Internship Programs In Psychology Research Articles

Current Landscape of Child and Adolescent Psychology Internship Programs and Implications for Workforce Development.

Doctoral psychology internships play a key role in the development of the competencies of the clinical child and adolescent psychologist workforce needed to serve the increasing behavioral and mental health needs of children. This study surveyed 50 internship training directors regarding workforce needs, the structure of experiential internship components, and the organizational infrastructure and funding of internship programs that provide focused care to children and adolescents within medical settings. Findings suggest that internships most commonly occur within academic medical settings and include clinical child psychology, integrated care, pediatric psychology, neuropsychology, and developmental disabilities tracks. On average, sites had 6 interns, 3 tracks, and 4 major rotations per track. Training directors identified program funding to be the greatest barrier to sustaining internship programs. Currently, internships are funded through clinical revenue, grants, and organizational funds covering an average intern salary of $31,020 plus benefits as well as 0.3 FTE of a training director's time to administrate the program. The number of internship tracks within a single program was associated with greater administrative time for the training director. Implications for advocacy at the federal, state, profession, and institutional level to increase funding and decrease barriers to training are discussed.

A national survey of doctoral psychology education and training in suicide risk and violence risk assessment and management.

When, in the judgment of a mental health professional, patient suicide risk and/or patient violence risk are considered imminent, they have been referred to as behavioral emergencies. Past surveys have suggested that education and training with these emergency situations have been inadequate. The present study was undertaken to obtain more current information on the training that psychologists receive in these areas of practice. All directors of APA-accredited graduate psychology programs and all directors of APA-accredited predoctoral psychology internship programs were asked to complete an online survey inquiring about such training provided in their programs. Results indicated that both sets of directors rated such doctoral training in suicide risk assessment and management as very important. Internship directors, however, were significantly more likely than graduate program directors to state that psychologists should be required to complete continuing education courses on other-directed violence risk. Serious gaps in training were identified; that is, only 59.2% of psychology graduate directors reported that their program offered training in safety planning for suicide risk and only 25.4% reported that their program offered training in safety planning for violence risk. Given that serious injury and even death can occur from patient suicidal behavior and/or a patient violent behavior, the implications of these findings are discussed.

Working toward Socially Responsive Recruitment Practices of Psychology Interns in an Academic Medical Center.

This study describes a quality improvement (QI) process to reduce bias and increase inclusion and equity in the recruitment of health service psychology interns in an American Psychological Association-accredited psychology internship program at a national children's hospital. This QI project utilized two Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles targeting the application review and the interview processes primarily using supervisor engagement and feedback to inform these processes. The goal of the PDSA cycles was to increase diversity in psychology doctoral interns offered interviews and ultimately recruited to the internship program. The application rating form was revised to place a greater emphasis on factors related to diversity, such as increasing the number of points applicants could earn for being bilingual. Regarding the interview process, structured interview questions were created, and a new, unified rubric was used to score interviewees. The changes in demographics of applicants selected for interviews and feedback from applicants who interviewed are reported. The QI process resulted in tangible changes to improve equitable and inclusive internship recruitment. Lessons learned throughout this process included the need for continual auditing of practices through an equity lens, engaging supervisors at all stages of the process, and implementing incremental actions.

Only Human: Mental-Health Difficulties Among Clinical, Counseling, and School Psychology Faculty and Trainees

How common are mental-health difficulties among applied psychologists? This question is paradoxically neglected, perhaps because disclosure and discussion of these experiences remain taboo within the field. This study documented high rates of mental-health difficulties (both diagnosed and undiagnosed) among faculty, graduate students, and others affiliated with accredited doctoral and internship programs in clinical, counseling, and school psychology. More than 80% of respondents (n = 1,395 of 1,692) reported a lifetime history mental-health difficulties, and nearly half (48%) reported a diagnosed mental disorder. Among those with diagnosed and undiagnosed mental-health difficulties, the most common reported concerns were depression, generalized anxiety disorder, and suicidal thoughts or behaviors. Participants who reported diagnosed mental disorders endorsed, on average, more specific mental-health difficulties and were more likely to report current difficulties than were undiagnosed participants. Graduate students were more likely to endorse both diagnosed and undiagnosed mental-health difficulties than were faculty, and they were more likely to report ongoing difficulties. Overall, rates of mental disorders within clinical, counseling, and school-psychology faculty and trainees were similar to or greater than those observed in the general population. We discuss the implications of these results and suggest specific directions for future research on this heretofore neglected topic.

Trainee Perspectives on Internship and Fellowship Training Experiences in Pediatric Health Service Psychology during a Global Pandemic

ABSTRACT The impact of COVID-19 on the psychology training community has included modifications to internship and postdoctoral fellowship training programs to assure the safety of patients, trainees, and staff. Studies assessing the impact of COVID-19 on training in health service psychology are emerging; however, few studies have provided the opportunity for psychology trainees to candidly report about their experiences during the ongoing pandemic. This paper aims to describe how the pandemic effected internship and fellowship training experiences from the trainee’s perspective. Participants included 58 trainees from pediatric psychology internship and postdoctoral fellowship programs in the United States. A survey containing open- and close-ended questions was distributed to trainees via their training directors to assess training experiences during COVID-19. Qualitative analysis of responses revealed four themes describing 1) reduced depth and breadth of training opportunities, 2) social isolation and limited professional and personal support, 3) increased use of telepsychology and reduced in-person training, and 4) increased levels of stress and burnout combined with decreased morale. Many internship trainees described pandemic-related challenges to completion of dissertation, and postdoctoral fellows experienced altered or delayed professional trajectories due to financial, mental health, and career readiness factors. Implications and future directions include the need for increased support both professionally and personally for trainees who are completing internship and postdoctoral fellowship training in the midst of COVID-19.

A qualitative study of strategies and challenges in training behavioral health workforce for integrated primary care.

COVID-19 has underscored the need to accelerate behavioral health (BH) integration in primary care, where many patients seek mental health services. Expanding BH integration requires a strong and sustainable BH workforce trained to work in primary care. Psychology internship is a critical period of development when doctorate-level therapists receive supervised clinical experiences with integrated primary care. To explore the strategies and challenges of teaching psychology trainees to practice BH in primary care. Qualitative study. Nine out of 11 psychology internship and postdoctoral fellowship programs across the Washington State that provide integrated primary care training were recruited. Response rate was 82%. Twelve training leads and supervisors completed semi-structured interviews between December 2020 - March 2021. Interviews focused on participant experiences with providing educational training and supervision to psychology trainees practicing integrated primary care. Data were analyzed using grounded theory approach. Four strategies emerged - orient trainees with extensive onboarding to the culture, context, and function of primary care; provide a psychologically safe space for open dialogues that facilitate professional identity development; model the skills needed to collaborate with primary care teams; and create a structured environment for trainees to practice the skills. Training leads and supervisors also reported three challenges - strategies to address trainees' difficulties with acculturating to the culture of primary care; loss of opportunities to shadow and interact with primary care providers due to telemedicine during COVID-19; and limitations of the traditional supervision structure to accommodate the unpredictable and urgent crises experienced by trainees in fast-paced primary care settings. Future recommendations include early exposure to primary care during psychology graduate training, a hybrid model of fixed and flexible supervision schedules, and intentional efforts to define and balance in-person and remote teaching for different types of training needs.

Training Directors’ Perspectives of Psychology Intern and Postdoctoral Fellow Training Experiences during COVID-19: A Changing Landscape

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic has affected professional training in health service psychology. Although training provided by psychology internship and postdoctoral fellowship programs has continued, programs have altered the opportunities available to assure the safety of patients and providers. This paper aims to describe training directors’ (TD) perspectives of how COVID-19 has impacted training experiences. Participants included 63 TDs from child and adolescent psychology internship and postdoctoral fellowship programs, most of which are located in the United States. A survey containing open- and close-ended questions was distributed to TDs to assess alterations to training experiences due to COVID-19. Responses described increased use of telehealth, video/virtual supervision, safety precautions/procedures, reduced in-person clinical opportunities, and decreased morale. Assessment, communication and interpersonal skills, intervention, and consultation and interprofessional/interdisciplinary skills were the profession-wide competencies most negatively impacted. Qualitative analysis revealed five themes describing how COVID-19 (1) affected the depth and breadth of training; (2) reduced organic, in the moment experiences; (3) increased stress and decreased trainee and staff morale; (4) limited in-person assessment training; and (5) altered and reduced interdisciplinary collaboration. The ongoing pandemic has had positive and negative impacts on the experiences of trainees completing internship and postdoctoral fellowship programs. Although TDs reported increased opportunity to train in telehealth service provision, it is imperative that trainees are able to gain clinical experiences in the context of this pandemic that meet training expectations in depth and breadth of skills needed to assure readiness to transition into the field of independent practice as emerging psychologists.

Ruth Matarazzo (1926–2020).

Presents the obituary of Ruth Matarazzo (1926-2020). She was Professor Emeritus of Behavioral Neuroscience at Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU). Matarazzo went to Pembroke College for women at Brown University graduating in 1948 in psychology and stayed on for a year in graduate studies. There she met Joseph (Joe) Matarazzo, also in graduate psychology, and married him in 1949. She earned her Ph.D. from Washington University in 1955 and became the first woman admitted to the St. Louis Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center Clinical Psychology Internship Program. She later joined Harvard Medical School as a research fellow and staff psychologist at Massachusetts General Hospital. As an educator, Ruth taught and supervised psychology interns and residents in medical psychology, residents in psychiatry, mentored female medical students, and published widely. Some of her greatest achievements was her leadership in helping women in medicine and science. She arrived at the Portland Medical School eight months pregnant and worked until she gave birth to her first child. Her example helped to change policy for working women at the school, particularly nurses, allowing them to work longer during their pregnancies if they chose to do so. She also was a founding member of the Portland Opera. In 2007 she received the Presidential Award of the American Psychological Association for her lifetime of professional contributions and public service. In her spare time, she was active in civic affairs and clubs. She is survived by her husband Joe, son Harris, daughters Elizabeth and Sara, and five grandchildren. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Utilizing Community Partners to Enhance Quality Intern Training

Psychology internship programs expand the knowledge of trainees using creative strategies and are required to reflect on whether or not their strategies are effective. Teaching and training while on internship should incorporate various methods of learning, i.e. experiential, lecture-based and/or collaborative learning. Collaboration with professional community partners into didactic lectures is an opportunity for trainees to gain exposure to unique specialty areas within psychology. A quality improvement initiative was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of this training method. Interns’ evaluations of didactic lectures given by faculty members and community partners between 2010 and 2016 were compared. Results indicated interns rated faculty presentations higher overall compared to community partner presentations; however, the differences may be of low practical significance indicating commonalities between the quality of faculty and community partners presentations. Overall, results from the current study appear to support the use of utilizing community partners to support quality training in internship programs.

The use of surveys to improve the clinical psychology internship program and intern recruitment process.

The use of surveys to improve the clinical psychology internship program and intern recruitment process.

New York telebehavioral health program to help homeless

Making addiction treatment and mental health services accessible to homeless people via videoconferencing and email is the focus of a federally funded program at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), according to an RIT news release. The goal is to improve treatment outcomes for the underserved population by increasing the number of qualified clinical psychologists trained to deliver care via remote technology. RIT will train doctoral interns in its Priority Psychology Internship Program to work with clients at the House of Mercy homeless shelter in Monroe County, N.Y. The U.S. Graduate Psychology Education Program is funded by a $1.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “We will be able to train interns to use innovations in technology and the use of telebehavioral health to target addiction and co‐occurring mental health, such as trauma, that is common among the homeless,” Caroline Easton, professor in RIT's School of Behavioral Health Sciences, and lead researcher on the grant. “This will provide a mechanism for easy access to care for the homeless.”

Supplemental Material for The Use of Surveys to Improve the Clinical Psychology Internship Program and Intern Recruitment Process

Supplemental Material for The Use of Surveys to Improve the Clinical Psychology Internship Program and Intern Recruitment Process

Supporting accreditation for doctoral psychology internship programs: The APPIC Accreditation Readiness Project.

Supporting accreditation for doctoral psychology internship programs: The APPIC Accreditation Readiness Project.

Current Patterns of Training in Personality Assessment During Internship.

Training in broad-based objective and projective personality assessments has been a mainstay of applied psychology. Stedman (2007) and Piotrowski (2015) have documented a decline in projective training during internship. This study investigated internship directors' current expectations regarding graduate school training with objective and projective instruments, their ratings of the importance of that training, and current training patterns with objective and projective instruments during internship. Participants were 355 psychology internship programs, representing 46.1% of the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers. Results indicated the following current internship training patterns: Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (68% to 51%), Personality Assessment Inventory (59% to 25%), Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (51% to 34%), Rorschach (35 to 26%), story telling (41% to 19%), sentence completion (41% to 18%), and drawings (36% to 9%). Adult program directors reported higher percentages for objective tests; child program directors reported higher percentages for projective tests. A decreased valuation of projective techniques is now typical of current internship training programs.

Supplement to listing of accredited doctoral, internship, and postdoctoral training programs in health service psychology.

Provides an announcement from the Commission on Accreditation for the following status changes for accredited doctoral (clinical, counseling, school, or a combination there of and developed practice area), doctoral internship, and postdoctoral residency programs in health service psychology as of April 2, 2017. (PsycINFO Database Record

A National Survey of Trauma Training in Psychology Internships

ABSTRACTDirectors from psychology internship programs across the United States were asked to participate in a survey regarding their sites’ provision of services to traumatized populations and didactic and supervisory training offered to interns. All totaled, 259 training directors completed the survey. Using a point system, an impact score of training saturation was determined based on the content and frequency of training offered in didactic, supervision, or combined formats. Of these, all reported at least one trauma training opportunity in either didactic or supervision format. More than half indicated that they offered at least 1 to 3 hours of didactics on trauma per week (62.2%) and slightly less offered supervision-specific training opportunities (54.5%). However, only 30.8% identified training opportunities in trauma/posttraumatic stress disorder that reached a high level of saturation in training, meaning they offered training activities above the median impact score. The most commonly reported barrier to offering trauma training was related to being busy meeting other specialty or program requirements. Findings provide a preliminary overview of current training practices that can be useful to students seeking trauma internship placements and administrators and faculty who are looking to revise their curriculum.

Supplement to listing of accredited doctoral, internship, and postdoctoral training programs in professional psychology.

The Commission on Accreditation has provided a list announcing the following status changes for Accredited doctoral (clinical, counseling, school, or a combination thereof and developed practice area), doctoral internship, and postdoctoral residency programs in professional psychology as of April 1, 2016. (PsycINFO Database Record

Supplement to listing of accredited doctoral, internship, and postdoctoral training programs in professional psychology.

Supplement to listing of accredited doctoral, internship, and postdoctoral training programs in professional psychology.

Supplement to listing of accredited doctoral, internship, and postdoctoral training programs in professional psychology.

Supplement to listing of accredited doctoral, internship, and postdoctoral training programs in professional psychology.

Blueprint for professional development: The role of the psychology internship.

This paper discusses the implications of the Blueprint for Health Service Psychology Education and Training (Blueprint; Health Service Psychology Education Collaborative (HSPEC), 2013) for psychology internship programs. The Blueprint provides a series of recommendations that seek to strengthen the core preparation and professional development of health service psychologists. As such, the present com- mentary is provided in the context that internship is but one part of the sequence of education and training of the health service provider in psychology. The Blueprint in the Context of Professional Development The Blueprint for Health Service Psychology Education and Training (referred herein as the Blueprint; Health Service Psy- chology Education Collaborative, (HSPEC), 2013) is a wel- come addition in the evolution of psychology training and practice. Three guiding principles emerge from this report. First, it reflects the efforts among several leaders in the educa- tion and training of the health service providers in psychology. To reach a significant measure of consensus in proposing this series of recommendations amid what was likely a diversity of opinion is most impressive. Second, the report promotes the expectation that psychology education and training should be guided by a quest for excellence rather than relying on defini- tions of minimum standards for the profession. Third, the process of training psychologists as health service providers represents a sequence in an educational trajectory that begins at the undergraduate level and proceeds through licensure. It can also be argued that in order to be a competent health service provider in psychology, ongoing post licensure, continuing education need to be pursued in order to incorporate the evolv- ing knowledge from science into practice and the changing demands of the health care marketplace. A commitment to lifelong professional learning is apparent and likely warrants serious consideration in the collaborative's future discussions. As the Blueprint report notes, psychology, as a health care