Components of the Training Program
CAPS plays an integral role in Stanford’s commitment to providing a supportive and educational environment by providing high quality, confidential care for students who experience a range of personal, academic, and psychological problems. The internship program provides comprehensive training with initial visits, day call, crisis intervention, risk assessment, management, and safety planning, brief individual counseling, consultation, case management, groups, workshops, and outreach programming with a social justice focus, and working with a diverse and gifted student population. Interns work as part of a multidisciplinary staff.
Direct Service
Interns are responsible for managing up to 20 hours of direct clinical work per week. Interns conduct Initial Visits and assess the appropriateness of the student’s presenting problem to a brief treatment model versus extended therapy or referrals to other resources. Interns also provide Brief Therapy, Groups, Workshops, Consultations, and Outreach. Interns have the opportunity to provide extended therapy for the year with up to two students in consultation with their clinical supervisors. During the course of the training year, interns discuss treatment planning in supervision and gain greater experience and competence with their clinical assessment and interventions. This may include consultation with psychiatrists, referring students off campus for extended therapy and collaborations with other staff on and off campus. All initial visits and the majority of follow-up visits are conducted in person. Teletherapy is available one day a week when interns work remotely.
Interns provide a weekly 4.5-hour shift of Day Call crisis service. During day call, interns may meet with students, professors, Resident Advisors, Resident Fellows or Resident Directors to consult, triage, or assess students for safety issues. Interns consult with staff if a student presents in crisis with potential as a danger to self or others, gravely disabled, or other safety concerns related to abuse. Interns may manage phone calls and provide Referrals and Phone Consultation. In the case of a crisis involving potential harm to self or others, interns consult with their day call team. By the end of the year, interns gain experience with crisis assessment, management, and intervention. In addition, interns may join staff in speaking to various academic departments or resident halls when critical incidents happen.
Interns are supported in their interests to participate in co-facilitating Groups that meet the needs of students or communities. A list of current groups can be found here. In addition to group counseling, all Interns run a minimum of three Wellness Workshops based in ACT and CBT per quarter. Group opportunities may differ depending on student needs and interest and staff co-facilitator availability.
Training Activities
Clinical Supervision
Interns attend two hours of weekly individual clinical supervision. The CA Board of Psychology required face-to-face, direct, individual supervision with the clinical supervisor and this can be conducted via HIPAA-compliant video California Code of Regulations (CCR) Sections 1387 and 1391.5). Therefore, one hour of supervision is via Zoom and the other in person. Interns are encouraged to develop reflective, introspective clinical and case conceptualization skills that aid in their development as professional psychologists. Interns are given an opportunity prior to the beginning of the internship to request their supervision preferences and needs through a self-assessment and during orientation as they become acquainted with supervising staff. An attempt is made to match interns to supervisors based upon these preferences. The clinical supervisor carries responsibility for case management, acquainting the intern with the operations of the agency, training requirements, mentoring, and moral support. Ongoing and reciprocal feedback is an important part of supervision. Interns switch supervisors mid-year to diversify their supervisory experience. Evaluations occur mid-year and at end-of-year.
Specialty Rotations
Our internship provides three rotations that focus on specific issues relevant to the student population: Eating Disorders, Alcohol and Other Drug/Motivational Interviewing, and Gender and Sexual Identity. These rotations are designed for the interns to gain knowledge, experience, and competence in how to work with these specific populations in a time-limited format. All interns participate in all three rotations.
The Eating Disorders Rotation typically takes place during the fall quarter and is designed to educate interns about the assessment and brief evidence-based therapy and multidisciplinary approaches to treating eating disorders in a college mental health setting.
The Alcohol and Other Drug/Motivational Interviewing Rotation in winter quarter is designed to educate interns about the assessment and brief treatment of substance use in college students. Interns gain skills in motivational interviewing and harm reduction models.
The Gender and Sexual Identities Rotation aims to enable clinicians to become more clinically and culturally competent working with clients across the full spectrum of gender and sexual identities. This rotation runs in spring quarter.
Outreach and Social Justice Seminar
This seminar meets weekly throughout the year, toggling between social justice content and outreach planning. The goal of the outreach and social justice seminar is to orient trainees to Stanford CAPS values and approach to transform learning into implementation of services within and beyond the Stanford University student population. This seminar provides a balance between increasing trainees' awareness and identifying their own strengths and biases related to working with different cultural/identity groups. This awareness helps inform their lens on social justice and subsequently the development and execution of a social justice project. The interns utilize concepts from liberation psychology to provide more culturally adaptive programming. Programming may include consultation, advocacy, education, liaison relationships, or clinical and non-clinical services. Interns present outcomes of their social justice outreach project at a staff meeting.
Community Centers
Some of the community centers we collaborate with include:
- Asian American Activities Center (A3C)
- Bechtel International Center
- Black Community Services Center (BCSC and also known as The Black House)
- El Centro Chicano y Latino (Centro)
- Native American Cultural Center (NACC)
- Women’s Community Center (WCC)
- Markaz Resource Center
- Hillel
- Queer Student Resources (QSR)
- Institute for Diversity in Arts (IDA)
- Office of Religious and Spiritual Life (ORSL)
- First Generation and/or Low Income Student Success Center (FLISSC)
We always support establishing new liaison relationships with campus partners.
Didactic Seminars
The didactic seminar meets biweekly for two hours. This is a topical seminar where presenters focus on topics that are particularly relevant to college mental health. Individual seminars are organized around clinical, diversity, ethics, pharmacological, and treatment model themes.
Professional Development Seminar
This weekly seminar is facilitated by the training director. The purpose of this meeting is to provide a weekly check-in with the training director and a venue for trainees to support and learn from each other. Trainees may seek support for Postdoc or Job applications, review each other's CVs, do mock interviews, process challenges and organizational dynamics and provide feedback to support each other’s professional development. In addition, trainees are assigned a week to lead the facilitation of a professional development topic (salary negotiation, self-care, consultation, work relationship, attraction in supervision) in spring quarter.
Case Conference
Each week, interns attend a one-hour case consultation facilitated by a CAPS staff member. This seminar provides interns with an opportunity with peer consultation and supervision. This is a non-evaluative space.
Clinical Team Meeting
Interns are part of a multidisciplinary (psychiatrists, psychologists, licensed clinical social workers, marriage and family therapists, licensed professional clinical counselors, and care managers) team that meet weekly for case consultation, support, education, and administration. Trainees attend the clinical team associated with their day call schedule, therefore trainees rotate team quarterly providing access to a range of our multidisciplinary staff.
Intern Group Meeting
The interns' group meeting is run by the interns themselves. It provides opportunities for interns to bond with one another, set their own agenda, process their training experience, and provide mutual support.
Staff Meeting
Interns attend a one-hour staff meeting biweekly. There is both an administrative and educational component to these meetings.
