Evaluation

Evaluation of intern competencies, skills, and professional development is an ongoing, continuous process over the internship year. This occurs in individual meetings with interns and their supervisors, ongoing discussions between the interns and the training director, and weekly training-related meetings with the training director and various intern supervisors.

Six and Twelve Month Competency Evaluations

Formal evaluation of intern competencies occurs at six months and twelve months using the CCS Evaluation of Doctoral Intern form. This form delineates nine Profession Wide Competencies (PWCs, provided below) and specified elements that are evaluated in each competency area. The evaluation process follows these steps:

  1. The training director and CCS senior staff, including each of the intern's supervisors, first meet together to complete the Evaluation of Doctoral Intern form and summarize comments and feedback related to the ratings for each intern's competency development across the nine PWCs.
  2. Interns then meet individually with their supervisors to review and discuss related ratings and feedback, including competency strengths and areas for growth. Interns, their supervisors, and the training directorsign off on the completed Evaluation of Doctoral Intern form. 
  3. The training director also completes a summary evaluation letter that is sent with a copy of the Evaluation of Doctoral Intern form to each intern's doctoral program director of training at six months and twelve months. The training director meets with each intern to review and discuss the summary letter before it is sent to the director of training of their doctoral program.

Nine Profession Wide Competencies (PWCs)

The CCS internship program evaluates interns on the following PWCs and related competency elements throughout the internship year:

Research

  • Demonstrate the substantially independent ability to critically evaluate research or other scholarly activities (e.g., case conference, presentation, publications)
  • Disseminate research or other scholarly activities (e.g., case conference, presentation, publications) at the local, regional, or national level

Ethical and Legal Standards

  • Be knowledgeable of and act in accordance with each of the following:
    • the current version of the APA Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct
    • relevant laws, regulations, rules, and policies governing health service psychology at the organizational, local, state, regional, and federal levels
    • relevant professional standards and guidelines
  • Recognize ethical dilemmas as they arise and apply ethical decision-making processes in order to resolve the dilemmas
  • Conduct self in an ethical manner in all professional activities

Individual and Cultural Diversity

  • Demonstrate an understanding of how their own personal/cultural history, attitudes, and biases may affect how they understand and interact with people different from themselves
  • Demonstrate knowledge of the current theoretical and empirical knowledge base as it relates to addressing diversity in all professional activities including research, training, supervision/consultation, and service
  • Demonstrate the ability to integrate awareness and knowledge of individual and cultural differences in the conduct of professional rolesDemonstrate the ability to apply a framework for working effectively with areas of individual and cultural diversity
  • Demonstrate the ability to work effectively with individuals whose group membership, demographic characteristics, or worldviews create conflict with their own

Professional Values, Attitudes and Behaviors

  • Behave and interact with others in ways that reflect the values and attitudes of psychology, including cultural humility, integrity, deportment, professional identity, accountability, lifelong learning, and concern for the welfare of others
  • Engage in self-reflection regarding one’s personal and professional functioning
  • Engage in activities to maintain and improve performance, well-being, and professional effectiveness
  • Actively seek and demonstrate openness and responsiveness to feedback and supervision
  • Respond professionally in increasingly complex situations with a greater degree of independence as they progress across their internship training

Communication and Interpersonal Skills

  • Develop and maintain effective relationships with a wide range of individuals, including colleagues, campus and community members, organizations, supervisors, supervisees, and those receiving professional services
  • Produce and comprehend oral, nonverbal, and written communications that are informative and well-integrated
  • Demonstrate a thorough grasp of professional language and concepts
  • Demonstrate effective interpersonal skills and the ability to manage difficult communication well

Assessment

  • Demonstrate current knowledge of diagnostic classification systems, functional and dysfunctional behaviors, including consideration of client strengths and psychopathology
  • Demonstrate understanding of human behavior within its context (e.g., family, social, societal and cultural)
  • Demonstrate the ability to apply the knowledge of functional and dysfunctional behaviors, including context to the assessment, diagnostic and/or referral process
  • Select and apply assessment methods (as indicated and available) that draw from the best available empirical literature and that reflect the science of measurement and psychometrics; Collect relevant data using multiple sources and methods (as appropriate and indicated) to the identified goals and questions of the assessment as well as relevant diversity characteristics of the recipient
  • Interpret assessment results, following current research and professional standards and guidelines, to inform case conceptualization, classification, and recommendations, while guarding against decision-making biases (e.g., distinguishing the aspects of assessment that are subjective from those that are objective)
  • Communicate findings and implications of the assessment in an accurate and effective manner sensitive to a range of audiences

Intervention

Individual Counseling Intervention

  • Establish and maintain effective relationships with the recipients of psychological services
  • Develop evidence-based intervention plans specific to the service delivery goals
  • Implement interventions informed by the current scientific literature, assessment findings, diversity characteristics, and contextual variables
  • Demonstrate the ability to apply the relevant research literature to clinical decision making
  • Modify and adapt evidence-based approaches effectively when a clear evidence-base is lacking
  • Evaluate intervention effectiveness, and adapt intervention goals and methods consistent with ongoing evaluation

Group Counseling Intervention

  • Demonstrate understanding of therapeutic factors and considerations in group counseling, including when identifying and meeting with potential group clients
  • Demonstrate appropriate and effective interventions for group therapy
  • Effectively discuss and manage the group counseling co-facilitation relationship, including openness to feedback from co-facilitator and/or supervisor
  • Understand and attend to issues of diversity in group, including power, privilege, and the impact on group dynamics
  • Utilize post-group supervision to increase group counseling intervention competencies

Crisis Intervention

  • Select and apply necessary and appropriate crisis intervention skills and strategies to manage the crisis, including using appropriate and available resources
  • Respond in compliance with agency, ethical, and legal standards in crisis intervention
  • Provide appropriate case management and follow-up after initial crisis intervention, including facilitating referrals and connection to necessary resources

Supervision

  • Apply supervisory knowledge in direct or simulated practice with psychology trainees, or other health professionals. Examples of direct or simulated practice examples of supervision include, but are not limited to, role-played supervision with others, and peer supervision with other trainees
  • Apply the supervisory skill of observing in direct or simulated practice
  • Apply the supervisory skill of evaluating in direct or simulated practice
  • Apply the supervisory skills of giving guidance and feedback in direct or simulated practice

Consultation and Interprofessional/Interdisciplinary Skills, Including Outreach Skills

  • Demonstrate knowledge and respect for the roles, responsibilities, and perspectives of other professions and professionals. Apply this knowledge in consultation with individuals, groups, faculty/staff, family members, other health care professionals, and/or systems related to health and mental health
  • Act with awareness and sensitivity to the multiple roles, responsibilities, and functions of a counseling center
  • Demonstrate ability to provide effective outreach presentations and/or programs by organizing and incorporating relevant information, using technology (as needed), and engaging audience. Use presentation/program evaluations and/or other feedback to further develop outreach skills

Expected Levels of Achievement and Remediation/Due Process 

Interns must meet specified expected levels of achievement (i.e., average ratings of the competency elements for each of the nine PWCs) at the 6-month and 12-month evaluations. Interns are evaluated using a competency development rating scale that reflects the progressive nature of competency and skill acquisition over the course of the internship year. The competency development rating scale also incorporates the level of consistency and autonomy at which an intern demonstrates competencies as well as the ways supervision is utilized by an intern to develop and/or enhance competencies across the nine PWCs. At the 6-month evaluation, interns must be demonstrating emerging competencies and skills that would be expected at the half-way point of the internship year. At the 12-month evaluation, interns must be demonstrating intermediate to advanced competencies and skills that would be expected for the transition to postdoctoral professional training and/or initial licensure as a psychologist.

If at any point an intern is not meeting, or is not expected to meet, expected levels of achievement for one or more PWC, the training director and intern supervisors follow remediation and due process procedures as specified in the CCS Doctoral Internship Training Manual. The purpose and intent of remediation and due process procedures are to support the intern in the acquisition of necessary PWCs, and to delineate the specific steps necessary to facilitate, document, evaluate, and complete this process. The remediation and due process procedures also specify steps and rights available to an intern as part of this process. It is important to note that depending on the circumstances, and in accordance with the remediation and due process procedures, an intern may be dismissed from the CCS internship program at any time if she or he is unable to meet expected levels of achievement in each of the nine PWCs.  

Other Internship Program Requirements and Evaluations

To assist interns with their development of the nine PWCs, the CCS internship program has additional requirements that must be completed over the course of the internship year. At the start of the internship, interns complete a 20-25 minute transcript of a client session in order to evaluate their individual counseling competencies and identify individualized training goals, including professional development goals. The transcript and related goals are reviewed and discussed with the intern's primary supervisor. 

Multicultural Presentation

In January of the internship year, usually before the start of the spring semester, interns complete a Multicultural Presentation to senior staff and their fellow interns as part of their work in their specialization area of interest. The purpose of the presentation is to discuss relevant multicultural research and resources that have informed the interns’ clinical work and activities within their specialization area. As a result, the presentation includes a discussion of an intern's emerging research, intervention, multicultural, ethical/legal, and professional identity competencies that reflect the specialization work they have completed over the first semester of internship. The presentation can also highlight implications for practice for CCS staff as well as other needs, recommendations, and/or suggestions interns have related to the intersecting clinical and multicultural components of their specialization area. The Multicultural Presentation is evaluated in areas such as the organization of the presentation, presentation style, integration of relevant research, and multicultural competencies. 

Capstone Case Presentation and Discussion

As the end of the internship, year approaches, usually in June, interns complete a Capstone Case Presentation and Discussion to senior staff and their fellow interns. Interns select one client to discuss and complete a comprehensive case summary report that integrates various information as specified in the CCS Doctoral Internship Training Manual. Similar to the transcript process at the start of the internship year, interns complete a final 20-25 transcript of one session with their selected client as part of the case presentation with the intent to evaluate their work, reflect on their development over the course of the internship, and identify ongoing areas for growth as they transition away from the internship. The purpose of the case presentation and discussion is for interns to demonstrate their clinical skills across the PWCs (e.g., diagnostic and risk assessment, case conceptualization, integration of research and theory into effective interventions, and multicultural and ethical awareness). In addition, interns are evaluated on their ability to discuss, describe, and reflect on their clinical work as part of their professional identity development competencies (e.g., professional values and attitudes, communication and interpersonal skills, and consultation and interdisciplinary skills). Consistent with the evaluation of the PWCs at the end of the internship year, interns are expected to demonstrate competencies for the case presentation and discussion at an intermediate to advanced level (i.e., postdoctoral professional and/or early-career licensed psychologist).

Intern Feedback and Evaluation of CCS Doctoral Internship Program

Just as CCS staff evaluate intern clinical and professional development competencies throughout the year, interns are encouraged to evaluate and provide feedback about CCS supervisors and the internship program at any time. This is done both informally and formally. Interns can provide verbal feedback to individual supervisors and/or the training director during regularly scheduled meetings. Interns also complete written evaluations for the weekly training seminars they attend and their primary, group counseling co-facilitator, and specialization supervisors (as part of the 6-month and 12-month evaluation process). Interns provide a comprehensive evaluation of the CCS internship program at the end of the year. The feedback and evaluations help the training director and CCS staff meet the needs of each intern and intern cohort, while also considering modifications, changes, and/or additions to various components of the internship program.

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