Post Graduate Fellowship Training Program Focuses on Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Mental Health Recovery

Written by: Ralf Schneider, MA, CPRP | PSR Fellowship Hub Site Coordinator

The VA Interprofessional Advanced Fellowship in Psychosocial Rehabilitation (PSR) and Recovery Oriented Services offers specialized training at nine different facilities VA wide. Our purpose is to develop mental health leaders with vision, knowledge, and commitment to further the transformation of mental health care systems, emphasizing functional capability, rehabilitation, recovery, and wellness.

The PSR Fellowship is a one-year onsite advanced clinical training program that focuses on the theory and practice of PSR and recovery for Veterans experiencing serious mental illness. Training involves supervised placement in multiple clinical rotations, didactic education, and work on an “education dissemination project” which are projects developed by fellows meant to enhance the knowledge of health professionals and the quality of care provided to Veterans. Training is interprofessional, emphasizing collaboration between disciplines so that the unique skill set of each professional may be best utilized to maximize Veteran health outcomes. The objective of this program is to develop leaders positioned to promote systems change and ensure commitment to recovery-oriented services in mental health care settings. Over 50% of our graduates take jobs in VA immediately post-fellowship, and among these, many individuals have gone on to take leadership roles at their VAs. This includes positions as Local Recovery Coordinators, as PRRC Directors, and more. Past fellows describe their training as intensive, offering diverse training opportunities, and offering excellent supervision. This training fosters the professional growth of new professionals, and those shifting their career focus.

Last fellowship year we were pleased to welcome three new training sites (the Eastern Colorado HCS, Milwaukee VAMC, and Cheyenne VA HCS). Each training site successfully recruited and trained interprofessional fellowship classes, with several trainees continuing as VA employees.

This year our program is hosting twenty-five fellows across seven training sites VA wide. Our fellowship class includes post-graduate social workers, occupational therapists, professional mental health counselors, psychologists, clinical pastoral educators, one nurse practitioner and one psychiatry resident. Fellows and faculty voice the benefits of this professional mix for their own development and in enabling them to provide optimal treatment.

All training sites have opened recruitment for the coming year (September 2024 – August 2025). Deadlines for receipt of applications vary slightly by training site, but will generally be during December 2023 for psychologists, and January 2024 for social workers. If you have interested colleagues, particularly current trainees, please urge them to check out this opportunity and reach out now.

For more information about our training program, clinical training sites and applying for Fellowship Year 2024-2025: mirecc.va.gov/visn5/training/interprofessional_fellowship_program.