Doctoral Internship

The Kaiser Permanente Napa-Solano Psychology Internship Program offers education and training in an integrated health care system. Doctoral interns will work in an integrated health care setting, with a multidisciplinary team, providing empirically supported treatments to a wide variety of patients. Kaiser Permanente Napa-Solano internship provides a varied range of rotations. Each rotation is designed to provide a breath of training experiences with the purpose of developing a generalist practitioner in health service psychology. The team at Kaiser Permanente Napa-Solano locations are known for their collegial, warm, and cohesive relationships.

The Kaiser Permanente Napa-Solano Internship offers opportunities for rotations in the Vallejo, Fairfield, Vacaville, and Napa locations which include the departments of Adult Psychiatry, Behavioral Medicine Services, and Adult Intensive Outpatient Program. Additionally, interns will participate in assessment, a limited program evaluation/research project, community service outreach, and supervised supervision of practicum students.

Each intern has the opportunity to complete a 12-month track in Adult Psychiatry and two 6-month rotations over the course of the training year. For further information please see Specialty Rotations below. Candidates with interest and experience in working with general mental health as well as in a behavioral medicine or medical settings preferred.

• Individual therapy and group therapy in multiple different locations
• Psychological assessment
• Supervision experience with practicum students
• Program evaluation/research project
• Community involvement
• Integrated team meetings
• Collaboration with wide array of multidisciplinary professionals
• Provide services to broadly representative population

Interns within our program have a variety of opportunities to work with a wide range of clinical presentations and diversity within the Napa-Solano region. Due to our rotational structure, interns can have the opportunity to gain clinical experience in a variety of settings. As mentioned previously, each intern has the opportunity to complete one 12-month track in Adult Psychiatry and two 6-month rotations over the course of the training year.

• The three major rotations include:
• One 12-month track in Adult Outpatient Mental Health Department
• Two 6-month rotations in Behavioral Medicine Services and the Adult Intensive Outpatient Program.

Doctoral interns will gain experience in being a part of the Adult Outpatient Mental Health team. The Adult Outpatient Mental Health department has opportunities for intake assessments, individual therapy, group therapy, and ADHD screening. We host over 40 groups each week for various populations and presenting problems including depression management, Trauma Recovery, Happiness & Wellbeing, DBT, Bipolar, Mindfulness, and many more! Doctoral interns are expected to attend weekly Adult Team Staff meetings and case consultation. Monthly in-service training is also provided.

There are a variety of patient presentations from mild adjustment disorders to severe mental illness. There is opportunity to work with underserved populations with a large proportion of MediCal insured patients and the population is highly diverse in culture.

The Adult Outpatient Mental Health team is made up of an interdisciplinary team with multiple psychiatrists on staff. The psychiatrists, primary care physicians, and nurse practitioners are very open to collaboration for the best possible integrated services to the patient. The team is made up of generalists as well as providers with specialties in areas such as treating trauma, eating disorders, domestic violence/interpersonal violence, and immigrant populations.

In the Behavioral Medicine Services (BMS) rotation, doctoral interns will receive excellent training in health service psychology while working in a medical setting within a tight-knit team. Behavioral Medicine Team is a collaborative and cohesive group who regularly coordinates care with physicians, OBGYNs, pharmacists and ancillary staff in an effort to provide optimal patient care. Doctoral interns work in the Kaiser Vallejo, Vacaville, Fairfield, or Napa Medical Offices in primary care or the women’s health clinic where they receive referrals from physicians to assess patients for possible mental health problems. The doctoral intern will assist medical care providers and their patients by addressing behavioral and psychological factors that contribute to overall improved health. In this role, doctoral interns will have the opportunity to diagnose, provide brief interventions and develop treatment plans, and learn how to articulate those plans to their patients and the interdisciplinary team. Doctoral interns will provide focused, brief individual therapy. Behavioral medicine providers also co-treat chronic conditions such as diabetes mellitus, chronic pain, headaches, insomnia, irritable bowel syndrome. In addition, BMS providers are integral in treating adjustment disorders often related to coping with medical diagnoses and help to improve whole health patient outcomes. This position broadens and deepens your brief assessment and intervention skills across many diagnoses with a very diverse group of patients.

The BMS model allows for warm handoffs from the physicians, for patients who may be ambivalent about treatment engagement or likely to benefit from a brief intervention. An additional responsibility of the doctoral intern is performing brief cognitive screenings as requested by the primary care physicians. Opportunities to conduct Bariatric surgery evaluations available depending on interest and experience.

Despite the BMS providers being dispersed through different medical offices, they still closely collaborate with each other and meet for their own department staff meetings and huddles in order to provide consultation and updates for optimal care. The BMS team is very collaborative and warm and time together is typically spent in offering consultation, providing support, and laughing at each other’s jokes

This position requires autonomy and flexibility in fast-paced medical settings. Candidates with interest and experience in working with general mental health as well as in a behavioral medicine or medical setting preferred.

This extraordinary training opportunity will allow doctoral interns to focus on providing treatment to more acute and chronic patients. The Adult Intensive Outpatient Program is a two-week comprehensive program designed for patients that have a need for a higher level of care. It serves as a step-down program for patients who were recently psychiatrically hospitalized or also for patients who are needing further support due to higher need or severity of symptoms. Patients attend the program multiple times per week and engage in group therapy, psychiatric medication evaluation, and individual therapy.

The experience includes individual intakes and facilitating both psychoeducational and process groups. It also involves twice daily meetings and consultation with small tight-knit, interdisciplinary treatment team. During this rotation, doctoral interns will carry a smaller caseload and will focus a considerable part of their clinical time working with short-term crisis stabilization. This rotation broadens and deepens clinical skills across all diagnoses with a very diverse group of patients while working closely with a supportive group of colleagues.

• Direct Patient Care: 20
• Individual Supervision: 2 hours
• Group Supervision: 2 hours
• Assessment Supervision: 1 hour
• Didactic Training: 2 hours
• Program Evaluation: 1 hour
• Supervision of Practicum Students: 1 hour
• Community Benefit Project: 1 hour
• Team Meeting: 1 hour
• Case Consultation: 1 hour
• Non-Patient Care: 8 hours

• CPS/APS Reporting
• Assessment Bootcamp
• Asian and Pacific Islander Psychology and Health
• Gender and Sexual Minorities Psychology and Health
• APPIC Postdoctoral Application Process, Timeline, and Interview Tips
• Recovering from Trauma: Overview of the Assessment and Treatment of Post-Trauma Symptoms
• Psychopharmacology
• Pediatric Behavioral Medicine Services
• Chronic Pain
• Supervision
• And many more…