Is it REALLY okay to have no integrated reports when you apply to internship?

[glunsp]

At every practicum site I've been at I've tried to get an integrated report but circumstances have not allowed it to happen. Faculty in my program have been very dismissive of my concerns about not having any 4 years into the program. I have done a lot of clinical writing (well above average, the problem is the reports are all based on one instrument each) but nothing that meets the criteria for an integrated report. Getting reports is hard in my program but most people manage to get at least one site, one year that helps them get some. I have had some bad luck with practicum assignments and the opportunity has just not been available.

I'm in a research heavy program and I don't feel like faculty are looking out for me in terms of getting good clinical training. Am I really going to be okay when I apply if I don't have any?

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[WisNeuro]

Probably depends on where you apply. It would put you at a disadvantage at many VA's. At a more research oriented internship, maybe not as much. This is something that every clinical psych graduate student should get supervised experience with. I'm surprised this hasn't been an issue with APA site visits if it is as bad as you say it is.

 

[glunsp]

I'm surprised this hasn't been an issue with APA site visits if it is as bad as you say it is.

We've had some major organizational changes since the last site visit. I suspect this issue will be one of many when they come next.

 

[pediatric_psydoc]

I know that in reputable PsyD programs, this would be problematic. I assume you're in a PhD program since you said your program is research heavy. I honestly am not familiar with the experiences of people in PhD programs, reputable and otherwise, in terms of how many integrative reports they have written at time of internship applications. I can speak for myself as a PsyD student in an APA accredited program: I had 10 integrative reports on children, and 7 on adults (I had 650 intervention hours and 400 assessment hours). I secured an APA accredited internship; specifically, it is all inpatient work in which clinical time is devoted two-thirds of the year to children and adolescents.

How many years of Practicum have you had? What are your intervention and assessment hours? What kinds of sites? Also, what are your short term and long term goals?


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[WisNeuro]

This is rare, even in a research heavy PhD. I'd say that even the non-neuro students in my program had at least 10 by the time internship apps rolled around. People were required to have at least 6 full integrated assessments in the Uni clinic alone and most had at least some exposure of some sort on practicum.

 

[NeuroLady]

I spent the summer and most of fall before I applied in an elective assessment prac where I managed to complete a handful of integrated reports and add to my assessment hours. I believe this made the difference in landing an accredited VA internship. It depends on the internship site but I recommend asking around about an elective prac.

 

[psychstudent5]

Have you asked your current supervisor about this? Is this possible to get at your current site?

When I applied for internship, all of my reports were integrated (roughly around 15 reports). I didn't even know you could do a report with 1 measure until I got my first clinical job post-license. It's odd to me that your program is being dismissive about this. It's really important experience to obtain as a grad student.

 

[glunsp]

Have you asked your current supervisor about this? Is this possible to get at your current site?

When I applied for internship, all of my reports were integrated (roughly around 15 reports). I didn't even know you could do a report with 1 measure until I got my first clinical job post-license. It's odd to me that your program is being dismissive about this. It's really important experience to obtain as a grad student.

I've asked this supervisor as I have supervisors each year before this. It's just not an opportunity they can offer me at this site for various reasons that I can't go into without getting into identifying myself with specifics. I'm doing a ton of clinical writing at the site, it's just in a very particular niche that isn't integrated reports. My supervisor has tried to help me get a chance to do this but it just has not been possible.

In a past year I wasn't able to get them because that opportunity was only offered to interns not practicum students. After a ton of negotiating I finally got an opportunity only to have the client drop out after the interview so I only was able to write up the interview in the report with a couple of self-report screening measures.

The year before I was told no because the supervisor didn't feel able to competently supervise me doing that.

I'm actually already doing a supplemental practicum already because prior to this year I had 2 assessment hours. So now I have a ton of assessment hours and no integrated reports. It's really just being a paid tech and the supervisor is not interested in supervising report writing.

 

[PhDToBe]

I imagine that would be a major red flag at most sites, even therapy-heavy ones.

However, my experience is that most people don't know the actual definition of an integrated report. Taken from APPIC, "The definition of an integrated psychological testing report is a report that includes a review of history, results of an interview and at least two psychological tests from one or more of the following categories: personality measures, intellectual tests, cognitive tests, and neuropsychological tests." Most people think the tests have to be from two different categories when they don't.

 

[PsychDreams]

At every practicum site I've been at I've tried to get an integrated report but circumstances have not allowed it to happen. Faculty in my program have been very dismissive of my concerns about not having any 4 years into the program. I have done a lot of clinical writing (well above average, the problem is the reports are all based on one instrument each) but nothing that meets the criteria for an integrated report. Getting reports is hard in my program but most people manage to get at least one site, one year that helps them get some. I have had some bad luck with practicum assignments and the opportunity has just not been available.

I'm in a research heavy program and I don't feel like faculty are looking out for me in terms of getting good clinical training. Am I really going to be okay when I apply if I don't have any?

I'm in the same boat, also from a research heavy Ph.D. program. Faculty haven't quite been dismissive of it, but have definitely downplayed the importance of getting these reports, and the importance of clinical work in general. I also ended up in an assessment prac where my supervisors treated me as a psychometrist, which I didn't realize at the time was a problem. It's only now as a fourth year that I'm realizing how important integrated reports are.

The point of this post being to vent but also to say it happens much more commonly that some might think.

 

[Kadhir]

However, my experience is that most people don't know the actual definition of an integrated report.

This is exceedingly true; there always seems to be some unnecessary confusion. Either people don't count things they should, or they're contemplating whether a BDI counts (it doesn't). In my academically oriented PhD program, it's the norm for non-neuro folks to apply with <10. Hasn't been pointed out by APA, but the students definitely recognize it's a weakness. Many internships report the number of integrated reports of their matched applicants, and this varies wildly (even for VAs), I suspect, in part, because they don't break it up by track. I've seen ranges like 2-150 a few times. In any case, I'd be wary of going into the process with 0. If intervention is your focus, push for at least 3-5 some way or another before application season.

 

[NeuroLady]

I remember seeing many brochures asking for at applicants with at least 5 integrated reports.

 

[psych.meout]

I've asked this supervisor as I have supervisors each year before this. It's just not an opportunity they can offer me at this site for various reasons that I can't go into without getting into identifying myself with specifics. I'm doing a ton of clinical writing at the site, it's just in a very particular niche that isn't integrated reports. My supervisor has tried to help me get a chance to do this but it just has not been possible.

In a past year I wasn't able to get them because that opportunity was only offered to interns not practicum students. After a ton of negotiating I finally got an opportunity only to have the client drop out after the interview so I only was able to write up the interview in the report with a couple of self-report screening measures.

The year before I was told no because the supervisor didn't feel able to competently supervise me doing that.

I'm actually already doing a supplemental practicum already because prior to this year I had 2 assessment hours. So now I have a ton of assessment hours and no integrated reports. It's really just being a paid tech and the supervisor is not interested in supervising report writing.

You went three years with only two assessment hours? Is this common in your program?

 

[psychstudent5]

I've asked this supervisor as I have supervisors each year before this. It's just not an opportunity they can offer me at this site for various reasons that I can't go into without getting into identifying myself with specifics. I'm doing a ton of clinical writing at the site, it's just in a very particular niche that isn't integrated reports. My supervisor has tried to help me get a chance to do this but it just has not been possible.

In a past year I wasn't able to get them because that opportunity was only offered to interns not practicum students. After a ton of negotiating I finally got an opportunity only to have the client drop out after the interview so I only was able to write up the interview in the report with a couple of self-report screening measures.

The year before I was told no because the supervisor didn't feel able to competently supervise me doing that.

I'm actually already doing a supplemental practicum already because prior to this year I had 2 assessment hours. So now I have a ton of assessment hours and no integrated reports. It's really just being a paid tech and the supervisor is not interested in supervising report writing.

this is unfortunate. have you spoken to anyone in the previous cohorts about they got integrated reports? i wonder if they'd be able to help guide you to sites or give you ideas on how to find opportunities for this given that the faculty is unbothered.

 

[BuckeyeLove]

this should be the responsibility of the program and training director IMHO, with a respectable limit set for completed ones prior to applying for internship.

 

[Ollie123]

Its a huge weakness and a definite red flag for internships. I'm surprised to hear it - I came from an extremely research-heavy lab at a research-heavy program and they were still (somewhat) attentive to this. Most folks didn't get a ton of reports unless they were pursuing an assessment path, but I'd wager 8-10 was the average excluding those folks.

Don't know the setup of your program, but if there are individual assessment-focused faculty members you could talk to that might be one way to go. They may have recommendations or even be willing to supervise a handful of extra cases. It doesn't take a lot for something to count as integrated, so this really shouldn't be tough to get.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

Agree that it's unfortunate your program is being so dismissive of training in this skill. It sounds like you're doing about all you can, though, so your hands may largely be tied. If you proactively identify this as an area of weakness on which you'd like to significantly focus during internship, that should help to alleviate at least some degree of concern, particularly if the rest of your application is solid.

I wouldn't entirely throw your program under the bus, but I'd certainly try to find a way to discuss all the things I'd done to try to obtain these experiences in grad school.

And agree with Ollie and those above who've said that the definition of "integrated report" isn't always as stringent as folks sometimes think. Keep trying (as I'm sure you are) to see if you can get at least 2-3 of these somehow.

 

[WisNeuro]

.

And agree with Ollie and those above who've said that the definition of "integrated report" isn't always as stringent as folks sometimes think. Keep trying (as I'm sure you are) to see if you can get at least 2-3 of these somehow.

This is true, but the egregious examples get singled out in app review. We had someone recently who reported over 50 integrated reports, and when we looked at things administered, it was all BDI, BAI writeups. The danger in mis-representing the integrated reports somehow is that this is fair game for interviewers if you get an interview invite, and it will look bad if you are trying to pass off things as integrated reports, when they really aren't.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

This is true, but the egregious examples get singled out in app review. We had someone recently who reported over 50 integrated reports, and when we looked at things administered, it was all BDI, BAI writeups. The danger in mis-representing the integrated reports somehow is that this is fair game for interviewers if you get an interview invite, and it will look bad if you are trying to pass off things as integrated reports, when they really aren't.

Agreed with that as well. You don't need to administer a full WAIS, WMS, Halstead-Reitan, and MMPI-2 for it to be an integrated report, but a BDI + MMSE won't cut it.

 

[foreverbull]

I found myself in a similar position prior to internship as well, but I applied to sites in which assessments were not emphasized, so I didn't have a problem. You could still be okay, but it depends on the type of site you're going for. If the site is heavy on assessment experiences, you may have a tougher time making your case.
I was asked about my lack of integrated reports in one internship interview, so be prepared to explain why your program wasn't able to provide you with adequate assessment experience and sell the experience of the assessments you have done when it comes up. Also, you might try contacting top sites of interest to see if assessment hours without integrated reports would be considered. Every site is different, but they also need easy ways to cut people based on failing to meet criteria, so asking may be more helpful than guessing.

 

[Justanothergrad]

Agreed with all the others about the integrated reports. At my site, if someone came in with very little assessment experience then that would be a red flag AND if they identified that the assessment training at the site, and the assessment rotation, were a major reason for wanting to train there, that approach would be an opportunity to directly address the gap in training that would offset that some as well.

One thing that I would be wary of is moving forward in your training in a manner that does not strengthen your assessment knowledge/skills. Personally, I would also focus on making sure that you receive a larger amount of assessment training during internship so that you can grow that area of your competence substantially. It's such a core aspect of what differentiates psychologists from other MH providers and to good conceptualization that its worth taking steps

 

[glunsp]

I imagine that would be a major red flag at most sites, even therapy-heavy ones.

However, my experience is that most people don't know the actual definition of an integrated report. Taken from APPIC, "The definition of an integrated psychological testing report is a report that includes a review of history, results of an interview and at least two psychological tests from one or more of the following categories: personality measures, intellectual tests, cognitive tests, and neuropsychological tests." Most people think the tests have to be from two different categories when they don't.

Thanks this is helpful. I did think I had to have multiple categories represented. I still don't have something that counts but I might have an easier time getting an assessment with multiple personality measures than personality + cognitive.

this is unfortunate. have you spoken to anyone in the previous cohorts about they got integrated reports? i wonder if they'd be able to help guide you to sites or give you ideas on how to find opportunities for this given that the faculty is unbothered.

From what I can tell people either get lucky enough to have one practicum site that gets them some or they end up counting the 2 practice reports we did in 1st year assessment class. These were on undergrad volunteers who didn't have any real presenting concerns. My read of the rules is that that is not countable but if I'm wrong someone please let me know. It seems like my program is letting people slide by with that but I'm not comfortable misrepresenting my experiences like that.

 

[erg923]

Thanks this is helpful. I did think I had to have multiple categories represented. I still don't have something that counts but I might have an easier time getting an assessment with multiple personality measures than personality + cognitive.



From what I can tell people either get lucky enough to have one practicum site that gets them some or they end up counting the 2 practice reports we did in 1st year assessment class. These were on undergrad volunteers who didn't have any real presenting concerns. My read of the rules is that that is not countable but if I'm wrong someone please let me know. It seems like my program is letting people slide by with that but I'm not comfortable misrepresenting my experiences like that.

So your program is training you to be a therapist only? Is that the name of the program-Ph.D in clinical psychotherapy?

 

[glunsp]

So your program is training you to be a therapist only? Is that the name of the program-Ph.D in clinical psychotherapy?

I'm not sure what you are getting at. I spend a large portion of my time on research. I have more than 5 publications. My research training is okay. I'm just concerned about whether this gap in my clinical training is an issue.

 

[WisNeuro]

Easy there erg, he's not trying to justify it the lack of comprehensive assessment as ideal. Seems to be aware that it's an issue, just wondering how much of an issue.

 

[psych.meout]

Thanks this is helpful. I did think I had to have multiple categories represented. I still don't have something that counts but I might have an easier time getting an assessment with multiple personality measures than personality + cognitive.

Maybe I'm missing something, but why would you use multiple personality measures?

From what I can tell people either get lucky enough to have one practicum site that gets them some or they end up counting the 2 practice reports we did in 1st year assessment class. These were on undergrad volunteers who didn't have any real presenting concerns. My read of the rules is that that is not countable but if I'm wrong someone please let me know. It seems like my program is letting people slide by with that but I'm not comfortable misrepresenting my experiences like that.

So, these were basically mock patients? How could those be counted as actual assessments for the purposes of applying to internship?

 

[glunsp]

Easy there erg, he's not trying to justify it the lack of comprehensive assessment as ideal. Seems to be aware that it's an issue, just wondering how much of an issue.

Exactly. Every attempt I've made to talk to faculty in my department about this has been followed by stories about of people being okay without any and that I shouldn't worry so much. But it just seems hard to believe and it seems like I'm right to be skeptical.

 

[glunsp]

Maybe I'm missing something, but why would you use multiple personality measures?

I don't know. Was just speaking off the cuff there. But there's a lack of people who feel competent to supervise related to cognitive/neuropsych stuff and finding supervision related to personality may be easier. Not the ideal solution clearly.

So, these were basically mock patients? How could those be counted as actual assessments for the purposes of applying to internship?

They were sharing real experiences, so not actors, but they were just helping out to learn about what a psych assessment looked like while we got to learn about giving the assessment. I don't think it counts but it seems like some people have counted them when they applied. I don't plan on listing them.

 

[bcliff]

Our program requires 10 integrated reports to apply to internship. Many supervisors emphasize abbreviated reported especially in the context of informing intervention. Does seem like a red flag to me -- Psychological assessment is one of the few clinical responsibilities predominantly under the purview of clinical psychology.

 

[psych.meout]

I don't know. Was just speaking off the cuff there. But there's a lack of people who feel competent to supervise related to cognitive/neuropsych stuff and finding supervision related to personality may be easier. Not the ideal solution clearly.



They were sharing real experiences, so not actors, but they were just helping out to learn about what a psych assessment looked like while we got to learn about giving the assessment. I don't think it counts but it seems like some people have counted them when they applied. I don't plan on listing them.

That still doesn't seem like actual assessment, so it would be sketchy to count them.

Honestly, the more you reveal about your program, the sketchier overall it seems.

 

[pediatric_psydoc]

That still doesn't seem like actual assessment, so it would be sketchy to count them.

Honestly, the more you reveal about your program, the sketchier overall it seems.

Agreed! At my program we were explicitly told not to count volunteers toward anything on the internship application. Only actual patients.


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[psych.meout]

Agreed! At my program we were explicitly told not to count volunteers toward anything on the internship application. Only actual patients.


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So, we have:
1. Student(s?) having two assessment hours by fourth year.
2. Faculty allowing a student to get 4th year with zero integrated reports.
3. Faculty being "very dismissive" of student concerns about said lack of integrated reports.
4. Students using assessments done with undergrad volunteers in assessment classes as integrated reports for internship applications.
5. Faculty either not knowing about #4 or knowing about it and allowing it to continue. I don't know which is worse.

 

[AspiringPsychologist2016]

Perhaps I've totally missed this, but what type of sites are you hoping to apply to glunsp? For what it's worth, I'm currently in a Counseling Psychology PhD program and did complete the internship cycle (matched, about 15 integrated reports -- most had 3-5 measures plus the clinical interview) to an APA-accredited university counseling center in phase one. However, there was another student in my program, who also matched to an APA-accredited university counseling center in phase one without any assessment experience (masters or doctoral hours) or integrated reports. I say this to demonstrate that clearly it's possible to match to an accredited UCC without any integrated reports, but I'm not sure if you're applying to UCCs and I'd imagine that UCCs are probably one of the easier site types to match to without assessment experience.

 

[forcefive17]

So, we have:
1. Student(s?) having two assessment hours by fourth year.
2. Faculty allowing a student to get 4th year with zero integrated reports.
3. Faculty being "very dismissive" of student concerns about said lack of integrated reports.
4. Students using assessments done with undergrad volunteers in assessment classes as integrated reports for internship applications.
5. Faculty either not knowing about #4 or knowing about it and allowing it to continue. I don't know which is worse.

Maybe I'm missing something, but why would you use multiple personality measures?

So, these were basically mock patients? How could those be counted as actual assessments for the purposes of applying to internship?

The program may be 'sketchy', but unfortunately, the OP seems to be near internship. He/she's not attempting to justify the programs actions, rather, attempting to ascertain how much of an issue this may be. Comments like these are not helpful/useful in this post or in general, IMO. Furthermore, you'll learn when you get to graduate school that there are times when multiple personality measures are necessary for a single patient.

With that said, many sites on the APPIC directory will explicitly state that they would like a sample of an integrated report as part of the application process. For these sites, I assume someone from your program will at a significant disadvantage. I suggest you use this time to find extra practica where you will get supervision in writing integrated reports. Many times programs will allow you to search outside of the school's sites to get this experience if you can justify it.

 

[Justanothergrad]

you'll learn when you get to graduate school that there are times when multiple personality measures are necessary for a single patient..

I don't disagree with your other points, and this is a bit off topic from the broader focus of the thread, but I'm not sure I buy a need for multiple (assuming you mean broad-band like the MMPI, PAI, etc.) personality assessments. There are probably other reasons that I find objectionable as well, but here are my three big objections: Incrementally, what does a second or third assessment of a single construct add over a measurement of that same content using a single, well-validated measure? How to do integrate and interpret situations in which findings show different presentations (e.g., clinically significant and not) of the same personality constructs and how would you rationalize such a conclusion using those assessment results? What would be the indicators of necessity for multiple instruments and in what cases is it not needed?

 

[psych.meout]

The program may be 'sketchy', but unfortunately, the OP seems to be near internship. He/she's not attempting to justify the programs actions, rather, attempting to ascertain how much of an issue this may be. Comments like these are not helpful/useful in this post or in general, IMO.

My point was that the problems here seem more pervasive and serious than OP's individual situation and their original question. Thus, OP should probably reexamine more areas of their training than that of their original question to see if there are any other problems that need to be addressed before they apply for internship. Sorry if you feel that's "unhelpful."

Furthermore, you'll learn when you get to graduate school that there are times when multiple personality measures are necessary for a single patient.

Such as...?

 

[foreverbull]

Perhaps I've totally missed this, but what type of sites are you hoping to apply to glunsp? For what it's worth, I'm currently in a Counseling Psychology PhD program and did complete the internship cycle (matched, about 15 integrated reports -- most had 3-5 measures plus the clinical interview) to an APA-accredited university counseling center in phase one. However, there was another student in my program, who also matched to an APA-accredited university counseling center in phase one without any assessment experience (masters or doctoral hours) or integrated reports. I say this to demonstrate that clearly it's possible to match to an accredited UCC without any integrated reports, but I'm not sure if you're applying to UCCs and I'd imagine that UCCs are probably one of the easier site types to match to without assessment experience.

Ditto. Don't get too hung up on your lack of assessment experience and broader graduate program issues. You just need to decide what sites you want and how to market yourself at this point. If it's even possible to get more assessment experience, you can try to do so, but a lack of integrated reports won't prevent you from getting any site at all, just certain sites.

 

[modestmousktr]

Sort of hijacking the thread, possibly, but question about integrated reports- do you count those that you've written as a student team? At a practicum I did last year housed in my university, 2-3 students would take on one case.

For example, I completed the clinical interview with 1-2 other students, wrote up a little about that (as did the other students), administered the cognitive and achievement tests (scored, interpreted, wrote up the results and summary), and then added recommendations (as did the other students). Other students would be responsible for personality testing and/or neuropsychological testing and scoring/interpreting/writing that, so everyone had their own little chunk.

So I have three integrated reports, but did not administer every test in the report, nor did I write the entire report myself. Can I submit these when I apply to internship? Can I submit just the parts I wrote... but then it would be missing a lot of information. Or should I just count these in my integrated reports but not select them as samples. I am a second-year Ph.D. student going into my third-year in fall, and am going on my first external placement beginning summer, where I'll get more testing experience and the opportunity to write up integrated reports by myself, but I'm unsure of how many integrated reports you send off when you apply to internship.

Sorry for derailing, and also, I realize these are questions I could ask my DCT but it's spring break and you all are here

 

[eremitestar]

Sort of hijacking the thread, possibly, but question about integrated reports- do you count those that you've written as a student team? At a practicum I did last year housed in my university, 2-3 students would take on one case.

For example, I completed the clinical interview with 1-2 other students, wrote up a little about that (as did the other students), administered the cognitive and achievement tests (scored, interpreted, wrote up the results and summary), and then added recommendations (as did the other students). Other students would be responsible for personality testing and/or neuropsychological testing and scoring/interpreting/writing that, so everyone had their own little chunk.

So I have three integrated reports, but did not administer every test in the report, nor did I write the entire report myself. Can I submit these when I apply to internship? Can I submit just the parts I wrote... but then it would be missing a lot of information. Or should I just count these in my integrated reports but not select them as samples. I am a second-year Ph.D. student going into my third-year in fall, and am going on my first external placement beginning summer, where I'll get more testing experience and the opportunity to write up integrated reports by myself, but I'm unsure of how many integrated reports you send off when you apply to internship.

Sorry for derailing, and also, I realize these are questions I could ask my DCT but it's spring break and you all are here

I wouldn't count any reports that you're not the sole author of. If you're just beginning your first placement, you have PLENTY of time to get more assessment experience. When you're applying, you don't have to send off all of your integrated reports, you just indicate how many you've written. Some sites do request that you submit a sample report as part of your application package, but generally just one so that they can get an idea of your clinical writing ability. Most sites don't require this at all, but many of the more assessment-heavy ones do. I would definitely NOT submit a report as part of my application package that I did not author in its entirety. I also wouldn't use a report I wrote so early in my training, as the ones from later placements when you have more experience under your belt will likely be much stronger.

 

[PsychPhDone]

At every practicum site I've been at I've tried to get an integrated report but circumstances have not allowed it to happen. Faculty in my program have been very dismissive of my concerns about not having any 4 years into the program. I have done a lot of clinical writing (well above average, the problem is the reports are all based on one instrument each) but nothing that meets the criteria for an integrated report. Getting reports is hard in my program but most people manage to get at least one site, one year that helps them get some. I have had some bad luck with practicum assignments and the opportunity has just not been available.

I'm in a research heavy program and I don't feel like faculty are looking out for me in terms of getting good clinical training. Am I really going to be okay when I apply if I don't have any?

OP, can you pick up a few integrated reports in your program's in-house clinic? That's one way I built up my number.

 

[Ollie123]

I actually think it's fine to count co-authors reports in your number (if you want to be conservative, you could count it as a part of a report based on the number of co-authors I suppose). This was common at my program and I think we all handled it that way. It's up to your DCT though, since they will be signing off.

That said, I would never advise submitting a multi-authored report as a sample.

 

[ellenew]

Our DCT would not allow us to count any co-authored reports as integrated reports for internship applications. We were told that we could only count those that we were the sole author.

 

[ProfessionalStudent5]

Our DCT would not allow us to count any co-authored reports as integrated reports for internship applications. We were told that we could only count those that we were the sole author.

Do you mean sole author as in sole student author? Because you can’t be a sole author until you’re licensed.

 

[ay1314]

At every practicum site I've been at I've tried to get an integrated report but circumstances have not allowed it to happen. Faculty in my program have been very dismissive of my concerns about not having any 4 years into the program. I have done a lot of clinical writing (well above average, the problem is the reports are all based on one instrument each) but nothing that meets the criteria for an integrated report. Getting reports is hard in my program but most people manage to get at least one site, one year that helps them get some. I have had some bad luck with practicum assignments and the opportunity has just not been available.

I'm in a research heavy program and I don't feel like faculty are looking out for me in terms of getting good clinical training. Am I really going to be okay when I apply if I don't have any?

I just matched and so did everyone in my cohort. I'm in a "prestigious" phd program that really leaves breadth of clinical training entirely up to students. This means that some students like me have gone out of their way and or gotten lucky in getting a bunch of different kinds of experience, including assessment and report writing, while some of my colleagues have zero reports and no assessment hours. They seem to have done just fine matching to places that don't require assessment or reports, mostly college counseling centers. This is definitely not a blanket statement about college counseling centers. Tl;dr : you can be ok for internship without reports if you look carefully for sites that don't require or emphasize assessment and report writing.

 

[temppsych123]

Sorry for what you're going through, OP - it's often hard to see your program's weak spots when you're starting out, and then by the time you're getting closer to finishing, less time to do much about it

Since you need to have two tests in at least one of the "personality measures, intellectual tests, cognitive tests, and neuropsychological tests" areas, I think your best bet is to try to find someone (even if they're not through a typical practicum placement your program offers) who does neuropsych testing, or testing of kids for learning problems, or really any kind of "testing" site, to see if you can get a chance to practice a few reports. I'm not actually sure that you even need to administer the tests that become part of the integrated report, just that you have to write it (although check with the APPIC definitions to be sure). If you don't need to actually administer the testing, then getting someone to let you write a report under supervision is a much smaller "ask" - you're offering to write a report for them, and as long as them reviewing and providing feedback on your report takes them less time than it would take them to write the report themselves, they end up getting something useful out of it. I would say, if you find someone willing to let you write a few reports for this purpose, make sure to run it by your DCT to jump through the relevant hoops so that the DCT can sign off on them (not the reports themselves, but verifying you did them) when you go to apply for internship.

Anyway, not sure how feasible this is (probably depends on location, types of settings and services offered in your area, etc) but might be worth a shot!

 

[bcliff]

I’m pretty sure that for hours/reports to “count” they must be program sanctioned -- Make sure to clarify that any experience you seek out passes muster.

 

[Justanothergrad]

I just matched and so did everyone in my cohort. I'm in a "prestigious" phd program that really leaves breadth of clinical training entirely up to students. This means that some students like me have gone out of their way and or gotten lucky in getting a bunch of different kinds of experience, including assessment and report writing, while some of my colleagues have zero reports and no assessment hours. They seem to have done just fine matching to places that don't require assessment or reports, mostly college counseling centers. This is definitely not a blanket statement about college counseling centers. Tl;dr : you can be ok for internship without reports if you look carefully for sites that don't require or emphasize assessment and report writing.

This is an older thread, but the topic seems important enough to comment since it got brought back up.

While what you say is definitely true with respect to some sites not emphasizing it(counseling centers), I wonder how well a trainee is versed in a core competency of the APA if they have zero reports and no assessment hours. I would scantly consider this to be representative of what one would expect for the training of a practicing psychologist and have some concern about areas in their training that are missing.

 

[foreverbull]

This is an older thread, but the topic seems important enough to comment since it got brought back up.

While what you say is definitely true with respect to some sites not emphasizing it(counseling centers), I wonder how well a trainee is versed in a core competency of the APA if they have zero reports and no assessment hours. I would scantly consider this to be representative of what one would expect for the training of a practicing psychologist and have some concern about areas in their training that are missing.

Direct assessment hours/integrated reports don't tell the whole story, though. In my program, we happened to have the director of our counseling clinic who supervised assessements leave and was replaced, but the new director put all assessments on hold for awhile while adjusting, so grad students weren't able to offer assessments via the clinic for a year. Then when assessments started up again, there weren't enough to go around for all students combined with a general decrease in demand for tests in our clinic for awhile. We got plenty of practice administering assessments via 3 assessment-based classes (which doesn't count as direct assessment but is an integral part of competency), but not much test administration to the general public through no fault of our own. Some of us in those cohorts had no integrated reports, but several practice administrations/reports of diferent tests and at least one test or one battery administered to a client. I hardly think that should be cause for holding students back. Even in counseling centers, sometimes a battery or two is required during internship year (it was required at mine) so those folks might still get more assessment experience on internship. But just because the assessment hours might be lacking doesn't mean that the practice administrations & course component were lacking....that is a key part of competency not reflected in the assessment hours.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

I’d see it as a major red flag, though I know my perspective is skewed because the vast majority of my work is in assessment. I definitely can think of circumstances where opportunities to write integrated reports are limited, though i’d want the student to acknowledge this somewhere in the app and list it as an area to seek additional training and mentorship during the intern year.

My internship DCT used to say that there should always be areas that can be improved, so attaining more integrated report writing experience would be an area of emphasis for training.

 

[bcliff]

Assessment is a core competence of health service psychology. Failure to provide a means for students to obtain practical training in psychological assessment is unacceptable. APA accreditation should be contingent on the availability of adequate training (e.g., didactics/coursework, supervision, direct contact) in psychological assessment.