Pre-doctoral Internship Training Model/Goals

OSU-CAPS subscribes to a developmental model of training.  We attempt to understand the experiences, strengths, and growth areas of trainees and support them accordingly.  Our clinical and training experiences are designed to have greater structure and oversight early on internship, moving toward increased autonomy as the year unfolds.  We also find that this progression and the quality of internship experience equally depend on interns who are curious, willing to take risks, and are able to manage normative discomfort in the process of discovery.

We believe that intentionally reflecting on values and theoretical frames lead to expertise (Stoltenberg & Mcneill, 2010).  Similarly we encourage trainees to consider the impact that clients, supervisors, and colleagues have on them.  This is in the service of increased ability to understand the self as a therapy instrument and to expand one's interpersonal repertoire. As internship is for many the gateway into professional standing, we are also interested in how trainees navigate our system.  Our hope is that in creating space to talk about these interactions, interns will better understand their emerging professional identities (and we will better understand our working environment).

At CAPS, training seminars utilize current psychological research but emphasize self-reflection and experiential work as tools to refine and deepen clinical understanding and practice.  We recognize that our work is intimately related to the needs of our college population and occurs in partnership with departments throughout Student and Academic Affairs.  As such, we provide training and experiences that will enable interns to excel in providing psychoeducational workshops and consultation as well as clinical work. 

Our intent is to provide a training trajectory that allows for success, struggle, play, development, and connection while serving the needs of a vibrant college community.

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