Essentia Health is a not-for-profit health system with more than 70 clinics and 14 hospitals across Wisconsin, Minnesota, and North Dakota. Essentia’s mission is “We are called to make a healthy difference in people’s lives”. The Psychology Internship Program supports that mission by preparing new clinicians for practice in a setting that values justice, teamwork, hospitality, quality, respect, stewardship, and joy in our work.

PIPEH will offer five positions in Duluth, Minnesota for the 2025-2026 training year; three in our adult track, one in our child and adolescent track, and one in our health psychology track. We will also offer two positions in Fargo, North Dakota, in a generalist track. These are full-time, one year internships equivalent to just over 2000 training hours. The purpose of the program is to prepare interns with the skills and knowledge to join the workforce as early career health service psychologists, so that they can continue to make a healthy difference in people’s lives.

Interns will receive experience in core clinical services at a variety of levels of care. All Duluth based interns will provide outpatient psychotherapy and psychological evaluations to patients in the Behavioral Health Department on the Duluth campus. Interns in the adult track will complete a placement in a higher level of care at a partial hospitalization program and/or on the inpatient consultation team. The intern in the child/adolescent track will complete a placement in a higher level of care at the partial hospital program. The health psychology intern will complete a training experience with inpatient rehabilitation psychology and/or consult-liaison psychology. All work sites are located within Duluth, MN or Superior, WI (just across the bridge).

Interns matched to our Fargo track will work at the South University location with children, adolescents, and/or adult populations. In addition to providing outpatient behavioral health services, they will have opportunities for neuropsychology, specialized trauma treatment, and hospital consults with higher risk patients.  Interns will spend several days at the beginning of internship in Duluth, orienting to internship as a cohort. Throughout the year, interns will attend training programs, didactics, and group supervision together, using both telesupervision and some in-person activities.

Interns will hone their skills in assessment, therapeutic intervention, interdisciplinary consultation, and teamwork. Interns will provide individual psychotherapy, group psychotherapy, diagnostic assessments, and psychological evaluations. All interns will also participate on multi-disciplinary teams across multiple settings. Interns participate in both broad and focused consultation groups, including interest groups such as high-risk patients, psychological testing, and interventions for trauma related disorders. 

Psychologists in departments including Behavioral Health, Neurology, Health Psychology, and Rehabilitation Services participate in didactic training, giving interns an understanding of a health system. Didactic training also covers information about licensure in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin and an overview of the National Health Service Corps loan repayment program, for which Essentia maintains many eligible sites. 

During the second half of the internship year, interns in any Duluth-based track may choose to gain experience in health psychology, rehabilitation psychology, or consult-liaison psychology by spending up to two days per week providing services in those departments and obtaining supervision from a provider in that specialty. 

The Psychology Internship Program at Essentia Health completed an initial accreditation site visit on September 18th-19th 2025. A site visit is not a guarantee of future accreditation.

Duluth, Minnesota is a port city located on the shore of Lake Superior. Four-season outdoor recreational activities include hiking, mountain biking, skiing, camping, and fishing. In the winter, enjoy University of Minnesota- Duluth hockey and one of the largest walk-through Christmas light displays in the Midwest. In the summer, visit the many local breweries, sit by the lake for music festivals, or watch thousand-foot cargo ships pass under the Arial Lift Bridge.

Fargo, North Dakota is the largest city in ND and a hub for education, healthcare, business, and culture. It is located on the Red River bordering Minnesota. It is a quickly growing area with a strong economy but a small-town feel. There are opportunities for outdoor activities (parks, biking trails, community events, skiing, skating, and hockey), arts and entertainment (theater, concerts, restaurants, boutiques), and a lively downtown, despite its cold winters.  The cost of living is relatively low with affordable housing and a growing public transit system.