California Department of Mental Health

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The Patton Clinical Psychology Internship Program is a one-year full-time placement. The American Psychological Association has continuously accredited the program since 1964* and more than 150 interns have completed the program since that time. Former interns hold positions in public, private, and academic settings across the country. The mission of the Internship Program at Patton is to foster the development of a well-rounded competent entry level clinical psychologist who can function effectively in a wide variety of settings and who also has developed some specialized skills in the areas of forensic psychology and treatment of the severely mentally ill. Although Patton offers concentrations in clinical psychology, clinical neuropsychology, and forensic psychology, all interns complete a core curriculum in clinical practice with individuals diagnosed with severe and persistent mental illness. The Patton State Hospital Doctoral Internship Program emphasizes incorporating the scientific underpinnings of psychology into practice. Throughout the internship year, emphasis is placed on enhancing:

  • Ability to make sound and scientifically informed professional judgments.
  • Ability to extend and expand basic assessment and intervention techniques to meet the needs of diverse settings and problems.
  • Ability to work with clients/patients of diverse backgrounds
  • Ability to apply ethical and legal principles to practice.
  • Effective interpersonal functioning and the ability to work in collaboration with other professionals.
  • Awareness of personal strengths and limitations and the need for continued supervision, consultation, and education.

Internship applicants must be enrolled in a doctoral program (preferably APA Accredited) in clinical psychology at a recognized university or professional school, must be recommended by their clinical program, and must meet our prerequisites. The program is a member of the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC). This internship site agrees to abide by the APPIC policy that no person at this training facility will solicit, accept, or use any ranking-related information from any intern applicant.

The Clinical Psychology Intern (CPI) civil service position requires that interns have completed a core curriculum and a minimum of 500 hours of assessment and therapy practica in clinical psychology. Since 1990, all successful applicants have completed over 1,000 practicum hours. The core curriculum should include mental measurement, objective and projective assessment techniques, psychopathology, psychological treatment modalities, and theories of personality. Practica should include experience in the administration, scoring and interpretation of intelligence tests and other objective and projective instruments. The applicant should have experience in writing integrated assessment reports.

Currently, there are 48 psychologists on staff. All psychologists are either licensed in California or actively working toward licensure. A wide variety of orientations are represented among the staff/supervisor members, including cognitive/behavioral, strategic, humanistic, existential, feminist, sociocultural, psychodynamic and psychosocial approaches to treatment. Each intern is supervised by several staff psychologists and is exposed to a variety of tasks and clinical orientations. Interns are expected to have developed specific competencies in Assessment, Treatment, Diversity, Consultation, and Forensic Issues. Both Intern Performance and Program Performance Evaluations are part of the process. At the end of the year, written evaluations are provided to each intern’s school and a certificate of completion is awarded to the intern with a copy sent to the school.

Patton’s internship program has access to a wealth of internal and external training resources including an excellent staff library, computers, voicemail, teleconferencing ability, assessment materials, assessment software and dictation equipment. Additionally, one of our psychologists, who is also an attorney, provides his expertise in a mock court proceeding intended to facilitate preparation for forensic testimony. There are many inservice and community training conferences/workshops scheduled throughout the year.

The application deadline is November 15th in order to allow the Internship Director and Committee sufficient time to review applications for the selection process. Salary funding is through a civil service appointment for CPI. The annual salary for the 2006-2007 year is $38,064. There are no unpaid positions. Interns have the same holidays as other state employees, plus accrued sick leave and two weeks of paid vacation time. The starting date is September 1. Qualified applicants will be contacted to schedule an interview after the application materials are reviewed. Because completing a work sample is part of the application process, on-site interviews are required. Though internship offers are made in February, actual employment in September is contingent on passing a physical examination (including a drug-screening) and a security clearance following fingerprinting.

Application Procedure

All application materials including transcripts and letters of recommendation must be in our office by November 15th to allow the Internship Director and Committee sufficient time to review applications for the selection process. All of the following materials must be received by the November 15th deadline in order to complete the application:

  1. Completed AAPI
  2. Three letters of recommendation
  3. Official Transcripts From All Graduate Institutions Attended
  4. Current Curriculum Vita
  5. Completed California Examination and/or Employment Application Form (see below link)
  6. Supplementary Information to Application-Psychology Classes Form (see below link)

Please note that all application materials, including the California Examination and/or Employment Application form and the Supplementary Information to Application-Psychology Classes form must be completed in their entirety. Our Human Resources Department will not accept these forms with notations such as “see attached vita” in lieu of completing the items in the actual forms.

The necessary application forms/information can be downloaded using the following links:

For further information write or call:

David M. Glassmire, Ph.D., ABPP, Internship Director
Patton State Hospital
3102 E. Highland Ave.
AX-229 Patton, CA 92369
Phone: (909) 425-7795 Fax: (909) 425-6604

*Committee on Accreditation American Psychological Association750 First Street N.E.Washington, DC 20002-4242(202) 336-5979