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High Plains PIC Intern Expectations

High Plains PIC offers one-year, full-time doctoral internships beginning and ending in August each year. The Consortium is comprised of six agencies located in Northern Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska and provides a range of clinical and didactic experiences that represents the necessary depth and breadth required for future professional practice within rural school and clinical settings.

Interns have a primary placement at one site with the possibility of completing other training experiences at other sites within the consortium or with community partners. Across training sites, interns are expected to:

  • Complete 2000 hours of training during the year
  • Have at least 25% spent in face-to-face direct service delivery with a focus on evidence-based practice
  • Achieve Proficiency in the APA Profession-Wide Competencies
  • Abide by the APA Code of Ethics, requirements of the High Plains PIC training program, and the policies and procedures of their training sites.

Contact High Plains PIC

For questions related to the consortium contact Robyn Hess at robyn.hess@unco.edu.

Important Dates

  • December 1: Application deadline
  • January 10: Virtual Interviews
  • August 2024: Start Date

Major Training Emphases

High Plains PIC offers interns a unique opportunity to advance their clinical training in rural and frontier settings, areas in which behavioral healthcare is often in short supply. Interns are afforded rich clinical experiences that highlight the specific demands and shared experiences within these small communities, as well as identify and creatively address the common barriers inherent in rural health. As providers, interns participate in High Plains PIC’s goal to expand the capacity of underserved rural communities to address behavioral healthcare needs through integrated services. Furthermore, all training experiences are provided within the context of a developmental perspective and trauma-informed care.

In addition to offering a distinctive experience in rural psychology, High Plains PIC offers the following major training emphases in all sites:

  • Behavioral Health Intervention

    Interns across sites receive training in Behavioral Health Intervention. Each consortium site provides opportunities for interns to work in outpatient and/or school settings to provide therapy (individual, group, and family), crisis intervention, and academic interventions to children and adolescents, racial/ethnic groups, and socioeconomic levels within a variety of evidence-based therapeutic modalities.

  • Psychological Assessment

    Interns across training sites receive training in Psychological Assessment. Interns at each consortium site administer, interpret, and provide written synthesis of psychological test batteries. Assessments may include intellectual, achievement, personality, neuropsychological batteries, and/or other competency-based measures. In addition to administering these measures, interns utilize assessment writing skills to produce accurate, high quality, reports that communicate findings and recommendations in a clear, coherent, useful manner. While each site varies on the number and type of referrals, interns complete a minimum of five (5) comprehensive psychological assessments during their internship year. 

  • Interdisciplinary Collaboration and Consultation

    Interns across training sites participate in activities related to interdisciplinary consultation and systems collaboration. Each consortium site provides opportunities for interns to provide education and guidance to other professionals regarding psychological issues, establish and engage in collaborative relationships with other agencies (e.g., schools, community agencies, social services, juvenile justice system), and participate on interdisciplinary treatment teams. 

  • Trauma-Informed Care

    Interns across training sites are provided with a strong background in Trauma-Informed Care. Recognizing that trauma is a common experience for both children and adults, and that trauma is associated with adverse behavioral health and physical health outcomes, High Plains PIC implements a trauma-informed approach. Interns at each consortium site are expected to realize the impact of trauma, recognize the signs and symptoms of trauma, integrate this knowledge into practice, and actively work to avoid re-traumatization.

     

Supervision

All interns receive a minimum of 4 hours per week of formal, scheduled supervision. One licensed psychologist serves as primary clinical supervisor at each consortium site. Interns receive a minimum of two (2) hours of individual supervision each week from a licensed psychologist, with at least one (1) hour of that supervision from their primary supervisor. In addition, "on-the-fly" informal supervision and consultation is encouraged and provided by High Plains PIC supervisors.

Weekly group supervision is required and conducted with all interns for two (2) hours per week. Group supervision is conducted via high-quality, secure distance technology with in-person sessions occurring approximately monthly. This time is spent focusing on case presentations, professional development issues, and clinical topics. 

Didactics

Interns are exposed to a variety of psychologists and guest speakers through a comprehensive didactic seminar series that spans the length of the training year.  Didactics focus on a wide range of topics, including issues related to direct service provision, as well as more theoretical and/or professional development focused topics, all designed to build upon prior knowledge and experiences and complement experiential training during the internship year.  All didactic seminars are expected to incorporate individual and/or cultural diversity themes and adhere to professional grade presentation standards, with up-to-date evidence based citations and references as appropriate.

Given the distance between sites, didactics occur in an all-day format that will be conducted in person, one time per month, in either Greeley, Fort Collins, Cheyenne, or Scottsbluff. Approximately four of the didactic days will occur in an online format. Didactics will be organized around a broad theme (e.g., ethics, diversity, professional development, advanced skills, assessment) in order to provide depth and opportunities for discussion among interns and the Training Committee. For all didactic presentations, interns are given the opportunity to provide direct feedback via an electronic survey.

Research

High Plains PIC trains psychologists who are effective consumers of research and who utilize scholarly inquiry to inform their practice. In addition to infusing current research into areas of practice, interns are expected to engage in an applied research experience during their internship year. At the quarterly research journal club, interns will review and critique three peer-reviewed journal articles on a relevant topic in psychology and meet to discuss findings and implications. Interns will be expected to demonstrate their independent ability to disseminate research or scholarly activities by presenting or publishing at the local, state, or national level.

Stipends and Benefits

The stipend for the 2024-2025 training year varies based on clinical training site and ranges between $31,800 to $35,000. The Colorado Center for Assessment and Counseling and Educational Service Unit #13 offer a stipend of $31,800. The stipend for Weld County Re-8 School District and Greeley-Evans School District is $32,500, plus benefits. Options in Psychology LLC has a stipend of $35,000.  Three of the clinical training sites follow a school schedule and afford interns several scheduled breaks.  At a minimum, all interns are provided with 15 scheduled vacation days, 5 flex days, and 2 professional leave days (for post-doctoral position interviews, dissertation defense, etc.).  In addition, interns are provided with dedicated research time that may be used for dissertation or other research activities. Interns are asked to inform their primary site supervisor of requested leave at least two weeks prior to the date, except in the case of sickness or an emergency, which should be communicated to their primary site supervisor as soon as possible. Interns are also expected to follow site-specific procedures for requesting leave.

Educational Service Unit #13  

  • Health insurance benefits
  • Longterm disability
  • Life insurance
  • Liability insurance 

Volunteers Of America: Northern Rockies

  • Health insurance benefits
  • Longterm disability
  • Life insurance
  • Liability insurance

Options in Psychology, LLC 

Provided with a supplemental stipend of up to $250 per month (or $3000 annually) allotted for the purchase of a health insurance plan.

Weld County Re-8 School DIstrict

Health insurance benefits provided.

Colorado Center for Assessment and Counseling

Intern does not receive additional health insurance benefits.  

Resources

High Plains PIC interns have access to numerous resources in all training sites. Assessment and other training materials are provided by each training site, and additional materials that may be needed may be purchased pending Training Committee approval.  Each intern has access to administrative and IT support through their primary training site.  Each intern is provided with a workspace as well as access to a laptop computer and distance technology.  Interns are also able to access the Research Consultation Lab through the University of Northern Colorado, and receive full electronic access, including the ability to download books and journal articles, to the UNC library system.  

Travel

Interns matched with High Plains PIC are expected to travel to other consortium sites several times during the internship year and therefore, must have access to reliable transportation.  Interns are reimbursed for their travel between sites for required training experiences at the mileage rate of $0.59 per mile.  The travel policy is included in the Intern Handbook and instructions on how to complete and submit the document to the University of Northern Colorado are provided during Orientation.