Learning Objectives & Outcomes
Learning Objectives and Outcomes
We are looking for interns who are curious, engaged, self-reflective, and want to learn what we have to offer at our site. We provide a training experience where interns learn both about the clinical work of a practicing psychologist, and about themselves as clinicians. Interns who are highly committed to supervision and to self-reflection do especially well here.
The program starts with intern self-assessment and development of learning goals for internship, in collaboration with supervisors.
As the year progresses, we expect interns will make significant developmental transitions as they consolidate a professional identity, enhance confidence in clinical skills and increase their ability to function autonomously, so that by the end of the internship, trainees are well-prepared to serve as entry-level professionals.
Our training program reflects the interdependent nature of the practice and science of psychology. We believe awareness of outcome research and empirically based interventions are critical skills and we encourage trainees to be good consumers of such research by evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of empirical projects.
Program Aims & Core Competencies
The field of health service psychology demands a flexible and integrated repertoire of skills and competencies. In congruence with the Standards of Accreditation in Health Service Psychology, interns are expected to develop the following Profession-Wide Competencies:
Profession-Wide Competencies
- Research
- Ethical and Legal Standards
- Individual and Cultural Diversity
- Professional Values, Attitudes, and Behaviors
- Communication and Interpersonal Skills
- Assessment
- Intervention
- Individual Therapy
- Group Therapy
- Supervision
- Consultation and Interprofessional / Interdisciplinary Skills
- Outreach Programming
- Consultation and Liaison relationships
Interns carry a caseload of up to 10 individual client hours per week. Interns also provide 4 hours of crisis hours per week. Individual counseling hours also include initial consultation appointments, psychological assessment, and alcohol assessment clients. Individual counseling is done primarily through short-term counseling (12 sessions or fewer).
Interns are expected to demonstrate the ability to:
- Establish and maintain effective relationships with the recipients of psychological services.
- Develop evidence-based intervention plans specific to the service delivery goals.
- Implement interventions informed by the current scientific literature, assessment findings, diversity characteristics, and contextual variables.
- Demonstrate the ability to apply the relevant research literature to clinical decision making.
- Modify and adapt evidence-based approaches effectively when a clear evidence-base is lacking.
- Evaluate intervention effectiveness and adapt intervention goals and methods consistent with ongoing evaluation.
Interns spend 1-1.5 hours per week providing group counseling services. In the Fall semester, each intern co-facilitates an interpersonal process group with a senior staff member.
In the Spring semester, interns are given the opportunity to co-facilitate a group with a fellow intern or with a senior staff member. CAPS groups intentionally serve a wide variety of student issues and presentations, therefore, our primary focus is on interpersonal process groups. CAPS also offers a rotating three-week psychoeducational group focused on distress reduction and coping skills for students. Interns lead these groups on their own after a period of observation of senior staff in the first part of Fall semester.
With attention to group professional, diversity and ethical issues, interns are expected to exhibit an understanding of significant issues of group work and to demonstrate effective group formation and facilitation skills.
Interns spend 2.5 hours per week providing supervision to an advanced graduate practicum student. One hour is spent in face-to-face supervision and the remaining time is for tape review and case management.
Interns supervise two students over the course of the academic year; one student in the fall semester and another in the spring semester.
Interns are expected to develop and demonstrate competency in the:
- Establishment of effective supervision relationships
- Effective supervision structure
- Counseling skills assessment and development
- Establishment of learning goals
- Provision of feedback on counseling, diversity, ethical and interpersonal issues
Interns spend 2 or more hours per week, depending upon availability, providing consultation and outreach services to the University community.
Each intern is assigned as a liaison to a residence hall or residence hall group and can choose to be a liaison for one Student Affairs department of interest. As the liaison, the intern acts as the crisis intervention contact for the residence hall or department office.
Interns are expected to:
- Demonstrate knowledge and respect for the roles and perspectives of other professions
- Demonstrate knowledge of consultation models and practices
- Develop effective liaison and consultant relationships
- Respond effectively to consultation requests
- Prepare and deliver effective workshops and psycho-educational programs
- Represent the agency well to other constituencies.
We are committed to training from a culturally competent perspective. Our internship program is based on the idea that psychology practice is enhanced, and more effective, with a broader and more adept view of what it is to be human – with infinite cultural variations and individual differences.
As such, our cultural competency training focuses on the development and demonstration of the following domains:
- Cultural Skills
- Cultural Knowledge
- Cultural Awareness
- Cultural Sensitivity
Our staff and trainees are expected to incorporate issues of culture and diversity in all aspects of their clinical work, including supervision, case consultation, assessment, treatment planning, crisis intervention, and outreach and consultation.