Doctoral Internship

About Our Program

Kaiser Permanente’s Doctoral Internship Programs in Health Service Psychology are comprised of multiple training sites located within the Northern California region. The Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC) Doctoral Internship Program is a one-year, full-time (40 hours per week) temporary position with benefits. Training begins at the end of August, and the full-time intern accrues up to 2,000 supervised professional hours over the course of the year.

KPNC’s Doctoral Internship Programs adhere to the American Psychological Association (APA) guidelines and follow its training standards, guidelines, and principles. KPNC’s Doctoral Internship Programs also adhere to the policies of the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC). This includes not soliciting, accepting, or using any ranking-related information from any intern applicant. Please see specific program location pages to learn more about APA accreditation and APPIC membership statuses.

Psychology Doctoral Internship Start/End Dates

Program Mission and Curriculum

The mission of the program is to provide interns with comprehensive training in mental health service delivery within an integrated and multidisciplinary system to prepare them for dynamic roles as practicing psychologists in the healthcare system of the future. Kaiser Permanente has well-established mental health, addiction medicine, primary care behavioral medicine, and medical specialty departments that are enhanced by the experiences our interns bring.

Training opportunities are site specific, and available tracks and rotations can be found on individual program webpages. One-half of the intern’s time (approximately 19 hours per week) is devoted to direct patient care. All sites offer training in individual, group and family therapy, intensive outpatient services, crisis intervention, and case management. Interns engage in community partnership projects focused on improving mental health in local communities, perform psychological assessments, and have a range of options for research-focused training. They also attend multidisciplinary team meetings, didactic seminars, and monthly diversity forums organized by our Mental Health Training Program EID Officers.

Professional Competencies, Supervision and Evaluation

To accomplish the goals of personal and professional development for each intern, an individual learning plan is developed by the intern and their primary supervisor at the beginning of the training year. The emphasis of the plan is to organize training in a sequential, cumulative, and graded manner. The intern and supervisor review the learning plan quarterly to ensure that training is meeting the needs of the intern and that the intern is sufficiently guided through the professional development process. Particular emphasis is placed on the following APA Profession-Wide Competencies:

1. Research
2. Ethical and Legal Standards
3. Individual and Cultural Diversity
4. Professional Values, Attitudes and Behaviors
5. Communication and Interpersonal Skills
6. Assessment
7. Intervention
8. Supervision
9. Consultation and Interdisciplinary Skills

Intern supervisors, who are all licensed psychologists, use a competency-based supervision model to ensure that all training goals are met. Individual and group supervision including case consultation occur weekly during the training year. Efforts are made to provide ongoing feedback to interns in addition to the quarterly evaluations. Interns also have an opportunity to evaluate the training program twice a year.