Components of Training Program
Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) Predoctoral Psychology Internship Program provides comprehensive training in college mental health including experience with intakes, assessments, on-call coverage, crisis intervention, suicide assessment and management, brief counseling, individual and couples counseling, group psychotherapy, consultation, case management, and working with a diverse and gifted student population.
Clinical Activities
Interns are responsible for managing 16-20 hours of clinical work per week, providing brief therapy to registered Stanford University undergraduate and graduate students. They will conduct intakes and assess the appropriateness of the student’s presenting problem to a brief treatment model versus longer term therapy. Interns will have the opportunity to provide longer-term therapy for a full year with two students. During the course of the training year, interns will discuss their treatment plan in ongoing supervision and gain greater experience and competence in their clinical interventions. This may include consultation with psychiatrists, referring students out for open-ended therapy and collaborations with other staff on and off campus regarding student mental health care.
All interns provide one weekly 8 hour shift of on-call crisis service to the student population. During on-call, Interns meet with students, professors, Resident Advisors, Resident Fellows or Resident Deans to consult, triage, or assess students for safety issues. Interns consult with staff if a student presents as a danger to self or others or is gravely disabled. Interns may take phone calls and provide referrals and triage over the phone. In the case of a crisis involving potential harm to self or others, Interns consult with a senior staff back-up. By the end of internship year, Interns will have gained experience with crisis assessment, management, and hospitalizations. During the summer, each intern is responsible for up to two weeks of 24 hour on-call service with senior staff back-up. In addition, Interns may join staff in speaking to various academic departments or resident halls when critical incidents arise.
Training Activities
Clinical Supervision
Interns attend two hours of weekly clinical Supervision. In individual supervision, Interns are encouraged to develop reflective, introspective clinical and case conceptualization skills that aid in their development as professional psychologists. Interns are given an opportunity prior to the beginning of the Internship to request their supervision preferences and needs. An attempt is made to match Interns to supervisors based upon these preferences. The clinical supervisor carries responsibility for case management, acquainting the Intern with the operations of the agency, training requirements, mentoring, and moral support. Ongoing and reciprocal feedback is an important part of supervision. Interns switch supervisors mid-year to diversify their supervisory experience. Evaluations occur mid-year and at end-of-year.
Specialty Rotations
Our internship provides 3 rotations that focus on specific issues relevant to the student population: Eating Disorders, Substance Use and Gender & Sexual Identity. These rotations are designed for the interns to gain knowledge and experience in how to work with these specific issues in time-limited psychotherapy.
The Eating Disorders rotation will take place during the fall quarter and is designed to educate interns about the assessment and brief, evidence based therapy approaches to treat eating disorders in a college mental health setting. The rotation is taught as a course every fall quarter. Interns will develop knowledge competence around the assessment, theories, and brief therapies of eating disorders by the end of the rotation. While on rotation, interns participate in the Eating Disorders Care Team, where they can observe and appreciate the complexities of treating EDs from a multidisciplinary perspective.
During the winter quarter, the interns will participate in the Substance Use rotation is intended to provide participants with the knowledge and skills necessary to conduct substance use evaluations and brief treatment in a university setting. The focus of the seminar is on Motivational Interviewing and its role in both assessing and treating students who present to CAPS with a substance use problem.
The Gender and Sexual Identities Rotation will take place in Spring quarter and it aims to enable clinicians to become more clinically and culturally competent working with clients across the full spectrum of gender and sexual identities. Topics covered include: sexual fluidity, transgender identities, cultural history of LGBTQ identities, queer-identified people of color; faith and sexuality, same-sex parenting and relationships, poly and kink identities, same-sex relationship violence, and more. This rotation includes a field trip to San Francisco in which we visit sites which are of cultural, spiritual, and historical significance to the Bay Area's LGBTQ communities.
Mental Health Promotion and Risk Reduction Seminar (MHPRR)
This weekly seminar meets to provide support and supervision for activities related to consultation, education, liaison, and outreach. All Interns will demonstrate competency in mental health promotion and risk reduction by creating and executing consultation to the campus community, educational programming, liaison, and outreach services to the Stanford community.
The following are the community centers at Stanford that interns will visit during orientation to meet the staff and learn about different opportunities to collaborate and work with to meet the needs of a specific student population. Previous interns have provided psychotherapy with walk-in hours at a community center or co-facilitated a support group for graduate women of color. Interns can participate in creating and leading workshops and presentations at various centers designed provide services outside of CAPS.
Asian American Activities Center; Bechtel International Center; Black Community Services Center; El Centro Chicano, LGBT Community Resources Center; Native American Cultural Center; Women’s Community Center.
In addition, Interns will gain knowledge and experience in program evaluation by completing a program evaluation project. Please click here to see the program evaluated completed by last year’s intern class.
Didactic Seminars
The didactic seminar meets weekly for two hours. This is a topical seminar where presenters focus on topics that are particularly relevant to college mental health. Individual seminars are organized around clinical, cultural, pharmacological, and treatment model themes. Seminar topics may include:
Please click here to see an example of list of topics covered during Fall 2015.
Diversity Seminar
During winter quarter, interns will with the Training Director to explore how their own cultural beliefs and values may impact interactions with one another and their clients. We believe this is an integral part of fostering personal and professional development working as part of a multicultural organization providing services to a diverse student population.
Professional Development Seminar
This weekly seminar is attended by both Predoctoral Interns and Postdoctoral Fellows and is facilitated by the Training Director. The purpose of this meeting is to provide a weekly check-in with the Training Director and a venue for trainees to support and learn from each other. Trainees may seek support for applications, review each others’ CVs, do mock interviews, process challenges, and provide each other feedback to support each other’s professional development.
Clinical Team Meeting
Interns are part of a multidisciplinary (psychiatrists, psychologists, licensed clinical social workers, and marriage and family therapists) team that meets weekly for case conference, support, education, and administration.
Intern Group Meeting
The Interns' Group Meeting is run by the interns themselves. It provides opportunities for Interns to bond with one another, to set their own agenda for the meetings, to process their training experience, and to provide mutual support.
Friday Staff Meeting
Each week, Interns attend a one hour staff meeting. There is both an administrative and educational component to these meetings. Please click here to see an example of the topics covered during the staff meeting.
Case Conference
Each week, Interns attend a one hour case consultation facilitated by a CAPS staff member. This seminar provides Interns with an opportunity in peer consultation and supervision.
Click on the link to see an example of a sample schedule.
Intro Letter
Philosophy and Goals
Components of the Training Program
Meet the Staff
FAQ
Application Qualifications & Process
