Mental Health Internships
Pre-Doctoral Psychology Internship
General Information: Three internships are available each year, beginning during the last week in August and continuing for 12 months, with a one-month vacation. Positions include an $20,000 stipend, plus individual or family health insurance.
Application: Applications are accepted from advanced doctoral students currently enrolled in APA-approved clinical, counseling or Psy.D. professional psychology programs. We actively recruit minority interns and those of all sexual orientations.
Submit the standard Application for Psychology Internship (AAPI) form, found at the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers website. For Section 2, Question #1 of the AAPI form, expand your response to a 1,500-word statement. Include your vita, three letters of recommendation (preferably from clinical supervisors) and a graduate transcript. The application deadline is November 15.
Notification: Our program is a member of APPIC and follows that organization’s application and acceptance policies. All applications are screened; personal interviews will be scheduled about three weeks after the application deadline with those students whose interests and qualifications appear most compatible with our training program.
Contact:
Edward Bruce Bynum, Ph.D., or Linda Scott, Ph.D., program coordinators
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Mental Health Services
127 Hills North, 111 Thatcher Road
Amherst, MA 01003-9328
(413) 545-2337
The Pre-Doctoral Internship is fully accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA) through 2011. The Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation, 750 First Street NE, Washington DC 20002-4242, can be contacted at (202) 336-5979.
To read and download a detailed program description in PDF, click
here.
Social Work Internship
General Information: For more than 20 years, Smith College School for Social Work has placed second-year students at UMass Amherst’s Mental Health Services.
Currently, two students are placed for a 35-hour-per week experience beginning the week before Labor Day until the end of spring semester classes. Each student makes accommodations for time off with their supervisor. There is a stipend with each placement.
The experience includes 8 – 10 clinical hours each week, with participation in family, couples or group therapy. At times, interns work with children, but the predominant client population is college-aged or above. Mental Health Services maintains a 24-hour on-call system, and interns serve on that rotation with their primary supervisor.
Social work interns meet with their primary supervisor for a minimum of two hours each week, and are encouraged to seek consultation from other staff with expertise in the student's area of interest.
The program’s multidisciplinary nature is one of its strengths. Interns are assigned to clinical and functional teams which blend social work, nursing, psychiatry and psychology. Social work and psychology trainees also participate together in all but the Diagnostic Testing and Professional Issues seminars.
To read and download a detailed program description in PDF, click
here.
