APA Accredited Internship in Clinical and Counseling Psychology

 

Senior staff and interns were asked to respond to three questions regarding the training program. Each question is followed by responses. Question #2 is followed by a brief summary of changes that have been instituted to address the feedback gathered from the question

1. What was the most rewarding or positive aspect of this training year for you?

• Seeing the excellent work that the interns do.
• A few positive aspects come to mind. One positive aspect was that there was a supportive intern group. Another was simply the comprehensiveness of the program and the realization of how prepared I now am for jobs, etc.
• The "informal" consultation with interns/practicum students re: cases, procedures, policies, etc.
• The opportunity to be involved in supervision.
• The sharing and growth that occurs in the process of supervision.
• Supervision of interns.
• Supervision and the selection process for next year's class (I realize that's two things!!).
• Working directly with interns and practicum students in supervision, groups, and case consultation.

2. If you could change one aspect of the training program what would you do?

• More staff sharing of their sessions, taping, and direct observation.
• Make better use of our technology.
• The evaluation of intern form is too cumbersome.
• Integrate assessment more into the process and increase referrals from staff.
• Make time for all staff to participate in training seminars.

The above concerns have been addressed in the following ways for the 1999-2000 training year:

• Now that we are settled into our new building we have seen a significant increase in senior staff utilizing technology (i.e. video taping) to record and make available for trainees to observe.
• The intern evaluation form and process was revised much reducing the time involved for senior staff to complete without losing any important evaluative data.
• The Training Director and Assessment Seminar Coordinator are in the process of revising the Assessment referral procedure.
• In order to make seminars more available to senior staff two changes have been instituted: 1) Diversity seminars are being scheduled for longer periods of time (i.e. half-day sessions) and at times of the year when most staff can participate, 2) Topics in Counseling and Psychotherapy Seminar has been redesigned and retitled as Topics in Counseling and Psychotherapy: Community Training Opportunities. The emphasis of the seminar is to take advantage of training opportunities in the community and encourage as many staff as possible to attend.

3. What goal do you have for yourself as you think ahead to training psychologists in the future?

• Improve supervision skills.
• Seeing the transition from "supervisee" to "colleague."
• For me, continuing to be involved in training at some level after I leave VT and also continuing to learn and be trained.
• Exposure to a diversity of experiences personally, clinically, and in the academic community.
• To deepen my understanding of and ability to conceptualize about client issues.
• More sharing of my skills and teaching with interns.