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Trainees review a videotaped session together.

Brian shares a drawing with fellow trainees.

 

Psychology Internships

INTERNSHIP Overview

We offer training to graduate students in accredited PhD, EdD or PsyD clinical, school or counseling psychology doctoral programs. The Department of Psychiatry has offered comprehensive internship training to doctoral-level psychology trainees for over 28 years.In the past few years our programs have expanded to include training in other specialized mental health programs at our hospital, as well.

Our Psychology Internship program offers trainees the opportunity to experience a broader range of didactic and experiential learning from our very talented team of child, family and pediatric psychologists, while having the choice of affiliation with one of two primary placement sites as a “home base” with the opportunity to rotate through the other program site to provide a broader learning experience.

Goals of Psychology Internship Training

• To develop entry-level clinical professionals with a broad skill and knowledge base to treat a range of clinical problems in children from toddlerhood through young adulthood. Each intern will be able to:
  • perform comprehensive assessment
    
    
  • provide a range of appropriate evidence-based as well as local contextually-informed psychological treatments for children, adolescents and their families
    
    
• To develop new professionals with the personal commitments and qualities that will enable them to deliver psychological services effectively and ethically. To this end, each intern will:
  - function in a culturally-informed and culturally-responsive manner.
  • approach his/her work with flexibility
    
    
  • approach clinical work in a self-reflective manner
    
    
• To develop entry-level professionals with the knowledge and skills to collaborate effectively with other systems and professionals. Each intern will be able to:
  • interact and advocate professionally, collegially and respectfully with other treating mental health professionals on behalf of one’s patients
    
    
  • provide consultation to other professionals and other systems involved in the care and education of children and adolescents
    
    
  • learn to identify one’s own professional needs for appropriate consultation and how to access/utilize the range of professional resources available to advance patient care
• To provide entry-level psychologists with socialization into a positive professional identity as a psychologist and a commitment to serving the profession as well as the community. Each intern will be able to:
  • articulate and meaningfully integrate the ethical principles and regulatory standards of psychologists into ongoing clinical practice
    
    
  • identify and utilize a variety of professional resources and understand their value in one’s professional functioning
    

Program Structure  

• 12 months, September – August
• 40 to 50 hours per week
• 4 weeks time-off (total including planned vacation, holidays and sick leave.)

Trainees carry a full clinical caseload allowing them to provide approximately 12 to 15 hours per week of direct service to patients and their families. All trainees are selected for primary placement in one of the programs listed below, which will serve as their “home base.”

Program Primary Placement Sites

• Department of Psychiatry
  (specializing in treatment of child outpatients under age 21 and their families, and pediatric psychology in the hospital setting)
  
• Behavioral Pediatrics Clinic
  (specializing in behavioral, attentional, learning and developmental issues in children under age 12)
  

Interns see the majority of their patients in this primary setting and participate in case conferences and trainings of that service. Trainees also participate in core training seminars that include all psychology trainees at their same level throughout the institution. Psychology interns have the opportunity for experiential learning through a secondary rotation in a program outside of their primary placement for one day a week. This offers exposure to activities, patient populations and the staff throughout our hospital

Clinical Supervision and Teaching

Psychology interns and fellows receive at minimum:

• Two hours per week of individual supervision
• Four hours of group supervision/case conferences
• Three hours of didactic training

Supervision styles and theoretical orientations vary, but there is a common emphasis on developmental and family systems perspectives informing our conceptualizations and treatment approaches.

Clinical supervision is available in assessment and treatment seminars and group supervisions which utilize videotape and case conference methodology. Psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers and pediatricians throughout the hospital are available for consultation and teaching in their areas of expertise.

A Core Seminar is required for all interns. The Core Seminar provides didactic training in the core cluster areas of: Child Development, Trauma, Assessment and Diagnosis, Pharmacology, Community Systems and Services, and Professional Development. As our hospital serves a very diverse linguistic, ethnic and socioeconomic population, our programs also offer ongoing training in multicultural issues as they inform the work of the psychologist.

Children’s Hospital also offers an extensive range of educational events including weekly Grand Rounds, daily noon conferences for residents, seminars at our research institute and regular in-service trainings for mental health professionals, all of which welcome our trainees. The hospital has an excellent medical library and the Family Resource & Information Center is available for use.

How to Apply
 
Our program is a member of the Association of Psychology Post-Doctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC). We participate in APPIC’s National Internship Matching Program for pre-doctoral internship applicants.

To be included as an applicant you must submit your agreement form the National Matching Services, Inc. by the deadline date. For more information go to National Matching Services or call them at (416) 977-3431.

Application to any or both of the primary placement sites at Children’s Hospital Oakland will be accomplished through a single application to our program. However, please note that each of our Primary Placement sites has a separate code number, and you may apply for one or both of our programs. Applicants should indicate their preferences in their cover letter, and will separately rank each placement site of interest in the matching process.

We require personal interviews with all finalist applicants. Please note that, like most internship agencies in the San Francisco Bay Area, we are not an APA-approved internship site, although we are working towards that eventual goal. Our program is well respected in the Bay Area and our program graduates have an excellent record of obtaining licensure and employment.

To apply, please send the following materials by December 2, 2011 via the AAPI online program. Please include:

1. Cover letter indicating which of the program sites you are applying to and describing your interests (You may apply to one or both sites but be sure to specify your preferences.)
2. Graduate transcripts
3. Curriculum vitae
4. Three letters of recommendation
5. One comprehensive test report

Note: This internship site agrees to abide by the APPIC policy that no person at this training facility will solicit, accept or use any ranking-related information from any intern applicant.

Send all materials or questions to:

Ms Victoria Reynolds
Administrative Assistant
Dept. of Psychiatry
Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland
747 52nd Street
Oakland, CA. 94609 
email: vreynolds@mail.cho.org                             
Phone: (510) 428-3885 ext. 4871    

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