MD´«Ã½Èë¿Ú

CAPS offers an APA-accredited doctoral internship in health service psychology. The internship is both training and service oriented. Interns are viewed as emerging psychologists and are respected as junior colleagues. They perform the same clinical duties as professional counselors. However, we recognize the clear power differential in the supervisor-intern relationship and the evaluative nature of the training process. We approach training as a developmental process and seek to meet interns where they are while supporting increasing competence, confidence, autonomy, and professional identity over the course of the year. While preparing interns for multifaceted careers, the internship provides a unique preparation for those planning careers in university counseling centers. The aims of the training program are to support continued development in clinical skills, outreach and consultation, and scholarly and professional development. A multicultural and diversity focus is thematic throughout the internship program. Ongoing development of ethical and legal standards, professional values, attitudes and behaviors, and communication and interpersonal skills are also emphasized. Interns are expected to participate in all areas of service delivery and supervision. Opportunities exist to develop or expand upon special interests. Along with a senior staff of counseling and clinical psychologists, interns study, discuss, and apply psychological theory, principles, and findings. Interns completing the program successfully will be competent for the entry level of practice. They will have demonstrated the capability to function autonomously and responsibly as practicing psychologists.

Competency #1: Research

Interns demonstrate knowledge, skills, and competence sufficient to produce new knowledge, the critically evaluate and use existing knowledge, to solve problems, and to disseminate research.

Profession-Wide Learning Elements:

• Demonstrate substantial independent ability to critically evaluate research or other scholarly activities (e.g., case conference, presentation, publications).
• Disseminate research or other scholarly activities (e.g., case conference, presentation), publications at the local (including the host institution), regional, or national level.

Competency #2: Ethical and Legal Standards

Interns demonstrate knowledge and application of the profession’s ethics and legal standards across all professional activities.

Profession-Wide Learning Elements

• Be knowledgeable of and act in accordance with the current version of the APA Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct.
• Be knowledgeable of and act in accordance with relevant laws, regulations, rules, and policies governing health service psychology at the organizational, local, state, regional, and federal levels.
• Be knowledgeable of and act in accordance with relevant professional standards and guidelines.
• Recognize ethical dilemmas as they arise and applies ethical decision-making processes in order to resolve the dilemmas.
• Conducts self in an ethical manner in all professional activities.

Competency #3: Individual and Cultural Diversity

Interns demonstrate knowledge, awareness, sensitivity, and skills when working with diverse individuals and communities across all professional activities.

Profession-Wide Learning Elements

• Has an understanding of how their own personal/cultural history, attitudes, and biases may affect how they understand and interact with people different from themselves.
• Has the knowledge of the current theoretical and empirical knowledge base as it relates to addressing diversity in all professional activities including research, training, supervision/consultation, and service.
• Integrate awareness and knowledge of individual and cultural differences in the conduct of professional roles.
• Demonstrate the ability to work effectively with individuals whose group membership, demographic characteristics, or worldviews create conflict with their own.

Competency #4: Professional Values, Attitudes, and Behaviors

Interns demonstrate attitudes and behaviors that reflect the values of the psychology profession.

Profession-Wide Learning Elements

• Behave in ways that reflect the values and attitudes of psychology, including cultural humility, integrity, deportment, professional identity, accountability, lifelong learning, and concern for the welfare of others.
• Engage in self-reflection regarding one’s personal and professional functioning; engage in activities to maintain and improve performance, well-being, and professional effectiveness.
• Actively seeks and demonstrates openness and responsiveness to feedback and supervision.
• Respond professionally in increasingly complex situations with a greater degree of independence as they progress across levels of training.

Competency #5: Communication and Interpersonal Skills

Interns demonstrate the ability to communicate effectively, to interact appropriately, and to develop professional relationships across all professional activities.

Profession-Wide Learning Elements

• Develop and maintain effective relationships with a wide range of individuals, including colleagues, communities, organizations, supervisors, supervisees, and those receiving professional services.
• Demonstrate a thorough grasp of professional language and concepts; produce, comprehend, and engages in communications that are informative and well-integrated.
• Demonstrate effective interpersonal skills and the ability to manage difficult communication well.

Competency #6: Assessment

Interns demonstrate competency in conducting evidence-based assessments consistent with the scope of health service psychology.

Profession-Wide Learning Elements

• Demonstrate current knowledge of diagnostic classification systems, functional and dysfunctional behaviors, including considerations of client strengths and psychopathology.
• Demonstrate understanding of human behavior within its context (e.g., family, social, societal and cultural).
• Demonstrate the ability to apply the knowledge of functional and dysfunctional behaviors including context to the assessment and/or diagnostic process.
• Select and apply assessment methods that draw from the best available empirical literature and that reflect the science of measurement and psychometrics; collects relevant data using multiple sources and methods appropriate to the identified goals and questions of the assessment as well as relevant diversity characteristics of the service recipient.
• Interpret assessment results, following current research and professional standards and guidelines, to inform case conceptualization, classification, and recommendations, while guarding against decision-making biases, distinguishing the aspects of assessment that are subjective from those that are objective.
• Communicate the findings and implications of the assessment in an accurate and effective manner sensitive to a range of audiences.

Competency #7: Intervention

Interns demonstrate competency in evidence-based interventions, across settings including individual and group counseling, crisis intervention and outreach.

Profession-Wide Learning Elements

• Establish and maintains 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.

Competency #8: Supervision

Interns demonstrate appropriate knowledge of supervision models and practices; involves the mentoring and monitoring of trainees or other health professionals in the development of competence and skill in professional practice and the effective evaluation of those skills.

Profession-Wide Learning Elements

• Apply supervision knowledge in direct or simulated practice with psychology trainees, or other health professionals. Examples of direct or simulated practice examples of supervision include, but are not limited to, role-played supervision with others, and peer supervision with other trainees.
• Apply the supervisory skill of observing in direct or simulated practice.
• Apply the supervisory skill of evaluating in direct or simulated practice.
• Apply the supervisory skills of giving guidance and feedback in direct or simulated practice.

Competency #9: Consultation and Interpersonal/Interdisciplinary Skills

Interns demonstrate the ability to consult with other health care professionals, interprofessional groups, and multidisciplinary settings.

Profession-Wide Learning Elements

• Demonstrates knowledge and respect for the roles and perspectives of other professions.
• Apply the knowledge of consultation models and practices in direct or simulated consultation with individuals and their families, other health care professionals, interprofessional groups, or systems related to health and behavior. 
   

Clinical Skills

Short-term counseling and psychotherapy are the primary means of direct service delivery. Interns can expect significant experience and supervision in individual short-term counseling. A limited number of clients may be seen long-term; interns may expect to follow two cases for the full year. Interns will be scheduled for crisis coverage on a weekly basis, with supervision and consultation readily available. Interns conduct intake interviews on a weekly basis. Along with behavioral observation, structured clinical interviews, and assessment, interns utilize standard diagnostic systems such as the DSM-V in client conceptualization and treatment planning. In addition, interns will have the opportunity to conduct 2-3 formal psycho-educational assessment during the training year to further support competency in conducting evidence-based assessment through selection and application of test measures, scoring and interpretation, and feedback of testing results. 

A special component of the internship is training and practice in group counseling. CAPS maintains an active group program each semester. The groups offered may be process oriented or structured, general therapy or theme based, for the general population or for special populations. Typically, interns co-lead one group each semester.

Training in outreach services is emphasized. Training in the various forms of consultation is provided. Among those who make use of the consultation services are academic support and student services as well as faculty and staff. Outreach programs seek to promote positive student development in a variety of settings. Staff and interns are also available to provide requested workshops, training seminars, and didactic presentations. Psychological debriefing sessions are offered following a traumatic event. Interns may participate in the development of new outreach programs as well as in continuing programs. The internship offers an opportunity to design and facilitate psycho-educational groups. Outreach programs and consultation projects are developed and implemented with support from senior staff.

Interns will have an opportunity to design and implement outreach and consultation interventions from a multicultural perspective targeted at various aspects of the non-client student population. Interns will also explore their professional areas of interests and focus on integrating their personal, professional, and clinical interests into their outreach and consultation work in the Outreach and Consultation biweekly seminar.

Individual and Cultural Diversity

California State University, Long Beach serves one of the most diverse student populations in the country. Our university holds federal designations as both a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) and an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution (AANAPISI). Institutional data indicates that approximately 55% of our student body are first-generation college students, and our campus represents over 100 countries. Our students arrive with widely varying relationships to higher education, to mental health care, and to institutions generally, and our training program is built around that reality.

Our approach rests on a simple premise: sustained attention to one's own values, assumptions, socialization, and behavior is foundational to effective clinical work. We understand cultural responsiveness as an ongoing practice rather than a credential one earns and completes. Interns are expected to engage actively across difference — with students, clients, colleagues, and supervisors — and to examine their own identities and social location as part of that engagement. Supervisors participate in this work alongside interns rather than positioning themselves as having arrived at its endpoint.

Individual and cultural diversity is addressed directly in individual and group supervision, case conceptualization, seminar, outreach, and consultation. Interns participate in a biweekly diversity seminar that is both didactic and experiential. Across the training year, interns move from identifying cultural factors in their clinical work toward integrating them into conceptualization, intervention, and their use of self in the room. Progress in this competency is evaluated at two points, mid-year and end-of-year.

We recognize that this work can be personally demanding, and that it is unevenly demanding depending on an intern's own identities. Interns are supported in setting the terms of their own disclosure, and supervisors are expected to attend to that. Interns who need workplace accommodations may request them through Faculty Affairs, which coordinates the interactive process.

Engagement across campus

Interns partner with campus offices and student communities through outreach, consultation, and liaison relationships. We expect involvement in this work and support interns in developing it around their own interests and goals.

MD´«Ã½Èë¿Ú's Office of Belonging and Inclusion houses six cultural resource centers — the Asian, Pacific Islander, and Desi (APID) Resource Center, the Black Resource Center, the LGBTQ+ Resource Center, the Muslim Resource Center, the Puvungna Resource Center, and Nuestro Centro Latine Resource Center. Interns also work with offices serving students across a range of identities and circumstances, including the Women's & Gender Equity Center, the Bob Murphy Access Center, the Dream Success Center, Veterans Services, Guardian Scholars, International Education & Global Education, the Educational Opportunity Program, and Basic Needs and Food and Housing Services.
 

The internship program is committed to interns' progress toward their professional goals. Time may be available during semester breaks, spring break, and summer session for completion of dissertation or other research projects. Interns are encouraged to participate in local and national training workshops and conferences, professional associations, and continuing education opportunities. Professional development module topics include: Post Doc Search & Preparation, Integration of Self-Care Practices, & EPPP Overview & Licensing. 
Professional development release time is available, and limited financial support may be provided based on available funding.

Intern work hours are consistent with CAPS office hours, Monday through Friday from 8am-5pm. Weekend and evening hours are not required.