VA Connecticut Healthcare System

• Provides care to patients with PTSD due to combat and non-combat trauma
• Evidence-based treatment includes Cognitive Processing Therapy and Prolonged exposure
• Other treatments include: medication management, individual, group, couples and family therapy

• Provides care to patients with Affective Disorders, Psychotic Disorder and Personality Disorders.
• Evidence-based treatment includes mediation management, psychotherapy (psychodynamic, cognitive behavioral, interpersonal, etc.), individual, group, couples and family therapy.

• Provides care to patients with Substance Use Disorders.
• Evidence-based treatment includes Relapse Prevention, Motivational Intervention, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
• Other treatments include: medication management, individual, group, couples and family therapy.

• The ECCC continues to be the national leader in the development, implementation, and expansion of VA community-based psychosocial rehabilitation and recovery programs for Veterans struggling with severe mental illness, substance abuse and/or homelessness. Clinical and housing programs to address the needs of female Veterans, Veterans with families and returning soldiers have been developed. Over 200 Veterans secured permanent housing this year with many also entering the workforce with the support of ECCC staff. The Center was recognized by the CT State Reaching Home Campaign as the CT Housing Partner of the Year. The ECCC also just received a three year accreditation from CARF and was given exemplary recognition for its Peer Support Technician program and Veteran's Mental Health Advisory Board. The ECCC's clinical programming is based on evidenced based practices which include case management, work rehabilitation, and housing. The Center also offers a variety of training to a variety of disciplines, and mentoring opportunities nationally.

• The Acute Care Firm comprises the inpatient psychiatry unit, the psychiatry emergency room and the psychiatric consult service.
• The inpatient unit has 28 beds. Care is provided for Veterans from Connecticut who have acute psychiatric illnesses of all types. It is staffed by 3 psychiatrists, who supervise the work of 4-5 PGY1 and PGY2 psychiatric residents, and has social work and recreation therapy staff. It is also a training site for Yale medical and PA students. ECT is offered as well as all standard pharmacologic, group and psychotherapy treatments.
• The consults service provides psychiatric consultation for the entire hospital, and has full time psychiatric staff coverage, as well as fellows, residents and medical students.
• The psychiatry emergency room is a freestanding unit with two staff psychiatrists, as well as APRNs, PGY2 residents, and medical students. Off tour psychiatric treatment is provided by advanced on call psychiatrists. The ER maintains a close relationship with the medical emergency room as well as the inpatient unit.

• The Integrated Care Program provides mental health services in novel settings. The majority of our clinics are embedded with Primary Care Clinics, consistent with the objectives proposed by the 2000 Surgeon General's Working Meeting on the integration of mental health services and primary health care. Clinics are located in West Haven, Newington, and the VA's community Based Outpatient Clinics (in Danbury, New London, Stamford, Waterbury, Windham, and Winstead).

• Mental Health Clinic - affective disorders, PTSD and other anxiety disorders, psychotic disorders, intensive and standard outpatient treatment.
• Substance Abuse Treatment program - alcohol and other substance use disorders, tobacco treatment, Intensive and standard outpatient treatment.
• Primary Mental Health Care clinic - open access mental health consultation, assessment, and brief treatment, co-located in Primary Care.

Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry is the newest board-certified subspecialty in psychiatry. Consultation liaison psychiatry is the psychiatry of the medically ill. Specialists in this area provide consultation and continuing care in both inpatient and outpatient medical settings. The subject matter of the field includes psychiatric aspects of medical illness, both its physiological effects and its psychological aspects, ranging from delirium to the emotional adaptation to the ill state. The subject matter also includes the medical aspects of psychiatric illness, ranging from side effects of psychiatric medications to the sequelae of anorexia.

The New England MIRECC, VA Connecticut Division in coordination with Division of Substance Abuse (DSA), Department of Psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine has obtained support for a Dual Diagnosis Clinical Research Training Program to support 1 physician postdoctoral fellow and 1 Ph.D. psychologist postdoctoral per year. The main purpose of the fellowship program is to provide post-doctoral trainees the opportunity to devote virtually full-time effort during the initial phase of their careers to developing the skills and experience needed to become independent drug abuse clinical researchers and clinician scientists.

The VA Office of Academic Affiliations is offering 1-2 fellowship positions of 1-3 years in duration with a focus on Schizophrenia Research and Psychopharmacology. The fellowship is designed to provide trainees with advanced psychopharmacological training especially in the treatment and research of psychotic and mood disorders.

Advanced Fellowships in PTSD Research and Treatment: West Haven VA and Yale Medical School The Clinical Neuroscience division of the National Center for PTSD at VA CT Health Care System and Yale University School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry offer two-year term fellowships designed to advance PTSD research and clinical training among physicians and psychologists who would like to embark on an academic career. Two incoming Fellows (one physician and one psychologist) are funded each year. Fellows will work closely with research mentors from the NCPTSD and Yale University and will conduct their clinical duties at the PTSD Clinic at the West Haven VA. Fellows will carry an appointment at Yale University (MDs as advanced fellows PGY-5/6 and Psychologists as Postdoctoral Associates) and will have full access to all Yale University resources to advance their research and career.

The primary objective of the training program at the West Haven site is to prepare individuals for academically-oriented careers in the following areas: clinical neuroscience research, PTSD treatment, and PTSD mental health services research. Other area of research will be considered based on the availability of appropriate mentors. Fellows will devote 75% of their time to research and education activities and 25% to clinical care. Incoming Fellows will be assigned to work with research mentors who best match their research interests. Research mentors are available from a wide range of departments at Yale University such as psychiatry, neurobiology, the neuroscience program at Yale and the department of psychology. In special cases a secondary mentor may be designated outside Yale University to advance the fellows’ research career and interest. Fellows will work with mentors on ongoing and/or independent research projects, publish and present findings, and prepare applications to funding agencies for research support. Advance clinical training and supervision in Evidence Based Treatment for PTSD is also provided. Fellows will benefit from a rich educational and clinical environment at the Clinical Neuroscience Division of the NCPTSD, Yale University, and the PTSD clinic at the West Haven VA Medical Center.

Advanced Residency and Postdoctoral Program in Psychosocial Rehabilitation The VA Connecticut Health Care System offers the Interprofessional Residency Training Program in Psychosocial Rehabilitation, a one year post-graduate residency with emphases in psychosocial rehabilitation and community mental health based at the Errera Community Care Center.

VA Connecticut - West Haven Campus has a two-year post-doctoral residency in Clinical Neuropsychology. The program adheres to a scientist- practitioner model of training and is designed to promote development of clinical, scientific, and teaching competencies that are consistent with future board certification as a clinical neuropsychologist.

The predoctoral internship at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System - West Haven is fully accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of the American Psychological Association. The next site visit will be during the academic year 2013. There are training tracks in General Mental Health, Clinical Neuropsychology, and Clinical Health Psychology.

The Clinical Health Psychology Postdoctoral Residency Program at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System (VACHS) - West Haven is fully accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of the American Psychological Association. As of May 2007, our program was rated as 1 of the 5 currently APA-accredited postdoctoral training programs with a recognized Substantive Specialty Practice Area in Clinical Health Psychology in the country. Our next accreditation site visit will be in 2012.