Overview of the Training Program

We offer eleven APA Accredited, full time, paid internship positions in clinical psychology: four General Adult Track positions, two Adult Correctional/Forensics Track Positions and five Child and Adolescent Track positions. Nine of our positions are federally funded by HRSA (Health Resources and Services Administration). We are a member of the American Psychological Association and the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral Internship Centers (APPIC); our program adheres to the rules of these governing bodies. For verification and questions from APA please contact:

Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation
American Psychological Association
750 First Street, N.E.
Washington, DC 20002-4242
(202) 336-5979

We accept applicants from Doctoral programs in Clinical, Counseling, School/Clinical Combined Psychology, and School Psychology. Candidates must have at least two years of practicum/externship experience, including psychological testing and report writing; measures should include IQ, objective, and/or projective instruments. By the time of the application, candidates must have passed their comprehensive exam and have been admitted for doctoral candidacy. In addition, applicants must have an approved dissertation proposal by the start of internship. In compliance with APA guidelines, and to serve our patient population more effectively, we try to obtain a balanced and diversified class each year.

Interns are provided with intensive supervised experience in clinical psychology, with emphasis upon functioning as a professional psychologist in areas including clinical interviewing, psychological testing, as well as individual, couples, family and group psychotherapy. The offerings are individualized in accordance with each intern’s professional goals and objectives. Training includes supervised experience with inpatients and outpatients of varying age groups, the utilization of various modalities of intervention, and implementation of diverse assessment instruments (e.g., intelligence tests, objective and projective personality measures, neuropsychological measures, etc.).  An intern’s time is allocated, approximately, as follows: major rotations 45%; outpatient evaluations, individual, couple, family and group therapy 25%; testing 15%; courses and educational activities 10%; administrative meetings 5%.

Our training occurs in the context of a multicultural large urban hospital setting. The patient population is among the most ethnically and culturally diverse in the world. Patients come from many different Latine, European, and Asian communities. This lends a multicultural dimension to our training, as we seek to emphasize the understanding and treatment of psychopathology from different cultural perspectives. We provide training and supervision in culturally competent assessment and treatment. We are also committed to encouraging and achieving a diverse faculty group.

The training rotations offer a wide range of clinical experiences in which the intern will be exposed to patients with a variety of diagnostic presentations.   Patients served are well known to present with acute or chronic symptoms of psychosis, anxiety, depression, and, mania, among other psychopathologies.  Many of our patients have burgeoning or fully formed personality disorders.  Interns may also treat individuals with major medical or developmental issues that are accompanied by psychiatric symptoms.   From interdisciplinary treatment and case conferences, Psychiatric Emergency Room rounds, Consultation and Liaison rounds, and testing consultations, interns learn the variety of roles that psychologists perform in a hospital setting, as well as how to work side by side with other hospital treatment team members and disciplines. Interns gain an understanding of the medical, pharmacological, nursing, rehabilitation, social work, and creative arts perspectives on treatment as well as learn about the role of managed care in a hospital setting.  In addition, interns gain a working knowledge of the application of ethical and legal standards of care of the profession of psychology.