Training Program

The internship is a full-time year-long program. The year-long placement facilitates more in-depth training in certain areas and will allow enough time for interns to become greatly integrated into the respective internship sites.

The internship’s sequence of training involves the following:

Based upon their interests and training needs, interns are offered placements during the regular selection process as outlined by APPIC procedures. The internship year begins with a general orientation involving all the consortium directors and interns. This orientation consists of an overview of all the GSPIA sites, meetings with GSPIA directors, information on personnel policies and benefits, a description of the available training experiences and a schedule of the year’s activities. On the following days, interns receive additional orientation sessions at their respective sites. These orientation sessions focus on the introduction of key program staff; agency policies, procedures, and activities; and meetings with primary supervisors to outline the interns’ specific assignments and activities.

After orientation, the sequence of training varies depending upon the particular site that the intern has selected. However, at all sites, the following training principles are in effect:

1. Assignment of the initial caseload or clinical activity is contingent upon the intern’s current experience level.
2. Intensive supervision of case activity.
3. Review or learn the administration, scoring, and interpretation of different assessment instruments. Initially, the interns’ administration, scoring, interpretation, and report writing occur under close supervision by either the primary supervisor or other assigned supervisors. Once a reasonable level of competency is established, the interns work more independently but continue to be supervised throughout the rotation.
4. Consultation in which the interns act as co-consultants with a supervisor or under close supervision. As their competence increases, they consult alone.
5. Participation in weekly didactic training, and monthly seminars that include such formats as case conferences, presentations on clinical and professional issues, and seminars. Additionally, each site provides regular in-service educational opportunities (available to all interns), administrative meetings, case and intake conferences. Meetings where interns share information among themselves or consult with the GSPIA Director or other psychologists in the Consortium are additional forums for learning and professional development.
6. Receives a minimum of 2 hours of individual supervision and 2 hours of group supervision weekly.
   Although research training is not a major emphasis of this internship, interns have many opportunities to become involved with applied clinical research and program evaluation studies. All  sites in GSPIA are engaged in ongoing program evaluation, and several sites have archival clinical data which can be used by interns to investigate clinical research questions.

Didactic Training

GSPIA’s Didactic Training Program has been developed to ensure continuity in training, a skill progression in growth of the interns, intern peer interaction and training opportunities in specific specialty training areas. Content, coordination and scheduling are overseen and discussed on a regular basis by all member agency training directors with input from interns.

Each site will define specific educational activities directly related to site and rotation. Interns are expected to attend the Core Curriculum series of seminars, participate in the monthly intern peer group interaction, as well as the rotation-specific in-service training activities at their sites.

Weekly Didactic Training:   Each week interns from all participating agencies within the consortia attend a three hour didactic training workshop. During this time, local speakers educate interns about a variety of topics pertinent to the practice of psychology. Such topics could include: psychopharmacology updates, cultural diversity training, assessment and treatment of eating disorders, solution focused therapy, and techniques in art therapy. Practical topics are chosen to help broaden the intern’s exposure to therapeutic techniques and interventions. It also provides the interns with an opportunity to interact with mental health professionals in the community.

Intern Case Presentation:  During the weekly didactic training meetings, when outside speakers are not presenting, the interns are expected to conduct case presentations. The intern can choose to present an assessment case or clinical case where they have been serving as the primary therapist. Specific guidelines to help the intern structure the presentations are made available to the interns at the beginning of their internship year. Interns are expected to have a solid working knowledge of the case and be able to discuss the rationale for their interventions based on sound psychological principles. The intern’s immediate supervisors are encouraged to attend the presentations to provide additional information and support for their intern. Adjuncts to therapy such as art therapy, or bibliotherapy are encouraged to be shared with other interns for the purpose of expanding their intervention techniques and for educational purposes.

Monthly Seminar Series:  As part of the GSPIA’s mission each participating agency is expected to sponsor one major training event per year. This event typically takes place the last Friday of every month with the exception of conflicts due to holiday scheduling. Examples of seminars that have been presented in the past include: Advances and Treatment of Personality Disorders; Hypnotherapy and Stress Reduction Techniques; Assessment and Treatment of At-Risk Children (0-5); and Child Abuse Forensic Evaluations. Most seminars are passed through a preliminary review committee by CSPP’s central office and later forwarded to the California Psychological Association for Continuing Education Units for psychologists as well as other health professionals. Allowing professionals from other disciplines to attend the workshops promotes socialization among professions and reinforces the mission of GSPIA to work within a multi-disciplinary framework.

Journal Club:  Instilling the importance of continued education and scholarly endeavors is an important part of the GSPIA mission. Therefore, the Journal Club was formed as an informal network allowing interns to meet on a regular basis and discuss current clinical research in their area of interest. Each intern is expected to present on a journal article from a reputable journal of their choice. They are expected to facilitate a discussion on the methodology, strengths and weaknesses of the research, and discuss clinical implications of the research. A supervising preceptor is available as a resource person

Supervision

Individual Clinical Supervision:  Interns receive regularly scheduled supervision, for a minimum of two hours a week, from their primary supervisor, who is a licensed psychologist. The functions of the primary supervisor include but are not limited to, the monitoring of the intern’s caseload, enhancing clinical skills, promoting intern’s professional growth, and evaluating intern’s progress by giving regular feedback. At the beginning of the internship, the supervisor and intern develop a learning plan to assess the intern’s strengths and weaknesses and to identify the intern’s goals and objectives for the internship year.

Group Supervision:  Group supervision is an integral part of the training program at GSPIA. Interns are expected to spend two hours a week in group supervision where an emphasis is placed on experiential learning. Interns are allowed the opportunity to discuss their client caseload and dialogue about such issues as case conceptualization, transference, countertransference issues, appropriate boundaries, dual relationships, professional conduct, as well as legal and ethical considerations. Sharing of audio and video tapes with other interns for the purpose of training and peer support is encouraged. This opportunity allows interns to give feedback to others about their work and is an important aspect of the learning process.

Policies & Funding

Officially the GSPIA internship begins the first business day of August,  however there is a one-day orientation prior to the start of the internship. Internship is a full-time program, extending for one year. Four weeks of vacation/sick leave can be taken during the year. Holiday leave will be determined by each site.

GSPIA selects a minimum of two interns per site with some accepting up to six. Funding is provided by each participating member agency in GSPIA. The stipend will be provided by the agencies at which the interns are placed and will be subject to the payroll policies and schedules of those agencies. Stipends range from $17,500-$40,000 for the year. The level of the stipend is reviewed annually and effort is made to keep the stipend amount comparable to other internship programs.