Intern Schedules

There is a weekly schedule for Interns’ training experiences. Below is the general structure of this weekly schedule for each rotation. This schedule is available on the website for prospective Interns, to give them an idea of how training activities are organized. Rotations shift on February 1st each year.

One day per week, interns are trained at the alternate office location (Fargo or Fergus Falls). They engage in general clinical activities while in that office. Interns have scheduled testing time on one day per week in each office. Supervision time is scheduled for in the afternoons and connects to testing, so that observation and real time feedback can also occur, especially early in the year.

On one day per week, interns are involved with activities for their assigned rotations, as well as general clinical activities in the primary office (Detroit Lakes or Moorhead). The DBT group supervision is held on Tuesdays. The Intern on the ABA rotation attends the autism case consultation meeting on Thursday mornings and engages in activities for this rotation on one afternoons per week. MAP supervision additionally occurs on a varied schedule. On Tuesdays at noon, interns participate in outpatient case consultations. These consultations alternate between clinic specific consultations and consultations that are specialized to the variety of evidence-based practices that are provided in the clinic. Each intern will work with their primary supervisors to make determinations regarding which specialty consultations they will attend.

Fridays tend to involve administrative activities. A brown bag lunch group supervision is held over the noon hour. This is also attended by post-doctoral psychology residents and practicum students, if applicable. There are a variety of supervisory activities that occur at this meeting, including a review of intern schedules and activities, identification of training needs and practical supports, professional topics, research review, and case review. Internal didactic presentations are held weekly on Friday afternoons. On the second Friday of each month there is an Outpatient administrative meeting and also a Psychology Department meeting.

The amount of face-to-face client time increases as Interns’ skill and comfort level increases. While the focus of the Internship is always on training and not “productivity,” in order for Interns to successfully transition to the demands of a future independent practice, they must develop the stamina and efficiency in service provision and documentation to begin to approximate the typical expectations for a licensed psychologist in a future practice setting. In the schedule below, client time and paperwork is grouped together, since late canceled and failed appointments provide natural and sufficient paperwork time. Interns are also provided support and supervision to learn concurrent note writing.

The average time spent in various training activities each week is listed below. Projections for assessment- time includes time spent scoring and interpreting; projections for intervention times include planning interventions and consolidating outcome data:

• Assessment 12 hours 30%

• Intervention 14 hours 35%

• Consultation 2 hours 5%

• Supervision 5 hours 12.5%

• Didactic Training 2 hours 5.0%

• Other (Administrative) 5 hours 12.5%

A sample structure of Intern’s schedules is depicted below. Keep in mind that there may be some day to day changes, and each day’s activities may be in a different sequence. However, this diagram provides an accurate regarding the balance of time and activities.

Day One

8:00-12:00 Testing in one location

12:00-1:00 Lunch

1:00-2:00 Supervision

2:00-5:00 Test interpretation/write up time

Day Two

ABA Rotation:

8:00-12:00 Therapy sessions

12:00-1:00 Brown bag lunch case consultation

1:00-5:00 ABA rotation activities

Day Two

DBT Rotation:

8:00-9:00 DBT Consultation

9:00-12:00 Therapy clients

12:00-1:00 Brown bag lunch case consultation

1:00-5:00 Therapy sessions

Day Three

8:00-12:00 Testing in other location (may include travel time when traveling to Fergus Falls)

12:00-1:00 Lunch

1:00-2:00 Supervision

2:00-5:00 Test interpretation/write up time (may include travel when traveling to Fergus Falls)

Day Four

ABA Rotation:

8:00-9:00 ABA Supervision

9:00-12:00 Therapy sessions

12:00-1:00 Lunch

1:00-5:00 Therapy sessions

Day Four

DBT Rotation:

8:00-10:00 Therapy sessions

10:00-12:00 DBT Group

12:00-1:00 Lunch

1:00-5:00 Therapy sessions

Day Five

8:00-12:00 Therapy sessions

9:00 (2nd Friday of each month) Outpatient Program Meeting

11:00 (4th Friday of each month) Psychology Team Meeting

12:00 Brown Bag Lunch Group Supervision

1:00-3:00 Didactic

3:00-5:00 Admin/paperwork time