EXTERNSHIPS IN PSYCHOLOGY AT
THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA
2008-2009

An Equal Opportunity Employer

Monroe Rayburn, Ph.D., Director, Counseling Center
Dorothy Van Dam, L.I.C.S.W., Director of Externship Training

The CUA Counseling Center is a theoretically eclectic multi-disciplinary mental health agency with a professional staff of psychologists, clinical social workers, and a consulting psychiatrist.

The center is the only mental health agency on campus. Student trainees have an opportunity to address a wider range of issues with graduate and undergraduate student clients than do externs at most university counseling centers.

POSITION DESCRIPTION

The externship is a nine-month, sixteen hour per week position that involves participation in many phases of the Center's activities. Each extern will carry up to eight cases of clients whose concerns are predominantly personal-social, but may be educational/vocational as well. In addition, trainees may have the opportunity to co-lead group therapy, consult in the campus community, and provide workshops. Externs receive both individual and group supervision, and present clinical work in case conference.

The Counseling Center at CUA also provides a staff development program for its externs. These weekly lectures and workshops cover many topics pertinent to professional clinicians, such as suicide, psychopharmacology, eating disorders, ACOA issues, working with difficult clients, and theory-based and cross-cultural treatments. Presenters include in-house staff and local experts who are also practicing clinicians.

The Counseling Center attempts to provide training experiences that meet the individual needs and goals of each extern. The overall objective of the extern program is to help each trainee develop a clearer professional identity as well as more advanced clinical skills.

The CUA externship provides a stipend of $1000 to second year graduate students and $1500 to graduate students in their third year and beyond.

APPLICANTS

Externs are selected from Clinical and Counseling Psychology doctoral programs in the Washington D.C. area. Applicants must be advanced students who are at least in their second year of course work. In choosing applicants, the training staff considers previous counseling experience, unique clinical skills, and the professional needs of both the applicant and the Center. Interested candidates should submit the following materials to the Director of Training:

*A self-descriptive cover letter explaining reasons for interest in this setting.
*Summary of completed/planned coursework
*Previous clinical experience
*Consulting/Outreach experience
*Letters of Reference (3)
*Non-classroom learning experience

Each candidate's application is evaluated by at least three staff members. The most qualified candidates will be asked to come to the Center for interviews. Final selection will be made on the basis of both the application and the interview.

The 2009-2010 externs are psychology and social work graduate students from American University, George Washington University, University of Maryland, Howard University, Catholic University, and Virginia Commonwealth University.                

Psychology externs from the class of 2008-2009 who applied for internships were accepted by  the counseling centers at University of California at Los Angeles and James Madison University.  Others will be externs at the DC Veterans Hospital, George Washington University’s Meltzer Clinic, Children’s Hospital HIV Unit and NIH.