Internship
1. Who is eligible to apply for internship?
To qualify for the internship at CPSR, an applicant must have completed at least two years of graduate work in a doctoral program in clinical psychology. It is expected that the applicant will have had a minimum of 1200 hours of practicum experience related to the provision of psychological services (minimum of 400 hours of direct service hours). As well, applicants must have a "letter of readiness" sent from their graduate program indicating that they are prepared and permitted to undertake the internship as part of their graduate training. The internship is restricted to individuals enrolled in a clinical psychology program accredited by the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) and/or the American Psychological Association (APA).
The CPSR is part of the University of Ottawa and abides by the university’s health and safety policies. The CPSR internship requires all interns to demonstrate proof of receiving two Health Canada approved vaccinations against the COVID-19 virus prior to the start of the internship. The 2nd vaccination must be received more than 14 days prior to starting the internship. Accommodations will only be considered for medical grounds or other grounds recognized by the Ontario Human Rights Code. For more information see the University of Ottawa COVID-19 page: https://www.uottawa.ca/coronavirus/en/mandatory-covid-19-vaccination.
To download the 2022-2023 CPSR Internship Brochure, click here.
2. What is the application process?
To apply to the internship, applicants must use the APPI Online system (https://www.appic.org/Internships/AAPI). They must ensure that the following are included: a covering letter indicating their plans and training interests in CPSR; a curriculum vitae; a duly completed APPIC Application for Psychology Internship (AAPI), which includes certification by the Director of Training; an official copy of the graduate transcript; and three letters of reference (CCPPP format is preferred).
The deadline for the receipt of completed applications is November 1st, 2021.
This internship site abides by the APPIC policy that stipulates that ranking-related information will not be solicited, accepted, or used from any intern applicant.
The University of Ottawa is committed to employment equity and hires on the basis of merit. We encourage applications from members of groups that are marginalized based on their sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, racialization, disability, and/or status as First Nations, Métis, Inuit or Indigenous.
For applicants affiliated with the University of Ottawa doctoral program:
Interviews will be scheduled in December 2021. Each interviewee will meet individually with two members of the selection committee for approximately one hour. Applicants will be notified by December 3rd if they are invited for an interview. Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic and consistent with recommendations form the CCPPP all interviews will be conducted remotely by either telephone or video conferencing.
For applicants from programs other than the University of Ottawa doctoral program:
Interviews will be scheduled between January 10 to 24, 2022, in accordance with CCPPP proposition for the regional coordination of internship interviews. Applicants will be notified by December 3rd if they are invited for an interview. Each interviewee will have two separate individual telephone or videoconference interviews with two members of the selection committee for approximately thirty minutes each. Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic and consistent with recommendations form the CCPPP all interviews will be conducted remotely by either telephone or video conferencing.
3. What is the training model?
The internship training program at CPSR offers intensive supervised experience to pre-doctoral interns in the practice of clinical psychology. A broad definition of clinical psychology is used at CPSR that includes clinical services to individual adults, adolescents and children, couples, and families as well as community consultation services to organizations. The mission of the internship program is to enable interns to acquire: (1) competence for the autonomous practice of clinical psychology; (2) a sound commitment to ethical standards of professional practice, (3) a strong sense of professional identity and responsibility, and (4) leadership abilities to undertake a variety of professional roles.
To accomplish this mission, the internship targets the development of competencies in four main areas of practice in clinical psychology:
- Assessment (i.e., diagnostic, career, and treatment planning)
- Intervention (i.e., individual, group, couple, and family)
- Consultation (i.e., training, program, and organization-focused)
- Research (i.e., continuation of dissertation research, CPSR projects, or those of core and affiliated faculty members)
The internship program values the development of a professional identity as a psychologist in the context of the scientist-practitioner model. The majority of the internship training staff at CPSR are full-time faculty members in the School of Psychology at the University of Ottawa affiliated with the Ph.D. program in Clinical Psychology. In this context, training staff model the integration of academic and professional roles through their dedication to training, research, and professional practice. The cornerstone of the program at CPSR is the scientist-practitioner model in which the clinician is encouraged to rigorously examine and critique interventions, account for the choice of such interventions, and evaluate their outcomes.
In order to complete the required hours of psychological services at CPSR (i.e., excluding the external rotation), five of the eight full-time interns have a target client caseload (i.e., for assessment and intervention services) over the course of the internship of 15 completed cases. The remaining three interns have a target caseload of 10 completed cases. Evaluation of acquisition of expected competencies in assessment, intervention, consultation/supervision and research are assessed at three time points during the year (December, May and August) using a competency-based evaluation form. Expected competencies development is discussed individually with each of the intern’s supervisors and described in a Supervision Agreement.
Way cases are assigned – cases are assigned according to each intern’s individualized training plan by the Interns’ Coordinator in order to meet each trainee’s training goals.
The internship is accredited by the:
CPA Accreditation Panel
Canadian Psychological Association
141 Laurier Avenue W., Suite 702
Ottawa, ON K1P 5J3
Phone: 1-613-237-2144The CPSR internship is listed with and follows the guidelines of the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers in Psychology (APPIC) and the Canadian Council of Professional Psychology Programs (CCPPP).
The CPSR predoctoral internship program first became accredited with the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) in 1990, and in 2016 was awarded a re-accreditation term of 6 years.
4. What is the training curriculum?
The curriculum of training to meet the program’s mission is experiential in nature, involving the delivery of psychological services supported by intensive supervision. The CPSR operates as a community mental health clinic providing services to the general population in the National Capital region. Interns are exposed to clients originating from diverse backgrounds, presenting with a variety of problems, and experiencing varying levels of psychological distress. Depending on an intern's training plan, caseloads are made up of individuals (children, adolescents, and adults), couples, and/or families. The types of clinical problems presented by clients include marital conflict, separation and divorce issues, children’s disruptive behaviour problems at home or in school, parenting issues, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorders, trauma, depression, anxiety disorders, personality disorders, relationship difficulties, sexual health concerns and self-esteem problems.
The internship recognizes that contemporary requirements of practicing clinical psychologists typically include a broad range of service expectations. Psychological services are defined as direct contact with clients (whether in person, virtually or by telephone), consultation related to service delivery to a client, providing training and supervision to practicum students or other professionals, and participating in program development activities within the CPSR or at a community agency external to the CPSR.
The development of competencies in training consultation and supervision are accomplished through the involvement in practicum training offered at CPSR. This includes training in the provision of clinical supervision and training in the administration of clinical services. Training in community consultation focuses on developing skills in program development and evaluation in community-based human service agencies. The program consultation training is accomplished through supervised involvement in consultation activities at the Centre for Research on Educational and Community Services (CRECS) at the University of Ottawa.
Each intern will be assigned, in consultation with the Interns’ Coordinator, a management role at CPSR under the supervision of one of the Centre’s administrators (Interns’ Coordinator, Coordinator of Practica and Internships, or Director of CPSR). The intention of these roles is to provide training to interns in the management and operations of a mental health clinic. Time devoted to these roles is approximately 4-5 hours per week. Roles include: lead for screening call supervision, coordinator of case assignment to practicum students, assistant to the Director, assistant to the Interns’ Coordinator, and external practicum placement assignment.
To supplement the training offered at CPSR, all interns undertake external rotations in other sites that offer psychological services in the National Capital region (e.g., psychiatric hospitals, general hospitals, correctional facilities, private practices). These sites offer the intern the chance to provide psychological services and work with specific populations not available at CPSR. As well, training in these sites expose interns to other professional disciplines. External rotations can provide up to 400 hours of the 2,000-hour internship. The internship helps interns identify external sites that correspond to their training objectives and facilitates their placement in these sites. Three of the internal internship positions have external rotations already set (i.e., Montfort Hospital, Centre for Research on Educational and Community Services, and The Ottawa Hospital). For the other five internship positions, interns determine their external rotation with the assistance of the Interns’ Coordinator and consistent with an individualized training plan prior to the beginning of the internship.
5. What does supervision entail?
The delivery of psychological services by interns at the CPSR under the close supervision of faculty members at the CPSR serves as the main modality of training in the internship. Please see below for a list of supervisors. These activities expose interns to the application of psychology and the delivery of services based on current scientific knowledge while meeting contemporary standards of practice in clinical psychology. Intensive and systematic supervision is a key training element in the internship at CPSR. It involves the building of a collaborative relationship between interns and supervisors and a high ratio of supervisory contact to client contact hours.
Supervision is offered in individual and group formats. As students progress through the internship their emerging competencies and interests are fostered through the supervision process. As CPSR is also a primary site for practicum training for graduate students in the clinical psychology program at the University of Ottawa, interns are required to supervise the clinical work of two students at an earlier stage of training. Interns are provided with training in clinical supervision through seminars, individual supervision, and supervision-of-supervision.
6. Will I be able to acquire supervision skills?
As CPSR is also a primary site for practicum training for graduate students in the clinical psychology program at the University of Ottawa, interns are required to supervise the clinical work of two students at an earlier stage of training. Interns are provided with training in clinical supervision through seminars, individual supervision, and a supervision-of-supervision group led by the Interns' Coordinator and held bi-monthly in the second half of the internship year.
7. What are the resources available to interns?
Each intern is provided with their own office. All offices are equipped with state-of-the-art digital recording equipment and computers. CPSR uses an electronic client file system. CPSR has an additional ten therapy rooms also equipped with recording equipment. Other training resources available to interns include, a wide range of commonly used psychological tests, computers for scoring and interpreting psychological tests, and holdings of the main library of the University of Ottawa located close to CPSR or accessed electronically.
8. What kind of training activities are offered to interns?
Experiential activities are supplemented by didactic training activities that include seminars and case conferences.
Seminars are provided through the City-Wide Seminar Series by clinical supervisors at CPSR and psychologists external to CPSR working in a variety of different positions and settings. Seminars are organized in collaboration with the four other CPA/APA-accredited residency programs in Ottawa (i.e., Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Royal Ottawa Health Care Group, and The Ottawa Hospital, Montfort Hospital) and are attended by residents/interns from all sites. Topics covered have included preparation for registration, a primer on psychoactive medications, and working with clients presenting with different types of problems.
Case Conferences involve the presentation and discussion of clinical cases and consultation work undertaken by interns. They also serve as an opportunity for supervisors, interns, and practicum students to discuss the application of current ethical standards for psychologists as well as relevant legislation affecting the provision of psychological services.
9. Do I have access to research opportunities?
There are also opportunities for interns to become involved in clinical research projects at CPSR. In past years, such projects have focused on depression in distressed relationships, the creation of intimacy in marital couples, process analysis of psychotherapy sessions, therapy for depressed older adults, and program evaluation of individual therapy services of adults. The internship program functions according to a scientist-practitioner model and therefore values research involvement by its interns. As such, protected time for research is allocated according to each intern's individualized training plan and is equivalent to 8 full days.