Mission & Aim

Mission: To provide a safety net of mental health services for Kansans in partnership with consumers, community providers and the justice system, and to deliver support services to related agencies.

The AIM of the internship program at LSH is to provide an integrated educational approach in the support of the development and maintenance of competent, proficient, scholar-practitioner modeled psychologists in service to Kansans in need of mental health services.

About the Internship

Larned State Hospital Psychology Internship Program (LSHPIP) is a member of the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC). We have also been an American Psychological Association (APA) accredited internship site since 2011. In 2019, we were granted reaccreditation with our next site visit scheduled for 2028.

Questions related to the program's accredited status should be directed to the Commission on Accreditation:

Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation
American Psychological Association
750 1st Street, NE
Washington, DC 20002

Phone: (202) 336-5979
E-mail: apaaccred@apa.org
Website: https://accreditation.apa.org/

LSH is a psychiatric hospital administered by the state of Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services. LSH is one of three state psychiatric hospitals operated by the state. Located in rural Kansas on a 78-acre campus, LSH has three distinct programs. Interns are assigned a primary rotation at one of two programs: the Psychiatric Services Program (PSP) and the State Security Program (SSP). One intern position is located on PSP and two intern positions are assigned to the SSP.

The Psychiatric Services Program is comprised of three, 30-bed units which provide care and treatment for adults from a 61 county catchment area. Most patients are admitted on an involuntary status after being found to be a mentally ill person who is a danger to self and/or others, or unable to adequately care for themselves. All patients must be screened through their local mental health centers before admission. One of the units is on the State Security Program for patients that were civilly committed after having been adjudicated not competent to stand trial and not restorable in the foreseeable future or experiencing other legal issues.

The State Security Program is comprised of three units which serve patients who are criminally committed by the court system for treatment and/or evaluation. SSP provides court-ordered pre and post-trial assessments (e.g., competency to stand trial assessments, pre-sentence evaluations), sexual predator evaluations, competency restoration treatment, treatment for patients found not guilty by reason of mental defect, and treatment in lieu of confinement. Also housed on SSP is the Security Behavior Unit (SBU) for civilly committed male patients who have severe behavioral disturbances, including extreme aggressiveness. The Security Behavior Unit accepts patients from PSP and our sister hospital (Osawatomie State Hospital). SSP is the only “forensic” hospital in the State of Kansas and therefore, accepts patients from all counties within the state.

There are two additional facilities located on the LSH campus:

1. The Larned Correctional Facility is operated by the Kansas Department of Corrections (KDOC) for younger male inmates.
2. The KDOC also operates a minimum-security male prison on campus.

Patients at LSH are provided a full range of psychiatric services including social detoxification, psychosocial rehabilitation, individual and group therapy, co-occurring disorders treatment, activity therapy, medication management, case management, vocational training, behavior support plans, discharge planning, and other services. All programs/units provide treatment using an interdisciplinary treatment team.

Clinical departments who have core members in the treatment teams are: psychiatry, psychology (who serve as treatment team facilitators on SSP), social services, and nursing. Other clinical departments involved in patient care at LSH include: activity therapy, dietary staff, chaplaincy, clinic/laboratory services, physical therapy, and pharmacy.

The Department of Psychology at LSH is comprised of caring and competent practitioners. Every program has a Supervising Psychologist/Director of Psychology, a licensed psychologist who is responsible for the oversight and clinical and administrative supervision of the provision of all psychological services in the program. In addition to the Supervising Psychologists, a training faculty consisting of appropriately licensed psychology staff provide clinical supervision for psychology clerks (those who are completing a Bachelor's degree), practicum students (those who are completing a Master's or Doctoral degree), doctoral interns (those who are completing a Doctoral degree), and post-doctoral fellows (those obtaining the needed training and supervision hours post-graduation for licensure). Furthermore, the department has licensed psychologists, licensed master's level psychologists, post-doctoral fellows, clinical therapists, and program consultants.

To learn information about living in the City of Larned including information about housing, please visit the City of Larned website.

For further information about LSH, visit Larned State Hospital on Facebook.

Many of our intern and post-doc classes have enjoyed exploring Kansas and the surrounding states. To learn more about travel and opportunities to visit unique sites in the state of Kansas, please visit Kansas Tourism.

How It Works

For the 2022-2023 internship class, secondary rotations were stopped due to COVID-19 precautions. It is unclear at this time if secondary rotations with be offered to the 2023-2024 internship class and will be decided by the internship faculty based on the need for COVID-19 precautions as the year progresses. Each intern will spend the entire year on either the State Security Program or the Psychiatric Services Program. There is one internship position on the Psychiatric Services Program and two internship positions on the State Security Program. Interns spend four hours each week in didactic training and group supervision (Friday afternoons). The strong emphasis on training and professional development provide a rich experience for Larned State Hospital interns.

Psychology interns are matched to a primary rotation in one of the following programs:

1. The Psychiatric Services Program (PSP) provides care and treatment for adults from a 61-county catchment area. Most patients are admitted on an involuntary status after being found to be a mentally ill person who is a danger to self and/or others. All patients must be screened through his/her local mental health center before they can be admitted.
2. The State Security Program (SSP) serves patients who are criminally committed by the court system or transferred from the Kansas Department of Corrections for treatment. SSP provides court-ordered pre- and post-trial assessments (e.g. competency to stand trial assessments, pre-sentence evaluations, etc.), sexual predator evaluations, competency restoration treatment, treatment for patients found not guilty by reason of mental defect, and treatment in lieu of confinement. Also housed on SSP is the Security Behavior Unit (SBU) for civilly committed male patients who have severe behavioral disturbances including extreme aggressiveness. The SSP is the only forensic psychiatric hospital in the State of Kansas, and therefore accepts patients from all counties in the state.

How to Apply

The Director of Training is responsible for coordinating the application and selection process. Applications are available on the APPIC website and the Director of Training provides proxy access to the training faculty for review of the electronic submissions. One hard copy of each application is printed and stored by the administrative assistant to the Psychology Department.

To be considered for an interview, an intern must have completed a minimum of two practice experiences, submit a redacted report, have prior experience working with an adult population, and have completed dissertation proposal. Both in-person and videoconferencing interviews, utilizing Zoom or Facetime, are offered depending on COVID-19 protocols, all interviews may be performed by videoconference. Applicants are notified on or before December 15 of their interview status via email. Final approval of all candidates is made by the intern selection committee (i.e., the Director of Training/Chair of the Internship, Vice Chair of the Internship, and the remaining internship faculty members). LSH adheres to the procedures established by APPIC for offering psychology internship positions. Written confirmation of an internship offer follows the match process.

If selected as an intern, the LSH Human Resources Department will conduct fingerprinting, a criminal background check, and urinalysis drug test, at no cost to you. Certain previous felonies can impact a background check.

Failure to pass the Kansas Bureau of Investigation background check or drug screen will result in the internship at LSH being terminated (see APPIC Match Policy 8b).

If there are any questions regarding how previous convictions and current prescription use of medication may impact your ability to pass a KBI background check and/or a drug test, please contact LSH Human Resources at 620-285-4380.

Financial Support

Interns are classified as temporary employees and have an annual stipend of $37,003.20, plus eligibility for employer-sponsored health insurance (medical, dental, prescription, vision), optional long-term care insurance, KEPERS retirement plan, earned vacation, and sick time. Free use of the on-campus gym. Free admittance to the annual Mental Health Conference. Time off for dissertation defense and post-doctoral interviews. Access to psychology library. Pending availability, interns can also receive free on-campus housing.

Debra Vondracek, Psy.D., LP
PSP Clinical Director/Director of Training for Doctoral Internship
620-804-1020
Fax: 620-285-4248

Robin Karp, Psy.D., LP
SSP Psychologist IV
620-804-2077
Fax: 620-285-4579

David Barnum, Ph.D., LP
SSP Psychologist IV
620-804-2165
Fax: 620-285-4067

Rebecca Farr, Psy.D., LP
SSP Psychologist III/Director of Training for Postdoctoral Fellowship
620-804-0161
Fax: 620-285-4067

Mission

The mission statement of the LSH Psychology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program is:

• To provide an integrated educational and supervisory approach in the on-going growth and maintenance of competent, proficient, scholar-practitioner modeled psychologists in service to Kansans in needs of mental health services.

Financial Support

Annual income is $48,000 plus eligibility for employer-sponsored health insurance, vacation, and sick time off.