Training Philosophy

The National Psychology Training Consortium believes…

NPTC’s internship training incorporates diverse psychological theories, approaches, and perspectives that are designed to prepare psychology interns for a broad range of professional roles and activities. The training program is also attuned to the continually expanding scope and evolving nature of the field and the likelihood that clinical psychologists will engage in multiple roles over the course of their professional careers.

NPTC is committed to providing a clinical training experience that is sequential, cumulative, and graded in complexity. The training is conducted in a facilitative and supportive manner that provides each psychology intern with the opportunities to experience the practice of psychology with rural and underserved patients and as members of multidisciplinary integrative primary care teams. Psychology interns are respected trainees who make valuable contributions that enhance the learning environment of the organization as a whole. Psychology interns are provided the opportunity to expand their understanding of theoretical principles and translate that knowledge into practice.

The goal of the supervisory relationship is to maximize the opportunity for the psychology interns to develop a constructive, collaborative working alliance that supports growth, learning, and quality care provision. Through collaborative modeling with supervisors, psychology interns are socialized into the profession and develop an appreciation for continuing professional development and lifelong learning.

The National Psychology Training Consortium seeks to train prospective psychologists to the discipline and practice of clinical psychology by employing an empirically-informed competency-based practitioner-scholar model. The three program aims include the following:

Aim 1: To provide broad and general training in psychology with emphasis on applied empirical knowledge within their setting.

Aim 2: To prepare psychology interns to competently address the needs of diverse populations, with emphasis on underserved.

Aim 3: To socialize psychology interns to utilize critical thinking, problem solving, and meaningful self-reflection to facilitate life-long professional development.

The program uses these aims to provide experiences in clinical learning environments that are responsive to the changing needs of diverse communities.

As psychological practice is inarguably based on science, the program firmly believes the competent, evidence-based practice of psychology requires an integration of both scientific and professional knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Our training philosophy uses the local clinical scientist philosophy with an additional focus on acquisition of core competencies for behavioral health consultants in some settings. Specifically, this model not only emphasizes the importance of general training in psychology but also prioritizes the integration of science and practice via implementation of the practitioner-scholar as a “local clinical scientist.” As described by Trierweiler and Stricker (1992), this perspective emphasizes:

• being a generalist of knowledge and method;
• focusing on local realities in which data are gathered as they apply to a particular case but may be limited in the extent to which they generalize to other cases; and
• developing an active inquiring mind as opposed to concentrating on technical expertise with scientific methods (p. 104).

Internship training is guided by consortium values that include:

• Broad and general practice with the opportunities to move into new, emerging areas;
• Multiples ways of knowing, sources of knowledge, and values;
• Commitment to life-long learning;
• Valuing of human diversity;
• Self-awareness, open-mindedness, flexibility, personal integrity, and honesty;
• Guidance by professional ethics and standards of conduct.

This generalist foundation is complimented by a focus on Robinson and Reiter’s (2015) suggested core competencies particularly relevant when working in primary care, which include:

• Clinical Practice Skills
• Practice Management Skills
• Consultation Skills
• Documentation Skills
• Team Performance Skills
• Administrative Skills

These values serve to complement the profession-wide competencies of the Internship Program.

Profession-Wide Competency 1: Research

Profession-Wide Competency 2: Ethical and Legal Standards

Profession-Wide Competency 3: Individual and Cultural Diversity

Profession-Wide Competency 4: Professional Values and Attitudes

Profession-Wide Competency 5: Communication and Interpersonal Skills

Profession-Wide Competency 6: Evidence-Based Assessment

Profession-Wide Competency 7: Evidence-Based Intervention

Profession-Wide Competency 8: Evidence-Based Supervision

Profession-Wide Competency 9: Consultation and Interprofessional/Interdisciplinary Skills

Primary Care Behavioral Health (PCBH)

A growing body of literature calls for the inclusion of broad-based mental health services in America’s healthcare system. Furthermore, there is recognition of the need and utility of an “integrative” approach to mental health and behavioral health into our “healthcare” system.

The primary care setting has been viewed as the preferred setting for the delivery of behavioral health care services. There are three principle goals of integrative care:

1) To produce healthier patients
2) To create more efficient resource expenditures
3) To remove barriers to access

One of the goals of NPTC is to provide Psychology Interns with the skills to practice in and even manage integrative primary care settings. All three of our regions offer varying experiences in integrated health care, and all designated sites within the Cascades Region implement the Primary Care Behavioral Health (PCBH) model and offer this intense and focused training.

The integrated behavioral health care training model provides training to work in a medical office, hospital, ER, and medical care facility and interact with a multidisciplinary team while focusing on the behavioral needs of the patient. This training model requires a strong background in at least one of the following areas: primary care behavioral health, integrative primary health care, medical psychology, health psychology, rehabilitation psychology, or pain management. Psychology Interns interact in a triage fashion with the medical staff providing valuable feedback and intervention on a behavioral level for the patient’s medical condition.

Information regarding the PCBH model can be found in the links below.

Robinson, P. J., & Reiter, J. T. (2015). Behavioral consultation and primary care: A guide to integrating services (2nd ed.). New York: Springer.

Trierweiler, S. J. & Stricker, G. (1992). Research and evaluation competency: Training the local clinical scientist. The Core Curriculum in Professional Psychology. Washington, DC: APA.