Children’s Institute, Inc (CII) offers a 2000-hour Doctoral Internship Program in Clinical Psychology that funds three to four full-time 12 month training positions beginning in early September. The goal of CII’s clinical psychology internship is to prepare advanced pre-doctoral students in clinical psychology for the professional practice of child and family psychology in a variety of community settings, such as community mental health centers, outpatient clinics and schools. CII prefers applicants from accredited Clinical Psychology programs, who have had practicum experience and coursework in working with diverse children and families in community settings. All applicants are required to have a minimum of 500 total hours practicum experience by the application date, preferably with children and families.
The internship program trains Psychology Interns to practice as competent clinicians providing a full spectrum of clinical services to children, adolescents and families that are experiencing behavioral or emotional problems. Although the internship provides training in treating traumatized children in the context of their family and community, it is dedicated to providing intensive training in a broad range of clinical skills and roles.
Serving the Los Angeles area for more than 100 years, CII has been a pioneer in the provision of child-focused, family treatment. CII’s mission is to help children in Los Angeles’ most challenged communities heal from the trauma of family and community violence, build the confidence and skills to break through the barriers of poverty, and grow up to lead healthy, productive lives. Using the four CII values Passion, Innovation, Partnership and Equity we believe in the boundless potential of children and families and work zealously to achieve transformational change. We seek inventive solutions grounded in best practices and rigorous analysis. We are committed to excellence, impact and sustainability in all we do. We have the greatest impact when collaborating with families, community partners and colleagues who are dedicated to the success of the young people we service.
Clinical training proceeds on two simultaneous tracks (or concurrent rotations) throughout the training cycle:
*Early Childhood Mental Health
Some intern's will specialize in Early Childhood Mental Health, providing specialty mental health services to children birth to five and their caregivers. Interns in the Early Childhood track will learn and practice an evidenced based treatment model, Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), developed at the University of California, Davis, and will attend weekly PCIT group supervision. (There is an opportunity to become certified in this evidenced based practice during the course of the internship.)
*Trauma-Informed Psychotherapy (Individual, family and group therapy)
Some intern's will specialize in providing specialty mental health services to children ages 6-17 and their families. These interns are trained in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TFCBT), an evidence-based model developed by Judy Cohen, MD, Anthony Mannarino, PhD & Esther Deblinger, PhD. Interns attend a seminar and receive clinical supervision in the application of TF-CBT with traumatized children. (There is an opportunity to become certified in this evidenced based practice during the course of the internship.) In addition, all interns are assigned as group co-therapists to a psychoeducational trauma group (addressing sexual abuse or domestic violence issues).
CII's training philosophy believes that individuals should be treated in the context of their family system and greater ecological framework. CII strongly supports treating families in their cultural context using their language of preference.
Interns that match to the CII clinical psychology internship will be considered essential workers meaning that interns will continue to deliver mental health services to children and families through this pandemic via telehealth. During the 2019-2022 training years, when COVID 19 began and continued to impact CII and training programs interns were immediately moved to providing services via telehealth, using both telephone and video conferencing technology. Supervision and trainings were moved to video conferencing platforms, interns were able to telecommute, and when necessary interns did go into the office to work during specified timeframes to ensure health and safety of the interns and monitoring the number of staff/interns in the office at one time to ensure social distancing. CII developed an essential access request protocol to minimize, protect and manage staff/interns going in and out of the office/clinic at one time. Safety procedures include the enforced use of personal protective equipment (PPE) when visiting the office and physical distancing. CII will continue to use the Hybrid work model.