What is expected of me as an Intern?
The internship program provides intensively supervised experiences in the professional activities of a clinical or counseling psychologist working in a comprehensive counseling center. However, the Center staff believe that professional psychologists should have experience with a variety of roles psychologists play in different health service settings and that psychologists-in-training should work with a broad range of clientele. They also should be exposed to a variety of supervisory styles and theoretical orientations. The Counseling Center has developed opportunities for interns to gain familiarity with, or proficiency in, a wide range of psychological activities under the supervision of doctoral-level psychologists. These activities occur in the Counseling Center and in our affiliated training agencies.

The general training objectives and goals for both counseling and clinical interns reflect the basic philosophy of the internship program and include the development of broad-based expertise in psychotherapeutic skills, psychological and career assessment, and community outreach. The training staff expect interns to enhance their sensitivity to individual differences, consistent with the Center's statement on diversity, and to recognize and understand a wide range of personality styles and psychopathology. During the internship year, it is expected that interns' sense of professional identity will be enhanced. The training staff contribute to this process through ongoing assessment and evaluation with interns. With their supervisors, interns review issues of ethical responsibility, judgement, and awareness of professional strengths and limitations. Together they give critical attention to the interns' assessment of their personal and professional impact on others.

Phases of the Internship
A sequence of rotations provides a broad base of psychological knowledge and expertise, thereby meeting an important training objective. While the training staff specify core experiences for all interns, external rotations and seminars allow for greater flexibility to accommodate the needs, preferences, training, and experiential backgrounds of each intern. The training staff work collaboratively with interns to identify individual training needs and address those areas of professional functioning that need greater emphasis.

During the remainder of the internship year, interns broaden their knowledge base and skills, remediate deficiencies, and enhance their sense of professional identity. In the third and final rotation, interns usually complete a part-time external placement in one of our affiliated training agencies. Interns select their external rotations to meet their professional interests and training needs. External rotations provide an opportunity to gain experience with clientele not typically served by the Counseling Center . Alternatively, interns may select a specialty rotation in one or more programs within the Counseling Center , or the university community (e.g. the Employee Assistance Program or the Center for Addiction and Substance Abuse).

The internship provides training experiences that enhance, supplement, and integrate the academic programs of each intern, consistent with the types of services generally provided by counseling or clinical psychologists. While the training staff encourage interns to become involved in all aspects of Counseling Center functioning early in the internship, they also assist interns in arranging training experiences that increase professional responsibility and autonomy throughout the year. Specific objectives for each intern are established by closely examining the academic and experiential background of the intern, selecting those areas of professional functioning that need greater emphasis, and working collaboratively with the intern to establish training objectives that will meet these needs and are consistent with the practitioner-scholar model.

In each phase of the internship, interns receive the degree of structure and autonomy appropriate to their level of professional functioning. Through the year, interns progress from greater to lesser amounts of structure, to allow increasing levels of autonomy in decision-making. Interns may take on increasing responsibilities in administration, supervision, and other areas of professional development. External training experiences with USF Departments and Programs (e.g., International Student and Scholar Services, Student Health Services, Residential Life, Athletic Department) present opportunities for greater intern involvement with administrative and organizational intervention.

It is the philosophy of the training program that psychologists should thoroughly understand and have expertise in the provision of services involving intellectual, emotional, psychological, and behavioral disability and discomfort related to personal, social, and work/academic dysfunction. To develop and encourage this proficiency, training experiences during the year include psychodiagnostic assessment and treatment of a broad range of problems in these areas. These experiences include case assignments, seminars, rotation assignments, and individual supervision. By the end of the internship, interns will have developed competencies in psychodiagnostic assessment; individual, couple, and group psychotherapy; career counseling; and outreach programming.