Predoctoral Psychology Internship

Information & Application Webpage

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Background

The predoctoral psychology internship offered by the Counseling Center at The Catholic University of America (CUA) is designed to provide supervised experience in individual and group psychotherapy, supervision of graduate externs, outreach, and consultation. programs. Our senior staff is multidisciplinary and diverse in therapeutic orientation, and both our internship and externship programs are designed to expose trainees to a variety of clinical perspectives and to the advantages and challenges of theoretical integration. Interns at the Center have an opportunity to work with clients struggling with a wide range of problems, including those whose pathology is of a severity usually treated by senior staff in many counseling center settings.

Candidates must be enrolled in a doctoral program in either counseling or clinical psychology. All of the formal course work and comprehensive examinations for the doctorate should be completed, including supervised practicum courses in counseling and/or psychotherapy. Additional clinical training experiences and experience working within a university setting are highly desirable.

Currently there are two full-time psychology internship positions. The internship is a member of the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC) and is in the process of applying for accreditation with the American Psychological Association (APA).  A self study was submitted to the APA in April, 2009.  Interns are currently offered a $20,000 stipend for the internship year. 

The aim of the Catholic University internship is to provide psychology interns with a comprehensive, well-organized training experience, focusing on the continued development of the professional skills necessary for successful functioning as a professional psychologist. The program provides the clinical foundation that bridges graduate academic training and the practice of psychology. We provide the opportunity for interns to engage in a wide variety of university counseling center activities that can be applied to a host of career directions. Individual and group supervision (4-6 hours per week), weekly training seminars, group and individual supervision of graduate student externs, and both formal and informal consultations are integral parts of the training experience. Our interns are regarded as an important part of the agency, are respected as full-time professional staff, and are expected to work closely as colleagues.

In addition to the focus on training in psychotherapy and supervision, the Catholic University Counseling Center Internship program offers a variety of training experiences. Interns are able to assist the in-house psychiatrist during medical evaluations, act as a liaison to Residence Life staff, assist the Dean of Students, and support student athletes.

The University Counseling Center at CUA

The Counseling Center at Catholic University is a department in the Division of Student Life which reports directly to the Vice President for Student Life. All of the programs at the Center are designed to contribute to the personal, educational, social, and career development of Catholic University students. The Center offers a wide range of counseling and student development services and is the only mental health facility on the campus.

The senior staff are all licensed practicing mental health professionals. Currently, in addition to the two predoctoral psychology interns, the staff includes five full-time psychologists, one full-time and one part-time social worker, one part-time psychiatrist, ten graduate student externs, and six practicum students from the clinical psychology doctoral program at CUA.

The staff at the Center spends roughly 40% of time in counseling, 25% in training and supervision, and 20% in consultation, staff development, and university programs. In addition, staff participate in a variety of activities including group psychotherapy, outreach activities, teaching, committee work, administration, and research. The clinical staff represents a number of theoretical approaches to psychotherapy.  Senior staff are members of the American Psychological Association or National Association of Social Workers and have specialized training in a variety of clinical areas, including cognitive-behavioral therapy, psychodynamic therapy, treatment of eating disorders, sex therapy, and multicultural issues. 

The Center also provides a practicum setting for CUA’s doctoral program in clinical psychology and a clinical externship for doctoral candidates from throughout the Baltimore-Washington area. The Center provides supervision, clients, and agency support to the practicum students at CUA and additional opportunities for externs.  Staff are very proud of the reputation of the clinical externship housed in the Center, and they participate in the recruitment and selection of graduate students from local clinical graduate programs. Interns have the opportunity to participate in these training programs in a wide variety of ways.  CUA’s clinical psychology students may also participate in clinical research for their theses and dissertations within the Center.

APPIC Membership

The internship has been an APPIC member site since 2003.  It participates in the annual match and adheres to all APPIC policies and criteria.

APA Accreditation

The program is not currently accredited by APA but is in the process of being reviewed for accreditation.  An initial application for accreditation, including a self study, was submitted to APA in April, 2009.  A site visit took place September 28-29, 2009, and we hope to obtain information about our program’s status soon.  For more information about the accreditation process, please contact the APA Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation (750 First Street, NE, Washington, DC, 20002-4242; 202-336-5979).  

Client Population

Each year, approximately 10% of the undergraduate and graduate students at the Catholic University request counseling services from the Center. These students present with a wide variety of personal, social, educational, and vocational problems. As the internship year progresses, interns have opportunities to work with clients at a similar level of pathology as those seen by the senior staff. The Center has a reputation for providing, as interns become comfortable in the setting, more challenging cases than are typically expected at a counseling center internship. The clientele also provides interns with opportunities to work with nontraditional students and various minority groups.

Center Facilities

The Counseling Center is located on the first floor of O’Boyle Hall.  This large building houses the Department of Education and the Department of Psychology.  The first floor of the building is home to the Counseling Center.  All senior staff and interns have private offices.  Interns' offices and the group therapy room are equipped with cameras to record sessions for supervision. In addition to individual office space, there is a conference/seminar room.  All professional staff and interns have individual desk-top computing capabilities with internet access. The extern lounge also has computer access for externs. Parking outside the building is available for a reasonable fee.  The university is also accessible by the DC subway system (Metro).

Training Philosophy

The internship offered by the CUA Counseling Center is designed to provide a broad-based professional training experience in the range of activities carried out by psychologists in a service-oriented university counseling center.  Our training philosophy emphasizes the following elements:

INTEGRATIONIST PERSPECTIVE

While on internship, interns are exposed to many different theoretical perspectives, such as psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, behavioral, systems, and client-centered.  This enables interns to function not only within the college counseling center community, but also opens up possibilities in many other mental health settings. 

PRACTITIONER-SCHOLAR MODEL

This training experience aims to bring theory and scientific knowledge to life through practice in accordance with the practitioner-scholar model (Rodolfa, Kaslow, Stewart, Keilin, & Baker, 2005).  Throughout the training year, interns are assigned relevant literature to inform their practice not only of psychotherapy but also of supervision, group therapy, cultural competence, and the development of an identity as a psychotherapist.  Supervisors serve as models for the practitioner-scholar approach, and interns are encouraged to bring to supervision questions that involve integrating theory and practice.

EXPERIENTIAL TRAINING ACTIVITIES

The areas of emphasis at the CUA Counseling Center include the clinical assessment of clients’ presentations, individual and group psychotherapy, crisis intervention, and supervision, as well as outreach and consultation. Through supervision, staff meetings, outreach, and informal contact and consultation with other staff members, the staff aim to model the internship’s training philosophy.  The staff members aspire to lead by example, providing a flexible and open environment within which interns can explore different approaches.  Case discussions in staff meetings as well as appropriate self-disclosure from supervisors during training activities help foster an environment wherein interns can learn from others and experiment with different ways of thinking about their clinical work.  This exposure to a variety of therapeutic approaches and styles contributes to a rich and varied training experience.

DEVELOPMENTAL APPROACH

Where appropriate the internship experience is organized in a sequential, developmental manner, encompassing increasing degrees of complexity as the training year progresses.  This developmental approach is followed in the didactic training as well as the experiential components.  In the spirit of the developmental approach, interns undergo a systematic and thorough orientation to the Counseling Center and the campus over a period of three weeks.  In addition, fundamental skills and knowledge, such as ethics and college student development, are emphasized first as a foundation for more complex skills and clinical issues.  Interns are met where they are at the beginning of the training year; i.e., their existing skill levels are gauged by supervisors who then strive to provide developmentally appropriate goals for the training year.  As interns progress through the year, these goals are modified according to the level of progress made by each individual intern.  The aim of this approach is to sustain developmental momentum for interns while ensuring their continued development and growth within a safe learning environment.

MENTORSHIP

Mentorship at the Counseling Center is evidenced by true commitment to supervision and to professional development.  An important component of the professional development aspect of the internship is self-care and the development of a professional identity.  Interns have the opportunity to talk about developmental issues and challenges during all of their supervisory experiences and in particular during the once-weekly meeting with the Training Director.  Interns are regarded as junior colleagues and function as an integral part of the senior staff at the center.  The development of an identity as a supervisor is a further important element of the mentorship goal.  Through the Supervision of Supervision seminar, as well as through modeling by individual and group supervisors, interns have the opportunity to work towards becoming competent mentors and supervisors.

DIVERSITY AND MULTICULTURAL AWARENESS

An integral part of the training mission involves theoretical knowledge and the experiential application of diversity and multicultural issues.  The aim is to translate theory into practice in an ongoing manner throughout the year.  Interns are expected not only to complete the assigned readings for the monthly Culture in Practice Seminar but also to provide clinical material where relevant in an attempt to integrate these elements.  Efforts are made to assign them clients who are diverse in terms of race, religion, gender identity, socioeconomic background, age, disability status, and clinical severity.  Supervisors continuously monitor interns’ caseloads to ensure that caseloads expose interns to as much diversity as possible.  Interns are formally evaluated in terms of their multicultural acuity and sensitivity across therapeutic modalities.  Self-awareness of individual biases and prejudices and consideration of how these might affect clinical and supervisory work are further important components of the training program’s efforts to train culturally effective clinicians.  Finally, outreach activities within the multicultural realm are encouraged and expected.  For example, there are several opportunities for working with International Student and Scholar Services, the study abroad community, Disability Support Services, and non-traditional students.

Rodolfa, E. R., Kaslow, N. J., Stewart, A. E., Keilin, W. G., & Baker, J.  (2005).  Internship training:  Do models really matter?  Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 36, 25-31.

Training Program 

The internship is designed to provide excellent training and supervision in the various activities and responsibilities practiced by a professional psychologist. The staff members at CUA’s Counseling Center are highly committed to a graduate internship program that encourages interns to gain a broad exposure to a variety of professional activities and services which exist in a college or university counseling setting. At the completion of the internship, interns will be prepared to assume positions of responsibility within the profession.

The aims of the internship training program are as follows:

• To prepare graduate students who have completed their doctoral studies for applied work in the field of psychology.

• To provide consistent, intensive, and professional supervision in training activities.

• To provide interns the opportunities for the refinement of their clinical skills necessary to practice as professional psychologists.

• To provide flexible training that allows each intern to develop according to his or her own personal and professional needs.

• To provide a social environment where interns are supported while developing their professional identity.

Training Activities

Interns at the Counseling Center are employed on a full-time basis and participate in the following clinical and training activities:

INDIVIDUAL COUNSELING & PSYCHOTHERAPY

The major focus of the training program is on providing direct counseling services to the university population.  While receiving intensive supervision, interns gain a broad range of experiences with diverse clients and clinical issues.  Interns are able to gain experience using different therapeutic modalities, and length of treatment may vary from brief interventions to therapy throughout the internship year.  Interns designate twelve hours per week for individual counseling.

GROUP COUNSELING & PSYCHOTHERAPY

Interns participate in all phases of establishing a psychotherapy group for either undergraduate or graduate students, including creative advertising, conducting pre-screenings, co-leading the group with a senior staff member, and providing feedback to a trainee process observer.  These are usually process groups for high-functioning students who are dealing with a wide range of issues and who would benefit from the exploration and development of their relational dynamics.  Interns may also become involved in support groups or treatment groups for specific clinical issues.  The year culminates in a presentation given to senior staff in which interns have the opportunity to consolidate theory and practice.

SUPERVISION

Interns receive a variety of supervision experiences. Interns each select a primary supervisor with whom they meet for two hours per week.  Interns also select a secondary supervisor with whom they meet for one hour per week.  Interns meet weekly with a third supervisor for an hour of group supervision and, during the Fall and Spring semesters, with a fourth supervisor for one hour per week for supervision of interns' supervision of externs (see “Supervision of Externs,” below).  Interns receive supervision in group therapy and in group supervision by their group co-leader and group supervision co-leader, respectively.  Interns also meet weekly with the Director of Internship Training to receive an ongoing orientation and to address professional development needs.

INTAKE INTERVIEWS AND ASSESSMENT

Like other trainees and senior staff, the interns participate in performing weekly intake assessments.  The intake consists of a 50-minute interview/assessment used to determine the best treatment for clients.  The intake counselor is responsible for determining the presenting problem, assessing the severity of the problem, gathering relevant history, judging the need for timely interventions, and discussing the treatment options that are available.  Intake counselors write an Intake Evaluation that becomes part of the client’s record.  Staff are responsible for a specific number of intake appointments per week; each intern’s schedule provides for two intakes per week.  Interns are also expected to use a variety of assessment instruments during the internship.  They are trained as needed in use of the Suicide Status Form-II-R, career instruments such as the Strong Interest Inventory, personality instruments such as the MMPI-2, and cognitive assessment such as mini-mental status exams.

INTERNSHIP TRAINING SEMINAR

Every week a two-hour seminar is conducted by a senior staff member or other skilled clinician from the DC/VA/MD area.  Seminar topics have included grief and loss, eating disorders, CBT for panic disorder, private practice, outreach, crisis intervention, and many other topics.  Interns are invited to request topics to be covered in these seminars. 

CULTURE IN PRACTICE SEMINAR

It is widely accepted that culture is inextricably intertwined with psychotherapy.  This monthly applied seminar approaches culture as a broad construct with many dimensions, and endeavors to integrate cultural theories and self-exploration with current clinical practice.

SUPERVISION OF EXTERNS

The staff is very committed to training and believes that learning to supervise others is an integral part of professional development.  During the Fall and Spring semesters, each intern co-leads a weekly 2-hour group supervision of externs with a senior staff member.  In this role each intern is supervised by his or her senior staff supervision group co-leader.  Interns meet regularly with their co-leaders as part of training on group supervision.  Interns also have the opportunity to supervise individual externs on a rotating basis; the intern meets with each extern weekly for four consecutive weeks before being assigned a new extern.  Interns participate in a group supervision of supervision meeting led by a senior staff member every other week.

CONSULTATION WITH THE STAFF PSYCHIATRIST

Each intern sits in weekly with the staff psychiatrist.  During this consultation the intern observes and assists the psychiatrist in medical evaluations and follow-up appointments and in the preparation of case notes and reports.  Interns learn about the integration of therapy and psychopharmacology and how to collaborate with psychiatrists.

CRISIS INTERVENTION

Interns are expected to respond to crises experienced by their own clients.  Assistance is always available to the intern in those instances where an emergency situation requires hospitalization or other atypical measures.  Interns are also responsible for carrying the Counseling Center cell phone during off-hours for two weeks each semester (in rotation with the rest of the senior staff) and are trained in responding to off-hours emergencies. 

RESIDENCE HALL LIAISON / OUTREACH & CONSULTATION

Interns engage with different residence halls on multiple levels.  If there is a crisis on campus that involves a residence hall, the intern, with the assistance of a senior staff member, responds to that emergency.  Each intern is also required to create and present one workshop per semester during the academic year on campus (usually, but not always, within normal working hours) that is tailored to the needs of students, faculty, or the Counseling Center staff.  Presentations have included a variety of topics such as healthy relationships, eating disorders, and depression/anxiety.  If an intern has a desire to concentrate in this area, he/she is able to shadow the Director of Outreach and to assist externs in providing outreach services to the university community. 

CAREER DEVELOPMENT

As in most university counseling centers, the Center provides assistance to students in various stages of career exploration and development. When applicable, interns are presented with training on career counseling, career testing, and gathering career information, including collaboration with the university's Office of Career Services.

PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Interns participate in senior staff meetings and case presentations.  Outside experts are occasionally brought into the agency to provide consultation and advanced training, and interns join senior staff in these presentations.  Interns are encouraged to attend other training opportunities and are allotted 5 days for professional development during their internship year.  Interns meet with the internship training director weekly for ongoing orientation and professional development review.

ADMINISTRATION

Interns may assume committee responsibilities and participate in shaping the policies and procedures of the Center.  

Additional Opportunities (as available) 

RESEARCH: Senior staff may conduct research in the Center. When projects are in progress, interns are invited to become involved with these projects and work on data collection, writing of manuscripts, data analysis, publication, and presentation of research at conferences.

TEACHING: Staff members are occasionally involved in teaching courses through the university's Department of Psychology.  Interns may inquire about opportunities to teach courses and are encouraged to do so when opportunities are present.

SAMPLE WEEKLY TRAINING SCHEDULE FOR 2009-2010

Individual counseling/psychotherapy....……………….….....................12 hours

Intake interviews…………………………..............................................2 hours

Group psychotherapy...............................................................2 hours

Primary clinical supervision……………...............……..…......................2 hours

Secondary clinical supervision ...................……….........................1 hour

Group supervision………………………....................……........................1 hour

Group supervision of externs………………..............…..…....................2 hours

Meeting with group co-leader………………..............…...…..................1 hour

Individual supervision of extern……………..............….......................1 hour

Supervision of supervision…………………….................…....................1 hour

Internship Seminar (including travel time)............…......................2.5 hours

Culture in Practice seminar........................................................1 hour

Residence Hall Liaison / Outreach and Consultation........................1 hour

Attending psychiatrist evaluations…………...................….….............1 hour

Professional development with Internship Director………...................1 hour

Staff Meeting………………………………......................……....................2 hours

Notes, Reports, and Administration……….…...........……….................6.5 hours

Evaluation Procedures

At the end of the fall semester and again near the end of the internship year, interns are given formal feedback about their professional skills and performances. Evaluations are written by all staff members who supervise interns, and interns write evaluations for each of their clinical supervisors. The evaluations are communicated to the intern both verbally and in writing by the primary supervisor before they are forwarded to the Training Director. As a part of this process, group and individual supervisors may exchange information and/or perceptions about the progress of interns. In addition to evaluation of the interns, we ask interns to evaluate the program and their experiences at the Center. Evaluations are viewed as critical aspects of training and allow individuals to maximize their strengths and develop new competencies.

Qualifications of Candidates

Candidates must be enrolled in a doctoral program in counseling or clinical psychology. All formal course work and comprehensive exams for the doctorate should be completed, including supervised practicum courses in counseling/psychotherapy.

Stipend

The internship is for a one-year period from August 1, 2010 to July 31, 2011.  There is a $20,000/year stipend.

Benefits

Basic employee benefits include use of Dufour Athletic Center and use of the Metro Library Consortium. Health insurance is also available, although interns have often found premiums to be less expensive if maintained at the intern’s home university. In addition to 7 days of paid vacation and 5 professional days, interns are given vacation time during the holidays supported by the University (see the university calendar at http://universitycenter.cua.edu/calendar/).  Interns are encouraged to take the majority of their vacation time during the summer months, when it is least disruptive to the functioning of the Counseling Center and to the care of our clients.

Liability

We ask that interns carry their own professional liability insurance coverage. Malpractice insurance is available for student members of the American Psychological Association at a relatively low cost.

Selection Procedures

Competitive candidates will be asked to come to the campus to be interviewed. These interviews provide the candidates an opportunity to meet our staff, view our facility, and learn more about the theoretical orientations of the clinicians, styles of supervision, professional activities offered, and overall feel of the agency.

Application Procedures