The Pennsylvania State University - Clinician Internship at Counseling and Psychological Services

The Clinician SkillBridge Internship experience at Penn State Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) emphasizes a work experience focused on the training of "generalists"- highly competent and versatile professionals, who keep abreast of changes in the field and who use this information to inform their clinical practice. An additional goal of our program is the development of professionalism. As part of this, Skill Bridge participants will build upon their learning and abilities to engage in a process of self-evaluation of their work and its effectiveness. This is achieved through various supervision experiences (individual and group psychotherapy supervision), and through collaborative work with other professionals. Three major objectives which follow from this goal are: a strong emphasis on enhancing one's internal sense of ethical responsibility (conformity to accepted professional standards of conduct), social responsibility (sensitivity to the full range of human differences), and personal responsibility (awareness of self and ones personal impact in professional interactions). Clinicians who complete a SkillBridge training experience will work closely with clinical and administrative supervisors and peers in the counseling center. They will maintain confidentiality, ethical treatment protocols and records management expectations to ensure compliance with policies and procedures of Penn State and CAPS.

Penn State Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) will provide SkillBridge participants who have Master's and/or Doctoral degrees in fields such as clinical mental health counseling, social work, and/or clinical/counseling psychology with valuable civilian work experience in college student mental health. We pride ourselves on our ability to offer an individualized graduated work experience, being mindful that prior education and involvement in the mental health field will help determine the clinical activities that a SkillBridge participant will engage in at our counseling center. SkillBridge participants will gain intensive experience providing short-term individual psychotherapy to students. As part of the short-term therapy process, they will complete intake appointments with their clients, engage the client in short-term therapy to address presenting concerns, and discuss disposition following treatment to ensure clients are connected with ongoing services as needed. CAPS also has a robust group therapy program, typically running 25+ groups per semester. SkillBridge participants will have the potential opportunity to co-lead a group based on clinical needs of the center and the SkillBridge participant's prior clinical experiences. Additionally, all participants will receive training during the orientation period on our group therapy program, how to talk with students about group therapy, our referral process for groups, and basics of group psychotherapy, including ethical considerations in group therapy and co-facilitation of group. For these clinical activities, SkillBridge participants will receive 1.5-2 hours of individual psychotherapy supervision weekly with a licensed clinician. They will also receive 1 hour of group psychotherapy supervision weekly with a licensed clinician if they are co-leading a group. SkillBridge participants will have a diverse caseload of students in terms of demographics, identity, and clinical presentation over the training year dependent upon clinical availability. Common presenting problems include, but are not limited to, interpersonal concerns, depression, anxiety, lack of motivation or concentration, poor academic performance, body image and eating disorders, trauma, as well as typical development issues. For those participants with a strong interest in development, the experience offers a unique opportunity to meet with students who are in the late adolescent/early adulthood phase, which is a time of continued change and exploration in a number of areas (e.g. relationships with caregivers/friends/partners, identity, values, roles, impulse control, academic/career, etc.). Additionally, sensitivity to human differences is a fundamental tenet of our training program and our center initiatives. Our goal in this area is for SkillBridge participants to develop/expand their multicultural competence and cultural humility, utilize supervision to recognize blind spots and areas for growth in the work, and openly approach and address these in supervision and other consultation experiences to facilitate continued clinical growth. Additional clinical experiences may be available in triage and referral via phone screenings, urgent evaluation and follow-up, outreach, and psychological assessment. The availability of these clinical opportunities is determined by system needs and the past education and clinical experiences of the SkillBridge participant.