Internship in Clinical Psychology

The Wright Institute Los Angeles Clinical Psychology Internship is designed to develop and refine competence in the conduct of long-term psychotherapy (individual, couples, and group) and clinical assessment. Interns may enter the program on a full-time or half-time basis. Trainees who successfully complete the first year of the program are invited to continue for a second year of training at WILA, either as a 2nd year internship or as a Postdoctoral Fellow. Our Internship includes therapy activities with an outpatient, adult caseload drawn from WILA’s Hedda Bolgar Psychotherapy Clinic, individual and group supervision for this caseload, seminars on theory and technique, and administrative and clinical case conferences.

Full-time interns participate in the program for 35 hours per week. They carry caseloads of 18-20 hours of psychotherapy, receive 3 hours of individual supervision, and 2 hours of group supervision each week.

Half-time interns participate in the program for 20 hours per week. Half-time interns carry caseloads of 10-12 hours of psychotherapy and receive 2 hours of individual and 1 hour of group supervision each week. All interns conduct clinical assessments.

The internship program includes a year-long series of seminars on theory and technique, clinical, charting and administrative conferences, program meetings and various other professional activities. Interns conduct extensive assessments using clinical interviews throughout the training experience.

Full-time interns can also participate in one of WILA’s clinical projects. These are typically grant-funded endeavors, which vary from year to year.

Select WILA interns and post-graduate Fellows have the unique opportunity to be part of or Therapeutic Identity and Professional Development track. WILA is one of, if not the only, program to offer students the space to not only deepen their clinical skills but also to learn in-vivo how to market their own practice and gain step-by-step guidance in building their confidence in their identity as clinicians. We believe this process will help to ensure a smooth transition into licensure and being a private practice clinician. In addition students learn more about how WILA works as an analytic clinic and training institute and support its mission as a non-profit mental health leader in the Los Angeles area. 

Participation in the internship program meets the pre doctoral supervised professional experience requirements for licensure of the California Board of Psychology. Professional experience obtained at Wright Institute Los Angeles has also been accepted by licensing boards in other states in which interns have sought licensure.

Theoretical Orientation

The theoretical orientation of WILA’s core faculty and teaching and supervisory faculty is contemporary psychoanalytic/psychodynamic. A wide range of psychoanalytic models guide clinical practice at WILA. The field of psychoanalytic psychotherapy has undergone a substantial evolution in recent years. WILA’s program includes the core of theory and technique that has endured through this evolution. Also, presented are relatively recent developments, which have advanced theory and enlarged the range of application of psychoanalytic psychotherapy. These developments include advances in the treatment of borderline and narcissistic personality organization, new work in object relations theory, the widened scope of the patient-therapist relationship, and recent applications of psychoanalytic theories and technique to brief psychotherapy.

While a psychoanalytic/psychodynamic influence is strongly felt at WILA, the internship program maintains a broadly based therapeutic perspective. The advantages and limitations of psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy as well as of alternative approaches are considered in formulating treatment plans for each case. Interns are encouraged to use psychoanalytic concepts to enhance their understanding of the therapeutic process. However, interns are also encouraged to conduct their psychotherapeutic and assessment activities in accordance with needs and capabilities of their patients.

The internship program shares the Wright Institute Los Angeles’ commitment to a multidisciplinary, broad based approach to human problems. This commitment is reflected in the Institute’s diverse faculty drawn from each of the mental health disciplines, and by WILA’s openness to innovative conceptions and approaches. WILA’s orientation is also reflected in our training program’s tempering of traditional clinical knowledge with an appreciation of the vast array of social, political and economic forces, which affect individuals and groups in society.

Seminars and Conferences

Seminars on theory and practice and clinical and administrative conferences are an integral aspect of the WILA Internship Program. Seminars are offered on a quarter system. Academic quarters begin in early October (fall), January (winter), April (spring) and July (summer). Clinical work, supervision and administrative conferences continue throughout the year.

Seminars vary somewhat from year to year. The following is a selection of seminars and conferences typically offered to interns within a two-year period:

Brief Dynamic Psychotherapy

Charting Conference

Clinical Use of Dreams

Continuing Case Conference

Conjoint Psychotherapy

Core Issues in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy

Eating Disorders & Addictions

Freud

History of Psychoanalytic Concepts

How Does Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Cure?

Impact of a Culturally Diverse Patient Population on the Practice of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy

Intake Conference

Klein and The Kleinians

LGBT Issues in Psychotherapy

Object Relations Theories

The Primitive Mind and Borderline Personality Organization

Psychodiagnostic Testing

The Psychoanalytic Frame

Psychopharmacology in the Practice of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy

Treatment of Narcissistic Personality Disorders

Treatment of Traumatized Patients

See a list of our Teaching and Supervisory Faculty

Collaboration with WILA Postgraduates

The WILA Internship is situated within an advanced training institute, the Postgraduate Center. The Postgraduate Center’s two-year program in psychoanalytic psychotherapy is open to graduate psychologists, social workers, marriage and family therapists, physicians and psychiatric nurses. Each year ten to twelve postgraduate fellows are in residence at the Center. In addition to jointly attending seminars and conferences, interns are provided with opportunities to interact informally with postgraduate fellows and senior Postgraduate Center faculty. The internship program’s relationship to the WILA Postgraduate Center enriches and deepens the training experience for all participants. For more information, see our Postgraduate Training Program page.

Evaluation and Accountability

Mutual evaluation and accountability are core values of the program. Supervisors and interns write evaluations of their work together twice yearly. In the event of concern or compliant, interns have access to the grievance procedures described in the Institutes’ Procedures Manual.

Admission

The internship is open to students in good standing enrolled in Ph.D. or Psy.D. level clinical and counseling psychology graduate programs. Applicants must be certified by their department or school as ready to begin internship level training. A completed application, graduate transcripts, and three letters of recommendation are required for consideration of admission into the internship. A personal interview is also required. Interns begin their training year in early July or October. You must apply through CAPIC. Deadlines and application information are available on their website.