PhD/PsyD PsyD Practicum/Internship Advice

[FirstYearPsyD]

I'm starting grad school in the fall to earn my PsyD and have read a lot about the importance of earning an APA-accredited internship. I just joined SDN but it seems that a lot of you are successful current students or recent grads happy to offer advice so I'm hoping to gather any advice I can about what steps (electives, practicum, research...?) are best to take to give me the best chance of matching with an APA internship. I figure gathering this information before my journey even starts is best.

I'll start with the basics. My ultimate professional goal is to be a practicing clinician in the private practice sphere. I have no major location preference for internships so, while one of the big, and therefore most competitive cities like New York would be great, my boyfriend and I are prepared to relocate wherever need be for that year of internship.

Any advice you have would be so helpful because I have a pretty basic knowledge of what I need to help me get that coveted APA internship, or at least give me a competitive CV for it. I know a lot of prac hours are important but can you find additional pracs on your own besides the one your school helps you get each year? Do they have to be APA approved or can you bring your school or whatever board decided which practicum sites to sanction another option if you find one independently? Start with the basics please!


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[erg923]

I'm starting grad school in the fall to earn my PsyD and have read a lot about the importance of earning an APA-accredited internship. I just joined SDN but it seems that a lot of you are successful current students or recent grads happy to offer advice so I'm hoping to gather any advice I can about what steps (electives, practicum, research...?) are best to take to give me the best chance of matching with an APA internship. I figure gathering this information before my journey even starts is best.

I'll start with the basics. My ultimate professional goal is to be a practicing clinician in the private practice sphere. I have no major location preference for internships so, while one of the big, and therefore most competitive cities like New York would be great, my boyfriend and I are prepared to relocate wherever need be for that year of internship.

Any advice you have would be so helpful because I have a pretty basic knowledge of what I need to help me get that coveted APA internship, or at least give me a competitive CV for it. I know a lot of prac hours are important but can you find additional pracs on your own besides the one your school helps you get each year? Do they have to be APA approved or can you bring your school or whatever board decided which practicum sites to sanction another option if you find one independently? Start with the basics please!


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1. Unless you are married/engaged, I would take him out of the equation at this point. **** happens.

2. Prac hours only counts if your school approves/sanctions the site and supervisor. I would not start cold-calling sites and simply do with what is established already. That's why programs have DCTs.

 

[deleted343839]

You can find a lot of previous threads on this topic, but I'll distill some of the other advice that's generally given:

• Beyond a certain point, more practicum hours is not necessarily better and will not necessarily improve your chances at matching. You have other training goals to fulfill and sometimes your productive hours would be better spent on research presentations and publications, professional development, etc.
• The quality of the practicum site matters. It's nice to have a couple of private practice supervisors but also try to get placements in organized sites such as student counseling centers, VAs, community health centers, child/family guidance centers, etc.
• It's fine to pursue practicum opportunities that fit with your interests, but make sure that you also have some variety in your training. Wait until internship and postdoc to specialize.
• There is a science to what you should be doing as a practitioner, so you need to demonstrate your familiarity with research methods and levels of evidence. Internship sites will want to see this, so make sure you have something to show for your research training and experience (posters, publications, etc.). At a more clinically oriented site it may be tempting to put these opportunities on the back burner, but it takes a long time to produce research evidence from start to finish. Don't start too late.

 

[biscuitsbiscuits]

1. Unless you are married/engaged, I would take him out of the equation at this point. **** happens.

He's not really in the equation at hand since the OP said that he's willing to travel anywhere. It seems a little unnecessary to call the relationship up in order to minimize it.

 

[FirstYearPsyD]

1. Unless you are married/engaged, I would take him out of the equation at this point. **** happens.

2. Prac hours only counts if your school approves/sanctions the site and supervisor. I would not start cold-calling sites and simply do with what is established already. That's why programs have DCTs.

Thanks, 1. He's moving to the other side of the world with me so I can go to grad school back in America so it's worth considering, not that it matters since he's planning to move wherever I end up for internship that year and I'll still go if he can't. Regardless, 2. Could I find a site independently and ask the school to approve it? This is hypothetical, I just want to know if I'm limited to what a school approves. What does DCT base their decision on regarding where I can apply? How can I give myself the best chance of getting the practicum I want the most - is it based on grades, references, CV, interest...?


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[FirstYearPsyD]

You can find a lot of previous threads on this topic, but I'll distill some of the other advice that's generally given:

• Beyond a certain point, more practicum hours is not necessarily better and will not necessarily improve your chances at matching. You have other training goals to fulfill and sometimes your productive hours would be better spent on research presentations and publications, professional development, etc.
• The quality of the practicum site matters. It's nice to have a couple of private practice supervisors but also try to get placements in organized sites such as student counseling centers, VAs, community health centers, child/family guidance centers, etc.
• It's fine to pursue practicum opportunities that fit with your interests, but make sure that you also have some variety in your training. Wait until internship and postdoc to specialize.
• There is a science to what you should be doing as a practitioner, so you need to demonstrate your familiarity with research methods and levels of evidence. Internship sites will want to see this, so make sure you have something to show for your research training and experience (posters, publications, etc.). At a more clinically oriented site it may be tempting to put these opportunities on the back burner, but it takes a long time to produce research evidence from start to finish. Don't start too late.

That's so helpful, thank you. Apologies if this is a pre-existing thread, I'm just getting my bearings on this site. You're right, it's really tempting not to do much research but I know it's important. Does the research I conduct in grad school have to be at my school or will it count if it's independent too? I have this great contact who says I can conduct research at his nearby site and he collaborates with the army so maybe that could help me if I should apply to a VA site? On that note, aren't VA sites the most competitive to obtain and is it true PsyD's rarely obtain those spots?

So in terms of the variety you stress, is it better to have a variety of exposure across my practicum placements or to have them all tie in to my goal (assuming I can narrow my interests down in the early years).

Are some private practices more highly regarded on a CV than others? Since that's my ultimate goal I assume I should try to get prac experience at some, but how do I know if they're a better or worse private prac to have on my CV for internships?


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[FirstYearPsyD]

He's not really in the equation at hand since the OP said that he's willing to travel anywhere. It seems a little unnecessary to call the relationship up in order to minimize it.

Wow thanks biscuitsbiscuits. Exactly, I don't want to focus on that at all, just mentioned it to emphasize that Im in a position to move anywhere in the US especially since I'll likely *unless Erg has his way* have a built in support system and person to split the rent/bills with wherever I end up, so even a more expensive city could be doable. On that note, internships your fifth year are frequently paid - minimally, but still paid, right?


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[Therapist4Chnge]

...aren't VA sites the most competitive to obtain and is it true PsyD's rarely obtain those spots?

No and no. VAs are talked about a lot because they train a large portion of psychologists, they offer a nice work/life balance, and many times people will stay with the VA for a long period of time…so VAs in desirable places often don't have very much turnover. The other reason VAs are mentioned is because they have a very strict policy about only taking graduates from APA-acred. programs and APA-acred internships (with the more recent exception of a VA internship that is in the process of applying for APA-acred status). In reality, there are few if any AMCs and many regular hospitals that also won't take someone from a non-acred. (APA) internship site, but because the VA is the largest training of psychologists and they have a well known written policy, it gets mentioned a lot more frequently. Getting locked out of the majority of available jobs is a scary thought, but that is often the case if someone doesn't attain an APA-acred. internship and they want to primarily /only work in the hospital setting.

As for competitiveness, an academic medical center (AMC) is probably the most competitive position, though an AMC in Iowa (sorry Iowa!) may receive less total apps than a typical VA in the Northeast. There are some artificial markets that have highly competitive jobs that if they weren't located in SoCal/NYC/Chi/Miami…they'd be far less competitive.

If you attend a university-based program, get decent/good research experience, secure solid LORs, and come from a halfway decent program…matching should happen and it shouldn't be a huge deal. It isn't a certainty, as many quality students get squeezed each year (get interviews at solid places, but land 2nd or 3rd on the rank order list and miss matching), so trying to minimize any additional barriers will be important.

 

[FirstYearPsyD]

That's so good to know, thank you. Yes SoCal or NYC would be great no doubt but I can handle Iowa for a year if it means APA accredited. I'm going to a free-standing program that's nationally ranked, I don't know, moderately? It's probably in the late 20's or early 30th percentile but it's definitely not a top 20 programs in America program. It's been APA accredited for as far back as I can find so that's a definite, but will not having that recognized super respected names close a lot of APA internships off for me? I know it makes life harder, I just want to know what I'm realistically in for so I can start planning now if the answer is that I'll likely not get matched no matter how hard I work or how much I have on my CV by that stage.

you mentioned "LOR" - what does that mean?

Lastly, is a VA or AMC internship what I should be targeting for me goal of private practice? AMC sounds good because maybe I could work part time with a hospital while I join a practice or something like that?


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[deleted343839]

That's so helpful, thank you. Apologies if this is a pre-existing thread, I'm just getting my bearings on this site. You're right, it's really tempting not to do much research but I know it's important. Does the research I conduct in grad school have to be at my school or will it count if it's independent too? I have this great contact who says I can conduct research at his nearby site and he collaborates with the army so maybe that could help me if I should apply to a VA site? On that note, aren't VA sites the most competitive to obtain and is it true PsyD's rarely obtain those spots?

You will need to find out what's true in your area. Each VA site is a different. Competitiveness for a practicum/externship will depend on things like number and type of training slots, research activity at the facility, and so forth. It also depends on how much competition you have from students in other programs.

As for research off site, I guess if your program is OK with it then it's OK. Just make sure you're doing work that will result in conference submissions and publications. Clarify your role(s) early on.

So in terms of the variety you stress, is it better to have a variety of exposure across my practicum placements or to have them all tie in to my goal (assuming I can narrow my interests down in the early years).

IMO it's helpful to have at least a couple of years of training at sites where you deal with whatever comes through the door. Counseling centers, general mental health clinics, primary care clinics, etc. are good places for that sort of generalist training.

Are some private practices more highly regarded on a CV than others? Since that's my ultimate goal I assume I should try to get prac experience at some, but how do I know if they're a better or worse private prac to have on my CV for internships?

Private practice supervisors are not hard to find, so in general they're not going to add much to your CV. People who are well known in the practice community don't necessarily carry much weight in the academic world. However, if you want to work in the same area that you're attending school, it could make a difference to have a supervisor who has a good reputation in the community (more for networking purposes though). My suggestion is to get a center/agency/facility-based practicum and see a few clients on the side supervised by a private practice psychologist. Choose a private practice supervisor based on your training needs (e.g., if you want to learn psychodynamic therapy but your program emphasizes CBT, find a psychodynamic supervisor for some of your cases).