About Our Program
Kaiser Permanente’s Psychology Practicum Externship Program is comprised of multiple training sites located within the northern California region. The part-time position (up to 24 hours/week) begins between July and September and is designed to be completed in 12 months. The Externship Programs recruit advanced (third year and beyond) doctoral students and adhere to the BAPIC match process. Externs are paid an annual stipend for their services.
Psychology Practicum Extern Stipend $5,500
Current Program Cycle
Start and end dates vary based on practicum course requirements.
Program Mission and Curriculum
The mission of the program is to provide externs with training in mental health service delivery within an integrated and multidisciplinary health care system in order to prepare them for their future roles as licensed psychologists. The program works closely with approved graduate institutions to ensure that externs are able to apply their classroom learning competently in supervised clinical practice settings.
Training is site specific, and can include rotations in general outpatient psychiatry, eating disorder treatment, behavioral medicine services, and addiction medicine. Training sites provide an array of services including individual, group and family therapy, crisis intervention services, an intensive outpatient program, and case management of chronic conditions. Externs are exposed to a diverse community of patients over the course of their training year.
The Psychology Practicum Externship typically begins with an onboarding and shadowing process and transitions into opportunities for externs to engage in direct patient care in both individual and group settings, as well as participate in weekly supervision and didactic seminars in a supportive and structured environment. In addition to attending seminars at the local training site, externs are invited to attend a monthly virtual Regional expert speaker series during the training year.
Professional Competencies, Supervision and Evaluation
Selection of clinical cases and size of the caseload are adjusted according to the extern’s readiness as determined by the training supervisor. Training is organized in a sequential, cumulative, and graded manner. The extern and supervisor review the extern’s progress on an ongoing basis to ensure that all training goals are met, and that the extern is sufficiently guided through the professional development process.
Externship supervisors, who are all licensed psychologists, use a competency-based model of supervision. Each extern’s clinical and professional competencies are evaluated by the supervisor in accordance with the requirements of the extern’s graduate institution. Externs also have an opportunity to evaluate the training program twice a year.
