Doctoral Internship in Health Service Psychology

Program Description and Components

The doctoral internship program is a 12 month, 40 to 42 hour a week, exempt position. The year begins and ends in the end of July/early August. Interns are schedule to work 40 hours per week. As staff members, Interns work with center administrators to create a work schedule that meets the needs of the center and FAU students, while also considering staff preferences. CAPS staff occasionally participates in afterhours outreach and events. As part of the CAPS team, Interns may be asked to participate as well. Per Florida licensure laws, Interns are expected to accrue a minimum of 2,000 hours, with at least 500 of those hours being direct service.

Click here for Sample Weekly Schedule

Below is a description of direct and non-direct service activities. If you would like a copy of our training manual (which includes more detailed descriptions of each activity, non-discriminatio­n policy, grievance procedures, and due process policy), please email the Training Director at  juliorivas@health.fau.edu. 

The doctoral internship program aims to train generalists in Health Service Psychology to function independently in a variety of clinical mental health settings. We provide training in the following competencies:

  • Research
  • Ethical and legal standards
  • Individual and cultural diversity
  • Professional values, attitudes, and behaviors
  • Communication and interpersonal skills
  • Assessment
  • Intervention
  • Supervision
  • Consultation and interprofessional/interdisciplinary skills

Training in these profession-wide competencies is achieved through a myriad of training activities.

Direct Service Activities

Activity Description
First Appointments Interns are scheduled approximately for 2-5 first appointments weekly, depending on time in the semester. During these sessions interns make disposition plans which could include individual therapy, group therapy, or referral. Crisis clients may also be seen during first appointments.
Individual or Relational Counseling Interns have 10-12 individual  sessions per week, depending on other direct service provided. If interested in relationship counseling, interns may see a small handful of cases (may include couples or family) and may conduct co-therapy with senior staff.
Group Therapy Interns run a minimum of two unique groups during the internship year. One will be an interpersonal process group and the intern can request a second group based on interest and/or growth area. Interns often run much more than two groups throughout the year. 
Crisis/Emergency Interns gain experience providing crisis/emergency services, as students reach out to CAPS in need of urgent services. 
Therapeutic Assessment Interns administer at least 2 personality and/or ADHD/LD assessments. Therapeutic personality assessment is a brief intervention that uses psychological assessment to help clients to better understand themselves and their experiences in the world. These assessments are done with CAPS clients to aid in the process of therapy.
Provision of Supervision During the Fall interns provide consultative supervision to one extern on one client, focused on in depth case conceptualization. During the spring semester interns provide weekly supervision to half of an extern's caseload. Interns review notes and serve as the primary supervisor to the extern for these cases. This model allows for interns to gain experience in breadth and depth of supervision.
Outreach & Consultation  Interns are required to participate in at least 10 outreach and consultation events during the course of the internship year. While there are requirements of the types of activities that interns must participate in, they can choose events consistent with their interests (e.g., sexual assault prevention, eating disorder awareness). Interns also serve as a co-liaison to a campus or academic department. 
*All individual clinical work done within CAPS is video recorded for supervision purposes.

Regularly Scheduled Indirect Service Activities

Activity Description
Supervision
  • Primary supervision- 2 hours weekly
  • Secondary supervision- 1 hour weekly
  • Group therapy supervision- ½ hour per group weekly
  • Supervision of supervision- 1 hour every other week (Fall) and 1 hour weekly (Spring).
  • Case Conference- 1 hour every other week
  • Assessment- 1 hour weekly while testing
  • Outreach- supervision as needed to develop and provide outreach programming; 1 hour monthly during Outreach Development Meeting
Training Seminar Staff present on rotating topics 2 hours weekly
Intern Development Meetings These meetings are 1 hour weekly and rotate between the following topics:
  • Cultural Competence meetings- held bimonthly. Meetings designed to meet APA cultural competence standards. The meeting provides a space for personal growth and self-reflection.
  • Assessment- held monthly. Provides education and supervision on therapeutic assessment.
  • Outreach- held monthly. Provides education and supervision on outreach and consultation.
Committee Participation Interns are members of at least 1 CAPS committee. These committees range in their meeting frequency and focus, but are all involved in shaping various aspects of CAPS. Interns are seen as contributing members to committees and are encouraged to actively participate. Interns may sit on the following committees:
  • Student Success
  • Outreach
  • Training Committee
  • Clinical Services Committee
Meeting with Training Director/Cohort Interns have weekly meetings with the Training Director, however as the year progresses interns and training director discuss how to structure this time to best meet needs of Interns
Extern Training Seminar Interns provide training seminars and group supervision to externs at least once a semester
All Staff Meetings

Interns attend CAPS weekly staff meeting
Research Interns are granted 2 hours of research time per week. This can be used to work on dissertation, complete scholarly readings, or prepare for clients.

In addition to the regularly scheduled indirect service hours listed above, interns also participate in two training retreats (these often include a trip to the beach), staff retreats (past retreats have included kayaking, ROPES course, exposure to equine therapy), day long professional development trainings at CAPS, a thorough 3-week orientation process, complete required readings (e.g., CAPS Policies and Procedures manual, Jed Documents, Title IX documents), and complete required trainings (e.g., tele-health, HIPPA). Interns also provide a formal case presentation to staff to help prepare for job interviews.

Specialized Training Experiences

Optional Training Focus

In accordance with American Psychological Association Standards on Accreditation, CAPS internship program provides generalist training in the Profession Wide Competencies, along with an attention to individual differences. Through our generalist training model, all trainees will work with a variety of diagnoses, presenting problems, client experiences, backgrounds, and identities. However, trainees also benefit from more specialized expertise. Based on this we offer specialized training experiences that allow trainees to do a deeper dive into specific clinical areas. Within these training experiences we explore additional strategies and treatment considerations, while still providing the same quality care to all of our students.  

Interns have some flexibility in shaping their training focus, when feasible, so they can receive training that is most congruent with their interests and future career goals. Interns typically spend 3-6 hours per week engaging in activities related to their training focus.

Our interns often have multiple interest and we are often able to combine multiple training foci to create a custom experience that meet their needs. Additionally,  based on resources, staff expertise and available experiences, we have the ability to create custom training focus. 

The following are offered (based on continued staff availability) for the 2026-2027 cohort:
Training Focus  Possible Components of Training Focus 

Black Mental Health 
  • A portion of individual therapy caseload includes students presenting mental health concerns related to cultural aspects from Black/African American cultures
  • Co-facilitate therapy group related to black student mental health
  • If requested by student orgs, participate in outreach related to Black mental health
  • Receive supervision around best practices in working with Black mental health, including APA required element of self-exploration of similarities and differences with clients 
Eating Disorders 
  • Assist or conduct Eating Concerns Consultations 
  • Administer EDI when clinically appropriate 
  • 2-3 clients at a time on caseload students with eating and/or body image concerns  
  • Co-facilitate therapy group related to eating concerns
  • Participate in the Eating Concerns Team  
  • Assist in the planning and implementation of Eating Disorder Awareness Week 
  • Receive supervision around best practices in working with eating disorders, including APA required element of self-exploration of similarities and differences with clients 
Latine Mental Health  
  • 2-3 clients at a time on caseload includes students with presenting mental health concerns related to Latine culture 
  • Co-facilitate therapy group related to Latine mental health 
  • If requested by student orgs, participate in outreach related to Latine mental health  
  • Receive supervision around best practices in working with Latine mental health, including APA required element of self-exploration of similarities and differences with clients 
  • If interested in training in Bilingual therapy, there may be opportunity to receive supervision in Spanish and provide therapy to 1 or 2 clients in Spanish. 

International Students 
  • A portion of individual therapy caseload includes students presenting mental health concerns related to being an international student. 
  • Participate in regular Let’s Talk/Workshops for topics related to international student’s mental health.  
  • Participate in outreach with topics related to international student mental health and wellbeing 
  • Liaison with Center for Global Engagement/International Student Services offices 
  • Receive supervision around best practices in working with international students, including APA required element of self-exploration of similarities and differences with clients   
LGBTQ+  Mental Health
  • 2-3 clients at a time on caseload includes students with presenting mental health concerns related to LGBTQ+ concerns 
  • Co-facilitate therapy group related to LGBTQ+ mental health 
  • If requested by student orgs, participate in outreach related to LGBTQ+ mental health  
  • Receive supervision around LGBTQ+ mental health, including APA required element of self-exploration of similarities and differences with clients 
Sport Psychology 
  • 2-3 clients at a time on caseload includes student-athletes 
  • Participate in outreach to athletic department 
  • Attend meetings with athletic department, when applicable 
  • Receive supervision, mentoring and support from Director of Student-Athlete Mental Health and Performance and/or Sport Psychologists   
Trauma 
  • 2-3 clients at a time on caseload includes students whose clinical concerns related to past or recent trauma  
  • Co-facilitate therapy group related to trauma  
  • Participate in university-wide sexual assault prevention committee  
  • Participate in outreach programming during domestic violence awareness month and other trauma prevention programs on campus 
  • Receive supervision around Trauma informed approaches, best practices, and the APA required element of self-exploration of similarities and differences with clients 
  • Collaborate with victim’s advocate in the Dean of Student’s office/FAU PD 
Working with Men 
  • A portion of individual therapy caseload includes students presenting mental health concerns related to masculinity.  
  • Co-facilitate therapy group related to men’s mental health  
  • If requested by student orgs or fraternities, participate in outreach related to men’s mental health 
  • Receive supervision around best practices in working with men’s mental health, including APA required element of self-exploration of similarities and differences with clients 

Supervision and Evaluation

We strive to match Interns with supervisors who will complement the Intern’s goals for the training year and provide a supportive, yet challenging training experience. Interns have at least 3 different supervisors in the primary or secondary role during the training year to allow for breadth and depth and supervisors can change at the end of each semester.

Ongoing evaluation of trainees is an integral part of the program. We value early identification of strengths and growth areas, as this allows Interns to get the most out of the training year. Interns are provided with a written evaluation from each supervisor between three and four times during the training year, depending on the supervisor role. Trainees are provided with a copy of the evaluation criteria they will be rated on at the start of the year. Interns are expected to demonstrate full competency on all evaluation elements, or competently perform each element in routine situations with consultative support as needed, by the end of the training year. If you would like a comprehensive list of all elements Interns are evaluated on, please contact Training Director for a copy of the Training Manual.

Values and Philosophy

FAU CAPS strives to create a training program and environment that is consistent, predictable, transparent, and flexible. We aspire to excellence, particularly with regard to supervision and to training clinically competent and ethical trainees. We want our program to be challenging and to be able to offer experiences that are unique to FAU. We strive to deliver training that provides adequate breadth, in order to develop strong skills as a generalist. We also strive to deliver training that provides adequate depth, in order to provide interns with specialized skillsets in a chosen domain. It is our belief that in an environment such as this, interns are able to reach their fullest potential and set a strong foundation for their future as psychologists.

We value the uniqueness in each of our staff members, trainees, and clients. We are committed to maintaining our competence in working with students from different backgrounds, challenging ourselves to examine our own experiences and the experiences of others, and examining similarities and differences with our clients. Likewise, we expect that our interns will engage in this process with the staff as a whole and through their own training opportunities.

Similarly, we view ourselves as lifelong learners. We see awareness of self and interactions with others as essential for continual growth as a professional. Our staff is encouraged to engage in self-reflection and interpersonal process for this growth to occur and we provide a myriad of opportunities for interns to engage in processing and understanding their experiences during the internship year.

Theoretical orientation is seen as an essential foundation for our therapeutic work. We believe that in order to intervene in a systematic and coherent way, we must understand the problem and how it developed. We work with Interns to develop sophisticated case conceptualization skills, grounded in theory supported by literature, and use conceptualization to guide interventions.