The Center for Child and Family Traumatic (CCFTS) will accept two pre-doctoral clinical, counseling or school psychology externs for the academic year of 2024 - 2025. CCFTS is an outpatient mental health clinic in a specialty pediatric rehabilitation hospital, located in Baltimore, MD.

CCFTS is dedicated to providing high quality, culturally relevant, consumer driven and comprehensive services for children and their families affected by trauma.  Central to the mission are treatment, training and research in the area of childhood trauma. Clients range in age from infancy to young adulthood and present with a wide range of psychopathology. Training strongly supports and encourages the utilization of evidence-based and evidence-informed practice in all clinical work.   The externship training year begins September 3, 2024 and ends May 28, 2025.

 Extern Activities:

  • Psychodiagnostic Experience: Externs will complete one comprehensive psychological assessment, including projective measures, every 6-8 weeks, receive related individual and group supervision, and participate in a seminar focused on diagnostic assessment of children and adolescents.
  • Therapy Experience: Externs will carry a minimum of three therapy cases during the externship year and will receive 1-2 hours of supervision per week.  Supervision is included for all clinical activities. Externs will be formally trained in Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy (TFCBT) and will receive supervised experience and consultation within this model. By the end of the externship, they will be on track to meet requirements for certification in TF-CBT.  
  • Grant Support: Externs must complete requirements associated with the grant that funds the program. A stipend is provided.
  • Tuesdays and Wednesdays are required training days for a minimum of 16 hours per week.
  • Optional activities include a variety of didactic experiences that are based on individual needs, interests, and time.  Current offerings include additional training in family, play and group therapy. Externs may also be able to lead groups, but this typically requires additional time commitment. 

This externship is an advanced training experience supervised by psychologists who possess strong backgrounds in assessment and treatment.  Students are expected to be entering their third year or above of an APA approved doctoral psychology program.

Application Requirements:

Interested students should submit (in one e-mail with your Name and “Externship Application” in the subject line) by February 10, 2024:

  • Letter of interest
  • Resume
  • De-identified psychological evaluation report 
  • Two letters of reference must also be sent by the writer and received by February 10th, 2024. 

All Materials should be sent to:

Laura Costa, PhD, ABPP
Center for Child and Family Traumatic Stress
Kennedy Krieger Institute
Costa@KennedyKrieger.org                                   

For additional information about the Center for Child and Family Traumatic Stress, visit the center's website.