The doctoral internship program at Quintessential Health is an on-site/in-person training experience for trainees completing their doctoral degree in psychology. The aims of the doctoral internship in clinical psychology at Quintessential Health are to train future psychologists to perform a variety of roles within a private practice setting. The internship emphasizes direct clinical practice and the integration of science and practice as informed by the practitioner-scholar model. The program provides interns with a continuum of clinical training opportunities. Our training curriculum strives to be relevant to the current demands of practicing psychologists and the populations they serve. The activities of the internship are designed to teach and develop professional competence through didactic instruction, modeling, experience, case discussion, and supervision.
The internship emphasizes the development of Advanced to Proficient level clinical skills through supervised clinical experiences in the application of theoretical and empirical psychological knowledge. The internship stresses foundational competency development and consolidation in the areas of relationship, diversity, and applied ethics, as well as specific competency development in knowledge, skills and attitudes involving assessment, diagnosis, case conceptualization, treatment planning, intervention, consultation, supervision, and research and education. The sequence of the program entails a “progression” that increases in complexity and skill level as the internship progresses. For example, early on didactics emphasize the fundamental implementation aspects of assessments; later, didactics focus on more complex issues and application of skills such as ethics and supervision.
Each intern will conduct individual and group therapy, administer a variety of assessment batteries, and conduct comprehensive biopsychosocial intake level of care evaluations during the course of the internship year. Within the required clinical activities, interns are afforded the opportunity to tailor training to fit specific areas of interest; for example, if an intern expresses interest in assessment, he/she is encouraged to spend additional time engaging in that particular training activity within their schedule to further align with their training goals.
Additionally, interns participate in supervision and didactics on a broad range of professional activities including, but not limited to, evidence-based treatment protocols, assessments/psychological testing, intakes, diagnosis, supervision, etc.
The doctoral internship at Quintessential Health is a fully in-person training experience providing a breadth of experience conducting therapy (individual and group), assessments/testing, attending didactics, individual and group supervision, and advocacy opportunities. Trainees will have the opportunity to conduct both in-person and telehealth treatment from our office. The internship year is sequential in development, focusing heavily on didactic trainings in the beginning and progressing into more of a focus on experiential training during the remainder of the year.
Quintessential Health utilizes a Practitioner-Scholar model of training, which emphasizes the application of research to the clinical practice of psychology. The internship program offers an on-site training opportunity at our office located at 1501 N Main Street Suite 210 Warrington PA 18976. The internship in clinical psychology provides an array of opportunities to facilitate a diverse and unique training experience. Interns have the opportunity to conduct full-battery psychological and psycho-educational assessments with a variety of populations and assessment tools, including comprehensive autism assessment. Opportunities to run children and parent groups in both outpatient and school settings are available. Interns will provide therapy to a variety of individuals experiencing a broad spectrum of mental health and/or substance use concerns. Interns receive ongoing supervision and didactic seminars on empirically-supported treatment approaches with a focus on cognitive-behavioral therapy. Interns may also have the chance to assist with trainings and presentations to staff and medical professionals in order to gain teaching experience. Interns gain valuable experience in assisting with the peer supervision/mentorship of practicum students. Additionally, interns work directly with clinical staff and administrators to develop and implement a quality improvement project.
During the course of the training year, interns will provide both individual and group therapy to a variety of individuals experiencing a broad spectrum of mental health and/or substance use concerns. Diagnoses the trainees will work with include but are not limited to trauma, Autism Spectrum Disorder, anxiety, depression, and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Interns will also have the opportunity to conduct full-battery psychological and psycho-educational assessments with a variety of populations and assessment tools, including comprehensive Autism testing, ADHD assessments, learning disorders, and personality testing.
Interns receive ongoing supervision and didactic seminars on empirically-supported treatment approaches with a focus on cognitive-behavioral therapy. Interns may also have the chance to assist with trainings and presentations to staff and medical professionals in order to gain teaching experience. Interns gain valuable experience in assisting with the peer supervision/mentorship of practicum students. Additionally, interns work directly with clinical staff and administrators to develop and implement a quality improvement project. Specific details around the aforementioned trained activities are as follows.
Students receive supervision and didactic trainings throughout the year on a variety of therapeutic interventions as well as broader scope therapeutic skills such as cultural sensitivity, therapeutic rapport building, and motivational interviewing. Students record their therapy sessions to be reviewed by their supervision. Supervisors may also attend “in-vivo” sessions, conducting co-therapy at times to further the training experience. Audio-taped and video-taped sessions will be reviewed on a regular basis to ensure understanding of how to implement these with clients. Examples of empirically-supported interventions include cognitive-behavior therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, and other empirically-supported treatments that fall within the supervisors’ competence.
Interns will conduct individual therapy with individuals from a variety of age groups populations. They will be trained and become proficient in utilizing CBT, as well as other modalities/treatment protocols including but not limited to Prolonged Exposure, Exposure Response Prevention, ACT, and DBT. Interns will also receive supervision in other evidence-based interventions in order to deliver efficacious treatment. Interns will also develop strength-based treatment plans in collaboration with the clients and their families. Caseloads can be customized based on the trainings goals of the particular student.
Interns will conduct group therapy with individuals for a variety of concerns. Some of examples of groups include but are not limited to social skills, anxiety, trauma, grief, and autism-support. Students will also have the opportunity to run free support groups, such as a parent Autism support group.
At the start of the training year, all students receive a plethora of on-site didactic technical and interpretative trainings on assessments they will be conducting throughout the training year. Additionally, students also have access to recorded sample administrations, supplemental recorded trainings, templates, and sample reports. Students receive adequate time to practice administrations with each other and mock clients prior to administering with clients. They also will have the chance to observe a supervisor administering many of the assessments. Some examples of the types of assessments students will engage in are as follows:
Interns will conduct full-battery integrated assessments including domains such as diagnostic (ADHD, Autism, etc), cognitive ability, academic achievement, memory, executive functioning/neuro, phonological processing, objective and projective personality assessment, learning style analysis, and diagnosis. Interns will administer, score, and integrate the results into a full-battery report. With assistance from their supervisor, interns will provide a feedback session to the client and/or their families to explain the results. Some examples of referrals for assessments include:
Interns will receive formal training on the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-2 (ADOS-2). Upon completion of training, interns will work in teams to utilize the ADOS-2 in a one-way monitored room to assess for Autism Spectrum Disorder. They will utilize the ADOS-2 in combination with a clinical interview and a variety of other structured tools to formulate a conceptualization of the individual. A feedback session will then be held with the family and the supervisor to review the assessment.
Interns receive formal training conducting ADHD assessments including diagnostic measures such as the NEPSY, Conners-4, D-KFES, BASC, CAARS, WISC, and WAIS. These assessments are implemented via standards kits as well as utilizing Q-Interactive. Students will gain experience administering, scoring, interpreting, and providing feedback to families in collaboration with the supervising psychologist.
Interns will utilize a semi-structured interview in combination with structured tools in order to complete comprehensive level of care biopsychosocial evaluations. The interns will integrate information from a variety of collateral sources and utilize this data to formulate a diagnostic formulation as well as make comprehensive treatment recommendations. These evaluations may be used for initial intake assessments, treatment recommendations, and/or diagnostic purposes.
Interns at Quintessential Health will provide consultation with their peers, doctoral practicum students, and clinical staff. Interns will serve in the role of both the consultant and the consultee. These consults will take place both formally and informally throughout the course of their internship.
All interns serve as a formal “supervisory consultant” to doctoral practicum trainees at the internal internship site. Interns receive weekly supervision from a licensed psychologist who oversees their clinical and supervisory practice. Interns will also receive a formal didactic training on strategies for becoming an effective leader along with supervisory modalities. Interns will also record one of their “supervision sessions” of practicum students for review/feedback with their own supervisor.
Interns are expected to engage in a variety of admin activities at Quintessential Health. These duties may include responding to telephone consultations, engaging with consumers upon initial contact, conducting intake interviews, obtaining necessary information to make a clinical determination regarding level and appropriateness of service, and assisting with community resources for support. Interns discuss administrative issues in their regularly scheduled individual and group supervisions.
To foster teaching competency, interns will have opportunities to conduct didactics or workshops for doctoral practicum students as well as other clinical staff.
In accordance with internship standards, all interns are required to participate in regularly scheduled didactic training seminars for an average equivalent of 2 hours a week. These training seminars are designed to ensure developmental learning and foster professional socialization. Interns participate in a variety of didactic trainings and seminars. (See appendix for Didactic Schedule)
All students are assigned a primary supervisor who is a doctoral-level licensed clinical psychologist who they will receive in-person/on-site supervision with. When students begin working with new clients, they make it known to the client (verbally and within the consent to treat) that they are operating under the supervision of a licensed doctoral level clinical psychologist and the client is provided the supervisor’s contact information. Interns also video record sessions for their supervisor to review in addition to discussing/reviewing the cases in supervision. Furthermore, all interns submit their progress notes and reports to their supervisor to review and co-sign after they have received feedback and final approval. Every note has both the student and their supervisor’s signature. The intern’s supervisor retains primary responsibility for all cases and approves/co-signs all reports and notes. The supervisor’s contact information is also made known to all clients prior to working with the doctoral intern.
Each intern receives a minimum of 2 hours of weekly in-person individual supervision from their primary supervisor, who is a doctoral-level licensed psychologist. The primary supervisor maintains full responsibility for each intern’s work. Supervisors are responsible for direct observation of the intern’s work through co-therapy or viewing and processing video or audio recordings of sessions and reviewing and signing off on all paperwork. The primary supervisors will maintain ongoing collaboration with other staff members to ensure continuity of supervision and feedback to the interns.
Interns participate in two hours of group supervision (one hour of exclusive intern supervision, one hour along with practicum students). Topics typically include issues related to administrative and operational issues, quality performance issues, supervision of doctoral practicum students, and current topics in professional practice and research.
Please feel free to download a copy of our current doctoral internship handbook that outlines the program in greater detail: Internship Handbook