interested in the adult or pediatric track/lifespan
• three letters of reference, two of which must be from clinical supervisors
• a de-identified neuropsychological or psychological evaluation
• psychotherapy case summary or a treatment summary that highlights your treatment goals, course of treatment, and interventions

Applicants will participate in a virtual interview. We will notify candidates of their interview status by mid-December. Each applicant is interviewed by Felicia B. Connor, PsyD, ABPP, two staff psychologists, and an intern.

As a condition of employment, interns must undergo a physical examination the summer before beginning their internship as required by public law.

You can find out more about our internship through our brochure and leadership newsletter.

Contact Us

For more information about the Rehabilitation Clinical Psychology Internship, please contact Dr. Felicia Connor, director of training, at felicia.connor@nyulangone.org or 646-501-7796.