Supervising and Supporting Trainees With Disabilities in the Veterans Administration Healthcare System: An Overlooked but Critical Need and Opportunity

Trainees with disabilities are chronically underrepresented in psychology and face many barriers throughout their training. Directors of Clinical Training and supervisors within the Veterans Administration Healthcare System (VAHCS), one of the largest employers of trainees with disabilities, have a unique opportunity to address this area of critical need. However, they must first understand the barriers facing psychology trainees with disabilities in VAHCS settings, including discrimination in trainee selection, barriers to obtaining reasonable accommodations, and attitudinal and cultural barriers. In this article, we illustrate how those barriers may present in VAHCS settings specifically and provide suggestions and frameworks for how the VAHCS can create accessible, disability-affirmative training environments in which trainees can truly thrive. Impact Statement Psychologists with disabilities are an important but chronically underrepresented and marginalized population within the field. The Veterans Administration Healthcare System (VAHCS) is popular among psychology trainees with disabilities, but the system can also present numerous barriers and difficulties for trainees with disabilities. It is critical that the supervisors and other training directors address these issues, and this article provides practical, evidence-based strategies for doing so.