Psychology Training Directors' Views of Trainees' Readiness to Practice Independently.

When are psychology trainees ready to practice independently? This question has been debated extensively during the past few years. To contribute to this debate, a national survey of training directors of academic programs, predoctoral internships, and postdoctoral fellowships was conducted. The study explored training directors' views regarding the examinations and supervisory hours necessary to become an independent practitioner. The study found that training directors were divided in their opinions of when trainees are competent to practice independently. Academic training directors believed that trainees are ready for independent practice earlier in the training sequence than internship and postdoctoral training directors. The implications for conflicting views are discussed. (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)     

Competency-based geropsychology training in doctoral internships and postdoctoral fellowships.

Opportunities for geropsychology training in doctoral internships and postdoctoral fellowships have slowly grown over the years. There will be a need for more geropsychology training programs as the U.S. population ages concurrent with increased demand for mental health services from older adults. This article provides recommendations for competency-based geropsychology training that derive from the Pikes Peak Model for Training in Professional Geropsychology. We believe the recommendations provide useful guidance to existing internships and postdoctoral fellowships that offer geropsychology training, as well as to those who would like to establish programs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perspectives on practicum: A survey of directors of accredited PhD programs and internships (or, what is a practicum hour, and how many do I need?).

Directors of American Psychological Association (APA)-accredited graduate training programs in clinical psychology and APA-accredited internships were surveyed regarding preinternship practicum requirements, definitions of practicum experience, and supervision practices. A striking degree of variability in the number of required hours was found for both samples. There was unanimous agreement within each sample that direct contact with clients should be considered practicum experience. Most respondents indicated that individual supervision counted as practicum. Beyond these 2 categories, there was considerable disagreement as to what should be considered practicum experience. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Academic and Internship Directors' Perspectives on Practicum Experiences: Implications.

Academic and internship training directors (TDs) were surveyed regarding practicum training. The most frequently endorsed definition was that a variety of specific activities at a practicum site constituted a legitimate part of a practicum hour, including supervised clinical assessment, clinical intervention, and community consultation, advocacy, or training. Academic and internship TDs differed in their views regarding the minimum number of practicum hours necessary and whether the number of hours should be capped. Implications for points of agreement and disagreement are discussed, and applications of these data to future education and training initiatives are proposed. Suggestions for turning the focus toward competencies rather than hours obtained are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Post-notification day perceptions of unplaced internship applicants and their academic training directors: Recommendations for improving future selection processes.

The demand for predoctoral internships has risen in recent years, possibly contributing to some students' difficulty in securing a slot. The present study examined the experiences of unplaced applicants and their academic training directors after the 1995-1996 internship selection process. Respondents provided their perceptions about (a) why some students did not obtain an internship placement, (b) how prospective applicants may wish to conduct themselves in future selection processes, and (c) how the American Psychological Association, the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers, and academic and internship training programs might respond to the perceived shortage of internship positions. Recommendations for addressing the hypothesized applicant-to-slot imbalance are also presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

APA internship selection criteria: Relative importance of academic and clinical preparation.

Surveyed American Psychological Association (APA)-approved internships to assess what criteria are important to internship selection committees and to determine how much clinical experience is desired to make an applicant competitive. The survey also assessed the number of courses and amount of hours of supervised experience in both diagnostics and treatment that internships look for in preferred applicants. A brief questionnaire was sent to 120 APA-approved internships, which resulted in a response rate of 75%, or 90 respondents. Results show that internship training centers emphasize clinical training experience and personal qualifications over traditional academic achievements. In addition, internships look for substantially more hours of supervised clinical experience than the amount the minimum APA-accreditation criteria require. (8 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Internship opportunities in clinical neuropsychology emphasizing recent INS training guidelines.

Surveyed the directors of 230 predoctoral internship programs in clinical and counseling psychology about the nature of clinical neuropsychological experiences provided at the internship site, training in neuropsychological batteries, information about providers, and availability of formal postdoctoral training. Of the 170 programs responding, 117 indicated that they offered some form of training in clinical neuropsychology. The most common format for this training was the seminar. Findings show that while there is continued demand for clinical neuropsychology training opportunities, the programs' present structure and limited training opportunities are not likely to produce competent practitioners. Although formal postdoctoral experiences were a major recommendation of the International Neuropsychological Association (INS) training guidelines, positions were limited. (10 ref) (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)     

Psychotherapy integration in internships and counseling psychology doctoral programs.

Training directors from APA-accredited internships and counseling psychology doctoral programs reported on the status of doctoral training in psychotherapy integration. A mail survey was used to assess several areas related to psychotherapy integration, such as didactic and clinical training, faculty/staff theoretical orientation and hiring practices, student competency and evaluation, directors' beliefs about integrative/eclectic training, and internship admissions. Overall results show a positive attitude toward psychotherapy integration in predoctoral training and suggest that the foundations for further student development in psychotherapy integration exist. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sexuality training for professional psychologists: A national survey of training directors of doctoral programs and predoctoral internships.

Addressing sexuality issues is an inherent part of being a professional psychologist. A survey of training directors revealed that, although about one half of the doctoral programs covered at least some sexuality topics within courses, 19% to 21% of programs did not offer any training with regard to sexual dysfunction, therapy with gay clients, and HIV-AIDS. Sexuality training was even less likely in predoctoral internships. Sexuality training was unrelated to size of the program but was a function of the number of faculty with relevant expertise. Psychologists with adequate knowledge and comfort regarding sexuality will be better able to serve clients and avoid ethical pitfalls. Suggestions for infusing sexuality training into the already-crowded curricula are offered. (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)     

A survey of interns' preferences and plans for postdoctoral training.

What are interns' plans and preferences for postdoctoral training? In this survey, most interns indicated they preferred an informal postdoctoral experience rather than a formal one, and half of them obtained a position before the end of their internships. Interns based their choices for positions more on personal and practical considerations and indicated that obtaining a postdoctoral position was less stressful than obtaining an internship. Interns had adequate knowledge of the required length of postdoctoral experience for licensure, but most were unsure about the parameters for supervision. Half of the interns were willing to pursue postdoctoral psychopharmacology training, especially if it could be completed within 2 years. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social justice in practicum training: Competencies and developmental implications.

This article addresses the challenge in the predoctoral education of professional psychologists of providing practicum training experiences with a strong social justice focus while also ensuring that students are acquiring the full range of foundational competencies expected of practicing psychologists. The theory-based distinction between interactional, procedural, and distributive justice will be discussed as a framework for considering a developmental progression in practicum training, moving from individually focused skills to more advanced competencies emphasizing social/institutional change. The article concludes with aspirational recommendations for any academic program seriously committed to the pursuit of social justice as part of its training mission. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Training child clinical predoctoral interns and postdoctoral fellows in ethics and professional issues: An experiential model.

The purpose of this article is to outline an experiential professional issues and ethics seminar program developed for predoctoral psychology interns and postdoctoral fellows in the child psychology training program at Stanford University Medical School. It is imperative that trainees develop a comprehensive and practical understanding of both ethical principles and professional issues before completing their academic and clinical training in psychology. A review of this seminar program may help other internship and postdoctoral training programs develop or fine-tune their methods of educating trainees in both professional issues and ethics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Training in projective testing: Survey of clinical training directors and internship directors.

Eighty-nine percent of directors of doctoral programs in clinical psychology accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA) and 84% of directors of APA-accredited internships responded to similar surveys on expectations, attitudes, and practices in the instruction of projective techniques. Directors of internship programs appeared to value projective techniques more than did directors of doctoral programs, and they expected students to have more experience with these techniques than is typically provided in doctoral programs. The two groups also differed significantly in where they believed the responsibility for correcting this imbalance should lie. In addition, 15% of directors of doctoral programs did not believe that training in projective techniques should be required, whereas only 4% of directors of internship programs expressed this view. This study documents the disparity between the average amount of training in projectives provided to students in doctoral programs and the proficiency expected of those students in their internships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Internship selection in 1999: Was the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers' Match a success?

This article evaluates the 1st year of operation of the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers' (APPIC) Matching Program, a computer-based selection process for predoctoral internships, from the perspective of internship applicants, internship training directors, and directors of clinical training. Statistics from the APPIC Match are presented along with the results from surveys that were sent to participants to assess their experiences with the new system. Results revealed a generally high level of satisfaction with the new selection process, along with considerable evidence that the APPIC Match resulted in less stress for participants and a dramatic reduction in violations of APPIC policies. Some limitations and procedural difficulties are reviewed and recommendations for future APPIC Matches are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Postdoctoral training in clinical psychology: A preliminary report by an interest group.

3 purposes of this paper are: "to bring to those concerned with the education of psychologists some information about postdoctoral training in clinical psychology and some thinking of an interest group actively concerned with this problem, to call to the attention of potential candidates postdoctoral training opportunities which now exist, and to invite correspondence and future participation from interested institutions and individuals." 19 centers offering postdoctoral fellowships and their training directors are listed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)