Geropsychology training in Canada: A survey of doctoral and internship programs.

The Canadian Psychological Association emphasises the importance of diversity training for doctoral and internship programs, and age is an important aspect of diversity. Yet, little is known about training capacity in clinical geropsychology in Canada. To address this issue, the authors surveyed directors of clinical training in all accredited clinical and counselling psychology doctoral and internship programs in Canada. Responses from 92% (n = 43) of these programs indicated that there are no doctoral programs in Canada with a formal concentration in geropsychology; however, 40% of internships offer a major rotation in geropsychology and a further 48% offer a minor rotation. Training activities are largely focused on the diagnosis and assessment of mental health problems, with relatively less attention to therapeutic interventions. Data are presented on the availability of geropsychology resources (e.g., faculty/clinical supervisors, courses, practicum, research opportunities) and the perceived need for geropsychology training. Recommendations for enhancing geropsychology training capacity in Canada are reviewed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Predoctoral Internship: Is Current Training Anachronistic?

The historical context of the predoctoral internship system is contrasted with the current state of graduate training. The internship system emerged because psychology students often acquired insufficient clinical experience during graduate training in the mid-20th century. However, modern graduate training typically involves extensive supervised clinical contact prior to internship. Moreover, traditional internships exact significant financial, psychological, and personal costs from students. The authors conclude with a discussion of recent progress in the internship process, promising alternatives to traditional internship training (i.e., elective internship training, distributed clinical training, and the affiliated internship model), and implications for the profession. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

From the ground up: Building a psychology of women internship track.

Where can a graduate student interested in a specialty track in the psychology of women apply for internship? Until recently, there was no American Psychological Association (APA)-approved internship site in the United States offering such an experience. In addition to the generalist training that typifies APA internships, the internship year also presents an opportunity for specialization. If internship sites are to produce psychologists well equipped to address women's unique mental health needs, then it is vital to create opportunities for trainees to specialize in the psychology of women while on internship. This article describes the development of a Psychology of Women Track as part of a predoctoral internship program, including the context of the track, the specific training experiences included in the track, and a conceptual model of psychology of women training that can be used at other internship sites. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A survey of group psychotherapy training during predoctoral psychology internship.

Do psychologists receive sufficient training in group psychotherapy? Existing literature indicates that comprehensive training standards have not been universally or rigorously followed within the field of psychology. Results of this study indicate that, much like graduate school programs, predoctoral clinical psychology internships also do not routinely provide adequate group therapy training. This deficit in training undermines the proficiency and competency of psychologists who will increasingly be called upon to lead psychotherapy groups in clinical practice. Specific recommendations are provided to training directors who are interested in expanding their group therapy training opportunities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reconsidering assumptions: Half-time internships in their historical context.

The historical assumptions that have influenced internships in professional psychology need to be reconsidered to articulate what actually happens in current training programs and what the graduate students gain. Beginning with the historical and intellectual context, the authors discuss internship models and pedagogies along with competencies and the cultures of programs. The differing emphases on the production of science are seen as less important than stated in current regulations. Internship politics, prejudices, and economics are critically evaluated from various perspectives. The 5 current types of internships are described. Conclusions, implications, and practical next steps are offered with an emphasis on the development of innovative internship models, including half-time internships, which may better suit the needs of many current graduate students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

APA-accredited internships: An examination of the supply and demand issue.

Psychology graduate students have been worried for several years as questions have circulated about the internship imbalance between the number of students seeking internships and the number of available internships. This project examined the issue of supply of and demand for internship slots at sites accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA). Data were provided by 99% (437 of 442) of the internship sites and 85% (245 of 289) of the APA-accredited professional psychology doctoral programs. Results confirmed speculations about the internship imbalance, or the bottleneck effect. Cumulative effects of the deficits are expected. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The impact of geropsychology training.

What effect does a geropsychology practicum placement have on graduate students' knowledge of and attitudes toward older adults? Ninety psychology externs and interns were surveyed at the beginning of the training year and then 9 months later. About half of the trainees provided services in settings that served older adults, whereas the remainder did not. At the end of training, those with a geropsychology placement maintained higher interest in geropsychology, had lower negative attitudes toward older people, and had greater knowledge of mental health and aging than trainees without a geropsychology placement. There were no differences between the two placement groups in knowledge of general facts on aging and positive attitudes toward the aged. The implications of the findings for graduate program directors, training psychologists, and graduate students are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sport psychology training within a clinical psychology program and a department of intercollegiate athletics.

Many applicants to clinical and counseling psychology programs are interested in receiving the training needed to practice competently in the professional specialty area of sport psychology. In this article, the authors describe a collaborative training and service relationship between an APA-accredited clinical psychology program and an intercollegiate athletics department. Sport Psychology Services provides performance enhancement, program evaluation, and mental health services to the athletic department. In return, graduate students receive applied training, financial support, and opportunities to conduct research. The authors present program evaluation data and offer practical guidelines to graduate programs wishing to establish similar training opportunities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Professional psychology internships in school psychology: Fact or fiction?

We investigated the types of training options for school psychology students in internship settings accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA). Survey results were obtained from APA-accredited programs in school psychology and APA-accredited predoctoral internships that accept school psychology applicants. The results suggested a discrepancy between the number of accredited programs and the number of accredited predoctoral internships available to the prospective school psychology intern. These findings are reviewed in light of recommended internship components obtained from survey information and guidelines approved by the Council of Directors of School Psychology Programs (1983) and the American Psychological Association (1986). Recommendations for development of school psychology rotations within APA-accredited predoctoral internships for doctoral training in psychology are presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A framework for half-time internship training in psychology.

In the past 50 years, psychology has so heavily emphasized the full-time internship as the preeminent training model that it has often overlooked the benefits of half-time internships for educators, students, the profession, and the populations that psychologists serve. This article makes a case for the nearly forgotten half-time predoctoral internship. The history and context of the half-time internship, culminating in a recent national conference, is presented. The benefits to students, doctoral programs, and the community are described, as well as obstacles and solutions for their implementation. Implications for developing more half-time internships for psychology stakeholders are also discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Transition from graduate school to internship: A potential crisis.

Notes that the transition from graduate school to a professional internship provokes considerable unexpected turmoil in the lives of psychology graduate students. Some individuals may display symptoms often associated with an emotional crisis. The clinical, institutional, and personal stressors created by this transition are discussed. Personal stressors involving the loss of meaningful relationships and difficulties in mourning are perceived to be of paramount importance. Because of the instability experienced in this transition, new interns may not function at their best, and supervisors should be wary of establishing base rates of competency for interns. Recommendations are presented on how graduate programs and professional internships can help students deal with the turmoil of this period. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Future funding for clinical students.

Surveyed clinical psychology training programs and internships to estimate the impact of federal budget cutbacks. For the 1973–1974 academic year, there were 20 graduate school applicants and 9 internship applicants for each funded position. Funded positions decreased 9–22% compared with the previous year. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mental health and managed care: Training for the 21st century.

Discusses some of the difficulties future clinicians may encounter as they make the transition from graduate training to clinical work, and suggests that many traditional pre-doctoral psychology internships inadequately prepare trainees for the prospective practice of psychology in the era of managed mental health care. Graduate training programs need to integrate clinical work in a managed care setting during internship training utilizing the scientist-practitioner model to (1) more effectively prepare trainees for future work in managed care, (2) expand professional psychology's unique contributions to mental health treatment, and (3) apply the research methodology of psychology to evaluate clinical efficacy and treatment outcomes within the managed care environment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Respecialization in clinical psychology.

Surveyed 371 departments that offer graduate programs in psychology to determine their current respecialization efforts. Program directors from 43 departments indicated that they are currently involved in respecialization efforts, 26 of these in clinical psychology. A 2nd questionnaire was sent to the 149 students identified as having been involved in clinical respecialization, and responses were received from 65. Results show that students and program directors agreed about the feasibility and success of respecialization efforts. Students felt that they performed significantly better in coursework than did regular clinical students on internships and significantly better in their jobs. It is important for the profession that additional opportunities for such training be made available. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Process of Selecting Predoctoral Internship Training Sites.

The authors believe that their present approach to internship center placement is beneficial to both clinical psychology graduate students and internship centers. The students have become actively involved and are a very important part of the process. This approach minimizes the effort of the graduate students in selecting an excellent internship and reduces the amount of work, time, and energy devoted to the process in both the psychology department and the internship center. The authors hope this approach will be of value to other psychology departments in the selection and processing of their graduate students for internship centers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clinical and counseling psychology doctoral trainnees: How students perceive internships.

The authors examined applicants' perceptions of internship site types by specialty affiliation (clinical and counseling psychology). Multidimensional scaling analyses suggest that clinical psychology students focus their attention on internship site prestige, future job opportunities, opportunities for research, degree of client psychopathology and physical illness, and their overall comfort in working with the client population associated with the site type. Counseling students focus on fewer attributes, including site prestige, quality of supervision, degree of client physical illness, and comfort in working with the client population. Specialty affiliation also accounted for systematic differences in internship site preferences. Results are discussed with regard to internship supply-and-demand issues, and implications are offered for student applicants, academic training directors, and internship training directors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Demise of the 3rd-year internship: The changing role of the internship in graduate training.

Current training in PhD clinical psychology stems from the 1949 Boulder conference on graduate education in clinical psychology. Among the detailed recommendations made by that committee were specific guidelines and goals for a clinical internship that was deeply embedded within the graduate training experience. Since that time, the academic and practical training of PhD clinical psychologists has become increasingly separated, to the point at which the clinical internship year almost universally occurs after the completion of graduate training. In this article the development of the current-day internship and the probable factors involved in the demise of the original 3rd-year model are examined. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Forensic training at internships: Update and criticism of current unspecified training models.

In recent years, training opportunities in legal/forensic psychology have increased at both the graduate school and internship levels. Questionnaire data from 76 American Psychological Association approved internship programs suggest that, at least at the internship level, the growth in this training is haphazard, uncoordinated, and unplanned and may have detrimental consequences for core training in psychology. Analysis of these trends is undertaken, and suggestions for an alternative legal/forensic training model are offered. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The internship marketplace: The new depression?

Conducted a survey to provide data on past and future estimates of supply and demand in the internship marketplace and on current and anticipated financial support for clinical psychology graduate students and interns. A questionnaire sent to training directors of the 149 listed clinical psychology graduate programs and 242 listed predoctoral clinical internship facilities, yielded returns of 67% and 81% respectively. Results show a greater increase in demand than in supply of internship positions for the past 5 yrs, with a 14% nonplacement rate predicted within 3 yrs. Financial support data predict shifting of sources of funding from current levels such that a nonsupport rate of 12% for graduate students and 9% for interns is expected. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)