The Internship program at Apex provides a minimum of 1,900 hours of full-time work and training experience to be completed in twelve months. Interns will work 40 hours per week for 52 weeks, excepting vacation and sick days. Hours include direct service, support activities such as report writing, supervision, and didactic seminars. Direct service hours include assessment, therapy, and intake evaluations. Training during this internship includes assessment, individual therapy, and neurodivergent populations. Some case management and crisis management training may be obtained as relevant for clients on the intern’s caseload. Interns may also choose to receive training in forensic evaluation or group services such as psychoeducational or support groups. Approximately fifty to sixty percent of the time on-site is spent delivering direct care services.
Responsibilities and clinical hours will increase over the course of the training year. Interns will engage in two simultaneous clinical rotations: assessment and therapy. Interns may elect to focus more heavily on assessment or therapy depending on clinical interests but are expected to complete a minimum 50 percent of their clinical hours via assessments and have a minimum therapy caseload of three-to-four clients at a time. Interns who are interested in providing other services, such as psychoeducation or groups, are welcome to set up these services with our clinical staff. Other clinical duties include intake evaluations, report writing, supervision, didactic trainings, and engagement with research literature.
Interns will begin their training process by completing several trainings, didactic presentations, and observations of staff completing assessments during their first week. Training will progress depending on intern needs. Over the next few weeks, observation of staff assessments will continue, and interns will begin completing assessment intake interviews. Interns may begin taking therapy clients. They will be observed by a staff member for at least one administration of each test before administering any test on their own. Independent assessments will begin with selected less-complex referral questions and progress to more complex presentations based on intern readiness. Interns will observe some of the results sessions for clients they evaluated, and gradually complete increasing portions of the results sessions on their own with a licensed clinician present. Report writing will also be completed on a graduated basis, with an increasing amount of responsibility and number of reports to be completed as the internship progresses.
Interns will receive their own office in our suite. All intern offices contain appropriate furniture for both assessment and therapy, a secure location for storing files, and a window. Our suite also offers separate assessment rooms, a comprehensive library of tests and clinical references, and a kitchen. Access to various online trainings is provided. Interns and other staff members are encouraged to attend the annual Connecticut Psychological Association Conference, and attendance costs for this conference are covered.
All training is provided at our office in Woodbridge, Connecticut. Located just north of New Haven with views of the beautiful West Rock State Park, our location offers convenience to many of Connecticut’s greatest resources. Whether you prefer downtown New Haven, the beach, or walks through the woods, it’s all within a short drive of our practice. We also love food at Apex, and you will find a variety of options nearby for lunch. It is expected and welcomed for interns to eat during our 12:00 meetings; scheduling a separate break for lunch is also acceptable.
Interns can expect four, eight-hour days in the office, and one day working from home. The work-from-home day can be utilized for virtual intake and therapy sessions and writing reports. Interns are not expected to work outside of their scheduled hours, unless explicitly necessary to obtain hours or complete documentation. No on- call work is required. Standard hours are from 9am to 5pm, but interns may work alternative hours (e.g., 8-4) with approval from Dr. Palmisano.
