Psychology Internship (CAPS)

Introduction Letter

Dear Psychology Internship Applicants,

Welcome to Stanford University’s Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) Psychology Internship Program’s website!  I appreciate your interest in our training program and I hope that the information on this website will provide you with helpful information about the training opportunities in Health Service Psychology (HSP) that CAPS offers.

Stanford University is nestled among California’s rolling hills, just 30 miles south of San Francisco, a remarkably diverse and vibrant urban city.  This backdrop sets a larger context for the diversity of the Stanford community.   CAPS is one of three core health services located at Vaden Health Center.  Vaden provides high quality, compassionate medical, psychological, and health education.  Consistent with the overall mission of the university, CAPS creates a caring, supportive, educational environment for trainees to support the acquisition of multiple competencies to practice independently and operate as professional and ethical psychologists within an integrated university health center.

CAPS provides training that supports an intern’s professional development through experience, supervision, and mentorship that is informed by the science of psychology.  The training staff is committed to providing quality supervision and training seminars to the interns that support their professional and personal development as future psychologists.   Interns will learn from supervisors possessing a range of skills, experiences, theoretical perspectives, scholarship, and clinical expertise.  We value not only the broadening of clinical competence and learning to manage the demands of working in a dynamic university counseling center, but the ability to work collaboratively with other mental health professionals.  The multidisciplinary staff at CAPS values diversity and social justice and actively contributes to foster professional respect and cohesiveness within CAPS staff and across disciplines.  Our training program provides many opportunities for interns to consult, learn and work in partnership with the staff to build meaningful relationships and mentorship.  

Our training program offers many exceptional opportunities throughout the year that are designed to prepare our interns to work in college mental health.  By the end of the training year, interns would have acquired essential profession wide competencies (PWC) and knowledge in addressing the diverse range of issues that occur in a college mental health setting.  They will have the confidence and ability to manage different levels of crisis working as an on-call clinician, learn the value of consultation both within and outside of CAPS and gain competency in working with specific issues that are especially pertinent to the student population such as eating disorders, substance abuse, and gender and sexual identity-related concerns. 

We are continually inspired by the enthusiasm, passion and dedication that our interns bring to CAPS.  The diversity represented in each of our interns including intersecting identities, cultural backgrounds, and personal and professional experience serve as the foundation for which mutual professional development occurs over the course of the training year.  We hope that the information on our website will provide helpful information to guide your decision making.  Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any additional questions. 

Best wishes for a successful completion to your internship search.