Kyle Erwin completed a pre-doctoral internship at the Lexington VAMC from 2014-2015, where he worked under the supervision of Dr. Steven Hansel in the Couple and Family Therapy program. Dr. Hansel observed Kyle develop therapeutic skills and observed his work with couples and families in therapy sessions. Kyle was passionate about providing quality care to veterans, consulted well with other mental health professionals, and advocated for improving veteran care. He successfully integrated the Integrative Behavioral Couple Therapy model into his existing skills in Gottman-based couples therapy. Kyle also co-led a Multi-Family group therapy for veterans with PTSD and provided excellent psychoeducation. Dr. Hansel would highly recommend Kyle for hire

1. January 28, 2015
This letter of recommendation is being written for Kyle Ewrin, M.A., regarding his work during
his pre-doctoral internship year at the Lexington VAMC from 2014-2015. Kyle practiced 6
months in a major rotation under my supervision in the Couple and Family Therapy program at
the Lexington VAMC. While I supervised Kyle during this rotation, I observed both his
development of specific therapeutic skills and his work in therapy sessions with couples and
families. Our routine interactions during clinical supervision also afforded me opportunities to
observe his responses to feedback and his trajectory of professional growth.
Kyle has been one of the most passionate interns I have worked with regarding the provision of
quality care to veterans. He consistently consulted well with other Mental Health
interdisciplinary team members. He demonstrated good courage to speak up on issues related to
improving veteran quality of care at our VAMC. Kyle was exceptionally aware of integrating
diversity issues and fairness into his therapies, and he strove to create a safe and warm
therapeutic environment for all of his consumers.
During this time, Kyle became very proficient with the Integrative Behavioral Couple Therapy
Model (IBCT) and was able to successfully integrate this model into his strong pre-existing
background in Gottman-based couples therapy. One clear area of excellence in his work with
couples while at the Lexington VAMC has been Kyle’s use of ongoing assessments of the
therapeutic relationship and progress with his consumers to create collaborative treatment plans
that can flexibly evolve to best serve his consumers’ needs. Couples and families with whom he
worked consistently gave positive feedback regarding his therapeutic alliance and treatment
progress being made through sessions with him. In addition to becoming very proficient with
IBCT, Kyle gained some good experience utilizing Behavioral Couple Therapy for SUD on this
rotation.
Kyle also worked with me to facilitate a Multi-Family Group Therapy for veterans with PTSD.
This group focused on Family Psychoeducation and improving communication skills within the
family system. Kyle co-led this group and provided excellent family psychoeducation regarding
neruophysiological impacts of PTSD and numbing / avoidance symptoms in a fashion that was
well understood by group attendees.
Beyond his success in the clinical domain, Kyle was a pleasure to supervise. He consistently
came prepared to supervision and was very open in discussing his cases. I found myself growing
as a supervisor in working with him. He was thoughtful and appropriately challenging which
lead to excellent case discussions during supervision. He remained very open to feedback across
the entire period of supervision.
Given Kyle’s excellent work during his time at this VAMC and my rotation, I would highly
recommend him without reservation for hire as a psychologist.
Sincerely,
Steven E. Hansel, Psy.D.
Licensed Psychologist. Family Therapy Program, Lexington KY VAMC.