APA Accredited Internship in Clinical and Counseling Psychology

Thomas E. Cook Counseling Center

Pre-doctoral Internship Program

Virginia Tech

I appreciate you taking a few minutes to complete the following evaluation of your experience with our program during the recent internship interview.  Please  return the form in the enclosed stamped addressed  envelope at your earliest  convenience.  As you know, we post this information  on our web site and your comments are a valuable resource for future intern applicants.  Thank you for your assistance and all the best in your career endeavors.

Jane Keppel-Benson, Ph.D.

• 1.  How did you learn about our internship program? 

  •   APPIC Website

  •   Internet Directory, a member of your staff

  •  APPIC Site (directory)

  •  APPIC Website

  •  APPIC Website

  •  I searched on APA Div 47 website for sites that offered opportunities to work with athletes,then looked further into the program on APPIC

  •  APPIC

  •  Through APPIC website and former interns

  • APPIC Search

  • APPIC Website

  •  APPIC Directory

  • APPIC Database; personal contact with staff

   

  2.  What do you see as the strengths of our training program? 

  • Opportunity to explore personal interesting diverse faculty interests

  • Commitment to intern training.  Sport psychology rotation.

  • Seems like a well-organized program in a stable setting.

  • Emphasis on training and supervision, availability of research

  • Wide range of opportunities/individual and group therapy/consultation possible teaching/broad range of presenting problems/focus on continuing to develop as clinician

  •  Facility (offices, video recording, within Health Services)/opportunities to work with culturally diverse clients

  • Positive interpersonal “vibe”/Opportunity to supervise students and create a model of supervision/emphasis on teaching and research/training seminars/diverse faculty that seem open and friendly

  • Excellent training, personable staff, varied opportunities

  • Too many strengths to list on paper, some exceptional strengths include supervision of graduate practicum students, technologically advanced site such that group individual and supervision may be taped, strong supervision and outreach opportunities and incredible  seminars.

  • Excellent training resources, such as video cameras and closed circuit video of therapy sessions, abundant seminar topics and supervision hours.

  • Organization of training. Involvement of entire staff. Depth & experience of staff-varied interests.

  • Heavy emphasis on training; flexibility with meeting various interests of interns (i.e.-summer  rotation, sports, etc.)

                   

   3.  What do you see as the weaknesses of our training program? 

  • Too little time with clients

  • Salary, location, no postdoc

  •  Stipend, limited scope

  •  Pay

  •   Not much opportunity for long-term therapy

  •  The weaknesses that were apparent are expected in a university setting. Lack of long term therapy experiences, ample opportunities to work with culturally diverse clients

  •   It didn’t seem like there would be opportunities to see any clients long term/only do short term/brief therapy

  •  Location/providing information about surrounding cities/towns might be helpful

  •  Little assessment opportunities

  •  Very low pay; limited diversity of potential clients; relative lack of assessment experiences.

  •  None

  •  Pay

   

  4.  Does our website provide adequate information regarding our program?  Please explain.

  • Yes

  • Yes, it was comparable to other internship websites.

  •  Yes, very detailed

  •   Yes

  •   Yes, it gave a nice overview of the program

  •  The website was very informative, I can’t think of any information that I would have needed before the interview.

  •  Yes, each area was well explained. I would like to know more about each staff members theory toward clinical supervision

  •   Very thorough explanation of training opportunities!

  •   Yes, the website is incredibly informative, each applicant should visit. However, I wished that a small biography about the current interns was available.

  •  Yes, very thorough coverage of expected internship duties and training opportunities.

  •  I thought it was very thorough.

  •   Yes-the information presented was consistent with the presentation on the interview.       

   5.  Please comment on your level of satisfaction with the onsite or telephone interview experience. (please specify type of interview)

   

  •   I was satisfied with my onsite interview and enjoyed the opportunity to meet with so many faculty members

  • Onsite, very satisfied (Despite inclement weather)  Would recommend providing staff members home/cell phone numbers for emergencies

  •  Onsite, really helped with decision gave good feel for the site-everyone seemed very genuine

  • Highly satisfied/onsite

  • Onsite interview-Excellent! I had the opportunity to meet and ask questions of many supervisors and psychology staff and interns. I felt I was equally able to express how I could make a positive impact and what I hoped to learn.

  •  I liked being able to meet with and talk at length to the majority of the staff. It gave interns  the opportunity to get a sense of who they would like to work with. There could have been a break in between the interviews.

  • I had an onsite interview, which was outstanding. I liked the structure of several small group  interviews and appreciated the variety of questions from each group (vs. asking same questions in all groups, In addition, the questions really seemed designed to assess my skills in multiple areas. I especially liked the role-plays and diagnostic questions regarding the case scenario.

  •  Onsite interview-Everyone was very personable and engaging.

  •  Wonderful interview experience.  The entire staff was attentive and the interns were open and honest about their experience.

  •  Excellent structure of onsite interviews really allowed me to get a “good feel” for the site.   All of my questions were satisfactorily answered, and staff was friendly and accommodating.

  • The interview was friendly, professional, through and provided me ample opportunity to get  my questions answered.

  •  I definitely valued the onsite interview. I believe that my experience meeting with staff influenced my strong interest in the program. The staff was very warm and welcoming as well as forthright re: the program.

  6.     Do you support informing applicants when they are no longer under consideration in the interview process?  (please explain)

  •    Yes

  •   Yes. When ranking I would like to have all the information possible.

  •    Yes-helps us decide on ranking list

  •     Yes, it would allow more informed decisions about ranking

  •     Yes, if you are no longer being considered by a site ranking them ahead of sites who are considering you can likely hurt your chances at those sites.

  •     Yes, it is another form of feedback that is useful and it helps the applicant rank accurately.

  •     Yes, it doesn’t seem fair for applicants to “waste” one of their slots on a site that’s not planning to rank them.

  •     No, if  the applicant chooses to rank the site when they are no longer under consideration it doesn’t hurt them.  Notification is time-consuming for sites.

  •   Absolutely, applicants have a right to know if sites are no longer interested, just as intern applicants should inform sites that they are no longer interested in.

  •    Yes…while this has no impact on the MATCH process, I believe it gives program applicants a realistic way to assess their likelihood of not being matched (and thus prepare mentally for  the clearinghouse).

  • Yes, it helps with planning.

  •  Yes, I believe this would be helpful for an applicant as he/she proceeds through the internship match process.

   

  7.  Based on your review of our materials and interactions with our staff how well do you believe our program meets the needs of applicants from individually and culturally diverse groups?

  •  Not a wide range of diversity on campus

  •  It was comparable to other internship sites

  •  I think you are doing all you can given the client base

  •  As a white female this is difficult to answer.

  •  With a diverse staff and a stated interest in being sensitive to issues of diversity it appears that applicant needs in this area would be met.

  •  The program seems to make a good attempt to provide opportunities to learn about diversity and its impact on counseling and assessment. I really can’t comment on how it meets the needs of diverse applicants, however.

  • The training program appears to be very conscientious of diversity.

  •  Based on what I know of the program, it appears that staff are sensitive to and strive to instill sensitivity into interns, however, also based on what interns and staff commented on  there is not a large diverse population at VA Tech.     

  • Good effort to address cultural issues, environment seems friendly and receptive to addressing these issues as they come up.

  • It seems that you put a lot of effort into this area, but I don’t know how well those groups’ needs may be met.

  •  Awareness and sensitivity to diversity was apparent in my interview with staff. I believe staff  would support the needs of applicants in this regard.

   

  8.  Other comments are welcome about any aspect of the Cook Counseling Center intern recruitment process:

  • Overall, I was very pleased with the interview process. Everyone seemed interested in learning about my experiences, and everyone was friendly.

  • The interview was enjoyable. Every effort seemed to be made to reduce applicant anxiety and I felt as though I left with a good idea of the programs focus, strengths, and weaknesses. Thanks!

  •  I enjoyed the interview process.

  •  I thoroughly enjoyed my interview with VA Tech. The staff and interns were very welcoming, further, Dr. Keppel-Benson has been extremely helpful in answering further questions about the program, after the interview. The program appears to be extremely  organized, something that has been much appreciated throughout this process. Great site!

  •  I appreciated the opportunity to talk privately with current interns; the openness of your interview procedures really showed the center’s commitment to training.

  • I think you have an outstanding training program!

  •  I would suggest beginning the interview day with an organized presentation on VA Tech and the counseling center. This could also include an introduction of the staff to the applicant  group.