PCPS offers advanced doctoral practicum training for students completing doctoral degrees in clinical and counseling psychology. We welcome trainees seeking diagnostic, therapy, advanced and supplemental practicum training opportunities. Students will receive intensive training in client-centered therapy and the person-centered approach, and work with a wide range of clinical issues and populations. Students will have opportunities to practice client-centered therapy with individuals, families, relationships and groups depending on client availability. They are likely to work with diverse client groups who experience a broad range of issues and levels of vulnerability. Our supervisors have extensive client-centered clinical practice experience and offer particular expertise in trauma work, affirmative LGBT practice, treatment of mood disorders, and work with partners and families.
Client-Centered Psychotherapy Training
The ideal applicant is motivated to receive in-depth training in client-centered therapy and the person-centered approach. This therapy focuses on creating genuine, empathic, and prizing relationships with clients. These relationship conditions foster clients' ability to develop their own direction in therapy and unique personal understanding of their experience. This training will benefit students considering practicing in the client-centered tradition and those who want to strengthen their overall empathic-relational skills as a foundation for their therapy.
The training will focus on empathic responding, authentic relating, and collaborative decision-making, generally only bringing in material from outside the client’s frame of reference when this is specifically requested or authorized by the client. We find that, while this way of practicing may sound straightforward or simple, it is, in fact, very challenging and takes time and personal development to live into and practice well. Starting with a pure focus on empathic understanding in the context of a genuine relationship provides a strong basis from which to develop a range of therapeutic styles in the long run. We particularly welcome students who are looking to develop their professional identities as client-centered or person-centered clinicians. We will endeavor to strengthen their clinical experience and provide the evidence, tools, and skills to advocate for the use of person-centered psychotherapy among peers from other theoretical backgrounds.
Ideal Candidates for Therapy and Advanced Therapy Practicum
Therapy and Advanced Therapy Practicum students work with a wide range of individual clients in a hybrid format of office and/or telehealth settings. Clinical work with partners and families can be arranged. Each week, students receive 1 hour of individual supervision with a licensed psychologist, attend 2 hours of didactic training seminars, and 2 hours of group consultations with other trainees and licensed clinical staff.
Therapy and Advanced Therapy practicum students have a twenty-hour weekly commitment, with the expectation that students will meet with approximately ten clients per week. Should students find that they are unable to fulfill those hourly requirements, PCPS will work with the student and their program’s training department to establish a caseload that best fits the trainee’s needs. PCPS has a training year that begins at the start of August and ends at the end of June. Please note, however, that PCPS is willing to adjust that timeline on a case-by-case basis to ensure that students meet their program’s minimum requirements for face-to-face clinical hours and individual supervision.
Schedule and Caseload
Finally, students are required to attend group consultations weekly. Friday morning meetings are required. Students are required to attend and participate in group consultations to develop their clinical skills, provide feedback to peers, and develop as a clinician. Group consultations provide students with the opportunity to process their clinical and professional experiences with other trainees, staff, and supervisors. Group consultations are also an opportunity for all staff--including trainees--to contribute to the development of PCPS as an organization. PCPS has a shared governance model which means that trainees have a voice in the organization’s policies. We welcome trainees that wish to engage and collaborate with PCPS staff to build an active person-centered community and improve the care that we provide our clients.
Please note that we encourage our trainees to seek additional consultation with other PCPS staff that offers expertise in special clinical populations or has experience in the trainee’s specialization of interest. Our clinical staff are available for additional consultations on-site or via video/phone conference upon request. Should trainees request consultation in a specialty that falls outside of our staff’s expertise, please know that PCPS will arrange for the trainee to receive consultation with a person-centered training affiliate that has expertise in the particular area of interest.
Individual and Group Consultations
Trainees completing an advanced or supplemental practicum will choose whether they wish to focus their training exclusively on either psychotherapy or neuropsychological assessment or whether they wish to receive training in both areas of psychological practice during their time with PCPS. We welcome all applicants equally regardless of whether they seek experience in psychotherapy, assessment, or a combination of both. It is our understanding that advanced and supplemental practicum students often seek training opportunities to increase their number of psychological batteries or therapy hours while applying for predoctoral internships. Please know that PCPS is dedicated to your professional development and our supervisors will work with you and your schedule to reach your target number of therapy hours or psychological batteries.
Advanced and Supplemental Practicum Training
If you are interested in training with us at PCPS, we ask that you email us an application with the following application materials:
-
Cover letter: please indicate the type of practicum training you are seeking (diagnostic, advanced therapy, advanced neuropsychological, or supplemental practicum). For applicants seeking advanced and supplemental training, please describe your specific training goals, including any therapy hour or assessment experience goals.
-
Curriculum Vitae
-
Two Letters of Recommendation: We prefer that you provide letters from your faculty or clinical supervisors.
-
Unofficial Transcript: We only require transcripts from your graduate programs.
-
Writing sample: For applicants seeking training in diagnostic or advanced neuropsychological assessment, please submit a deidentified cognitive assessment report. If you are applying for a therapy or advanced/supplemental therapy practicum, please include a deidentified case conceptualization.
-
Letter of Eligibility: Please include your program’s Letter of Eligibility to apply for practicum.
-
Empathic Responding Audio-recording*: If you will be practicing psychotherapy at PCPS, please include a 20-minute audiotape of empathic responding that stays completely within the client’s frame of reference (i.e. expressing understanding of the client while not asking questions, giving advice, interpreting or the like…). This tape does not need to be a client tape—it can be a session with a friend, fellow-student, or other person.
*We understand that audio files may be too large to send via email. Please note that you can include a link to the audio file that you have uploaded to Google Drive, Dropbox, iCloud, OneDrive, or other cloud storage services.
How to Apply
