Health Service Psychology Doctoral Internship Program
Bridging Theory and Practice: A Comprehensive Internship for Future Psychologists
At California Counseling Clinics (CCC), we offer a comprehensive, full-time Health Service Psychology Doctoral Internship Program designed to help advanced doctoral students grow into confident, thoughtful, and well-rounded psychologists.
Grounded in developmental and practitioner-scholar models, our program combines meaningful clinical experience with strong supervision, comprehensive psychological assessment training, and a structured doctoral-level didactic curriculum. Interns are valued members of our clinical team while receiving the support, mentorship, and progressively increasing independence needed to prepare for entry-level professional practice.
California Counseling Clinics has submitted an application for APPIC Full Membership for its Clinical Psychology Doctoral Internship Program. APPIC is a membership organization and does not accredit training programs.
Interns train across our Santa Barbara, Goleta, and Westlake Village offices, serving a diverse range of patients across the lifespan while gaining a strong foundation in psychotherapy, psychological assessment, interdisciplinary collaboration, and ethical practice.
Program Overview
The internship runs annually from early August through late July and provides a 12-month, full-time training experience of approximately 40 hours per week. Interns complete a minimum of 2,080 hours of supervised professional experience.
A typical training week includes approximately 18–20 hours of face-to-face direct service delivery, including psychotherapy and psychological assessment activities. The remainder of the week includes individual and group supervision, doctoral-level didactics, assessment interpretation and report writing, documentation, consultation, professional development, and other training activities.
Training is intentionally developmental. Interns begin the year with greater structure, orientation, and supervisory support and progress toward increasing independence in clinical judgment, assessment, intervention, consultation, and other professional roles as their competence develops.
What Makes Training at CCC Unique?
Broad Clinical Experience
Interns provide psychotherapy to children, adolescents, adults, couples, and families with a broad range of presenting concerns, including anxiety, depression, trauma, OCD, ADHD, autism and other neurodevelopmental concerns, grief, relationship difficulties, identity exploration, behavioral concerns, and life transitions.
Our clinicians represent a range of theoretical orientations and areas of specialization, giving interns exposure to evidence-based and integrative approaches such as CBT, ERP, CPT, TF-CBT, Motivational Interviewing, Solution-Focused and Single-Session Therapy, relational approaches, and family-systems work.
The emphasis is not simply on learning techniques, but on developing strong case conceptualization skills and learning how to thoughtfully adapt intervention to each individual patient.
Comprehensive Psychological Assessment Training
Psychological assessment is a major strength of the CCC internship.
Interns gain hands-on experience with comprehensive evaluations across the lifespan, including neurodevelopmental, ADHD and executive functioning, learning, cognitive, personality, and diagnostic clarification evaluations. Specialty assessment opportunities may also be available throughout the year.
Interns participate in the full assessment process—from clinical interviewing and battery development through administration, scoring, interpretation, differential diagnosis, integrated report writing, feedback, and consultation.
Our goal is for interns to leave CCC comfortable not only administering tests, but thinking like psychologists: selecting appropriate measures, integrating complex and sometimes conflicting data, considering alternative diagnostic explanations, and communicating findings in ways that are genuinely useful to patients and families.
Strong, Developmentally Focused Supervision
Supervision is central to the internship experience.
Interns receive:
- At least 2 hours of individual supervision each week with licensed psychologists
- Supervision from both primary and secondary licensed psychologist supervisors
- 2 hours of group supervision each week
- Additional assessment supervision and consultation as needed
Interns are encouraged to deepen their case conceptualization, examine clinical decision-making, strengthen their use of self, navigate ethical and cultural complexities, and develop their own professional identity.
As the year progresses, supervision shifts toward increasing autonomy and preparation for independent professional practice. Interns may also have opportunities later in the year to participate in supervised mentorship or supervision of practicum-level trainees.
Two Hours of Doctoral-Level Didactics Every Week
Interns participate in two dedicated hours of structured doctoral-level didactic training each week, typically Wednesdays from 8:30–10:30 AM.
Our curriculum is designed specifically around the training needs of doctoral psychology interns and evolves across the year alongside interns’ clinical development. Topics include advanced psychotherapy, psychological assessment and differential diagnosis, ethics and California law, risk management, cultural responsiveness, trauma, OCD and ERP, neurodevelopmental assessment, personality assessment, supervision, consultation, and professional development.
Didactics are designed to be active and practical. Depending on the topic, training may include case discussion, role-play, experiential exercises, test administration and scoring practice, clinical vignettes, literature review, and applied case formulation.
Interns also participate in specialty workshops, guest trainings, and extended assessment practicums throughout the year.
A Collaborative Training Environment
CCC is a growing outpatient practice with a collaborative team culture. Interns work alongside psychologists and other mental health professionals and have opportunities to consult with schools, medical providers, Regional Centers, families, and community professionals.
We want interns to feel comfortable asking questions, seeking consultation, trying new skills, and gradually taking on more complex professional responsibilities.
Cultural humility and responsiveness are integrated throughout psychotherapy, assessment, supervision, and didactic training. Interns are encouraged to think critically about the ways identity, culture, context, systemic factors, and their own positionality influence clinical work.
Evaluation and Professional Development
Interns receive formal written evaluations at midyear and at the conclusion of the internship year based on the APA Profession-Wide Competencies and the program’s established Minimum Level of Achievement.
Feedback is intended to be ongoing, collaborative, and developmentally useful. Formal evaluations identify areas of strength, continued growth, and individualized training goals for the remainder of the year.
Our goal is for interns to complete the program prepared for entry-level professional practice with strong clinical judgment, meaningful assessment experience, confidence working with diverse patients, and a clear sense of themselves as developing psychologists.
Compensation and Benefits
- Annual salary: $55,000
- Health insurance: CCC covers 75% of medical, dental, and vision premiums
- Paid vacation: 10 days
- Paid sick leave: 5 days
- Professional development leave: Up to 2 days
- Paid holidays: 5 annual holidays
- Professional liability insurance: Provided by CCC
- Dedicated workspace and access to clinical and psychological assessment resources
- Staff retreats, wellness activities, and other opportunities to connect with the broader CCC team
Application Information
We are currently accepting applications for the 2027–2028 training year.
Applicants should be advanced doctoral students in clinical or counseling psychology enrolled in an APA- or CPA-accredited doctoral program, or a program that is in the process of seeking APA or CPA accreditation. Applicants must have completed the program’s required coursework, practicum training, comprehensive examinations, and dissertation requirements or equivalent milestones before the internship begins.
Application materials include:
- Curriculum Vitae
- Cover Letter
- Two letters of recommendation
- One de-identified integrated psychological assessment report
- Unofficial graduate transcripts
Application materials and questions may be directed to:
Dr. Melinda Wilson, Psy.D.
Training Director
[email protected]
More detailed information regarding eligibility, training requirements, program policies, and the internship curriculum can be found in our CCC Internship Program Brochure
Our Commitment to Interns:
At CCC, we view our interns as essential members of our clinical team. We are committed to fostering your growth as a culturally responsive, ethically grounded, and clinically skilled psychologist. Our training environment is inclusive, collaborative, and tailored to support the development of your professional identity and long-term career success.