School Psychology Internship and Licensure

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SchoolPsychStudent

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Hi everyone,

I'm very new here, so I apologize if this question has been posted elsewhere already. (I've looked through many threads and haven't come across an answer to my question.)

My quick question: how important it is for a school psychology doctoral student from an APA accredited program, who plans on becoming licensed, to complete an APA-accredited internship? I'd ultimately like to have a job where I work in or with a school district, but also do therapy with children in a clinic (or a school based mental health clinic).

Why I'm Asking This Question/Long Back Story (feel free to skip):

I'm asking because I've received different answers. My supervisor, who is a clinical child psychologist told me that in her experience in private practice, "no one really cares if your internship was APA accredited." Another former school psychology student from my program told me that although she did not complete an APA accredited internship (she completed a school internship under a licensed supervisor), she had no difficulty at all obtaining licensure or finding a job in a private practice (where she does therapy with children, neuropsych testing, and consultation with local school districts). She did say that she may have been less competitive for jobs in a hospital. However, another former student from my program, who did complete an APA accredited internship (through APPIC), highly recommended that I do the same, telling me that this would make it easier to apply for licensure and make me more competitive for jobs.

For my first three years of graduate school, I completed school practica, as I thought that I wanted to work in a school. I also found a job doing neuropsych testing at a clinic near my university. However, in my fourth year, I worked in a clinic for children with anxiety disorders. I learned to do therapy and I absolutely loved it. I decided that while I still wanted to do "school-related" work, I also wanted to continue to learn/practice therapy. So now, I'm unsure what kind of internship I should be looking for. Should I be looking for an APA accredited internship with both school and clinical components, or should I simply find a non-accredited school internship with a licensed supervisor?

Thank you in advance for your help!

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I'm a school PsyD student and I'm the outlier in my program in that I entered the match. Most people in my cohort either stayed within our as-of-yet unaccredited consortium or created their own placements adhering to CDSPP guidelines. For the most part, they are hoping to work as traditional school psychologists. I just started my internship at an AMC and I hope to work in hospitals/private practice and I don't want anything getting in the way of that years down the line. Many states are moving toward requiring APA accredited programs and internships to become licensed, so I'd err on the side of caution and go that route if you want to work anywhere outside of a traditional school psych job. Additionally, without an APA accredited internship, you bear the burden of proving that your training is adequate enough to become licensed.

Finally, Idk if you're geographically restricted or anything, but there are some school districts that are APA accredited if you still want to go that route (e.g., Virginia Beach, Houston ISD, HIPIC, Avondale).

Eta: There are also some programs that have rotations in school or are focused on school-based counseling. One that comes to mind is SBHS in Arizona.
 
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I would second this - why cut off future opportunities that you don't even know about yet? Completing an APA-accredited internship won't close any doors, doing a non-accredited one might. If you end up sticking to schools, it might not matter, but what if you decide you want to change your course or get more involved in therapy down the road?
 
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I'm not a school psychologist, but if you want to get licensed, I'd recommend an APA-accredited internship. As was mentioned above, it will make things much easier when applying for licensure, and will potentially make you eligible for jobs you would not have been otherwise.
 
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Thank you all for your replies! Does anyone know if it's possible to obtain an APA internship without going through the APPIC process? (I know someone from my program did this, but I'm not sure if that was just due to luck/special circumstances).
 
Thank you all for your replies! Does anyone know if it's possible to obtain an APA internship without going through the APPIC process? (I know someone from my program did this, but I'm not sure if that was just due to luck/special circumstances).

No. All APA internships run through APPIC. The person in your program may have gotten one through the post match vacancy list that happens after phase I and phase II are complete.
 
"No. All APA internships run through APPIC. The person in your program may have gotten one through the post match vacancy list that happens after phase I and phase II are complete."

Thank you for your answer! Yup, I talked to this student and that is exactly how she got her internship.
 
Hi all,

Thank you all for your replies! Sorry for so many questions! I'm in a bit of a tough spot and need to ask one more...

Due to a series of life circumstances/organizational changes (long story), I'm sadly in the fifth year of my PhD program and still haven't proposed my dissertation or completed my comprehensive exams. I'm planning to have completed both of these milestones by February. I didn't apply to any APPIC sites, as most required applicants to have their dissertation proposal completed and their comps passed by the application deadline (most deadlines were in October).

Now, I can either wait a whole other year and apply through APPIC next year, or I can find a school site that is not APA accredited and start internship in 2020. Which is the better option? (I suppose I could also find APPIC sites that don't require these things, and have November deadlines, and apply to those, but I'm not sure sites like that exist.)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
 
Can you apply to post match vacancy positions this cycle? There were a ton of APA sites left last year. Unless you are 112% certain you only want to work in school settings, I’d hold out for an APA spot. If you do apply for non-APA internships, make sure that you (or they) are prepared to prove APA equivalence for licensure purposes. You should familiarize yourself with those requirements. One piece of that is that there has to be at least 2 interns at the site.

also not a terrible idea to take that year and work on your dissertation, so that it is done before you go on internship.
 
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Hi all,

Thank you all for your replies! Sorry for so many questions! I'm in a bit of a tough spot and need to ask one more...

Due to a series of life circumstances/organizational changes (long story), I'm sadly in the fifth year of my PhD program and still haven't proposed my dissertation or completed my comprehensive exams. I'm planning to have completed both of these milestones by February. I didn't apply to any APPIC sites, as most required applicants to have their dissertation proposal completed and their comps passed by the application deadline (most deadlines were in October).

Now, I can either wait a whole other year and apply through APPIC next year, or I can find a school site that is not APA accredited and start internship in 2020. Which is the better option? (I suppose I could also find APPIC sites that don't require these things, and have November deadlines, and apply to those, but I'm not sure sites like that exist.)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Unless you want to close off almost every institutional job available to you, DO NOT do an unaccredited internship. Much more valuable to take the extra year. I'd gladly take one extra year in grad school to keep tens of thousands of job opportunities on the table.
 
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Hi all,

Thank you all for your replies! Sorry for so many questions! I'm in a bit of a tough spot and need to ask one more...

Due to a series of life circumstances/organizational changes (long story), I'm sadly in the fifth year of my PhD program and still haven't proposed my dissertation or completed my comprehensive exams. I'm planning to have completed both of these milestones by February. I didn't apply to any APPIC sites, as most required applicants to have their dissertation proposal completed and their comps passed by the application deadline (most deadlines were in October).

Now, I can either wait a whole other year and apply through APPIC next year, or I can find a school site that is not APA accredited and start internship in 2020. Which is the better option? (I suppose I could also find APPIC sites that don't require these things, and have November deadlines, and apply to those, but I'm not sure sites like that exist.)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

If you really want to apply this year, you may want to check the sites you are interested in about their comps and dissertation proposal requirements. Quite a number of those on my list actually only require both by the start of internship. But you should act fast because coordinating LORs and ordering transcripts take time.
 
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