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Welcome to the internship at the Pacific Psychology and Comprehensive Health (PCH) Clinic. We hope the information provided here is useful as you determine where to apply for an internship. This information is updated for the 2026-27 training year and outlines our model, mission, and training goals.

We look forward to you joining our team! 

– Samantha Slaughter, PsyD

Email Dr. Slaughter
 

Program Overview

The Pacific Psychology and Comprehensive Health (PCH) Clinic, which is part of 51�Թ�’s School of Graduate Psychology, offers an internship that is accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA). The internship is a 2000 hour, one-year, full-time doctoral placement to prepare entry-level Health Service Psychologists for professional practice. We do not accept part-time interns. Our internship will start July 17, 2026, and end on August 6, 2027. Interns get approximately 6 weeks of leave during the year which includes release time for their dissertation, graduation, and interviews for their next position.

For the 2026-27 training year, there will be two tracks for which four interns will be selected.

• Three slots in the Adult Track (#152612)
• One slot in the Youth and Family Track (#152613)

Adult Track interns provide therapy and psychological assessment to adults and older adolescents. We require a minimum of 400 intervention and 100 assessment hours with at least 50% of hours accrued with adult clients.

Youth and Family Track interns will be placed on child therapy and assessment teams. Based on client demands, however, these interns may have a few adult clients on their caseloads. We require a minimum of 400 intervention and 100 assessment hours with at least 50% of hours accrued with youth and family clients. 

In 2025, we relaunched the Latine Mental Health Program to advance our mission of preparing culturally competent clinicians and expanding access to quality mental health care for Latine communities. The program emphasizes both cultural responsiveness and bilingual training. Through this program, interns gain experience serving Spanish-speaking clients through the support of on-site or virtual interpreters. Interpreters also provide specialized training, coaching on effective interpreter collaboration, and cultural consultation to enhance clinical work. Bilingual Spanish-speaking interns may be matched with a Spanish-speaking supervision team and placed on a practicum team working primarily with Spanish-speaking clients. This tiered approach allows all interns to deepen their cultural competence, while bilingual interns further develop their capacity to provide linguistically responsive care.

Interns will receive training in 10 competency domains: intervention, assessment, interprofessional collaboration, consultation, supervision, community outreach, diversity, practitioner-scholar methodology, professionalism, and ethical practice.

Interns work approximately 40 hours per week. Below is an estimate of how interns spend their time.

• Providing therapy: adult track - 30%; child track - 20%
• Conducting assessments: adult track - 10%; child track - 20%
• Engaging in interprofessional collaborations: 20%
• Providing supervision and consultation: 20%
• Conducting outreach: 5%
• Receiving supervision and participating in training seminars: 15%

Of the 22 interns admitted to the PCH internship program over the past five years:

• 50% were culturally diverse
• 14% were immigrants
• 23% identified as sexual minorities
• 23% were bilingual
• 18% identified as male, 82% identified as female; 0% identified as transgender
• 5% were covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act
• 59% were seeking PhDs; 36% pursued PsyDs 

The program or institution does not require students, trainees, and/or staff (faculty) to comply with specific policies or practices related to the institution’s affiliation or purpose. 

Our ideal interns come with a developed intermediate competency in therapy and assessment and are eager to expand their skills.

Additionally, the following characteristics describe our ideal interns:

• are self‐directed while being active team members
• know their strengths while being humble
• are efficient and productive with attention to detail
• are mature, curious, and experience a desire to deepen their competencies
• work hard and employ effective self‐care strategies at work and outside work
• are self‐aware and work well in a fast‐paced environment with many facets
• strive to do their best as psychologists-in-training while maintaining a sense of humor
• are interested in a variety of roles psychologists can play beyond clinical services

Our internship is not a good fit for interns who exhibit the following:

• want to focus only on therapy and assessment
• are disinterested in outreach, integrated care, or interprofessional collaboration
• struggle with working autonomously
• lack leadership skills or are disinterested in mentoring practicum I students
• are easily overwhelmed when required to multi‐task
• are stressed by interruption‐rich environments

Total Direct Contact Intervention Hours: Yes    Amount: 400* Total 
Direct Contact Assessment Hours: Yes    Amount: 100* Total
 

Financial and Other Benefit Support for Upcoming Training Year

Note for potential applicants from 51�Թ�: 

Interns who were/are students in 51�Թ�’s PsyD or PhD programs  are not eligible for 51�Թ�'s employee benefits. Our plan documents exclude currently enrolled students from participating in the plans. If selected for internship, 51�Թ� students may enroll in the student health insurance that is handled in the Student Accounts Office. No other benefits will be available. Please take this into consideration should you choose to apply to our internship site.

*Note: Programs are not required by the Commission on Accreditation to provide all benefits listed in this table.

Initial Post-Internship Positions 
(Provide an Aggregated Tally for the Preceding 3 Cohorts)

“PD” = Post-doctoral residency position; “EP” = Employed Position

PCH Internship’s Mission

Our mission is to prepare interns for entry-level professional practice in clinical and counseling psychology who are competent to provide assessment, therapy, and outreach in a culturally-responsive manner. As Health Service Psychologists, our graduating interns have the foundational skills to work inter-professionally in a variety of healthcare settings.

The PCH Clinic provides psychotherapy, assessment, and medication management services to diverse communities, marginalized groups, and underserved individuals across the lifespan. The PCH Clinic is part of the School of Graduate Psychology (SGP) at 51�Թ� and is staffed by qualified mental health professionals (QMHPs) and qualified mental health interns (QMHIs), as well as other healthcare professions trainees, to provide care.

The PCH Clinic’s internship training approach aligns with the practitioner-scholar model of psychology training. Within the practitioner-scholar model, this program has adopted a local clinical scientist approach (Stricker & Trierweiler, 1995). This approach focuses on the development of professional and ethical practitioners who think critically and apply established or validated psychological theories, scientific principles, and interventions to assist a range of clinical populations. Interns work with a variety of supervisors and intern seminar leaders. Each intern has a primary and secondary therapy supervisor along with an assessment supervisor.

The supervisory philosophy of the internship program gives interns progressively greater autonomy, beginning with a more directive approach during the first third of the year. Supervisors use guided questioning and consultation during interns’ individual supervision to facilitate interns’ development as a supervisor during the middle third of the training year. In the last third of the year, supervisors use a more non-directive stance in supporting the interns’ development toward becoming psychologists and clinical supervisors. This overall approach to supervision draws from the Dreyfus model of adult skill acquisition (Dreyfus & Dreyfus, 2004). This integrated developmental model of supervision recognizes that supervisees require different types of supervision depending on their developmental level in a particular domain (Falender and Shafranske, 2021).

PCH Clinic's and Internship’s Diversity Mission

The PCH clinic embraces the diversity embodied within each individual and acknowledges group differences. We strive to provide culturally responsive and evidenced based services in a safe and affirming space. Our clinicians, supervisors, and staff are committed to the promotion and affirmation of diversity in its broadest sense. We recognize that prejudice and discrimination based on sex, gender identity and expression, ethnicity, race, sexual/affectional orientation, age, physical and mental abilities, size, religious beliefs, and socioeconomic class have historically impacted mental health practices, both in terms of defining mental health issues as well as in the provision of care that is informed by cultural awareness and identity-affirmation. Prejudice and discrimination are incompatible with the professional ethics of a clinical psychologist and the PCH clinic's commitment to social justice, and they are detrimental to the practice of psychotherapy, assessment, outreach, integrated care, and interprofessional collaborations.
 

Clinic Locations

Our Portland location is at 1411 SW Morrison Street, and our Hillsboro clinic is at 222 SE 8th Ave. Both locations are easily accessible via TriMet. We are open 9am-6pm Monday-Thursday (virtual sessions only 6pm to 8pm) and 9am-5pm on Fridays. 

The Pacific Psychology and Comprehensive Health Clinic’s Psychology Internship Program is accredited by APA through 2029. 

Questions related to the program’s accredited status should be directed to the Commission on Accreditation.
Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation
American Psychological Association
750 1st Street, NE, Washington, DC 2002
Phone: (202) 336-5979/Email: apaaccred@apa.org
Web: