It's unfortunate, but true. This Clinical Psychology Program employs professors who solely teach required courses/seminars/labs within the program and who are also clinical supervisors in multiple community organizations in the pool of available practicum/internship agencies. As we all know, not all professors are ethical or professional clinical supervisors, and not all clinical supervisors are ethical or professional professors.
A prominent problem in these particular Clinical Psychology programs is that when students have been treated unethically and/or unprofessionaly as an intern, they may indeed need to enroll in the same professor's class(es) throughout their program, as there are no other professor options for many required units. Needless to say, a formal complaint by a doctoral student is usually swept under the rug, as program faculty have long-standing relationships with one another. And, we are all aware of what generally happens when one disrupts the equilibrium of the system. So, the student may be left feeling disconnected, unsupported, hypervigilant, or disenchanted with the program they spend a large amount of money for.
When applying to practicum/internships within this institution, or when canvassing the community/state for Psychology Doctoral Programs, it is important to be PROACTIVE in protecting yourself and your career (nobody else will, not even those you pay to do so) - 1) apply to practicum/internship agencies whose staff are not professors within your university, and 2) apply to doctoral programs who do not utilyze the dual-roled professor-supervisor. Take home message - "It would never happen to me" is a myth.
