The major goals of the Internship Program are:
(1) to enable interns to develop sufficient knowledge and skill in broad aspects of health service psychology, to allow them to successfully compete for post-doctoral fellowships and/or entry level positions, to obtain licensure and to have entry level skills for the independent practice of psychology
(2) to prepare interns to deliver professional services to patients and to consume research in a manner that shows dedication to applicable ethical, professional practice and legal standards;
(3) to prepare interns to be cognizant of major sources of individual and group variation, to understand how such diversity affects psychological processes, clinical presentation, and responsiveness to intervention, and to apply such knowledge in addressing diversity related issues and problems;
(4) to prepare interns for the practice of professional psychology in a manner consistent with the scientist-practitioner model of training, to evaluate the clinical relevance of empirical research and how to apply research findings in solving clinical problems, and
(5) to enable interns to develop sufficient knowledge and skill to utilize and provide clinical teaching and supervision
We seek to prepare the intern through supervised clinical training and didactics to function as an entry-level professional psychologist, to practice competently in applied areas of psychological assessment, consultation, and intervention, and to develop attitudes for ongoing professional development within a context of an evolving body of scientific and clinical knowledge, with an understanding and appreciation of ethical, legal, and human diversity considerations in the practice of clinical psychology. The internship program consists of supervised clinical training experiences that are sequential, cumulative, and graded in complexity. We take a “developmental perspective” on the accumulation of knowledge and skills during this critical training period when the intern makes the transition from the role of student to that of colleague. Each clinical supervisor is expected to contribute to the intern’s progression from relative dependence to increased autonomy and responsibility in the provision of clinical services.
Graduates of the Internship Program are expected to demonstrate specific competencies required for entry-level practice of psychology in a variety of settings. Graduates are expected to be knowledgeable consumers of psychological research results, and to have the ability and inclination to incorporate advances in knowledge into their own practice. They are expected to be skilled in the delivery of a broad variety of assessment intervention procedures. Graduates are expected to be cognizant of major sources of individual and group variation and to understand how such diversity affects psychological processes, clinical presentation, and responsiveness to intervention. Graduates are also expected to deliver professional services and to conduct research in a manner that shows dedication to applicable ethical, professional practice, and legal standards.
At the completion of training, interns are expected to demonstrate the ability to function as psychologists with entry-level knowledge and skills with respect to six substantive domains:
(1) psychological assessment,
(2) psychological consultation,
(3) psychotherapeutic intervention,
(4) professional standards, ethics, and law,
(5) cultural and individual diversity, and
(6) research and scholarly inquiry
The goal and objectives in each of these areas form the basis for our individualized training plans and our assessments of intern progress throughout the course of the internship year. By the conclusion of the internship year, all interns are expected to demonstrate entry-level knowledge and competence with respect to one Major area of Study within clinical psychology (i.e., Clinical Child/Pediatric Psychology, Medical/Health Psychology, or Clinical Neuropsychology) as well as knowledge and skills with respect to each of the other areas of their clinical training. (Entry-level knowledge and competence is defined as ability to function competently as a professional psychologist with minimal supervision until achieving licensure as a psychologist.)