Doctoral Internship – Santa Rosa

The Santa Rosa Internship Program places a high value on continuing to learn, educate and discuss EID issues as it relates to our field, our work, and our patients. We are committed to life-long learning in Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity, and hope to nurture this value in our trainees. Interns will have the opportunity to work with a diverse patient population in terms of age, disability status, religion, gender identification, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, race, and cultural and ethnic backgrounds. They will also attend weekly EID supervision and receive EID focused didactics.

In EID supervision, doctoral interns participate in group supervision to discuss issues related to equity, inclusion, diversity, and culture. Interns are encouraged to explore their own intersecting identities and how their background and culture influences who they are as therapists, as well as their relationships with patients. A central focus of cultural competency is placing a high priority on education, scientific inquiry, self-examination, and discussion. Doctoral Interns will learn to apply their knowledge and skill set across social and cultural factors and examine their cultural position as well as their patient’s.

Regularly scheduled weekly didactic seminars are organized and administered at the regional level for all KP Northern California doctoral interns. Interns are required to attend the two-hour weekly seminar, which focuses on aspects of clinical practice that the interns may not regularly encounter. Diversity issues are always integrated into seminar presentations.

Seminar topics include: Frontiers in Trauma Treatment; Advanced Risk Assessment; Updates in Substance Abuse Research & Treatment; Advancements in Psychopharmacology; Cognitive Processing Therapy; Technology and Mental Health; Trans/Nonbinary Mental Health; Building a Better Brain through Exercise, Nutrition, Sleep and Stress Management; and Self-Compassion.

Our Regional Mental Health Training Program also sponsors professional training courses for continuing professional development. These courses and presentations are offered at select times during the year for all KP Northern California mental health trainees and staff at Kaiser Northern California Medical Centers. The Regional Mental Health Training Program brings in national experts and keynote speakers on a variety of cutting-edge topics in mental health treatment and research. Interns are required to attend these monthly regional trainings in addition to the weekly didactic seminars. Course dates and a list of speakers and topics for the regional trainings can be found on the Regional Mental Health Training Programs website. In addition, many of these lectures are recorded and available on the regional website under the continuing education lecture library.

Doctoral Interns are an integral part of the clinical team. Interns participate in clinical specialty team meetings, all department meetings, and specialized case consultation meetings.

We believe it is the role of our faculty to mentor, encourage, and support each doctoral intern in their journey to becoming a licensed psychologist. Our job as faculty is not only to teach but ensure that your learning process is supported throughout the training year. We foster this learning through ongoing communication and collaboration.

All doctoral interns are supervised by licensed psychologists and are assigned to a primary and secondary supervisor. These two clinical supervisors meet with their assigned intern one hour per week for individual face-to-face supervision, for a total of two hours of individual supervision per week. The primary and secondary supervisor in each training track are responsible for supervising the direct delivery of clinical services. The primary supervisor takes the lead role in developing the intern’s learning plan, monitoring their progress, and evaluating their training schedule. The primary supervisor is also responsible for supervising the intern’s clinical work and completing quarterly evaluations after gathering input from the other delegated supervisors and staff who have worked with the intern.

Doctoral interns are also provided with weekly clinical group supervision and group supervision for psychological assessment. During clinical group supervision, interns learn how to conceptualize treatment plans and frame interventions through a cultural framework that considers age, gender identity, race and ethnicity, family systems, socioeconomic status, work and school history, and other cultural factors. Interns also gain experience presenting clinical cases, as well as giving and receiving peer feedback. These feedback interactions help interns to develop both collegial and supervisory aspects of their professional identities as psychologists. Assessment group supervision provides support for interns gaining proficiency conducting psychological evaluations. During assessment group supervision, interns have an opportunity to discuss several aspects of the assessment process, including how to interpret test results, formulate clinical impressions, and plan patient feedback. Time allotted for all group supervision ranges from 2-4 hours per week depending on the time of year and the training schedule dictated by the specific tracks and rotations.

Reflecting Kaiser Permanente’s core commitment to mental health and wellness in our communities, each doctoral intern will spend at least 32 hours during their training year on a Community Partnership Project that focuses on improving mental health in the local community beyond our Kaiser Permanente patient members.

The goal of this project is to provide outreach to underserved populations in the community to promote healthy behaviors. Anchors for this project include: developing alliances with individuals and/or systems to improve the lives of those served; providing education and training based on the empirical literature; collecting, analyzing, and presenting relevant outcome data to partnership stakeholders.

Training objectives include gaining a competent understanding of the tenets of Community Psychology, Anti-Racism, Anti-Colonialism, Multi-Cultural Psychology, and Feminist Psychology as well as gaining experience in community outreach and development of partnerships within internal and external systems.

All doctoral interns complete psychological testing as part of the internship training program. During the training year, interns further their knowledge about test battery design, administration of various tests and measures, interpretation and integration of test results, and communication of test results. Opportunities exist for interns to develop proficiency in comprehensive psychological evaluations and specialty ADHD evaluations. Interns primarily receive assessment training support in a group supervision format with additional modalities of support available as needed.

Each intern is required to undertake a program evaluation project during their training year. The project is selected based upon the intern’s interests and skill set and should fall within the regular scope of departmental services.

It may involve collecting and analyzing data to improve administrative operations, or a quality improvement project aimed at improving or assessing a treatment program or process. Examples include developing and evaluating a treatment group, intake procedure or other new programming; evaluating factors associated with treatment outcomes; or a needs assessment of a service that may be enriched by psychological consultation. Interns meet with the program evaluation supervisor as a group regularly over the course of the training year to review progress on their projects.

The Internship Program offers tracks in three training areas: Adult Services, Child Services, and Addiction Medicine Services. Each intern will be assigned to two tracks over the course of the training year.

Under the supervision of licensed psychologist(s), doctoral interns in the Adult Services Track will demonstrate their knowledge of theory and practice of professional psychotherapy via direct care contact with patients. Interns will evaluate and diagnose mental health disorders based on DSM-5TR and ICD-11 criteria. Interns will also learn how to collaborate with patients for treatment planning purposes and gain proficiency utilizing evidence-based interventions within a feedback informed care framework. Additionally, interns will utilize individual and group supervision for case formulation and treatment planning.

Doctoral interns will participate in an evidenced-based therapy group offered to adult patients in Kaiser Permanente’s outpatient Mental Health and Wellness Department. Doctoral interns will have opportunities to gain experience in cognitive behavior theory and short-term group psychotherapy models. In this track, interns will enhance their understanding of evidence-based CBT treatment models. Doctoral Intern will demonstrate their knowledge of group interventions by co-leading the group with a licensed psychologist by the end of the track.

Group training experiences may include one of the following programs: Cognitive Behavior Therapy Psychosis Group Treatment; Acceptance and Commitment Therapy-based Group Treatment; Acute Treatment Groups for adult patients with major mental health disorders or acute adjustment disorders; Obsessive Compulsive Disorders Group.

Doctoral Interns will participate in ADHD assessment and diagnosis for adult patients. Interns will develop their understanding of assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of ADHD (all subtypes) via DSM-5TR and ICD-11 criteria. Interns will also be instructed in how to administer and interpret standardized screening measures for adult ADHD, as well has how to gather history for the purpose of diagnosing ADHD. Doctoral interns will develop skills in consultation to provide feedback to treating psychiatrists and clinicians and competency in assessment report writing.

The Internship Program offers tracks in three training areas: Adult Services, Child Services, and Addiction Medicine Services. Each intern will be assigned to two tracks over the course of the training year.

Under the supervision of licensed psychologist(s), doctoral interns in the Child Services Track will demonstrate their knowledge of theory and practice of child and family psychotherapy via direct care contact with patients. Interns will evaluate and diagnose mental health disorders based on DSM-5TR and ICD-11 criteria, as well as in the context of a well-developed clinical formulation, and treatment plan. Interns will also learn how to collaborate with patients for treatment planning purposes and gain proficiency utilizing evidence-based interventions within a feedback informed care framework. Additionally, interns will utilize individual and group supervision for case formulation and treatment planning.

Doctoral interns may have the opportunity to participate in group treatments for eating disorders, the intensive outpatient program for adolescents, anxiety group psychoeducation for parents, and parent and child skills groups. In this track, interns will develop skills in group treatment and psychoeducational classes for children and/or parents.

Doctoral interns will participate in the ADHD Assessment and Diagnosis Clinic, where they will develop skills in assessment and diagnosis of ADHD (all subtypes) via DSM-5TR and ICD-11 criteria. Interns will develop skills to help with differential diagnosis by administering, scoring, and interpreting cognitive assessments and learning disability assessments. Interns will participate in screening and history taking of patients referred for the diagnosis of ADHD. Interns will also participate in psychoeducational groups for parents who are considering a diagnosis of ADHD for their child. In addition, interns will develop skills in consultation to provide feedback to treating psychiatrists and clinicians and competency in assessment report writing.

As part of the child psychiatry team, doctoral intern will participate in weekly multidisciplinary team meetings. These meetings are attended by psychiatrists, psychologists, and master’s level therapists. Interns will develop both collaboration and consultation skills within multidisciplinary teams to provide comprehensive patient care. Interns will also be trained in how to collaborate with pediatricians, nurses, and other family medicine health professionals.

The Internship Program offers tracks in three training areas: Adult Services, Child Services, and Addiction Medicine Services. Each intern will be assigned to two tracks over the course of the training year.

Under the supervision of licensed psychologist(s), doctoral interns in the Addiction Medicine Track will develop skills in the assessment and diagnosis of Substance Use Disorders, (all subtypes) via DSM-5TR and ICD-11 criteria. Interns will develop skills to help with differential diagnosis and learn about co-occurring disorders. Interns in this track will also receive training in how to assess for detox risk and make proper clinical referrals. Overall, interns will become familiar with the continuum of care for addiction medicine within an outpatient treatment program model.

Doctoral interns will provide individual case management and participate in group treatment with licensed psychologist(s). Interns will co-facilitate programming in two intensive recovery groups, as well as gain experience providing psychoeducational classes to patients. Interns will also learn how to collaborate with patients for treatment planning purposes and gain proficiency utilizing evidence-based interventions within a feedback informed care framework. Doctoral interns will utilize individual and group supervision for case formulation and treatment planning.

Doctoral interns will participate in four weekly multidisciplinary team meetings. These meetings are attended by psychiatrists, psychologists, addiction medicine physician(s), master’s level clinicians, registered nurses, and medical assistants. Interns will develop skills on how to collaborate effectively with a multidisciplinary team. Through observation of case management assessments, interns will also learn how to create and refer patients to outside agencies for inpatient chemical dependency care, partial hospitalization treatment, medical detox support, and methadone treatment. In addition, intern will develop consultation and referral skills to get patients connected with the following departments: Chronic Pain, Neurology, and Adult and Child Psychiatry. Opportunities to collaborate with family medicine physicians and nurses are also available.