The overall aim of the Texas State University Counseling Center internship program is to prepare interns to transition from psychologists-in-training to skilled generalists capable of thriving in a variety of outpatient settings and able to attend to the mental health needs of a wide range of individuals. We aim to provide supervised training and experience to advance our interns along their path to become ethical, multiculturally aware, and competent psychologists.
The Texas State University internship training program includes providing experiences conducive to the training of health service psychologists: https://www.apa.org/ed/graduate/diversity-preparation
1) Demonstrate ability to practice and implement psychotherapy (individual, couple, and group)
2) Develop skills in psychological assessment and testing
3) Develop skills in entry-level supervision
4) Demonstrate crisis intervention and trauma assessment skills
5) Develop skills in conducting programs, presentations, and consultations
6) Develop multicultural competency and awareness of diversity
7) Practice psychology guided by ethical and legal standards
8) Promote the development of a positive professional identity
Training at the Texas State Counseling Center is based on the belief that a competent practitioner in the field of psychology should be guided by knowledge of clinical theory and applied research, awareness of ethical/legal/professional standards of practice, sensitivity to individual differences within a diverse society, and openness to lifelong learning. We incorporate this philosophy into our training program through the use of a practitioner - apprenticeship training model in which didactic and experiential learning are combined. This model emphasizes the importance of integrating and applying knowledge and skills (practitioner focus) and continued learning through clinical practice during the internship year (apprenticeship).
The Texas State internship program considers interns to be apprentices or "psychologists-in-training"; that is, they are believed to have a requisite set of basic skills acquired from their academic training programs and are treated as professionals practicing under extensive supervision and support. Interns are expected to build upon and refine previously acquired skills and to learn new skills throughout the internship year as they operate with an increasing level of autonomy. The internship program endeavors to help interns transition from the role of trainee to that of entry-level professional.
Supervisors and other staff serve as important role models for interns. Staff interact with interns both formally, through supervision and other training activities, and informally, through an open door policy, which highlights the value we place upon consultation and collaboration. There is no single theoretical orientation which guides the staff, so interns are not expected to adhere to a specific orientation. Rather, we strive to provide both challenge and support for interns as they develop their own professional identities. Supervisors and other staff are in frequent contact with interns and serve not only to facilitate the development of skills and competencies but also to facilitate the development of self-efficacy and professionalism.
In order to be an effective practitioner, one's practice must be "informed by science". Interns are initially taught theory and research in their academic training programs. They continue their education throughout their internship and are taught the importance of becoming lifelong learners. The practice of psychology is an intensely demanding endeavor which requires one to continue to evolve professionally. Practitioners must be able to integrate theory and research into their clinical work in meaningful ways. This includes keeping up with the professional literature on new developments in the field and changing one's practice as indicated.
All staff and interns have ready access to the Internet and are encouraged to utilize it and university library resources to obtain information about pertinent topics and issues. Individual and group supervision, as well as Clinical Review (case conference) and Intern Training Seminar, present opportunities for discussion of theory, evidence based treatments, and suggestions for reading. Staff and interns also utilize knowledge obtained from their own and others' clinical experiences. Practitioners create hypotheses about clients and then attempt to gather evidence on both a general and local level to support or refute these hypotheses. Staff share knowledge accumulated over their years of practice with interns through training, supervision, and consultation and interns are encouraged to formulate and evaluate their own clinical hypotheses.
Interns are treated as members of the professional staff of the CC. As less experienced professionals, they are provided with the necessary training, supervision, and mentoring to develop personally and professionally. These are provided through the internship program in the form of didactic seminars, individual and group supervision, experiential learning, and staff modeling and mentoring. The program strives to enhance the development of generalist skills in the areas of counseling/psychotherapy, assessment, educational programming/outreach and consultation, and supervision.
In accordance with the Standards of Accreditation In Health Service Psychology, the content and training methods of the Texas State internship program are designed to provide experiences and training to expand the interns' proficiency in the nine APA required competency areas. (https://www.apa.org/monitor/2015/05/new-standards) These competency areas are:
- Research
- Ethical and Legal Standards
- Individual and Cultural Diversity
- Professional Values, Attitudes, and Behaviors
- Communications and Interpersonal Skills
- Assessment
- Intervention
- Supervision
- Consultation and Interprofessional/Interdisciplinary Skills
- Educational Outreach*
*The Texas State internship program values the impact of outreach and prevention and has chosen to provide experiences, training, and supervision in this area of development.