Internship Overview

Program Mission

The mission of Counseling and Psychological Services' Doctoral Internship in Health Service Psychology at Ohio University is to provide a generalist practitioner training in the areas of psychological counseling, education, and consultation to the Ohio University community.

We strive to offer services that promote emotional, physical, and social well-being for Ohio University students facing adjustment and developmental challenges, as well as a broad range of psychological problems while respecting and appreciating all cultural identities of our student population. Further, our goal is to prepare generalist practitioners with the knowledge and skills needed for the successful entry-level practice of careers in psychology.

Philosophy of Training

At Ohio University's Counseling and Psychological Services, interns engage in structured training and professional practice designed to provide a sequence of increasingly complex professional experiences, roles, and responsibilities. As confidence and competency increase, interns learn by becoming progressively more independent while retaining access to consultation, training, and support. By the end of the internship year, interns are expected to be ready to function as autonomous, entry-level practitioners with an intermediate-to-advanced level of competency in all professional areas.

To accomplish this, the training program at Ohio University uses the Developmental Mentorship Model. We help interns build on previous skills and knowledge with hands-on learning opportunities as full-time practitioners in training under the guidance of skilled clinicians. We emphasize the dynamic relationship between the larger conversations going on in the scientific field of psychology and the more intimate conversations going on between the mentor and the mentee.

The basic components of our training program are a strong emphasis on the growth process of the interns throughout their experience of socialization into the field of professional psychology and the amount and quality of supervision and mentoring the intern receives from experienced clinicians.

Summary of Core Doctoral Experiences

The goal of the health service internship program at Ohio University Counseling and
Psychological Services is to provide training experiences that prepare interns to function
as generalist psychologists. Although an effort is made to individualize the training
program, there is a core set of standard expectations. These expectations include the
following:

1. Interns work with a variety of clients, gaining experience not only with varying
   presenting concerns, but also across varying individual and cultural identity
   variables. Interns will have a weekly average of 12 -14 individual therapy hours,
   which may include individuals and couples. Individual therapy is provided from a
   brief therapy model and clients are often seen every other week or less frequently.
2. Interns will provide 4 hours of drop-in coverage weekly
3. Interns will co-lead a minimum of 2 therapy, support, or psycho-educational
   groups during the internship year. One of the groups must be a process group.
4. Interns will participate in at least 5 outreach interventions each long semester
   (for a total of 10 outreach interventions for the year) including development and
   presentation of workshops, staffing display tables, and being present at student
   events on campus.
5. Interns will provide supervision to a trainee or graduate assistant during the fall
   and spring semesters. Supervision will include weekly meetings, tape review time,
   and giving evaluation/feedback to the student.
6. Interns will be evaluated formally by their supervisors at the end of each
   semester. These evaluations will assess current strengths and growth areas and will be used to focus the next semester’s supervision. Less formal evaluations will be scheduled with the interns’ individual supervisors and the Training Director.
   Interns will evaluate their supervisors each semester and formally and informally
   evaluate their internship program at the end of the year.
7. Interns will spend 6 hours per week in training seminars (PIE, Outreach,
   Multicultural, Sup of Sup, and Group) that combine didactic and experiential
   learning, alongside clinical consultation.
8. During the final 3-4 months of internship, interns will each facilitate a Diversity
   Dialogue on a topic they may choose in consultation with the Training Director
   during spring semester.
9. Interns will each complete an Area of Focus for the training year. The Area of
   Focus may be on an area of clinical interest or other aspects of university
   counseling center function.
10. Interns will present a sample of their clinical work informed by current research
    regarding the treatment modality, client population, and clinical practice at the end
    of the fall semester. This presentation will be given to the entire staff.

Aims of the Program

1. To promote the development of general professional identity, knowledge, and
   competencies for entry into professional practice as a psychologist.
2. To promote a broad and general range of clinical competencies necessary for entry
   into professional practice as a psychologist.
3. To promote the development of both a broad and a general range of outreach,
   consultation, supervision, and training competencies necessary for entry into
   professional practice as a psychologist.
4. To promote the development of knowledge, skills, and awareness of the role of
   cultural and individual diversity in the professional practice as a psychologist.

Profession Wide Competencies

1. Research
   1. Integration of science and theory in professional practice
   2. Critically consumes research to inform evidence-based practice
2. Ethical and legal standards
   1. Knowledge and application of Ohio State Laws and APA ethics code and
      standards in professional practice
       Knowledge and application of agency policy and procedures
       Identifies, discusses, and addresses ethical dilemmas as they arise and
      applies ethical decision-making processes
3. Individual and cultural diversity
   1. Increases multicultural self-awareness
   2. Increases awareness of the variables that impact the delivery of
      psychological services to diverse population
   3. Increases knowledge of the role of cultural and individual diversity in the
      delivery of psychological services
   4. Demonstrates understanding of human behavior within its context (eg.,
      family, social, societal, and cultural)
   5. Increases skill in the delivery of psychological services to diverse
      populations
   6. Knowledge and skills in social justice
4. Professional values, attitudes, and behaviors
   1. Consolidation of identity as a psychologist that reflects professional values
   2. Actively seeking and demonstrating openness to feedback and supervision
   3. Engages in self-reflective practice regarding professional values, attitudes,
      and behaviors
5. Communication and interpersonal skills
   1. Engages in self-reflection regarding one’s communication ability and style
   2. Communicates and collaborates effectively with other professionals, peers,
      and clients
   3. Responding professional complex interpersonal situations with a greater
      degree of independence as they progress across levels of training
   4. Actively seeks and demonstrates openness to feedback about interpersonal
      communication style
6. Assessment
   1. Demonstrates competence in initial psychological assessment
   2. Demonstrates basic skills related to documentation of initial assessment,
      diagnostic classification, and treatment planning
   3. Demonstrates current knowledge of diagnostic systems, functional and
      dysfunctional behaviors, including consideration of client strengths and
      psychopathology
   4. Demonstrates the ability to apply the knowledge of functional and
      dysfunctional behaviors including context to the assessment and/or
      diagnostic process
7. Intervention
   1. Demonstrates competencies in individual psychotherapy
   2. Demonstrates competencies in group psychotherapy
   3. Demonstrates competencies in crisis intervention
   4. Effectively documents psychological interventions, including case
      conceptualization, treatment planning, and therapeutic process and outcome
   5. Professionally discusses clinical interventions in clinical team meetings and
      with clinical supervisor
8. Supervision
   1. Demonstrates competence in provision of supervision
   2. Appropriately documents supervision activities and consults with umbrella
      supervisor and other supervisors as necessary
   3. Demonstrates awareness and knowledge of appropriate ethical and legal
      standards
   4. Demonstrates awareness and knowledge of individual and cultural diversity
      as it impacts provision of supervision
9. Consultation/interdisciplinary skills
   1. Demonstrates competence in providing consultation and implementing
      outreach to non-mental health professionals and students in a university
      setting
   2. Demonstrates competence in providing professional assistance in response
      to a client’s or consultee’s needs or goals.
   3. Demonstrates awareness of potential ethical dilemmas in outreach and
      consultation