Training Activities
Training activities have been structured to be sequential, increasing in intensity and encouraging of interns' increasingly independent functioning. Interns spend approximately 16 hours per week engaged in training activities. Supervision modalities include weekly individual supervision, supervision for group therapy, group supervision and triage. Seminars include weekly supervision of supervision, intern meeting and twice-weekly attendance in one of the ongoing seminar modules. Seminar modules are organized by themes, all of which contribute to the development of professional skills at an intermediate to advanced level.
Individual Supervision with Primary Supervisor
Interns are supervised by a licensed psychologist for a minimum of two hours each week on their individual therapy clients. Supervision is provided by a primary supervisor for the entire year in order to allow for the development of greater depth in the supervisory relationship and a more thorough assessment of the intern's personal and professional development. However, to allow for exposure to alternative styles, the two hour supervision time block may be split between the primary supervisor and another available supervisor midway through the internship year. That is, the intern is supervised for one hour by the primary supervisor, and is supervised by another supervisor during the second hour. Additional individual supervision and consultation sessions may be arranged with other staff members as needed.
Supervision of Group Therapy
Interns receive weekly individual supervision on their group activities. The supervisor is a senior staff member who may be the co-leader of the group, and is most often not their primary supervisor. As a result, interns receive additional exposure to different orientations. Interns will receive additional guidance from the CAPS Groups Coordinator.
Case Group
Group supervision occurs every week for one hour, beginning in late August and continuing until the end of the internship. Presentations by the interns are both formal as well as informal in order to discuss both clinical as well as ethical issues pertaining to assessment and psychotherapy and include sections of videotapes of their sessions.
Team Meeting
Each Treatment Team is comprised of a senior staff team leader (psychologist or social worker), a psychiatrist, and trainees (doctoral psychology intern, psychology practicum, social work intern and, when schedules permit, psychiatric resident).
The team meets weekly for one to one and a half hours, depending on the time of academic year. Team leaders facilitate the meetings, with the psychiatrists and any other senior staff assisting. All trainees formally present cases and receive feedback and suggestions from everyone present. Senior staff can also discuss ongoing cases. This is also an opportunity for staff who share cases, such as between psychiatrists and therapy staff, to discuss treatment issues.
The purpose of the team meeting is twofold: a group process for peer case discussion that can include obtaining treatment recommendations for the case as well as a training activity to hone case presentation, treatment planning, and diagnostic/assessment skills.
Up to several cases may be presented during the meeting. Leaders will ensure that trainees have approximately equal opportunities to discuss cases each week.
Intern Meeting
Interns meet every other week with the Director of Training to discuss issues of relevance as they proceed through the internship experience. Interns are encouraged to discuss individual and/or intern group concerns within a developmental framework. Various seminars are held in the spring semester focused on professional development including licensing, job search, interviewing, and private practice.
Supervision of Supervision
This seminar meets weekly throughout the academic year and trains interns in the practice of individual psychotherapy supervision. Training includes didactic teaching as well as supervision of the interns' actual clinical practice of supervising a practicum student. As the practicum students' primary supervisors, interns are responsible for all clinical and professional activity by the practicum student as well as providing oral and written evaluations.
The didactic component of the seminar includes readings and discussions of various supervision models, supervision research, and professional ethics and boundaries. The seminar assists interns in formulating their own theoretically integrated model of supervision and understanding their supervisee's developmental level as a therapist and identity as a psychologist. Further emphasis is placed on incorporating models of multicultural and cross-cultural supervision into the interns' conceptualizing and practice of providing clinical supervision.
The clinical practice of providing supervision is the arena in which interns explore their own style of supervision, apply the learning from the seminar, and refine their skills in this area. For the first month of the internship, prior to their supervisees arriving at the center, the seminar places greater emphasis on reading scientific and theoretical articles and reviewing an integrated model of supervision. Upon the arrival of the practicum students, the seminar places a greater emphasis on discussion of how supervisory constructs are applied and integrated into the actual supervision provided by the interns. Interns meet weekly with their supervisee and review the videotapes of their supervisee's therapy sessions throughout the academic year. The seminar leader uses videotapes of supervision sessions in the seminar to facilitate discussion and to provide feedback and suggestions for further work by the interns.
Rotation Activities
Additional learning opportunities are afforded by the summer rotation option. A one- or two-day rotation at a local hospital or agency is arranged to begin in late spring or early summer semester. Possible rotation plans are discussed with the Director of Training in January. The goal of the rotation is to engage in clinical/professional activities that augment the intern's training at CAPS, assist in the development of a clinical specialization, and to help interns adjust to other professional environments. The rotations vary from year to year, given the interns' interests and the available opportunities in the Philadelphia area. The rotation is optional, and is dependent on availability, access and sites' willingness to accept the intern and provide licensed supervision. Examples of previous rotations include the Crisis Response Center in the ER at Pennsylvania Hospital and psychological assessment in the Department of Psychology.
Contact Us
Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS)
133 South 36th Street, 2nd Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19104
Hours: 9am - 5pm, Monday - Friday
Emergencies: 215-349-5490 (ask for CAPS Clinician On Call)
Tel: 215-898-7021
Fax: 215-573-8966
Email: caps@pobox.upenn.edu
