Supervised treatment of a reasonable number of patients is necessary, however, it is not sufficient for providing solid training involving psychotherapeutic skills. Our approach to training residents in psychotherapy involves a combination of formal lectures, demonstrations, observations, and practice throughout the four-year training period. The development of excellent psychotherapeutic skills involves learning about the non-specific benefits of all psychotherapies and the specific benefits of certain therapies. This latter aspect of training evolves as research demonstrates which therapies are effective in treating specific conditions. During the inpatient psychiatry rotation in the PGY-1 year, residents improve their interview skills by conducting patient interviews in front of their colleagues and teaching attendings.
Residents also observe faculty interviews.
Several conferences during this year include specific discussions concerning inpatient psychotherapy and issues of transition to outpatient management. In addition, issues related to somatic and psychologic patient management are discussed during daily attending rounds. A Tuesday morning course dealing with personality and personality disorders is offered during all years of training. Issues of psychotherapies and personality profiles are covered in this four-year curriculum. During the second year, residents continue to gain psychotherapeutic skills from supervised patient management coupled with didactics from daily teaching rounds.