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Doctoral Internship Psychology Programs:

CAPIC Doctoral Internship Programs members are recognized by the California Board of Psychology (BoP) for the

accrual of Supervised Professional Experience (SPE) towards licensure as a psychologist, along-side APA-accredited  and APPIC member programs.

CAPIC currently has over 35 Active Internship Programs offering  both  Full-time and Half-time programs for doctoral-level psychology students. For the publicly accessible online profile directory of CAPIC Doctoral Internship Programs please go to https://programs.capic.net.

CAPIC Membership Criteria for Doctoral Internship Psychology Programs:

  1. A psychology doctoral internship is an organized training program which, in contrast to supervised experience or on-the-job training, is designed to provide the intern with a planned, programmed sequence of training experiences. The primary focus and purpose is assuring breadth and quality of training. 
  2. The internship agency has a clearly designated doctoral-level licensed psychologist who is responsible for the integrity and quality of  the training program.
    • For Full-time; this person is actively licensed by the California Board of Psychology and is present at the training facility for a minimum of 20 hours a week.
    • For Half-time; this person is actively licensed by the California Board of Psychology and is present at the training facility for a minimum of 10 hours a week.
  1. For Full-time; the Internship agency staff includes at least two full-time-equivalent licensed psychologists who can serve as primary supervisors. For Half-time; The internship agency includes at least two mental health professionals on the agency staff, one of whom is a licensed psychologist and serves as the primary supervisor. The primary supervisor is licensed as a psychologist by the California Board of Psychology and can certify  training in supervision as required by the Board of Psychology.
  2. The internship will provide supervision at a minimum rate of 10% of the total time worked each week. For Full-time; Intern supervision is provided by staff members of the internship agency or by qualified affiliates of that agency who carry clinical responsibility for the cases being supervised. At least two hours per week of regularly scheduled individual face-to-face supervision are provided by one or more licensed doctoral-level staff psychologist. For Half-time; the  requirements are the same as for Full-Time; however, the time required for face-to face supervision is one hour per week.
  3. The internship provides training in a range of psychological assessment and intervention activities conducted directly with recipients of psychological services.
  4. At least 25% of the intern’s time is face-to-face psychological services with the patients/clients.
  5. For both  Full-Time and Half- Time Interns; the internship must provide at least two hours per week of didactic activities. 
  6. Internship training is at post-clerkship, post-practicum, and post-externship level, and precedes the granting of the doctoral degree.
  7. The internship agency has a minimum of two on-site half-time and/or full-time doctoral psychology interns at the internship level of training during any period of training.
  8. The internship-level psychology trainees have a title such as “Psychology Intern” or other equivalent designation of training status.
  9. The internship agency ahs a written statement or brochure which provides a clear description of the nature of the training program, including goals and content of the internship and clear expectations for the quantity and quality of the intern’s work, and is made available to prospective interns.
  10. Internship programs of documented due process procedures that describe separately how programs deal with (1) concerns about intern performance, and (2) intern’s concerns about training.
  11. For Full-time; the internship experience ( minimum 1500 hours) must be completed in no less than 9 months, accruing no more than 44 hours per week. For Half-Time; the minimum hours is 750 which must be completed in no less than 9 months, accruing no more 24 hours per week.
  12. CAPIC member programs are required to issue a certificate of internship completion that includes the word “Psychology” to all interns who have successfully completed the program.
  13. The internship agency must demonstrate evidence of cross-cultural knowledge, training and sensitivity consistent with the population they serve.
  14. The internship agency conducts formal written evaluations of each intern’s performance at least twice per year.

Postdoctoral Psychology Training Programs:

Postdoctoral training programs that are accredited by the American Psychological Association or are members of the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC) are recognized as meeting the California Psychology Internship Council ( CAPIC) Postdoctoral Membership criteria. All others must meet all of the following criteria:

  1. The Postdoctoral training program is an organized experience that, in contrast to on-the-job training, is designed to provide the Postdoctoral Fellow with a planned, programmed sequence of supervised training experiences.
  2. The postdoctoral training program has a designated psychologist who is responsible for the integrity and quality of the training program, who has administrative authority commensurate with those responsibilities, who is actively licensed as a psychologist by the California Board of Psychology, and who meets all requirements to supervise in California.
  3. The postdoctoral training site must have two or more psychologists on staff who are actively licensed as psychologists by the California Board of Psychology, and who can certify training in supervision as required by the Board of Psychology.
  4. The postdoctoral program provides Fellows with supervision for 10% of the total time worked each week, including a minimum of two hours per week of regularly schedule, face-to-face individual supervision with the specific intent of supervising the psychological services rendered directly by the Fellow. This supervision is provided by staff members of the sponsoring institution  who carry professional practice responsibility for the cases being supervised and are licensed and qualified to supervise as psychologists in California.