Doctoral Internship

The CAPS internship program is a member of the Association of Post-doctoral and Psychology Internship Centers (APPIC). Our program adheres to APPIC Match policies and participates in the APPIC Match. For both Phase I and Phase II of the APPIC Match, applicants to our internship program must utilize the Online APPI to submit their applications. No supplemental materials are required at our site. We do require that the application be completed in full and certified by application signature and date. Results of the APPIC Match constitute binding agreements between applicants, internship programs, and APPIC that may not be reversed without APPIC’s consent.

As an APPIC member, our program conforms to the basic ethical requirements of the profession as set forth in the current APA Ethical Principles for Psychologists. This internship site agrees to abide by the APPIC policy that no person at this training facility will solicit, accept, or use any ranking-related information from any intern applicant.

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The Santa Clara CAPS doctoral internship in health service psychology is accredited by the American Psychological Association. Inquiries regarding the accreditation of our internship training program may be directed to:

APA Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation 
750 First Street, NE • Washington, DC • 20002-4242 
Phone: 202-336-5979

The Office of Accreditation’s web address may be accessed here: www.apa.org/ed/accreditation. You may also email the Accreditation Office at apaaccre@apa.org.

The primary mission of CAPS is to promote student's well-being through short-term therapy, crisis support, groups and workshops and more. At CAPS, we are committed to the values of multiculturalism and social justice, and are dedicated to providing mental health services that are open to and accepting of every student we serve. CAPS staff share the larger university's values of ethical behavior, respect and care for self and others, and appreciation of diversity and differences in people.

The aim of the internship program is to train inclusive, competent and culturally aware entry-level generalist psychologists to work in the field of Health Service Psychology service diverse populations. This aim aligns with the mission of CAPS in terms of its dedication to multiculturalism and social justice. Each aspect of our training program is intentional to gradually build our interns' effectiveness in serving the clinical needs of diverse communities and these efforts fit within the guiding principles of our sponsoring agency.

The CAPS internship program is based upon a Practitioner-Scholar model of training. Interns learn by doing, by reflecting on their work in supervisory consultation with staff, by observing professional activities and practices of staff and by scholarly inquiry.

The model incorporates current psychological theory and science with experiential learning and is focused on helping interns to grow and to develop as generalist psychologists with an area of expertise working in college counseling centers. To this end, consistent with APA's Commission on Accreditation, our program aims to create opportunities and environments for interns to build ninerofession-Wide Competencies to enter the profession of health service psychologists. These competencies are 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 Skills. The goal over the course of the year is for interns to achieve competence in these domains allowing them to practice independently and to function as professional, effective, and ethical psychologists. 

Throughout the training year, experiential learning is informed by the theory and science of psychology in supervision and didactic training seminars. The internship follows a sequential, developmental training process, building upon the knowledge and skills that each intern already possesses and offering opportunities for developing and refining additional clinical skills. The goal for our interns is to facilitate their professional development from graduate student to skilled psychologist.

Upon arrival, interns begin to assess their professional goals for their training year with guidance from the Training Director and Clinical Supervisors. Interns have the opportunity to identify clinical interests and theoretical models as targets for training and are given training and supervision opportunities in identified areas. The training year provides ample opportunities for interns to apply theory to practice. Supervision is regarded as a supportive, mentoring relationship to enable interns to develop professional autonomy and competence. The evaluation process thus plays an essential role in the professional development of interns throughout the year.  Interns receive formal, written evaluations twice a year: at mid-year and at the end of the internship. Interns will be evaluated on items relevant to both clinical and nonclinical activities sampling such items as functioning as part of a team, capacity for professional development, relationships with support staff, etc.

By the end of the training year, Interns will have developed competence with: intake interviewing, clinical assessment, crisis intervention, brief and long-term individual psychotherapy, couples counseling, assessment, and case management. Additionally, interns provide structured workshops and outreach programming and consultation to the larger campus community. Outreach has included such topics as stress management techniques, healthy relationships, recognizing signs of anxiety and depression, and facilitating a referral to CAPS.

Consistent with our training program's goal to train ethical, competent, and professional psychologists, there are opportunities during the year for personal exploration and self-reflection. Interns are encouraged to appropriately explore historical and personal data that may influence their clinical practice and to develop reflective, introspective skills that aid in their growth as professional psychologists. Supervisors provide mentorship and consultation to trainees to support their exploration and professional development. Supervisors may consult with one another about trainees when appropriate. CAPS internship program functions in a manner consistent with American Psychological Association (APA) Ethical Standards (7.04 Student Disclosure of Personal Information).

Diversity

At CAPS, we are committed to providing culturally attuned and humble training for our interns and a training program that is welcoming to all members of our team. We place a high value on the appreciation of diversity, which is conceptualized broadly and across many dimensions. We work hard to ensure that all members of our staff, including trainees, feel fully valued and respected for the identities they bring to our site. We engage in ongoing efforts to provide comprehensive and culturally sensitive services to our clients and the larger campus community.  The internship program supports these efforts and places an emphasis on the development of culturally competent knowledge, awareness, and skills for our trainees.  Interns at our center are expected to develop competencies to effectively serve diverse populations, including clients whose identity, beliefs, worldviews, or cultural background may create personal conflict with that of the intern.

Weekly Clinical Activities

Interns manage up to 20 hours of direct service per week. This includes weekly intakes and assessment, crisis hours for urgent appointments, consultations, referrals and individual, couples, or group psychotherapy.

Direct Service

Interns provide initial assessments and brief therapy for registered Santa Clara University undergraduate and graduate students. Interns also have the opportunity to provide longer-term therapy with a few clients with supervisory approval. In addition, interns gain experience with couples, groups, and referring students for medication or to outside therapists for on-going therapy. Interns interface with other support services, both on and off campus regarding student mental health and welfare. Interns also discuss their treatment plans in ongoing supervision and gain greater experience and competence in their clinical interventions.

Phone Consultation

Interns are responsible for 2 hours of phone consultation per week, which are to be reserved on the PnC “rug” and not to be scheduled over with other appointments. Phone consultation is the first step for most students seeking therapy at CAPS. When a student calls the Cowell Center to request counseling services, the front office staff will schedule them for a half-hour phone consultation appointment with a therapist. At the appointed time, the therapist calls the student to screen for needs and risk, then refers the student either for intake at CAPS or for more appropriate other resources, including case management for support with off-campus referrals or additional crisis intervention. If appropriate, the intern may schedule the student for an intake on their own schedule; otherwise, the student’s name should be added to the PnC counseling wait list and presented at the next weekly Case Disposition Meeting. Each phone consultation appointment is documented with a phone consultation note in PnC. 

Intake Assessments

Interns are responsible for providing at least 3 intakes per week. Interns establish a therapeutic relationship and assess the appropriateness of the student’s presenting problem to a brief treatment model versus longer term therapy.  Interns also develop skills for conducting assessments for a range of presenting issues, for providing crisis intervention, referring for medication evaluation, and collaborating with other university resources.

Interns are expected to schedule three intakes per week. If an intern needs to miss an intake time, they are expected to give the support staff another time that week to schedule an intake. Interns may be asked to provide additional intakes at the beginning of Fall quarter when they are building their caseloads and/or at other times at the discretion of their supervisors and the Assistant Director.

Individual/Couples/Group Therapy

Interns provide brief therapy for registered Santa Clara University undergraduate and graduate students. Individual counseling is typically done within a brief therapy (ten session) model. However, interns have the opportunity to do longer term therapy for a full year with two students. The decision of which clients may be seen longer-term is made in consultation with the intern’s supervisor and/or after presentation to the larger clinical staff.  Additionally, interns can experience referral and management activities within our integrated health/ mental health center. Interns refer students for psychotropic medication, physical, and dietary assessment and monitoring, as well as to outside providers for continuity of care.  Interns also actively interface with other professionals on and off campus regarding managing student mental health care. Interns may have the opportunity to provide couples therapy as well, although this is not guaranteed.

Interns are expected to follow SCU guidelines for short-term therapy. Extensions of session limits must be approved by the intern’s supervisor, in consultation with the clinical staff. Interns may work with two clients on an extended basis. These clients will be chosen for longer-term work in consultation with the intern’s supervisor.

Additionally, interns are expected to co-facilitate groups.

Crisis Intervention

Interns have a range of opportunities to manage crises in the course of their ongoing

therapy with students, both during normal intakes and during regularly scheduled crisis hours. Additionally, interns may join staff in speaking to various academic departments or residence halls when critical incidents arise.

Assessment

CAPS primarily relies on the use of self-report measures such as the CCAPS, BDI, BAI, Y-BOCS, PCL-S, etc, to inform individual treatment modalities and clinical outcomes. CAPS also has limited capacity to provide full psychological batteries comprised of intellectual, executive functioning, academic achievement, and personality measures to provide limited testing services to our first-generation, low SES, and historically marginalized and underserved students. Interns will have the opportunity to complete a minimum of 1 integrated psychological testing battery during their internship experience. Interns who have not taken formal classes in psychological testing and assessment will not be able to complete an integrated battery; however they may have the opportunity to shadow a staff member or post-doctoral fellow in the administration of some psychological tests, with approval from the training director. 

Consultation

Since CAPS is housed with Student Health Services in the Cowell Center, interns have the opportunity for regular consultation and referral with various health care providers. A monthly ‘shared case’ meeting between CAPS and Student Health Services allows for more in-depth consultation among all Cowell Center providers involved with student health and mental health needs.  Interns also provide consultation to various members of the Santa Clara University community including faculty, staff, residence life, disabilities services, and student life personnel.

Outreach

Interns participate in outreach activities to the larger university community. Interns routinely present to student groups on such topics as depression, anxiety, positive relationships, self-care, and services offered by CAPS. Interns also have opportunities to take personal initiative in developing outreach activities consistent with their individual areas of interest and expertise. All outreach activities are to receive prior approval from the Training Director and primary supervisor and be done under the supervision of a CAPS staff member. Interns are also paired with their supervisors as special liaisons to a specific residence halls, Outreach programming, as well as consultation, is often responsive to the particular needs of that community.

Clinical Supervision

Interns attend two hours of individual clinical supervision weekly, with a primary and secondary supervisor respectively. In individual supervision interns are encouraged to develop reflective, introspective clinical and case conceptualization skills that aid in their development as professional psychologists. Supervisors are assigned to interns by the Training Director and an attempt is made to match interns to supervisors based upon intern training goals and preferences.

The clinical supervisor carries responsibility for case management, acquainting the intern with the operations of the agency, training requirements and mentoring experiences. Additionally, interns participate in a weekly group supervision seminar under the supervision of the Training Director. At CAPS, all trainee therapy sessions are videotaped.

Supervision includes review of video tapes as well as progress and process notes, in addition to any other clinical and ethical concerns related to the case material and the therapeutic relationship. Ongoing and reciprocal feedback with all supervisors is an expected part of our internship program. Formal evaluations occur mid-year and at the end-of-year.

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, brief therapy treatment modalities and professional development topics. Seminar topics may include:

• CA Laws and Ethics for Psychologists
• Time-Limited Dynamic Psychotherapy
• LGBTQ+ Support and Therapeutic Interventions
• Living In-Between the Worlds: TCK/CCK
• Cultural Sharing Series
• Generational Trauma in Students with Migration History

Case Conference

Each week, interns attend a one hour case consultation attended by the CAPS clinical staff as well. In Fall quarter, the clinical staff presents cases. In Winter and Spring quarters, interns alternate with staff members in the presentation and discussion of cases. A formal write-up of the case, including reasons for consultation, is done for each case presented. This seminar provides interns with an opportunity to observe clinical staff at work and to present to staff and peers in a formal, structured way.

Cowell Center Meetings

Interns at CAPS are a part of a multi-disciplinary team including psychologists, therapists, dieticians, medical providers, insurance coordinators, a case manager, and a student-staffed Emergency Medical Team (EMT). On a monthly basis, interns participate in Cowell Center- wide activities, namely a center-wide staff meeting devoted to information sharing, policy making, and activities related to the integration of Cowell Center’s health and mental health activities.

The number of hours required to complete the internship is 2,000 hours.

Interns also participate in two Cowell Center-wide activities on a monthly basis: an interdisciplinary team meeting and an interdisciplinary case conference; outreach and consultation hours are variable and do not occur on a weekly basis.

INTERNSHIP PROGRAM TABLES

Date Program Tables are updated: 7/10/25

Program Disclosures

Internship Program Admissions

Briefly describe in narrative form important information to assist potential applicants in assessing their likely fit with your program. This description must be consistent with the program's policies on intern selection and practicum and academic preparation requirements:

Applicants must be advanced doctoral students enrolled in an APA-accredited graduate program in clinical or counseling psychology. Academic coursework and preparation must be in accordance with APA accreditation standards, and all required coursework must be completed prior to the start of internship. To be considered for the internship, applicants should have completed their practica, have passed their comprehensive examinations, successfully submitted their proposal for dissertation, and accrued a minimum of 450 intervention hours prior to submitting their application.

Favorable consideration will be given to applicants who completed or have made substantial progress towards completion of their dissertation by the start of internship and/or who have had prior experience in counseling centers. Successful applicants typically have a strong interest in working with young adults and collegiate mental health, within a multiculturally diverse setting. They are also interested in increasing their knowledge and experience in a variety of domains, including individual and group therapy, prevention and outreach activities, consultation, and supervision.

Financial and Other Benefit Support for Upcoming Training Year*

*Note. Programs are not required by the Commission on Accreditation to provide all benefits listed in this table.

Initial Post-Internship Positions

Note: "PD" = Post-doctoral residency position, "EP" = Employed Position. Each individual represented in this table should be counted only one time. For former trainees working in more than one setting, select the setting that represents their primary position.

• 2024-2025 Doctoral Internship Training Manual

You are welcome to contact the Training Director if you have any questions.

Estrella Ramirez, Ph.D.