Student Life

The Training Program
The pre-doctoral internship is designed to train clinical/counseling psychology pre-doctoral interns in providing psychological services in a college counseling center (Counseling Services). Interns will have the opportunity to be exposed to a variety of aspects of Counseling Services at a small liberal arts college. The internship adheres to a practitioner-scholar model of psychological training and service delivery. The practitioner-scholar training model emphasizes the integration and application of critical thinking and skillful reflection across a broad range of experiential activities. 

The primary goal of the internship is to assist interns in their development to become skilled generalist practitioners who are able to work comfortably with the wide variety of mental health concerns that college students experience. Interns will also develop skills in intake assessment, crisis management, group therapy, outreach and consultation, supervision, and training administration. In addition, interns will have the ability to develop and hone a specialization. Past examples include alcohol assessment and intervention, multicultural programming, and eating disorders. 

The internship focuses on helping interns develop the skills necessary to use themselves as an important instrument of change in the counseling relationship. Interns will be encouraged to focus on their personal growth and increasing self-awareness. This includes gaining an awareness and sensitivity to diversity issues throughout the internship. Interns will be provided with continuous and intensive supervision both individually and in a small group to support their clinical, personal, and professional development. Supervised experience is provided in psychotherapy and counseling services, i.e. diagnostic evaluation, intervention, and psychotherapy; psychodiagnostic testing; crisis intervention; supervision; educational intervention (psychoeducational seminars and process groups); program development and evaluation; and professional clinical issues.

Counseling Services is part of the Health & Wellness Center. Located in a newly renovated building, the Health & Wellness Center includes Counseling Services and Health Services. The Health & Wellness Center supports the college’s mission to promote an exceptional student experience that celebrates personal growth by providing prevention-focused, accessible, and high quality health care and counseling for a diverse student population. Counseling Services, as part of the Health & Wellness Center, supports its mission to encourage behaviors that eliminate or change barriers to learning, and promotes optimal physical, intellectual, emotional, spiritual, and community wellness through a collaborative team approach. Interns will have the opportunity to develop programs and workshops that support the Health & Wellness Center’s mission. 

Two internship positions are available and are funded at $20,800 each. The application deadline is
November 15, 2009, and the start date is mid-August 2010.

Philosophy of Training
The purpose of the pre-doctoral internship is to provide a supervised experience that focuses on developing strong clinical and professional skills. Counseling Services is committed to the achievement of excellence in the training experience. Interns will gain a broad exposure to the variety of professional activities and service delivery systems which exist in a contemporary service-oriented college counseling setting. Every attempt is made to individualize the internship program so that preferences and needs of interns can be addressed. Interns are regarded as professionals at the College and are expected to make valuable contributions to the overall functioning of the Counseling Services and of the College. Most importantly, the pre-doctoral internship offers intensive supervision by licensed clinical psychologists to further the development of a strong professional identity.

As emerging professionals, interns are expected to have a strong degree of self-motivation and self-direction. At the beginning of the year, interns are asked to develop a set of goals. They are asked to indicate their areas of strengths as well as areas they feel are in need of development. This information then serves as a guide both for supervision and for other areas of the training program.

Training Experiences
It is the philosophy of the training program that psychologists should thoroughly understand and have expertise in the provision of services involving emotional, psychological, and behavioral disability and discomfort related to personal, social, and academic dysfunction. To facilitate and encourage this development, training experiences may include the following:

1) Intake Interviewing and Crisis Intervention
2) Idividual and Couples Psychotherapy
3) Group Psychotherapy
4) Outreach and Consultation
5) Specialized Assessment
6) Community-based Initiatives to promote wellness
7) Training Administration

We wish you well during your internship search process. We hope that you will give Lake Forest College Counseling Services your consideration as you work to identify training sites for your internship. The Internship brochure (see below) offers you a more detailed description of our program. Please note that applications for the 2010-2011 internship are due by November 15, 2009. If you have any questions, please call 847-735-5240.