Program Structure & Assessment
Doctoral Internship
Our Doctoral Internship is a 2,000-hour, full-time, 12-month program. Interns are expected to devote 40 hours per week to the internship.
It is the intern's responsibility to accrue 2,000 hours of service during the year. As licensure requirements for different states vary, interns should ensure that they accrue sufficient direct service hours (usually 25% of total hours) to be license-eligible.
The internship year begins the second Monday of August each year and ends after one year and the following August.
The Doctoral Internship program is partially funded by the Minnesota Department of Health through the Health Care Professional Education (HCPE) Grant Program. Funding supports the expansion of our doctoral internship training program through the Team-based Health and Resilience Internship for Vulnerable Environments (THRIVE) initiative, including one funded position for 2026-2027 and 2027-2028. We give preference to applicants from the University of Saint Thomas for one of the positions. This will impact only one of the four positions, though all internship positions remain structured and paid the same.
If you wish a copy of more specific policies and procedures, you can email
cwbfrontdeskdg@stthomas.edu to request a copy.
Weekly Training and Service Activities
Face-to-face contact with public clientele:
|
Individual Therapy Clients |
11-14 hours/week; 7-8 hours/week on assessment rotation |
|
Group Therapy |
1.5 hours/week |
|
Same Day Appointments (including crisis and/or initial consultation appointments) |
2 - 4 hours/week |
|
Supervision Given to Practicum Student |
1 hour/week |
|
CAPS Case Consultation |
1 hour/week |
|
ADHD Assessment (rotation; 1 semester per year) |
1 hour/week |
|
Outreach / Consultation |
~ 1 hour every 2 months |
Supervision Received
|
Individual Supervision for Individual Therapy Clients |
2 hours/week |
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Supervision Prep |
1 hour/week |
|
Group Supervision of Supervision Seminar |
1 hour/week |
|
Group Supervision of Group Seminar |
1 hour/week |
|
Group Supervision of Assessment Consultation |
1 hour/week during assessment rotation |
|
Group Supervision of Consultation/Outreach Seminar |
2 hours/month |
|
Group Prep and Debrief with your Group Co-facilitator |
1 hour/week |
Professional Development
|
Dissertation Release, Conferences, Seminars, etc.* |
2 hours/week |
|
Intern Seminar |
1.5 hours/week |
|
Diversity Seminar |
2 hours/month |
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Intern Support Group |
1 hour/week |
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Professional Development Days |
3 days/year |
Meetings
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Intern Meetings |
1 hour/week |
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Practicum Supervisors Meeting |
1 hour/month |
|
Committee Meetings |
1-2 hours/month |
|
Office Administration |
1 hour/week |
Clerical Work
|
Office Administration |
1 hour/week |
|
Case Management |
2.5 hours/week |
* The internship allows two hours of professional development release time per week, depending on the time of year and the status of intern caseloads. At peak times during the year, interns may not routinely be able to use this time, as the center's first priority is client care.
Intern Seminar meets jointly with the University of Minnesota Student Counseling Center's doctoral intern cohort. This seminar meets virtually on Fridays via Zoom, with 2-3 in-person meetings over the course of the internship.
Topics for intern seminars include professional development issues, clinical presentations in the general population and among college students, assessment, diversity, specific treatment modalities, and ethical issues, among other specialty topics.
Our Approach
Matching Interns & Supervisors
Interns choose primary supervisors by matching intern and supervisor interests and preferences. Although supervisory styles vary here, we have in common a value of self-awareness and attention to both the process and content of the clinical experience.
Supervisors are expected to provide interns with continuous feedback on their progress via weekly supervisory meetings. The intern and supervisor establish goals and expectations at the beginning of each semester and write a formal learning contract.
Evaluation Process
At mid-semester, an informal evaluation is conducted between intern and supervisor. At the end of each semester, formal written and oral evaluations are conducted.
We use a reciprocal evaluation process in which interns evaluate their supervisors as well as the training program each semester. Twice per year a summary of intern progress is sent to the intern's academic program training director.
Continuous Support
Interns receive two hours of individual supervision each week on their individual psychotherapy cases and at least two hours of group case consultation with staff weekly.
Interns also receive group supervision on their group work, supervision of practicum students, assessment, and consultation and outreach programming.
At the end of the training year, it is common for our interns to note supervision as the best aspect of their training year and to comment on how safe and supported they felt in supervision.
Additional Administrative and Financial Support
Interns receive a University ID card, which allows them access to the University Library which includes many available subscriptions to journals and inter-library loans with some other local campuses. University ID also allows access to numerous cultural and social events on campus, use of the campus shuttle system between campuses, and access to dining facilities on campus as desired.
Interns also receive clerical and technical support for client scheduling and rescheduling, computers and other office technology (e.g., fax machine, copy machine, printers, webcam, encrypted hard drive, etc.), and related office functions. Each intern has a private, fully furnished office that contains a desk, office chair, computer, internet access, printer, and webcam. Office supplies, such as pens, pads of paper, printer paper, clipboards, highlighters, binder clips, paper clips, etc. are readily available, as well. ADHD testing equipment and/or login access is also provided.
Matching Interns & Supervisors
Matching Interns & Supervisors
Interns choose primary supervisors by matching intern and supervisor interests and preferences. Although supervisory styles vary here, we have in common a value of self-awareness and attention to both the process and content of the clinical experience.
Supervisors are expected to provide interns with continuous feedback on their progress via weekly supervisory meetings. The intern and supervisor establish goals and expectations at the beginning of each semester and write a formal learning contract.
Evaluation Process
Evaluation Process
At mid-semester, an informal evaluation is conducted between intern and supervisor. At the end of each semester, formal written and oral evaluations are conducted.
We use a reciprocal evaluation process in which interns evaluate their supervisors as well as the training program each semester. Twice per year a summary of intern progress is sent to the intern's academic program training director.
Continuous Support
Continuous Support
Interns receive two hours of individual supervision each week on their individual psychotherapy cases and at least two hours of group case consultation with staff weekly.
Interns also receive group supervision on their group work, supervision of practicum students, assessment, and consultation and outreach programming.
At the end of the training year, it is common for our interns to note supervision as the best aspect of their training year and to comment on how safe and supported they felt in supervision.
Additional Administrative and Financial Support
Additional Administrative and Financial Support
Interns receive a University ID card, which allows them access to the University Library which includes many available subscriptions to journals and inter-library loans with some other local campuses. University ID also allows access to numerous cultural and social events on campus, use of the campus shuttle system between campuses, and access to dining facilities on campus as desired.
Interns also receive clerical and technical support for client scheduling and rescheduling, computers and other office technology (e.g., fax machine, copy machine, printers, webcam, encrypted hard drive, etc.), and related office functions. Each intern has a private, fully furnished office that contains a desk, office chair, computer, internet access, printer, and webcam. Office supplies, such as pens, pads of paper, printer paper, clipboards, highlighters, binder clips, paper clips, etc. are readily available, as well. ADHD testing equipment and/or login access is also provided.
Compensation and Benefits
Salary/Stipend, Insurance and Paid Time Off
|
Annual Stipend/Salary for Full-time Interns: |
$37,000 |
|
Annual Stipend/Salary for Half-time Interns: |
n/a |
|
Program provides access to medical insurance for interns? |
Yes |
|
Trainee contribution to cost required? |
Yes |
|
Coverage of family member(s) available? |
Yes |
|
Coverage of legally married partner available? |
Yes |
|
Coverage of domestic partner available? |
No |
|
Hours of Paid Personal Time Off: |
Can accrue up to 3.5 weeks |
|
Number of Paid Holidays: |
13 (12 + floating holiday) |
|
For medical conditions or family needs requiring extended leave, does the program allow reasonable unpaid leave to interns in excess of PTO? |
Yes |
Our interns are very busy during the academic year! While we do have a 40-hour work week, to accumulate 2000 hours for the overall internship and 500 clinical contact hours, our interns need to engage in a fairly high direct service caseload.
Although we work hard each day, we place a strong emphasis on work-life balance and encourage trainees to use evenings, weekends, vacation days and holidays as time for the self, family, friends, and interests.
Interns are expected to maintain satisfactory progress on their dissertations and required to prepare a poster presentation of their research, and present their posters at the Minnesota Psychological Association annual convention in the spring.
Two hours per week of professional development time is provided to interns for work on dissertation, professional reading, or other research activities. Interns are provided two days of professional development to be used for to attend conferences and workshops, or visits to academic departments.
Release time also may be used to attend conferences and workshops (see below). Some financial support is available for research activities (i.e., postage, printing).
Interns are encouraged to assist staff in ongoing research projects. Counseling and Psychological Services and the Career Development Center databases are available for interns' research.
Interns are encouraged to attend national, regional and local training workshops. They may use paid time off (PTO) or their release time for these activities.
During the internship year interns may develop, with their supervisors, plans to gain additional skills and experience with a clinical issue or client population of interest to them.
For example, interns may seek out additional experience with eating disorders, substance use, gender identity, disability identity, LBGTQIA+ issues, health and wellness promotion, or psycho-spiritual issues or pursue focused experience working with specific populations, such as student veterans, student athletes, first-generation students, student leaders, undergraduate seminarians, or international students.
This optional focused training is done within the context of psychotherapy or outreach and consultation activities.
Interns also may choose to assist CAPS by conducting internal research on a topic mutually agreed upon by the center and the intern.
Supervision Eligibility
We follow Minnesota licensing requirements in determining who is eligible to supervise, and we meet or exceed the amount of supervision required by state and accreditation criteria.
Prospective applicants should be aware that different states may have different requirements for eligible supervisors, though many states may waive their state requirements for those who complete an APA accredited internship, or simply for an internship abiding by its own state requirements.
We encourage you to look up the supervision requirements for any state where you may be interested in obtaining a license. Though we listen carefully to intern requests regarding supervision, we cannot guarantee the ability to accommodate every request.