Doctoral Internship in Health Service Psychology

Welcome from the Training Director

On behalf of the entire UNFCC team, thank you for considering the Doctoral Internship in Health Service Psychology program at the University of North Florida Counseling Center. The internship is an integral part of the Center’s mission to enhance the total educational experience of UNF students by providing a confidential, supportive environment where students can be shared and explored. Our hope is that this internship will facilitate a successful transition from graduate student to emerging professional.

An Introduction to the University of North Florida

UNF is a public university located in Jacksonville, Florida. It initially opened its doors in 1972, admitting only 2,000 upper-level students during its inaugural year. In 1984, the university expanded to admit first-year students as well. Since then, the university has grown to its current population of roughly 17,000 enrolled students. UNF is a rapidly growing community, with projections to build to 25,000 students by 2028. UNF offers 64 bachelor’s degrees, 45 master’s degrees, and six doctoral degrees, all housed within six colleges – the Brooks College of Health; the Coggin College of Business; the College of Arts and Sciences; the College of computing, Engineering, and Construction; the College of Education and Human Services; and the Hicks Honors College. UNF is also home to 200 clubs and organizations, as well as 26 fraternities and sororities.

UNF is built upon a beautiful, 1,381-acre campus, which includes a nature preserve, lakes for kayaking and canoeing, and miles of hiking trails. Another 1,050 acres of pristine wetlands on the Intracoastal Waterway are owned by UNF and used for exploration and research. In the heart of the city is the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville (MOCA), an institute of UNF, highlighting world-renowned exhibitions as well as student and faculty art, programs, and events.

An Introduction to the University of North Florida Counseling Center

The UNF Counseling Center (UNFCC) is a comprehensive counseling center dedicated to providing mental health services to the UNF student body. It is the only mental health facility on campus and services all part- and full-time students. The Center provides individual and group counseling, drop-in workshops, psychiatry services, case management, crisis intervention, outreach and prevention services, consultation, and specialized treatment for disordered eating and body image concerns.

The mission of the Center is to enhance students' total educational experience by providing a confidential and supportive environment where student concerns can be shared and explored. Through its diverse services, the Center aims to:

• Facilitate student adjustment and personal growth as they make decisions and assume responsibility for life on a college campus.
• Assist students to develop new strategies to resolve problems and develop more effective behaviors to cope with life stresses.
• Provide preventative and educational programs in areas which impact students' mental health, such as interpersonal communication skills, self-esteem, and relationship issues.
• Assist students with more intensive psychological concerns through supportive counseling, maintenance, or referral.
• Provide consultation, support and training to faculty and staff who may encounter students in psychological distress.

The UNF Counseling Center is centrally located on campus in a building that was completely remodeled in 2012. The Counseling Center staff was actively involved in planning the layout of the newly expanded Center, which includes 23 counseling offices, two large group rooms, a conference room, a private waiting area, a computer room where students complete 'paperwork', and additional space for our executive staff, directors, and psychiatric staff. We also have embedded counselors located in Housing and Residence Life and Student Health Services, with plans to embed an addition counselor in the School of Nursing. We currently use the conference room on a regular basis for expressive arts groups and workshops, as well as training. We have access to larger rooms/classrooms on campus if needed. As a member of the State University System of Florida, all buildings, facilities, and functions are compliant with the accessibility requirements of the ADA.

The Center is accredited by the Association of Counseling Services (IACS) and The Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC# 2435).

The Counseling Center provides mental health services to students enrolled at UNF. The Center is accredited by the Association of Counseling Services (IACS) and The Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC# 2435).

The UNF Counseling Center's Doctoral Internship Program is accredited by the Psychological Association (APA).

For questions related to our program accreditation status, please contact the APA Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation at:

Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation
American Psychological Association
750 First Street, NE
Washington, DC 20002
p: 202.336.5979
e: apaaccred@apa.org
w: https://accreditation.apa.org

Mission and Internship Aims

The mission of the doctoral internship program is to provide the training necessary to facilitate the transitional process from graduate student to professional psychologist. The internship has several additional aims:

• To assist interns in developing skills in effectively conceptualizing and implementing psychotherapeutic treatment informed by empirical knowledge.
• To develop skills in providing useful consultation and interfacing productively with treatment team and other professionals.
• To help interns refine their professional identity as a psychologist.
• To model for and assist interns in their development as scientifically informed practitioners.
• To provide interns with a thorough foundation in the basic skills of psychological assessment.

Our training program operates upon the worldview that the work we do as psychologists is deeply important to those we directly serve and to our society at large. It is a privilege be able to do such meaningful work and to be trusted with such a significant role. As such, it is necessary that we do our jobs well. For training purposes, this worldview translates into a commitment to excellence, rigor, and growth, both within our interns and within ourselves as facilitators of the training program.

Training Model

The program adheres to a practitioner-scholar model of training, which emphasizes service delivery based on the integration of scientific principles, research, clinical judgement, and client values. Training is also oriented toward evidence-based practice, defined as “the integration of the best available research with clinical expertise in the context of patient characteristics, culture, and preferences” by the APA 2005 Presidential Task Force on Evidence-Based Practice. The training program is intended to support and encourage the use of empirical knowledge to inform psychological practice. Staff and interns participate in various activities that promote the application of scientifically established principles.

Woven throughout the program is an emphasis on building nine profession-wide competencies, as identified by APA:

• Research.
• Ethical and legal standards.
• Individual and cultural diversity.
• Professional values, attitudes, and behaviors.
• Communication and interpersonal skills.
• Assessment.
• Intervention.
• Supervision; and
• Consultation and interprofessional/interdisciplinary skill.

Clinical experiences, training seminars, evaluation and feedback, and supervisory discussions are all oriented toward securing the knowledge and experience required to satisfy these competencies upon graduation from the program.

Our program is designed to be generalist in nature. Interns are expected to be able to take on the multiple roles of a generalist psychologist, which includes therapeutic services, psychological assessment, supervision, crisis intervention, outreach, advocacy, and consultation. With that said, we also recognize that each intern is unique. With the guidance of the TD and other training staff, we support interns in adapting this basic structure to address their unique needs, clinical interests, and professional aspirations. Such customization may inform the types of clinical opportunities that they pursue, and the program development projects that they undertake, for example. Such customization requires ongoing self-reflection, collaboration, and creativity, and the training staff are very committed to supporting interns in these processes.

Our training program operates upon the worldview that the work we do as psychologists is deeply important and that it is a privilege be able to do such meaningful work. As such, it is necessary that we do our jobs well, as psychologists, interns, and trainers alike.

Internship as a Transitional Year

We view internship as a rich, yet challenging period of professional growth, in which interns graduate from student to emerging professional. Interns are gradually given more autonomy and independence, in alignment with their degree of competency and developmental level. With that autonomy comes greater responsibility and increasingly challenging opportunities that require interns to “rise to the occasion” as a professional. At the same time, we recognize that interns are still trainees and not yet fully established as professionals. Opportunities for development must be scaffolded according to their skills, knowledge, and competencies, and must occur within a supervised and supportive learning environment.

We also appreciate that throughout their internship year, interns prepare to leave one chapter of their lives and enter another. While such transition is exciting, it can also be daunting. We aim to surround the inherent challenges of the internship year with support and care, not only for the interns as clinicians in training, but also as people, each of whom is deserving of respect, dignity, and compassion. In leaving behind the whirlwind and ups-and-downs of graduate school, interns are tasked with making sense of all that has changed since they first began their graduate program. We intentionally provide opportunities for interns to explore, consolidate, and integrate the lessons learned along the way as people and professionals.

In our experience, interns are often much more aware of and oriented toward their growth edges than they are their strengths and gifts. We hope to create more balance in our interns, so that they can simultaneously hold a growth-oriented mindset with an appreciation of their expertise and their profound impact on those they serve.

The Role of Reflective Practice and Use of Self

We believe that knowledge and awareness of oneself is essential to the professional development and competency of mental health professionals. As such, reflective practice is integrated into all aspects of the internship program, including supervision and training seminars. Training staff are responsible for creating a safe, compassionate community in which trainees can engage in self-reflection and -disclosure, as it relates to their professional work. Interns are encouraged to reflect on and share with supervisors, staff members, and other trainees those personal experiences that underlie understandings of their professional roles, the nature of their clinical practice, and their interactions with clients and other professionals.

Diversity Statement

The Training Program follows the University of North Florida Non-Discrimination, Equal Opportunity, Diversity & Title IX policies. The staff at the Counseling Center is committed to providing a welcoming and safe environment to all people regardless of ethnicity, language, religious beliefs, age, size, socioeconomic status, physical and mental abilities, gender and gender expression, sexual orientation, race, and culture. We encourage applications from diverse backgrounds, abilities, and training to apply.

Direct Service Activities

Interns are expected to provide roughly 16 hours of clinical services per week, although there will be times throughout the year when that is not possible due to university closures and training requirements.

Initial Assessments

Clients complete a brief intake and screening appointment when beginning treatment at UNFCC. Typically, this appointment (called an initial assessment) is the Center’s first point of contact with a student. Doctoral interns spend 1 to 2 hours per week providing initial assessments.

Individual Counseling

The Counseling Center provides short-term individual counseling services to currently enrolled UNF students. Clients are granted up to 12 non-weekly (i.e., every 2 to 4 weeks) sessions per academic year (i.e., the first day of fall semester to the last day of summer intersession). Doctoral interns are expected to see 10 to 11 individual counseling clients per week. To accommodate training needs, interns are permitted to carry a few long-term cases who can be seen for more than 12 sessions and potentially more frequently than is typical of the short-term model.

Group Counseling

The UNFCC has a thriving group counseling program, offering a number of generalized and population-specific therapy groups. Many of the Center’s groups are interpersonal process groups, but psychoeducational and skills-building groups are also typically available to students. Each intern co-facilitates at least one process group per semester with a senior staff member. During the Spring and Summer semesters, interns may also have the opportunity to develop a group protocol and create a new group, under the guidance of the Group Coordinator.

Emergency Coverage

To meet the immediate needs of students in crisis, the Center provides Emergency Coverage (EC), which are in-person triage sessions. EC sessions typically involves crisis intervention, assessment/evaluation, consultation, referral, and/or connecting the client to additional sources of support. After their initial onboarding and orientation period, doctoral interns are assigned a weekly, two-hour EC shift. Interns are given clear direction on when and with whom to consult, and a staff clinician is always available for crisis consultation and hospitalization.

Psychological Assessment

Psychological assessment is utilized throughout the course of treatment and formally through full psychological batteries. Doctoral interns must complete two comprehensive psychological assessment cases. Typically, they complete one case in the Fall semester and the second in the Spring semester, although there may be space for additional cases, depending upon the intern’s career goals.

Outreach Programming

The Counseling Center’s outreach program focuses on improving student awareness of mental health issues, encouraging proactive attitudes toward mental health, and reducing stigma through education and community intervention. Interns are invited to participate in or, to the extent it is appropriate, lead outreach programming to the UNF campus throughout their internship year. There are no requirements regarding outreach participation for doctoral interns, although participation is strongly encouraged.

Supervision of Mental Health Counseling Intern

In the Spring and Summer semesters, doctoral interns provide supplemental individual supervision to Clinical Mental Health Counseling interns. Supplemental supervision sessions occur every other week for one hour and are video recorded.

Staff

UNFCC is proud to employ a multidisciplinary staff, including psychologists, mental health counselors, clinical social workers, psychiatric nurse practitioners, a psychiatrist, and a registered dietician. Outside of our clinical staff, we employ a small support staff who are essential to the functioning of UNFCC. Many of our staff members engage in lifelong learning through membership in professional organizations and attend conferences throughout the year. For some brief biographical information on our staff, please visit our staff page.

The Center values a team-based approach that emphasizes collaboration, cooperation, and diversity of thought. Every member of our team adds something of unique value to our community, and we aim to create training programs that integrate this multidisciplinary spirit. Although psychologists provide supervision, we intentionally offer formal and informal opportunities for interns to develop relationships with, and learn from, our entire team, regardless of professional background.

Outside of the doctoral internship program, the Counseling Center is also home to three other training programs, including two pre-Master’s training programs for Clinical Mental Health Counseling students and Social Work students. Doctoral interns serve as informal mentors to these students from the outset of their training year. More formally, they eventually serve as supplemental supervisors in the Spring and Summer semesters. Finally, UNFCC also provides a nurse practitioner preceptorship program.

Application and Selection Requirements

All application materials must follow APPIC guidelines and be submitted through the AAPI Online at http://www.appic.org no later than 11:59 p.m. on November 1st.

Application Materials Must Include

• A completed APPIC Application for Psychology Internship, including all four essays.
• A cover letter discussing the applicant’s interest in and fit for the program.
• A copy of the applicant's curriculum vitae.
• A psychological assessment report.
• Official transcripts of all graduate education. Transcripts of undergraduate coursework are not required.
• Verification of eligibility for internship from the Director of Graduate Training or Department Chair.

Candidate Requirements

Candidates are selected based upon the alignment of their academic backgrounds, professional experience, and training goals with the internship program at UNFCC. Applicants must meet the following criteria, by the application deadline, to be considered for selection:

• Enrolled in a regionally accredited Clinical or Counseling Psychology doctoral program.
• Considered in good standing with the academic program.
• Completed their comprehensive examination requirements.
• Successfully proposed their dissertation or equivalent doctoral project.
• Completed at least 1000 hours of supervised experience, with a minimum of 450 direct contact hours.
• Must be a United States citizen or legal resident.
• By the start of internship, completed all formal course work.

Preference is given to applicants who, in addition to the requirements cited above, have the following credentials:

• Experience working with adults (preferably college students) in an outpatient setting (preferably in a university counseling center or other collegiate mental health setting)
• Previous supervisory experience.
• Successful defense of their dissertation or equivalent doctoral project.
• Successful completion of the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP)

Please note candidates must be able to pass a background check at no expense after the match before being considered for the doctoral internship.

The Selection Process

Internship selection is a two-step process. The first step involves reviewing application materials by the selection committee. The Training Director will then contact the finalists by December 15th. The second step involves Zoom interviews and two option Open House sessions (one with staff and one with current interns).

Internship Admissions, Support, and Initial Placement Data

Internship Admissions Support and Initial Placement Data Form