Program Goals

Internship

Program Goals and Objectives

The overarching goal of the Training Program is to prepare interns to be clinically astute as solid generalists, and to assist them in identifying specialty interest areas for pursuit at the subsequent post-doctoral level and beyond.

Goal 1: To prepare interns to conduct individual, couples, and group therapy for a variety of clinical settings including those influenced by managed care demands

Objectives:

• Development and refinement of micro counseling skills, diagnostic formulations, empathic attunement, and treatment plans

• Familiarization with empirically-supported treatments and related research for effective therapeutic interventions

• Familiarization with psychotropic medications for organic syndromes through frequent in-service collaboration with our psychiatrists

Competencies:

• Being clinically astute with differentiating between the nuances of various mood and anxiety disorders, personality disorders, and other DSM-IV diagnoses.  Promptness with intake and progress notes.

• Professional Responsibility and Documentation
• Efficency and Time Management
• Effective Client Rapport
• Reliable Diagnostic Skills
• Effective Case Conceptualization and Treatment Goals 

Goal 2: Management of Emergencies and Crises

Objectives:

• Provision of a crisis intervention seminar that addresses different models and approaches for critical incident stress debriefing

• Encouragement of collaboration and consultation for complex dilemmas and life-threatening situations

• Provision of opportunity for hands-on training in safety and risk management cases and issues

Competencies:

• Being able to develop effective safety plans with clients. 

•  Being able to determine whether a client needs to be hospitalized.

Goal 3: Awareness and Appreciation of Diversity in all Professional Undertakings

Objectives:

• Participation in monthly diversity training for all Center staff

• Discussion of cultural factors that impact clients' functioning in supervisory sessions

• Participation in Center's frequent diversity initiatives such as staff training and diversity workshops

• Participation in college-wide diversity functions

• Processing of sociocultural factors that impact decision-making and programming, and that helps to clarify and respect individual and cultural differences

Competencies:

• Expressed or demonstrated sensitivity to the range of differences in discussing client issues, in assessing cases, or in consultation and outreach.

Goal 4: Proficiency and Understanding of Psychological Assessment

Objectives:

• Provision of an assessment seminar to review and refine appropriate use of asessment tools, interviewing skills, test interpretation,and written summaries

• Completion of four test batteries during the internship year which include objective and projective measures

• Increased understanding of the usefulness of psychological assessment in developing accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment goals

Competencies:

• Knowledge about appropriate test selection, psychological test scoring and interpretation 
• Being able to produce a well-organized psychological report that answers the referral questions
• Effective communication of results to client.

Goal 5: Encourage professional growth and development as psychologists

Objectives:

• Participation in professional development opportunities both at and outside of the Center

   

• Reading of scholarly articles and books to keep up with professional trends and issues
• Appropriation consultation with professional colleagues
• Formal presentation of dissertation or Scholarly paper from Academic Programat in-service training
• Attendance at professional workshops and conferences

Competencies:

• Demonstration of good professional boundaries with clients and colleagues
• Uses positivie coping strategies
• Demonstration of consistent ethical behavior 
• A degree of familiarity with clinical trends and issues with regard to problem origin

• Strategies of scholarly inquiry to include:
  • comprehensive case conceptualization and treatment planning
  • clearly outlined scholarly and objective presentations at in-service trainings
  • articulation of pertinent current literature in the field and ability to critically review strengths and weaknesses of relevant literature

Goal 6: Familiarize interns with supervision, consultation, outreach, and evaluation models and strategies.

Objectives:

• Meet the needs of traditional and non-traditional students through collaborative work within the Center and with other departments and student organizations.
• Participation in Center's Awareness Events such as National Depression Screening, Alcohol Awarenes Screening,a nd Eating Disorders Prevention and Awareness
• Participation in Supervision of Supervision Seminar
• Participation in Consultation, Outreach, and Evaluation Seminar

Competencies:

• Receptivity to feedback on supervision approaches
• Basic attendance to high risk and ethical issues
• The development of a caring and trusting supervisory alliance
• Active in seminars and demonstration that assigned readings were read
• Knowledge of consultation and evaluation models and approaches
• Ability to provide evaluation for a selected simulated program or intervention
• Ablity to provide evaluation for a selected simulated program or intervention