MIRECC / CoE

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced its commitment to interprofessional clinical care and training in psychosocial rehabilitation and recovery for Veterans with serious mental illness in 2002. Through collaboration between Mental Health Services and the Office of Academic Affiliations, three VA healthcare sites were selected and funded to begin the VA Interprofessional Fellowship Program in Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Recovery (PSR). In 2006, VA announced the expansion of the PSR fellowship program to four additional sites, and in 2021, the Fellowship expanded by three more.

The purpose of the Interprofessional PSR Fellowship Program is to develop future mental health leaders with vision, knowledge, and commitment to transform mental health care systems in the 21st century by emphasizing functional capability, rehabilitation, and recovery.

Fellows must be U.S. citizens and must be graduates of academic programs that are accredited by the nationally recognized accrediting bodies for the profession. All fellows must possess a master's level degree or above in their respective disciplines, which is a basic requirement to participate in the fellowship program. Applications are invited from psychiatry residents, graduates of doctoral programs in clinical or counseling psychology, master's or doctoral programs in social work,  master's or doctoral programs in mental health nursing, master's programs and doctoral programs in occupational therapy, master's programs in vocational rehabilitation, master's programs in marriage & family therapy, master's programs in clinical mental health counseling, who are license eligible, and masters of divinity programs with 4 units of accredited clinical pastoral education.

The Fellowship Program is full time for psychology, vocational rehabilitation, clinical pastoral education, occupational therapy, social work, marriage & family therapy, licensed professional mental health counseling and nursing fellows. Stipends are competitive and are based on location and discipline. Full time fellows are eligible for health insurance benefits. All fellows earn annual and sick leave.

Education Dissemination Project

The PSR Fellowship Program is a year-long, onsite experience providing services to Veterans at one of the nine training sites nationwide. Each training site has from four to six full-time fellow positions. Fellows come from a range of disciplines, including nursing, social work, psychology, psychiatry, vocational rehabilitation, clinical pastoral education, occupational therapy, marriage & family therapy, and licensed professional mental health counseling. Fellows come to the fellowship with a strong interest in working with Veterans recovering from serious mental health disorders.

The fellowship program utilizes a comprehensive psychosocial rehabilitation approach to restore a Veteran's full potential following the onset of a serious mental illness. Fellows are involved in a number of clinical training experiences that take place on inpatient psychiatric units, psychosocial rehabilitation and recovery centers (PRRCs), and a variety of other VA mental health treatment settings. Interventions that fellows may provide include Veteran and family education, enhancement of residential, social, and work skills, community re-integration, whole health interventions, spiritual counseling, individual and group psychotherapy using cognitive-behavioral therapy and other strategies, motivational interviewing, pharmacotherapy and provision of intensive case coordination.

Each PSR fellowship program tailors its fellowship and discipline-specific seminars. The seminars include, but are not limited to, case presentations, workshops, coursework, conferences, and supervision. The Hub Site coordinates a monthly seminar series that offers a unified, comprehensive education and training for fellows across the nine PSR Fellowship sites. All PSR fellows are invited to attend the didactic seminar series as it is an opportunity to learn more about psychosocial rehabilitation and recovery. It is also an opportunity to potentially collaborate with other PSR sites on various psychosocial rehabilitation and recovery projects.

Fellows are encouraged to attend one national mental health conference during their fellowship year, and submit proposals for conference presentations and poster sessions on their education dissemination projects. Recent Fellowship classes have attended the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association (PRA) Conference and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Convention. At the end of their fellowship year, fellows are eligible to apply for PRA certification as Certified Psychiatric Rehabilitation Practitioners.