Child and Pediatric Psychology Track

The Child and Pediatric Psychology track will offer one position for the 2027-2028 training year. This track is ideal for interns seeking careers in academic medical settings. The track offers diverse opportunities to train in the Child Psychotherapy Clinic within the Outpatient Psychiatry Clinics, specialty pediatric clinics, and the Adolescent Medical Psychiatry (AMP) inpatient unit. The track also offers opportunities for neurodevelopmental assessment and research mentorship.

Training includes guidance on providing evidence-based interventions, e.g., behavioral therapy, CBT, ACT, DBT, mindfulness-based interventions, parent training, family systems therapy, and functional family therapy. There also are opportunities to participate in neurodevelopmental evaluation clinics with a focus on conducting diagnostic evaluations for autism.

This internship also provides extensive training in the skills needed for psychologist to work on multidisciplinary teams within academic health centers, as they work alongside psychiatrists and medical providers. 

Child track interns also have the opportunity to collaborate on ongoing research projects under the mentorship of established research faculty. 

Clinical training sites

Outpatient Psychiatry Clinics at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center

Child and Pediatric Psychology track interns spend a substantial proportion of their training year providing services in the Outpatient Psychiatry Clinics through the Child Psychotherapy Clinic. This clinic provides care for children with ADHD, disruptive behavior disorders, anxiety disorders, OCD, tic disorders, and allows interns to work on our Neuroimmune Psychiatric Disorders Clinic on a multidisciplinary team working with children with PANS/PANDAS. The intern will also provide group psychotherapy through our Super Parenting Program in this rotation.

Interns will gain experience providing evidence-based therapies in this clinic including behavioral therapy, individual CBT, ACT, family-focused CBT (e.g., SPACE), behavioral parent training, family systems therapy, and functional family therapy.

Adolescent Medical Psychiatry Unit (AMP) at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center

The Adolescent Medical Psychiatry (AMP) Unit is the adolescent inpatient unit at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. It is a six-bed unit and serves adolescents aged 12-17 from New Hampshire and surrounding states, including Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. The AMP Unit is unique in both size and specialty – it is the only inpatient unit in the area that can admit adolescents with medical complexities, which have included chronic illnesses, physical limitations, and neuroimmunological diagnoses. 

The typical duration of admission is 5-7 days and our primary goal is acute crisis stabilization. It is a multidisciplinary service, with providers spanning a variety of disciplines, including psychiatry, psychology, nursing, occupational therapy, and social work. During their admission, adolescents participate in a rigorous, evidence-based curriculum from approximately 8:30 am to 5 pm, with a final mindfulness and reflection group later in the evening. Throughout the day, adolescents engage in a number of therapy groups, with primary modalities including DBT, CBT, MI, and ACT. 

Trainees will gain competence:

1. Working in a fast-paced, high-acuity adolescent inpatient setting with multidisciplinary providers
2. Strengthening clinical skills in facilitating group therapy, carrying an individual therapy caseload, and providing family therapy, including facilitation of program discharge sessions as appropriate
3. Engaging in a unique opportunity to work within a diagnostically and psychosocially diverse population of families and adolescents. Trainees will leave the AMP Unit with enhanced competence in inpatient group, individual, and family therapy, and curriculum development, as they develop their own group content attuned to patient needs. Supervision is developmental, with trainees gaining additional opportunities for experiences on the unit to meet the profession-wide competencies over the duration of their time on the unit. 

Embedded Pediatric Rotation

Interns will provide integrated care within our pediatric GI clinic. This experience involves learning to integrate with our GI providers and treatments related to feeding, toileting, and complex GI disorders with behavioral components. Interns may also rotate in Pediatric Sleep Medicine. During this experience, trainees work with a team of Sleep Medicine providers to treat common pediatric sleep problems including insomnia, nighttime and independent sleeping anxiety, nocturnal enuresis, and CPAP compliance. This rotation has a specific emphasis on working with neuroatypical youth that often present with sleep problems. Sleep problems are often treated using behavioral and family-focused CBT approaches for younger children and individual CBT-I treatment for older adolescents. 

Behavioral and Neurodevelopmental Services

Behavioral and Neurodevelopmental Services (BANDS) is a multidisciplinary team of providers with a focus in neurodevelopmental disabilities, including child psychology, pediatric neuropsychology, child psychiatry, and developmental behavioral pediatrics. Interns receive training in adapting evidence-based interventions for autistic and neurodivergent youth and families, including a behavior parent training intervention (RUBI). If of interest, interns may participate in conducting neurodevelopmental evaluations for autism and other common co-occurring conditions.

Training faculty

Kaitlyn P. Ahlers, PhD (University of Montana) – Dr. Ahlers joined the faculty at DHMC and Geisel School of Medicine in 2021. Dr. Ahlers specializes in the assessment of neurodevelopmental disabilities and provides autism diagnostic evaluations through the DH Behavioral and Neurodevelopmental Services program. She also provides outpatient therapy and uses behavioral and cognitive-behavioral treatments for youth with a range of behavioral, anxiety, and stressor-related disorders, including children and adolescents with autism and co-occurring mental health conditions. Dr. Ahlers’ research focuses on addressing the co-occurring mental health needs of autistic youth, specifically trauma, with the goal of increasing the accessibility and effectiveness of evidence-based practices for youth on the spectrum.

Kira M. Alexander (University of Central Arkansas) – Dr. Alexander joined the faculty of DHMC and Geisel School of Medicine in 2025 as the lead clinical psychologist of the Adolescent Medical Psychiatry unit. Dr. Alexander specializes in the inpatient psychiatric treatment of diagnostically-complex adolescents presenting with acute and high-risk behaviors. She utilizes a variety of modalities to provide evidence-based individual, group, and family therapy to adolescents and their caregivers. Dr. Alexander's research interests focus on trauma-informed care, program development, family dynamics, and high-acuity behaviors.

Sarah A. Clark, PhD (Florida State University) – Dr. Clark completed her internship and fellowship at Dartmouth Health and joined the faculty at DHMC and Geisel School of Medicine in 2025. Dr. Clark provides outpatient psychotherapy to children and adolescents with anxiety, OCD, body-focused repetitive behaviors, and tics. She primarily uses cognitive behavioral therapy and exposure and response prevention to help children and adolescents face their fears while coaching caregivers to systematically decrease family accommodation. Additionally, Dr. Clark is part of the neuroimmune psychiatric disorders team, which focuses on treating children with PANS/PANDAS.

James T. Craig, PhD (University of Arkansas) – Dr. Craig joined the faculty of DHMC and Geisel School of Medicine in 2017. Dr. Craig uses behavioral and cognitive-behavioral approaches to treat children and adolescents presenting with ADHD, disruptive behavior disorders, sleep disorders, elimination disorders, anxiety, OCD and depression. He specializes in the treatment of aggressive, defiant and disruptive behaviors in children and adolescents. He also provided integrated care within the sleep medicine clinic. Dr. Craig’s research interests are in the areas of interpersonal aggression, bullying, and the development of innovative treatments for children that can be applied outside of traditional mental health care settings or through digital interventions.