At Jefferson Center, it is our policy and our mission to be inclusive and mindful of the diversity of everyone who comes through our doors. We are passionate about building a community where mental health matters and equitable care is accessible to all races, ethnicities, abilities, socioeconomic statuses, ages, sexual orientations, gender expressions, religions, cultures, and languages. 

Outlined below are the principles which guide our commitment to developing a vibrant, sustainable, and resilient mental health care community. 

We believe in the dignity of all people and creating a culture where diversity is valued. 

We respect and affirm the unique identity of each member of our community. 

We aim to inspire hope, improve lives, and strengthen our community by providing quality mental health and related solutions to everyone who comes through our doors. 

We advocate at the local, state, and federal levels to promote equitable access to mental health care resources and improve the lives of community members. 

We strive to dismantle systems and policies that create inequity, oppression, and disparity while promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in all that we do. 

We pursue an organizational mindset that values cultural humility, recognition, and accountability in order to improve our ability to offer individualized care. 

We encourage all to share their cultural experiences and identities to enrich our community. 

We are committed to placing diversity, equity, and inclusion practices at the center of our daily work to create a brighter future for everyone. 

The Jefferson Center Psychology Doctoral Internship Program seeks to train interns to become clinical psychologists with a firm foundation in health services psychology. Our philosophy is three-fold: (1) that training in health services psychology is a continual developmental process, (2) that providing a broad range of training opportunities is optimum for the growth of developing clinical skills, and (3) that clinical health services psychology is a science-based discipline, and it is important to apply research to inform practice.  

First, our philosophy emphasizes the continual professional development of our interns. Jefferson Center seeks to build on the skills developed during the doctoral education and practicum placements through systematic assessment and training. As interns progress through the internship rotations, they are given more and more complex cases in therapy and assessment. By the end of the internship year, interns should graduate as competent entry-level clinical psychologists who can function in a variety of settings and continue to develop professionally throughout their careers. Thus, our developmental approach ensures that training for practice in clinical psychology is sequential, cumulative, and graded in complexity. 

Second, our philosophy provides a broad range of training opportunities for optimum development of clinical skills. Jefferson Center offers a broad range of training sites that cover the entire developmental spectrum. Through two major and four minor rotations, interns practice in a variety of settings that gives them a diverse set of clinical experiences and prepares them for work in a variety of professional positions. 

Finally, our philosophy is that health services psychology must be a science-based discipline. We seek to further develop the appreciation of science as the foundation for the practice of clinical psychology throughout our training program. Research informs the practice of psychology at Jefferson Center from our use of the evidence-based Partnership in Change Outcome Management System, to our use of evidence based treatment practices (EBPs) throughout our programming, and ongoing research in our Innovation department. Our internship program exposes interns to ongoing use of research to inform treatment across all rotations and gives them experience in participating in research focused on the delivery of effective services.  

Our internship program provides comprehensive training that is broad and general, developmental, and anchored in the practitioner-scientist model. Our training focuses on profession-wide competency areas derived through a multi-step process that is expected for entry-level practice. Ongoing evaluation of intern functioning in specific competency areas allows us to track progress and address areas that may require further training. Interns are evaluated on their demonstration of appropriate knowledge, skills, and attitudes in the key competency areas.  

Intern training is enhanced by early identification of individual training needs and interests. During the first month of training, all interns complete a self-assessment that provides information to develop an individualized training plan to address not only individual differences in prior training, but also clinical interests and career goals. Various training approaches are utilized across settings, including direct supervision by experienced clinical supervisor psychologists, direct observation (either live or video/electronic) of the intern, participation in co-therapy, utilization of role-play and enactment, observational learning, formal didactic training, and promotion of reflective practice through self-reflection and self-evaluation to facilitate continuous improvement of professional performance.  

By incorporating a mentoring model coupled with experiential training under close supervision, our program is designed to nurture interns toward success. Training is sequential, cumulative, and increasing in complexity over the course of the internship. Interns are expected to move toward professional independence as they progress through the training year. This ensures that interns will be able to demonstrate the levels of competency that are necessary for entry-level practice or post-doctoral training at the end of their training. 

The program’s training model promotes appreciation and understanding of diversity by ensuring nondiscrimination in all training approaches, by addressing diversity as a focus of training, and by creating an environment that nurtures success for all interns.  

The internship training year starts the beginning of August and concludes the end of July the following year (52 weeks, excluding Personal Annual Leave and holidays). Interns are expected to work 45 – 50 hours per week (approximately 25 – 50% of time is spent in face-to-face contact depending on the intern’s rotation). Interns must reach competency across goals and complete 2000 hours for successful completion of the internship program. The schedule below provides an approximation of the number of hours interns will spend each week in the following activities: 

Major Clinical Rotations 
Each intern will participate in one 16 – 24 hour/week Major Clinical Rotation each six-month period. Time for team meetings, group supervision, documentation and other paperwork is built into the rotation. The Internship Program will attempt to match the interns with their major rotation of choice during each six-month rotation.  In the event of competing interests, the desired rotations can be alternated at the end of the first six-month period, allowing interns to be matched with their area/s of interest.    

Minor Rotations 
Each intern will participate in 3 minor rotations to provide experience in several key competencies of health services psychologists. 

Each intern is required to complete three presentations during the training year: 1) the intern’s dissertation/research based doctoral paper, 2) formal case presentation, and 3) the intern’s research from research/innovation rotation. Agency staff is invited to attend these presentations.

Jefferson Center and its Psychology Doctoral Internship Program are committed to the recruitment of culturally and ethnically diverse interns.  We encourage inquiries and applications from all qualified individuals.

Complete applications require the following documents:

• Completion of the APPIC Application for Psychology Internship (AAPI)
• A copy of one de-identified psychological assessment report
• Three (3) letters of recommendation

Completed applications are to be received no later than December 3, 2024. Applications are reviewed by members of the Training Committee.  Our selection criteria are based on our practitioner-scientist model, and we look for applicants whose training goals match the training that we offer. The program looks not only at the total number of practicum hours but the quality of those hours in terms of the type of setting as well as experience with empirically supported treatments. If you have no Rorschach experience or limited Rorschach experience your application will still be considered as we look at your total assessment experience.  All students who submitted a completed application will be notified of their interview status by December 18, 2024.

Based on the quality of the application and the match between the applicant’s training goals and the internship program, approximately thirty applicants are invited for an interview.  Interviews are conducted in January and all interviews will be conducted remotely via zoom. Interviews are conducted with individual applicants by a panel of no less than three psychology internship supervisors in a group format. Standardized questions are asked and scored for all candidates interviewed.

Following the completion of the interviews, the Training Committee meets to rank order applicants, which is based on both the submitted application and the interview.  The final ranking order is determined by consensus of the Training Committee.  This internship site agrees to abide by the APPIC policy that no person at this training facility will solicit, accept, or use any ranking-related information from any intern applicant.

Following the results of the APPIC Match, a letter confirming the match with Jefferson Center’s Psychology Doctoral Internship will be sent to the incoming intern with a copy to the DCT of their program.

Results of the APPIC Match constitute a binding agreement between the matched applicants and the program.  However, as stated in our listing in the APPIC directory, final appointment of applicants to the internship at Jefferson Center is contingent on applicants passing a criminal background check. A pre-employment background check is completed on all matched applicants. Felony assault convictions will be considered a failed background check.  Federal misdemeanors and misdemeanors are handled on a case-by-case basis.

If not a US Citizen, you will be required to provide documentation to verify eligibility following match and before employment.

Jefferson Center for Mental Health is committed to a safe, healthy, and productive work environment for all employees free from the effects of substance abuse. Abuse of alcohol, drugs, and controlled substances impairs employee judgment, resulting in increased safety risks, injuries, and faulty decision-making. Jefferson Center for Mental Health follows Federal Law regarding cannabis and other drugs.  We do not do a pre-employment drug test but all employees may be asked to submit a random urine drug screen should there be indications that substances may be affecting job performance.

Vaccine Requirement:

In partnership with Behavioral Health Entity (BHE), Jefferson Center is complying with a Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) standard requiring facilities track and report flu vaccine immunization rates for staff and direct contractors and ensure that ninety percent (90%) have received the influenza vaccine during a given influenza season. All employees and new employees hired during the flu season (November 1 through March 31) shall provide Human Resources with proof of immunization, or a medical exemption within 30 days of hire. New employees who do not have proof of immunization are required to wear a surgical or procedure mask when in direct contact with clients and in common areas during influenza season.

COVID 19 vaccinations are no longer required.

Results of the APPIC Match constitute a binding agreement between the matched applicants and the program. However final appointment of applicants to the internship at Jefferson Center is contingent on applicants passing a criminal background check. A pre-employment background check is completed on all matched applicants. Felony assault convictions will be considered a failed background check.  Federal misdemeanors and misdemeanors are handled on a case-by-case basis. 

If not a US Citizen, you will be required to provide documentation to verify eligibility following match and before employment. 

Jefferson Center for Mental Health is committed to a safe, healthy, and productive work environment for all employees free from the effects of substance abuse. Abuse of alcohol, drugs, and controlled substances impairs employee judgment, resulting in increased safety risks, injuries, and faulty decision-making. Jefferson Center for Mental Health follows Federal Law regarding cannabis and other drugs.  We do not do a pre-employment drug test but all employees may be asked to submit a random urine drug screen should there be indications that substances may be affecting job performance. A positive drug screen including THC will result in a termination of the internship. 

Vaccine Requirement
In partnership with Behavioral Health Entity (BHE), Jefferson Center is complying with a Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) standard requiring facilities track and report flu vaccine immunization rates for staff and direct contractors and ensure that ninety percent (90%) have received the influenza vaccine during a given influenza season. All employees and new employees hired during the flu season (November 1 through March 31) shall provide Human Resources with proof of immunization, or a medical exemption within 30 days of hire. New employees who do not have proof of immunization are required to wear a surgical or procedure mask when in direct contact with clients and in common areas during influenza season. 

COVID 19 vaccinations are no longer required. 

Please feel free to contact Kirsten Kloock at KirstenK@jcmh.org with any questions about the Jefferson Center program.