Professional Training

The selection of professional training (practicum) placements for each student is guided by:

• CSPP's requirement for a broad range of diverse and rigorous professional training experiences;
• CSPP's commitment to education and training in multicultural competence;
• The rules and regulations of the California Board of Psychology, the body charged with the licensing of psychologists in the State of California; and
• The American Psychological Association's criteria for practicum and internship training.
  

Quality & Rigor Guides Placement Selection

A hallmark of the professional training program is the strong relationship maintained between CSPP and a host of agencies offering practicum and internship training. The primary criteria used in selection and approval of placements are the quality and rigor of the training experience and the supervision provided for the student.

Special features offered by the clinical program include:

• supervisors experienced in a range of ethnically and culturally diverse populations;
• supervisors utilizing a range of theory and techniques (including psychodynamic insight-oriented, cognitive-behavioral, and family systems theory and practice);
• child forensic practice and settings;
• and placements that provide excellent opportunities for clinical research using psychology in medical settings.
  

An important feature of CSPP's program is the process used to match students with professional training field placements that enable students' to acquire and develop professional skills in their desired area(s) of interest. Students and professional training agencies engage in a carefully organized selection process in order to facilitate the most appropriate training opportunities while also providing each community agency with valuable and appropriate service.

CSPP faculty members maintain ongoing relationships with the professional training agencies, while CSPP students participate in clinical and ethical issues seminars that parallel their practica experiences. PsyD students engage in supervised practica experiences in the first, second, and third years of their program. At the same time, students participate in a professional development seminar in the 1st year, in a Clinical and Ethical issues class in the 2nd year, and an Advanced Clinical Seminar in the 3rd. Thus students gain strong professional practice skills prior to graduation by the integration of professional training in the classroom with competent supervised professional experience in field placements.

Range of Placement Settings

Because of CSPP's large network of affiliated agencies, the school can offer professional training placements in community mental health clinics, hospitals and neuropsychiatric institutions, child guidance clinics, college counseling centers, residential treatment centers, forensic settings, pediatric psychology programs, school-based child treatment settings, and a host of other settings as well. The San Francisco Bay Campus places students in agencies throughout Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Solano counties. Additional placements are located in some counties outside the immediate Bay Area, including Napa, Sacramento, Santa Cruz, Sonoma, San Benito, and Yolo counties. Students should not count on stipends to finance their studies because they are modest and relatively scarce, particularly at the practica level.

Students begin the required internship in their fourth year. Full-time internship options include APA-accredited or APPIC-member training programs, pursued through the national selection process, or local internship programs approved by CSPP faculty and the California Psychology Internship Council (CAPIC). Students have the option of completing the internship requirement in two years of sequenced half-time internship rotations in local internship programs approved by CSPP faculty and the California Psychology Internship Council (CAPIC).