The Saint John’s Child and Family Development Center
Providing a comprehensive range of culturally sensitive and linguistically responsive mental health, outreach, developmental, and educational services in response to community needs since 1962. Available in English, Spanish, and in American Sign Language, services are offered for children, adolescents, and their families. Our multidisciplinary team includes clinical social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, case managers, teachers and educational, occupational and speech therapists. Services are provided within the Center, on school sites, in the home and in the greater community.
The Saint John’s Child and Family Development Center (CFDC) has a strong history of providing culturally sensitive and linguistically responsive comprehensive mental health, outreach, developmental, and educational services to the community. Services are child-centered and family focused geared to meet the needs of children, adolescents and also to address the issues and needs of family members and caregivers. These include brief family psychotherapy, therapy groups for children, teens and their parents, psychiatric evaluations and medication support, psychological testing, and psychoeducational evaluations.
The CFDC programs employ a multidisciplinary approach, matching clients and their families with a highly trained, case-specific team, which may include clinical social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, case managers, teachers and educational, occupational and speech therapists.
The Psychology Internship at Saint John’s Child and Family Development Center is accredited by the American Psychological Association. Any questions regarding the program’s status should be directed to:
Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation
American Psychological Association
750 First Street, N.E.
Washington, D.C. 20002-5979
202.336.5979
This internship site adheres to all APPIC policies and agrees to abide by the policy that no person at this training facility will solicit, accept, or use any ranking-related information from any intern applicant. Further information regarding APPIC policies is available at http://www.appic.org/.
Internship in Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, Accredited as Internship in Clinical Psychology
The Training Setting
Saint John’s Child and Family Development Center (CFDC) is an APA accredited site that provides training in clinical child and adolescent psychology in a multicultural community mental health setting. CFDC has been providing a comprehensive range of mental health, developmental and community outreach services to children and their families since 1962. The Center is unique in that while it primarily functions as a community mental health center, it is also part of Saint John’s Health Center, and as such interns are provided with opportunities to practice psychology in the medical setting as well.
The Training Model
The internship is best described as fitting the Scholar-Practitioner model. Interns are encouraged to develop as “local clinical scientists,” as described by Strickler and Trierweiler (1995)*. Over the course of the training year, interns cultivate observational skills that allow them to determine whether evidence gathered through direct clinical interaction supports or contradicts the applicability of normative research findings to particular clinical cases. Interventions are then developed and modified accordingly.
* Strickler, G. and Trierweiler, S. (1995). The Local Clinical Scientist: A Bridge Between Science and Practice. American Psychologist, 50, 995-1002.
The Training Goals
The program trains interns in:
- Psychotherapeutic Intervention
- Psychodiagnostic Assessment
- Mental Health Consultation
- The Integration of Science and Practice
A strong emphasis is placed on cultural context as well as ethical/legal issues.
Experiential Training
Interns are provided with opportunities to work in various departments and clinics within the Center. These include:
General Outpatient Services: Psychodiagnostic assessment as well as crisis, brief and extended psychotherapy are provided to children and families presenting with a variety of symptoms and diagnoses. Many families are Spanish-speaking, so Spanish-speaking applicants are strongly encouraged to apply.
Therapeutic Preschool: Intensive early intervention in a therapeutic milieu is provided for three-to-five-year-old children with severe emotional and/or behavioral problems.
Birth-to-Five Mental Health Services: Early childhood assessment and intervention are provided in this program, with an emphasis on the caregiver-child dyad.
Youth Development Project: Working together as co-therapists, interns and staff in this program provide group therapy to at-risk middle and high school students in the public schools.
Clinic for Learning and Attention Disorders: This clinic provides psycho-educational assessment and psycho-educational groups for children and adolescents coping with attention and learning difficulties.
Child Abuse Program: This program provides individual, family and group therapy to children and families who have suffered physical, sexual and emotional abuse.
Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Program: For deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals and their families, this program provides assessment, psychotherapy and case management.
Consultation/Liaison Service: Interns may have an opportunity to consult medical teams treating seriously ill adults who have children and need assistance coping as a family. Interns also consult to local schools.
Didactic Training
Interns attend a variety of seminars on topics including: The Intake Process, Cultural Competency, Crisis Intervention, Legal/Ethical Issues, Family Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Assessment.
Supervision
Interns receive extensive weekly supervision from a variety of psychologists and other mental health professionals, in order to maintain the emphasis on intern learning.
Location
CFDC is located 20 blocks from the ocean, in the heart of Santa Monica, a beachside city with a variety of cultural events and other recreational opportunities. Services are provided within the center, schools, homes and community.
Application
The training year begins the first Tuesday after Labor Day, and ends on the last weekday of August. Five interns are selected each year. The stipend is competitive and includes health insurance.
The application deadline is November 15th. CFDC adheres to the internship selection guidelines set forth by the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC), and participates in the National Match.
Applicants must be at least third-year graduate students in an APA-approved psychology doctoral program. Applicants should have at least 1,000 practicum hours by the beginning of the internship year.
Applicants must obtain full legal clearance form the DOJ and related California entities prior to the start of the internship year. Internship appointments are contingent upon obtaining full legal clearance and approval from Saint John's Human Resources (please see APPIC MATCH POLICIES (4a): "Appointments of applicants to internship positions may be contingent upon the applicants satisfying certain eligibility requirements.")
Additional Information
- (310) 829-8921 (Business Office)
- (310) 829-8708 (Training Director)
- (310) 829-8455 (Fax)