Introductory Letter

Dear Potential Applicant:

Thank you for your interest in our psychology internship program. In our website materials, we present an overview of our training program: the types of training experiences you will encounter, the philosophy that guides our training and information about the agency, community, university and former interns.

Our internship program was first accredited by the American Psychological Association in 1988, and we were successfully reaccredited in 1993, 2000 and 2005. For further information, contact APA Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation, 750 First Street, N.E., Washington, DC 20002-4242; (202) 336-5979; or visit their program website at http://www.apa.org/ed/accreditation/.  For other APA matters, call (800) 374-3431 or visit www.apa.org.

As an APPIC member, we use the AAPI (APPIC Application of Psychology Internship) form.  Please note that starting this year (applications for training year 2010-2011) the application process is entirely online.  Whether or not you come from a program that is an APPIC member, a Match I.D. number is required to participate in the computer matching process. To apply for your number, contact the National Matching Service: www.natmatch.com/psychint/ or call (416) 977-3431. Further information about the matching process and online AAPI can be found on APPIC’s website: www.appic.org

As your faculty and peers have probably shared with you, the selection process can be particularly stressful.  Therefore, we try to be as helpful as we can in providing information about our site. However, we highly recommend that you discuss your goals and site choices with your Academic Training Director before submitting your application materials and also before you proceed with the ranking of your choices. Additionally, you may find these two references helpful:
 
American Psychological Association (2004, Sept.) Cover Package: The Internship Search. Grad Psych, view table of contents online.

Williams-Nickelson, C. & Prinstein, M.J. (Eds.) (2007). Internship in psychology: The APAGS workbook for writing successful applications and finding the right match, 2007-2008 edition. American Psychological Association.

To give you an idea about our selection process, we start by reviewing your submitted application. Of particular interest are your clinical experiences and expertise, understanding of and interest in multiple types of diversity (e.g., ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability), APA accreditation, and letters of reference in terms of personal qualities such as maturity and openness to learning. The presentation and strength of the written materials are most important to the selection committee; your university program, psychological assessment experience and degree (e.g., Ph.D. or Psy.D.) less so. The committee, comprised of staff psychologists and interns, looks for a good match between your stated goals and background with the training experiences available at our site. Because we seek diversity within our intern group, we do not have a specific profile that we are trying to match. It’s important to remember that selection is a process, not merely a checklist of attributes or achievements.

In closing, I hope that you find this information useful in helping you decide if our site would match your training needs. Please contact me by email or by calling (805) 893-4411 if you have further questions.

Sincerely,

Juan R. Riker, Ph.D.
Acting Training Coordinator

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