Psychology Training Directors' Views of Number of Practicum Hours Necessary Prior to Internship Application.

A national survey of training directors of academic programs, predoctoral internships, and postdoctoral fellowships was conducted to explore what constitutes an adequate number of practicum hours necessary to apply for internship. Training directors agreed that minimum standard hours should be set but differed on what those hours should be, with academic training directors endorsing fewer hours than directors of predoctoral internships and postdoctoral fellowships. The results raise questions about what is a practicum hour and suggest a need to obtain consensus about minimum standards and the possibility of a competency-based approach rather than emphasizing hours of practicum experience. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Practicum Experience: A Survey of Practicum Site Coordinators.

It has recently been acknowledged that more needs to be known about predoctoral practicum experience in professional psychology from the perspective of those who do the practicum training. This article reports the results of a survey completed by 263 predoctoral practicum sites in the United States and Canada. Information presented includes the distribution of sites where practicum training is currently taking place and the wide range of training opportunities occurring at diverse sites. Results indicate problems in communication between practicum sites and graduate programs, evidenced in a lack of awareness of graduate program expectations by practicum site coordinators. Recommendations to improve communication are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Practicum training hours: Fact and fantasy.

Over the past five years, practicum experience has received increased attention as an important element in the sequence of training. Questions have arisen about the number of hours being counted and the activities occurring in practicum. This study examined the number of practicum hours accrued by comparing the actual number of direct service hours and total hours to an estimated length of time to complete those hours. Based on self-reports, it was estimated that graduate students spend between 2 and 7 years to accrue their practicum hours with 37.5 to 69.6% of that time in direct service. Implications for the profession, faculty, and students are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Internship year in clinical psychology training as a professional adolescence.

The internship year in clinical psychology training has been described as a "professional adolescence." During this time the trainee is involved in consolidating a professional identity through the integration of previous experiences and the application of knowledge to clinical work in a novel situation. Through presentation of personal experiences and observations of a clinical psychology intern, elements of the internship year are compared with the identity process of adolescence. Particular emphasis is placed on issues of competency as they arise throughout the internship year. Aspects of the internship experience that facilitate development of a professional identity are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceptions of Multicultural Training in Predoctoral Internship Programs: A Survey of Interns and Training Directors.

Multicultural training at internship sites is a critical component in the preparation of doctoral-level psychologists, so the quality of this training is of the utmost importance. In the following study, the authors examine multicultural training from the perspective of predoctoral interns and training directors at counseling center sites that offer a major or minor rotation in multicultural therapy. Results suggest that perspectives vary between interns and training directors and that there is a great difference in the type of criteria used by each site as evidence of a major or minor rotation. The need for more standardized criteria to define major and minor rotations and suggestions for the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers, internship training directors, and prospective interns are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Accredited internship and postdoctoral programs for training in psychology: 2009.

Presents the official listing of accredited internship and postdoctoral residency programs. It reflects all Commission on Accreditation decisions through July 19, 2009. This list also is provided by electronic means (http://www.apa.org/ed/accreditation/intern.html), but that listing is for informational purposes only and should not be used for official credential review. The original date of accreditation, listed for each program, is the day on which the program’s accredited status became effective. Also listed for each program is the date of the next regularly scheduled site visit. The accreditation status listed for each program reflects that program’s current status. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A scientist-practitioner perspective of the internship match imbalance: The stairway to competence.

This paper focuses on the supply and demand imbalance from a scientist-practitioner perspective, emphasizing competency development. A conceptual framework, the Stairway Model, illustrates the basic steps leading to emerging professional competence and stimulates research leading to thoughtful solutions to the internship match imbalance. Three immediate recommendations are offered. Doctoral programs should be (a) held accountable for their match rates, and (b) required to publicly disclose program and national match rates. Third, research must be conducted to determine factors that influence match rate and competency development. Concerns with other commonly proposed solutions are also discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Psychodiagnostic Training in the Academic Setting: Past and Present": Erratum.

Reports an error in the original article by Kenneth Shemberg and Stuart Keeley (Jowrnal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1970, 34, No. 2, pp. 20S-211).the name M. H. Thelen has been misspelled. It should appear as Thelen rather than Thelan. (The following abstract of this article originally appeared in record 1970-10740-001). Surveyed all schools granting the PhD in clinical psychology to investigate the current practices regarding academic training in diagnostic techniques and how these practices are different from 5 yr. ago. 70% of the population responded. Former training practices were compared with current training practices. Findings indicate shifts away from training in projectives with a corresponding increase in emphasis on objective approaches. Newer programs are deemphasizing training in diagnostics in general, with marked decreases in training in projectives relative to older programs. However, a significant overall emphasis on diagnostic training in current PhD programs remains. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Character and Fitness Requirements for Professional Psychologists: Training Directors' Perspectives.

Do directors of psychology training programs consider whether program applicants and students possess essential moral character and psychological fitness characteristics? A survey revealed that directors of clinical training (DCTs) in clinical and counseling psychology training programs are very concerned about both character and fitness. DCTs reported that evidence accrued during interviews and from undergraduate references is most salient preadmission and that behavior in the program and in clinical situations is most meaningful postadmission. The authors highlight the practices and perspectives of DCTs when it comes to evaluating character and fitness and conclude with several recommendations for training programs, licensing boards, and psychology training organizations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Internship hours revisited: Further evidence for a national standard.

Inconsistent training requirements across predoctoral internships have problematic implications for psychologists seeking licensure and for the profession as a whole. This investigation is an 11-year follow-up to a previous study (Bartle & Rodolfa, 1999) that explored the variation in hours accrued across predoctoral internship programs. The current study examined the total number of supervised training hours provided by internships and the methods utilized by training directors to calculate these hours. The total number of supervised hours reported by training directors ranged from 1,840 to 2,080, with 58.2% calculating hours by approximation, rounding off, or estimation. As training directors reported more total hours, they were increasingly likely to include holiday, vacation, and sick leave. Recommendations for state licensing boards and internship training programs are provided, including a national licensure requirement of 1,800 hours accrued during internship. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The internship supply and demand issue: Graduate student's perspective.

The increasing gap between the number of internship applicants and the number of students applying for internship is of great concern for psychology graduate students and the American Psychological Association of Graduate Students (APAGS). APAGS sees this concern as multifaceted and has been involved in a variety of efforts to address this imbalance since the early 1990s. This article outlines in greater detail APAGS' view of the internship supply and demand concern, how this problem affects students, and how APAGS has worked to address the issue. It also presents APAGS recommendations for advancing psychology's collective efforts to address this concern. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Student Perspectives on Clinical and Counseling Psychology Practica.

Clinical practica are essential to the training and socialization of future clinical and counseling psychologists. When training expectations are not met, however, students may not be candid about these gaps, instead opting to grin and bear it. A sample of 321 doctoral psychology students responded to a survey that qualitatively and quantitatively assessed their expectations and actual training experiences at practicum. Results indicated that although many students received what they expected, a large minority did not, in areas ranging from work responsibilities to primary supervision. Implications for students, practicum, graduate programs, and the profession are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Supplement to listing of APA-approved doctoral and internship training programs.

This article provides a supplement to the listing of APA-approved doctoral and internship training programs. A number of changes in the list of APA-Approved Doctoral Programs in Professional (Clinical, Counseling, and School) Psychology and in the list of APA-Approved Internship Programs in Professional Psychology are announced by the Committee on Accreditation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Cube Model for Competency Development: Implications for Psychology Educators and Regulators.

This article provides a conceptual framework for training in professional psychology focused on the construct of competency. The authors present a 3-dimensional competency model delineating the domains of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values that serve as the foundation required of all psychologists, the domains of functional competencies that broadly define what psychologists do, and the stages of professional development from doctoral education to lifelong learning through continuing education. The goal in presenting this model is to provide a conceptual frame of reference for those responsible for psychology education, credentialing, and regulation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Internship placements: Similarities and differences between clinical and counseling psychology programs.

Internship matches among students within clinical (n = 2,130) and counseling (n = 450) psychology doctoral training programs were examined for a complete cohort of intern applicants. The overall rates of successful internship matching, as well as the rankings of those matches, were similar for the 2 specialties. The settings of those internship matches revealed significant differences, however. Clinical psychology students matched at higher rates to a range of medical facilities, for example, whereas counseling psychology students matched at higher rates to counseling center settings. These and other differences were examined in relation to the historical and enduring differences between the 2 specialties and their implications for education, training, and practice within the field of professional psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Competency Training in Ethics Education and Practice.

This article provides an overview of issues, including identification of core competencies and strategies for training and assessment, related to ethics education and training for psychologists. It summarizes the products emerging from the ethics working group at the November 2002 Competencies Conference: Future Directions in Education and Credentialing in Professional Psychology, held in Scottsdale, Arizona. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Up close and personal: An inside look at university training programs in school psychology.

I am pleased to have the opportunity as Guest Associate Editor to build on the outstanding special feature of Professional School Psychology, "Up Close and Personal: An Inside Look at University Training Programs in School Psychology" initiated by Richard A. Weinberg (1986). By adding the school psychology program of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill to the list of exemplary university training programs previously featured in the journal, we hope to maintain the established goal "to take a focused look at various programs through the eyes of the educators who have guided their direction" (Weinberg, 1986, p. 61). The feature's focus on American Psychological Association (APA)-accredited school psychology programs in a historical context provides a fascinating perspective on the intellectual history of programs and individual efforts to shape their academic and professional standards. Perhaps as we continue to feature school psychology programs, the focus on the future directions of each program will reveal the innovative changes emerging from the crucial scientific and practical issues in which professional psychology is currently engulfed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)