Trauma Informed Care

Our program places a heavy emphasis on social determinants of health and trauma informed care from incredibly early in the training experience. We utilize a nuanced approach, using the stages of trauma treatment as a framework to understand our complex patients. We aim to provide a warm, empathic holding environment while working to help patients re-discover (or discover for the first time!) a sense of agency and cultivation of a recovery based mental health treatment model. We have examined several unique areas of interest in trauma focused treatment and developed novel approaches specifically targeted to our patient population.

During the PGY1 year, residents have weekly supervision with the chief resident of the emergency room, with an opportunity to discuss the overarching systemic and iatrogenic implications of psychological trauma as experienced by our patients in the crisis management setting.

PGY2 year, during the rotation at Bronx Psychiatric Center, residents are given the opportunity to delve into a structural competency curriculum, fulfilling the ACGME requirement of exposure to community psychiatry in an uniquely rich experience. Residents can tour the Bronx, learn about the history, systemic barriers, and develop the skills to incorporate these issues into the treatment plans of our patients.

PGY3 year, residents can work closely with their psychotherapy supervisors and interdisciplinary teams to learn how to engage patients who have experienced significant interpersonal trauma in the therapeutic space. They learn nuanced approaches to establishing and maintaining the therapeutic alliance and can be given additional training and resources in evidence based modalities such as prolonged exposure and cognitive processing therapy.

PGY4 affords continued opportunities to hone skills in working with trauma, with opportunities to do additional research, specialized group psychotherapy training and other opportunities.

See our pioneering programs for a list of some of the work that our department does on trauma informed care.

Take the Psychiatry Residency Training Program Virtual Tour See why so many applicants choose Montefiore-Einstein Launch Tour