Program Expectations
Licensure Hours
The doctoral internship in Psychology at CAPS is a 1,800-hour, full-time, 12-month internship, starting July 31, 2023 and ending July 30, 2024. To complete the internship, interns need to accrue at least 1,800 hours, with 25% of their 1,800 total hours being in direct client service (i.e., at least 450 direct service hours). The program is designed such that interns who are interested in earning 2,000 total hours can do so if they so choose.
Evaluation Process
The training staff places a high premium on creating a work environment that is professionally stimulating with appropriate support and has sufficient flexibility to accommodate individual developmental needs. Fundamental to a successful training experience is the provision of ongoing feedback from primary supervisors, the Training Coordinator, and other training staff with whom trainees have significant contact throughout the training year. Interns and supervisors are encouraged to seek and provide informal feedback throughout the year.
There are two (2) formal evaluation periods during each year for interns. Supervisors will complete written evaluations of their interns, and interns will complete written evaluations of their supervisors. For the formal evaluation periods, supervisors will complete the evaluation form that corresponds to their role with the intern.
Supervisors and trainees are encouraged to share informal evaluative feedback throughout the semester to allow for maximum opportunity to address any developing or ongoing concerns and to minimize unexpected feedback. In the same way that trainees should not experience any major “surprises” in their evaluation, trainees are expected to address supervision concerns as they arise so that supervisors do not experience "surprises" in their evaluations. Although this can be uncomfortable, directly addressing concerns with others is an area of professional competence that trainees will need to engage in as they continue in their professional development.
Professionalism and Expectations for Development
Inherent in the internship experience is an expectation of professional development in a variety of areas. It is also a time of further refinement of one’s professional identity and indoctrination to the field. It is the philosophy of the training program at CAPS that this participation in the process of ongoing professional growth does not end with the completion of the internship year. Instead, psychologists continue to value such development throughout their careers. We encourage interns to embrace the opportunities through the internship experience, as the training year is designed to help them improve their skills as a clinician and to develop professionally. We invite interns to both relax and strive in the understanding that they are expected to make mistakes and to collaborate with the training staff to use these as learning opportunities.
CAPS places a high value on the appreciation of diversity, which is conceptualized broadly and across many dimensions. This is reflected in our multicultural, multi-lingual, multi-disciplinary staff, and in our ongoing efforts to provide comprehensive, and culturally-sensitive services to our clients and the campus community. The internship program supports these efforts and places emphasis on the development of culturally competent knowledge, awareness, and skills for our interns. Interns are expected to develop competencies to effectively serve diverse populations, including clients whose identity, beliefs, worldview, or cultural background may create personal conflict with those of the intern. While we respect trainees' right to maintain their belief systems, the training of professional psychologists who can serve a diverse public necessitates both the trainees’ and trainers' openness to learning, introspection, cognitive flexibility, and exploration of personal beliefs, attitudes, and values. The training program at CSUF CAPS upholds the statement developed by the Education Directorate of the APA and approved by the APA Board of Educational Affairs in 2013 entitled, Preparing Professional Psychologists to Serve a Diverse Public. This statement may be found online at the following address: http://www.apa.org/pi/lgbt/resources/policy/diversity-preparation.aspx .
