We view competency in professional practice activities as the result of the accumulation of training experiences during the time in our program, including the full-time internship that is required for the doctoral degree. A wide range of experiences contribute to this training, such as didactic courses, practicum courses, assistantship activities, and other formal and informal experiences in our program. Practicum courses are an essential component, but are often just the beginning of one's training.

Students begin their supervised clinical practica within the first year of graduate training. Typically, this experience begins with assessment activities. The majority of applied experiences in intervention work are done in the second, third, and fourth year after more in-depth coursework in Clinical and Community intervention. A series of graduated steps are used to prepare students for practicum activities (e.g., practice with other graduate students, observation of the activity, practice with volunteers, followed by contact with actual clients). The typical training strategy is to first supply the students with conceptual knowledge about the theory, goals, and implementation issues surrounding the applied activity. Modeling of the activity through live observation or videotapes is used to reinforce the student's understanding of the work. Our student's psychotherapy work is directly supervised (live, videotape, audiotape) for specific feedback about skill development. Finally, a self-regulatory framework is taught to help students engage in balanced self-critiques of their own work. We consider the development of self-assessment skills as critical for long-term professional development.

Students in the Program typically perform some supervised services to clients during their tenure in the Program that occurs outside of the University setting. This is accomplished through assistantship or training slots located off campus that have some affiliation with our program. These experiences may take place during the regular academic year or summer. These outside experiences are supervised by appropriately trained professionals in the community or by our program faculty. Evaluation of the student's performance in these experiences becomes a matter of record within the Department and is used by faculty in prescribing the amount and type of future training.

Group supervision is used to allow students to learn from each other via case presentations. Attendance is required of all students taking practica. Case conferences, which are part of the program requirements, are held at least twice per semester to allow a broader range of input from faculty and students regarding perspectives on professional practice.

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