Candidate/Program Fit
Astute clinical skills and sound ethical instincts are of primary interest to us.
Comfort with diversity, openness to supervision, mature judgment, warmth, and sense of humor are all highly valued at the University Puget Sound internship.
Our program is ideally suited to those who strive to develop a generalist range as a psychologist and the depth of a highly competent clinician within that. By "generalist," we mean a professional who is adept not only at diagnosis and treatment of a particular clinical population but one who can flexibly lead support and therapy groups, consult with faculty and parents, design and teach outreach workshops, respond to crises, advise groups, train student leaders, give/receive supervision, and triage quickly while establishing rapport. The training staff strives to connect theory and practice as psychologists, regardless of the particular role we're engaged in.
The CHWS internship might be especially satisfying for students who have a special interest in any of these areas:
- Health Service Psychology – We work in a multidisciplinary clinic to provide integrated mental and physical health care to our clients. Our interns work closely with our medical providers, dietician, and psychiatrist.
- Multicultural Psychology – Our center values the diversity that each student and staff member brings to our interactions. Interns will have opportunities to explore issues of power and privilege, social justice, and cultural differences during intern seminars, diversity dialogues supervision, divisional meetings, and within clinical contacts and supervision.
- Work in Higher Education – Interns are trained as generalists and are prepared to work within University Counseling Centers. Additionally, our department is well-integrated in the University's Division of Student Affairs. Thus our interns learn about the variety of departments within the university that support student growth and leadership.
- Substance Abuse Prevention – Our interns each participate in a substance abuse prevention rotation. Depending upon the semester, this may involve facilitating educational workshops, conducting assessments with mandated students, and/or program development and evaluation.
- Supervision – Our interns provide and receive supervision. Interns participate in the supervision of supervision rotation.
We offer training in conducting thorough clinical assessments, including semi-structured suicide and self-harm risk assessments. We refer clients off-campus who need neuropsychological, cognitive, forensic, or other assessment batteries.
We're a less than ideal match for trainees who rigidly adhere to the use of a single theoretical orientation. As supervisors, we identify our theoretical orientations as integrative. If your academic program or your own approach is based on a single orientation, we will be curious about which clinical conditions you have found this primary approach to be effective and when you believe it falls short. We will also want to know what you hope to learn to complement your primary orientation.
At CHWS, we want your internship to be a time to explore and to ask questions about theories and interventions. With this invitation to analyze and experiment, integrative supervision enables interns to utilize the primary approach(es) they know best while adding flexibility to their work by making it more responsive and individualized.
Application Materials
The application process occurs on-line via the APPI portal (See the APPIC website for more details). All of the application materials should be uploaded electronically, and we will not accept any paper materials. We request three letters of recommendation. At least two should be from clinical supervisors. You may choose to include a fourth letter if it provides a unique perspective, but it's not required. We do not request any other supplemental materials. If any case examples are included within the APPI essays, please use only a redacted or de-identified case conceptualization.
Selection Timeline
All of your information should be uploaded via the APPI portal by November 6, 2022.
We will read all your materials, paying special attention to your CV, essays, cover letter, and letters of recommendation. We will let you know if we'd like to invite you to interview no later than December 13, 2022.
To be fair to applicants throughout the U.S. and Canada, all formal interviews are conducted by video conference or telephone. Interviews will be held in late December 2022 and/or early January, approximately December 12-16, 2022, and January 4-13, 2023.
Interviews typically occur in early to mid-January and last 45-50 minutes. Applicants interview with four staff members: a Psychologist, a current Psychology Intern, the Training Director, and a medical provider. If you are invited to interview, we'll email you a list of sample questions that we may ask during the interview. We ask each candidate to present a brief case, and the case must be de-identified.
Match Process
The University of Puget Sound participates in the National Match, and in accord with APPIC Policy, does not entertain applications other than those through this process. We adhere to APPIC guidelines regarding the offer and acceptance of positions. The University of Puget Sound 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.
Our National Matching Service Program Code is # 175111.
The Training Director will phone students who match with Counseling, Health, and Wellness Services for their Doctoral Internship the morning that match results are released!
All questions and concerns should be addressed to the Psychologist & Training Director (see the Contact Information box on this page).
Background Check
The University of Puget Sound completes a national background inquiry, including a criminal felony and misdemeanor search, national sex offender registry database search, social security number validation, and trace. Adverse information discovered in the background check will not automatically disqualify an individual from employment. Decisions concerning employment will be made on a case-by-case basis in conjunction with reviewing the job description and requirements.
If you have questions regarding the background check, please contact our Human Resources Department at 253.879.3369. You will be required to complete this after the APPIC match and before beginning our employment. Human Resources typically contacts our new interns within one to two months of the match.
The University of Puget Sound is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to recruiting, hiring, and retaining the most qualified persons based on job-related criteria. The university will not engage in or tolerate any discrimination or harassment in the workplace as prohibited by local, state, or federal law. More specifically, no applicant or staff member will be discriminated against or harassed based on his or her race, color, sex/gender, religion, age, disability, marital or familial status, national origin, creed, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, or any other basis prohibited by applicable federal, state, or local law.
Note to master's-level counselors and doctoral students early in their training:
If you would like psychotherapy training at Counseling, Health, & Wellness Services as either a current master's student seeking a field or an early doctoral student doing practica in preparation for internship applications, you may be interested in our Practicum Counselor positions. Prac Counselors see a small number of psychotherapy clients, with our Doctoral Psychology Interns' clinical supervision. Please visit our Practicum Counselor website for a full description of this training opportunity.