Graduate Program in Psychology
INFORMATION ABOUT PRACTICUM SITES
Process of Application and General Information to Consider
- What is the process/ requirements for applying?
- Do you apply to the site or directly to a supervisor?
- Is there a brochure or website for the site?
- Do you have the contact information for this site? If so, can you specify the name of the site contact person, phone number, address and email address.
- When is the deadline to apply?
- When does the practicum start and finish?
- What’s involved in the interview and who conducts it?
- How many days per week or hours per week are students expected to be at the site? How can this time be spread out and who determines the schedule?
- Is there flexibility to move around the site (i.e., doing rotations in various departments or moving to another department if the number of hours is not being met)?
Clinical Training
- Opportunities for assessment? (if so, what type of assessments will YOU do? Note: an intake interview for a potential therapy client is not the same as full a psychological assessment; also there are different types of psyc assessments).
- What assessment instruments will be you be trained on?
- What is the process of training?
- Direct observation of your supervisor?
- Reading on your own?
- Opportunities for treatment?
- What is the client population?
- Are there opportunities to conduct couples therapy? Group therapy?
- What percentage of time is devoted to direct contact, report writing, other?
- What is the theoretical orientation used for treatment?
- Will you receive training for working with specific populations or dealing with specific mental health issues?
- What is the expected case load (i.e., number of psychotherapy cases and/or the number of assessments a student is expected to get)?
Supervision
- How many supervisors are involved in training?
- How many hours of supervision per week?
- What is the supervision style?
- Individual vs. group?
- Use of audio-tapes?
Other Opportunities
- Are research opportunities available?
- Are teaching/ didactic opportunities available?
- Is there a possibility of attending clinical rounds? Professional workshops conducted at the site?
- Are there future opportunities following a practicum such as paid assessment work, research work, and does the site formally train interns?
Practicum Facility
- How many other trainees were at the site with you? (interns, post-docs, etc.)
- What other professionals did you work with? (social workers, psychiatrists, etc.)
- Did you have your own office?
- Did you have computer access?
- Any concerns about accessibility of the site by public transit?
- How wheelchair accessible is the site?
Overall Experience of the Practicum
- Provide a rating on a “five-star” scale of 0 stars (not recommend) to 5 stars (highly recommend) and comment on your overall experience at this practicum.
- What does a typical day look like at the site?
Other Helpful Information
- Consider downloading and watching the "match made on earth" documentary. There are tons of questions re. internship that would probably also be helpful for considering a practicum site.
- What is the perception of psychology as a profession within the site?
- How is conflict resolved at this site? Consider what would happen in the event of a problem between supervisor/supervisee. Information from former students at this site may be very helpful in this regard, to get a sense for how professionally the site conducts itself.