The primary goal of the internship program at CAPS is to prepare trainees for functioning as independent professional psychologists with specific skills in the treatment of a diverse population of college students. The program consists of numerous clinical and didactic opportunities that build upon one another, allowing the intern to gradually attain increasing levels of clinical autonomy through the course of the year.  Close attention is paid to supervision with the program's history rooted in a mentor/apprecticeship model. Self-reflection and self-awareness are prioritized. Interns participate in a number of experiential activities with opportunities to provide individual, group, and couples' therapy; crisis management and risk assessment; AOD assessments; consultation and collaboration with a multidisciplinary staff. Opportunities to engage in outreach are ongoing. Interns receive significant didactic training and supervision in support of these experiences. Intern seminars focus on bridging theory and practice. Specific foci of seminars include case conceptualization, ethics and professional development, diversity issues, group therapy, the provision of supervision, and the challenges of meeting the needs of a college population. Interns are given opportunities to gain more specialized training in the areas of outreach and mandated assessments. Our internship program gives particular attention to multicultural awareness, in concern for the diversity of the student population that we serve and in concern for our belief in the importance of training professionals who are well-equipped to provide services to all individuals. The internship training program functions with an explicit awareness of the importance of affirming the experiences of LGBTQ-identified students as well as individuals from racially- and religiously-persecuted groups.

We have an integrative psychodynamic approach, with many practioners aligning with depth-oriented approaches.  At the same time, we tailor our interventions to meet the needs of our students which often includes short-term interventions. We begin by assessing what our clients need and what their capacities are; we develop a case formulation and tend to the therapeutic relationship from a psychodynamic perspective.  Additionally, we integrate techniques from other treatment modalities (e.g., CBT, DBT, ACT, mindfulness, etc.) in helping our clients achieve change. It is our goal to train interns in how to thoughtfully integrate these techniques into an integrative philosophy of understanding clinical phenomena.