This section sets forth NPTC’s key principles for evaluating the conduct and competence of interns participating in the Consortium Internship Program and the compliance of member sites within the Consortium.
Psychology interns, training directors, and supervisors are expected to adhere to the ethical standards and statements relevant to APA, APPIC, NPTC, and the individual training sites. Interns, training directors, and supervisors are also expected to read and agree to the Long-term Diversity Plan. Further, all interns, training directors, and supervisors are expected to know and adhere to the following model of student competence as adapted from the Student Competence Task Force of the Council of Chairs of Training Councils (CCTC, 2004):
Interns should know—prior to program entry and at the outset of training—that training staff, supervisors, and administrators have a professional and ethical obligation to:
1. Establish criteria and methods to assess an intern’s areas of competence in addition to knowledge or skills, including but not limited to cognitive issues, psychological stability, interpersonal skills, physical conditions that may need accommodation, ethical issues, professional development, and personal fitness for practice in order to ascertain whether such matters may interfere with or prevent professional competence in other programs, the profession, employment, or in interaction with the public at large; and
2. Ensure—insofar as possible—that the interns who complete their programs are competent to manage future relationships (e.g., patient, collegial, professional, public, scholarly, supervisory, teaching) in an effective and appropriate manner.
As such, within a developmental framework, and with due regard for the inherent power difference between psychology interns and supervisors, interns should know that their training staff and supervisors will evaluate their competence in areas other than knowledge and skills. These evaluative areas include, but are not limited to, demonstration of sufficient:
1. Interpersonal and professional competence (e.g., the ways in which psychology interns relate to patients, peers, allied professionals, the public, and individuals from diverse backgrounds or histories);
2. Self-awareness, self-reflection, and self-evaluation (e.g., knowledge of the content and potential impact of one’s own beliefs and values on patients, peers, supervisors, allied professionals, the public, and individuals from diverse backgrounds or histories);
3. Openness to processes of supervision (e.g., the ability and willingness to explore issues that either interfere with the appropriate provision of care or impede professional development or functioning); and
4. Resolution of issues or problems that interfere with professional development or functioning in a satisfactory manner (e.g., by responding constructively to feedback from supervisors or program faculty; by successfully completing performance improvement plans).
This policy is not only applicable to settings and contexts in which evaluation would appropriately occur, but also to settings and contexts that are unrelated to the formal process of training (e.g., non-training or social contexts). However, irrespective of setting or context, appropriate representatives of the Consortium may review behaviors within the context of the Consortium’s evaluation processes when an intern’s, training director’s, and/or supervisor’s conduct clearly and demonstrably:
1. Impacts the performance, development, or functioning of the psychology intern(s) on site;
2. Raises questions of a legal or ethical nature;
3. Represents a risk to public safety; or
4. Damages the representation of psychology to the profession or public.
Although the purpose of this policy is to inform interns and member sites that investigation and evaluation will occur in these areas, it should also be emphasized that NPTC’s investigative and evaluation processes strive to include:
1. Information regarding evaluation processes and standards (e.g., procedures should be consistent and content verifiable);
2. Information regarding the primary purpose of evaluation (e.g., to facilitate intern development; to enhance self-awareness, self-reflection and self-assessment; to emphasize strengths as well as areas for improvement; and to assist in the development of performance improvement plans when necessary);
3. More than one source of information regarding the evaluative area(s) in question (e.g., across supervisors and settings); and
4. Opportunities for performance improvement, provided supervisors and/or Administrative Office staff conclude that satisfactory remediation is possible for a given psychology intern. Performance improvement may include the imposition of additional training requirements.
Generally, subsequent findings of misconduct will merit more severe sanctions, including the possibility of suspension/expulsion of interns, removal of interns for all or part of the remaining training year, or removal of site from the Consortium. To ensure interns and member sites receive fair and impartial treatment, NPTC has established Grievance and Due Process Procedures for challenging Consortium decisions. The full text of the policies may be found in the next section of this Manual.