University of Southern California
USC Student Affairs

Quick Links

Accessing Counseling Services

Training Programs

Training Philosophy and Goals

Service, Training and Administrative Activities Per Week

Description of Activities

Benefits

Staff

Apply

Track 1 - College Mental Health & Disability Services

Track 2 - College Mental Health & Sports Psychology

Training Philosophy and Goals

Benefits

Training Staff

Apply

Medical Services Counseling Services Health Promotion and Prevention Services Health Insurance Online Health Information
       

Predoctoral Internship
Training Philosophy and Goals

The internship year is a time for professional integration. We provide training opportunities designed to promote the development of highly ethical, culturally sensitive, and clinically competent pre-doctoral interns. Upon completion of our program interns should be well prepared to step-into entry level psychologist positions. To support this goal, we provide a safe learning environment that encourages interaction, risk taking, honest self-appraisal, collaboration, and team work.

Training Model

Our Center utilizes a Learning-by-Doing Training Model. As the name implies, our approach emphasizes apprenticeship, mentorship, and experiential learning. We believe that by providing close professional mentorship, combined with developmentally appropriate challenges, interns will mature into skilled psychologists. Therefore, we provide a variety of clinical, supervisory, consultative, and administrative experiences, all designed to give interns a realistic taste of the multi-faceted duties of UCC staff psychologists. To achieve this end, interns gain experience providing intakes, individual and couples therapy, group therapy, crisis management, outreach, consultation, and supervision. Moreover, they establish liaison relationships, attend professional meetings, and serve on administrative committees. Taking into account both the interns’ goals for their training and their developmental needs, we strive to provide the optimal balance of support and challenge.

Training Goals

Our central training goal is to create learning experiences that enable our interns, by completion of our Program, to acquire knowledge, confidence and competence in the following core areas of practice:

short-term individual and couples therapy

group counseling

cultural competence

professional and ethical decision making

clinical assessment

crisis intervention

clinical supervision

outreach and consultation
 

All senior staff members are involved in the training of interns via teaching, supervision, and mentoring.

 

 

 

 

 

LU090930

University of Southern California University of Southern California