Pre-Doctoral Level Internship Opportunities

Pennsylvania Counseling Services offers a full-time 12 month Pre-doctoral Internship in Clinical Psychology. The primary method of training is experiential and includes exposure to a wide variety of clientele from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds.

This broad-based training experience is composed of two distinctly different 12-month tracks:

In addition to either track, minor elective rotations consist of various outpatient opportunities (mental health, EAP, D&A, sex-offender groups, etc.) in our satellite offices in South Central Pennsylvania. Duties of the intern will include psychotherapeutic interventions (individual, group and family), consultation, case management and psychological assessment.

Interns will work in multi-disciplinary settings and interact meaningfully with other professionals (social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, drug and alcohol counselors, teachers, parole officers, etc.). This experience is crucial for the developing clinician and is designed to inform and prepare the future psychologist for independent practice as a licensed professional.

The purpose of this internship is to prepare the interns for effective clinical practice and to be competent in the applied areas of intervention, psychological assessment, and consultation. Furthermore, we intend to develop habits that lead to ongoing professional development, and continued involvement in the ever changing body of scientific and clinical research. Interns will be required to develop an appreciation and understanding of human diversity considerations when practicing clinical psychology. Interns will also be required to learn and demonstrate an understanding of the ethical and legal considerations of working in the field of clinical psychology. Throughout the course of the internship, interns will be exposed to supervised clinical training experiences designed to be chronological and to increase in complexity over time. Thus, this program is built to transition the intern from the role of a student to the role of a clinician by fostering the accumulation of knowledge and skills that make this transition possible. Clinical supervisors are required to contribute to the intern's progression, encourage increased autonomy, and transfer increasing responsibility during the course of the internship.

Those who graduate from our internship program will be expected to demonstrate particular competencies required for effective practice in the field of clinical psychology in various settings. Graduates are required to demonstrate critical thinking and evaluation of clinical practices and indicate that they are able to incorporate scientific advances into their future clinical practice. It is expected that graduates are proficient in the delivery of a range of intervention and assessment procedures. Graduates must display an understanding and appreciation of individual and group differences and how this diversity may influence clinical presentation, response to intervention, and the client's psychological process. Internship graduates must demonstrate the ability to deliver professional services in a manner congruent with applicable ethical and legal standards.

Training opportunities include a minimum of 2 hours weekly of individual face to face supervision with at least two of the 7 staff faculty (licensed doctoral-level psychologists) who serve as primary supervisors, a minimum average of 2 hours a week didactic activities, case conferences, didactic seminars, group supervision and clinical weekly staff meetings, as well as other periodic educational forums. Continuing education seminars conducted by PCS are approved by the American Psychological Association. Interns in the program are expected to work 40-45 hours per week for a full year (2000 hrs.), and to minimally perform at the professional capacity of an entry level psychologist. Interns receive formal written evaluations a minimum of 3 times during the training year and grievance and due process procedures are given to interns at the beginning of the internship during orientation.

The applying candidate must be enrolled in an AASB-designated or APA-accredited doctoral program (or equivalent as determined by the PA State Board of Psychology) and must have all coursework completed by the start of the internship (August 2012). Note that the deadline for applying is December 11, 2011. When applying, please specify which track you are applying for: Family Based or Crossroads.

This internship offers a stipend, with opportunity for bonus pay*, paid single coverage health insurance, and paid time off benefits (vacation, holidays and dissertation release time).

Inquiries should be directed as follows:
jcgrisbacher@pacounseling.com (preferred)

Or by mail to:
John C. Grisbacher, Psy.D., Clinical Director of Internships
c/o Pennsylvania Counseling Services - Lancaster
6079 Main Street
East Petersburg, PA 17520
(717) 560-1908 X 3310

As a Member of APPIC (Member Number: 1913) PCS participates in the APPIC Match and adheres to all APPIC Match policies. Please use the AAPI online application.

While the PCS Internship is a member in good standing of APPIC, we are presently not accredited by the American Psychological Association. However, as of May, 2011 we have begun the formal application process for APA approval by submitting the required Self-Study and are currently Under Review. When changes to our status occur we will immediately update this site. The contact information for the Commission on Accreditation is as follows:
Website: http://www.apa.org/ed/accreditation/about/coa/index.aspx

Address: Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation
750 First Street, NE
Washington, DC 20002-4242

Phone #: 202-336-5979

*Interns are paid their full stipend including all benefits regardless of productivity. The rationale for the bonus is to reinforce good time management skills and raise awareness regarding productivity in preparation for future independent clinical practice.

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