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Predoctoral Psychology Residency Application Information

 

Eligibility

Advanced graduate students who have completed all of their required graduate level course work and at least 500 hours of Direct Practicum (Intervention, Assessment, and Supervision) experience are invited to apply.

In addition, each of our five Tracks has individualized minimum application criteria. Interested applicants should review the Track descriptions for more details of the minimal credentials required.

It is preferable that applicants have also proposed their doctoral thesis, collected and analyzed their data, completed a draft of their thesis, and, whenever possible, have successfully defended their doctoral thesis prior to beginning the predoctoral residency year. Preference will be given to applicants who have defended their proposal and collected their data by the time of their application.

Applicants from CPA-accredited graduate psychology programs, or their equivalent, will be considered. Applicants who do not attend doctoral programs accredited by CPA should provide the residency with information necessary for the Consortium to establish that their program’s doctoral training is equivalent.

It has been our experience that in past years our predoctoral residency consortium has had the strongest match for students from Clinical Ph.D. programs. Nevertheless, we recognize that there is great variability across doctoral programs and for the experiences of students within those programs. Thus, we recognize that applicants from Counselling, School, or Clinical Neuropsychology Ph.D. programs, or from Psy.D. programs, may also have clinical experiences and training that match well with the training that we provide in our program. We will accept applications from students in such programs who believe their experiences are a match.

Canadian immigration policy requires that suitable Canadian Citizen and Permanent Resident applicants must be given preference. However, in the past, we have matched with US citizens, and accordingly, we encourage foreign applicants to apply.

Prior to starting the residency, all residents must provide evidence of Professional Liability Insurance to the Director of Clinical Training. Coverage must be in effect by the first day of program. If your university program does not provide insurance coverage while on residency, information about how to obtain this insurance is available from the Director of Clinical Training.

Because of the highly vulnerable populations at many of the Consortium Sites, final acceptance into the program is dependent on the successful completion of a vulnerable persons/police record check.

Given that the primary language spoken by supervisors in the Consortium is English, and the language of training and of most services provided by psychologists within the Consortium is English, residents will be expected to perform clinical services and be supervised in English. As such, applicants should be proficient enough in oral and written English to perform all necessary clinical and training experiences in English. On occasion, some sites or supervisors may see clients whose primary language is not English. Under these circumstances there may be opportunities to conduct clinical work in a language other than English. For this to occur, the resident’s supervisor must ensure this is appropriate for the client, the resident must be deemed competent to conduct clinical work in this language (i.e., is a native speaker, or is interviewed by a bilingual staff member or member of the Consortium), and arrangements must be made for appropriate supervision. Proficiency in more than one language, therefore, may be an asset.

 

To be considered for the Child/Adolescent Track, resident applicants must have the following credentials:

• Course work at the graduate and/or undergraduate level in (a) child or lifespan development (or both), and (b) child psychopathology, assessment, and intervention,
• Course work and practica at the graduate level reflecting that children and/or adolescents are a population of key interest,
• A minimum of 75 face-to-face hours of child and/or adolescent therapeutic experience. This includes individual therapy with adolescent, school-aged, and pre-school aged children, group counseling for adolescents and/or children, career counselling for adolescents, family therapy and time spent in school counseling interventions, and
• A minimum of five child and/or adolescent integrated psychological reports.

 

To be considered for the Adult Mental Health Track, applicants must have the following credentials:

• A minimum of 600 hours of direct mental health assessment, intervention, consultation, and supervision practicum experience, as assessed by summing face-to-face intervention and assessment hours (doctoral and master's level) and supervision hours stated in the APPI,
• Completed their core required doctoral coursework,
• Defended their dissertation proposal, and
• Experience with a range of psychotherapeutic modalities.

 

To be considered for the Health and Rehabiliation Track, resident applicants must have the following credentials:

• A minimum of 200 hours of assessment, intervention, consultation and/or supervision experience involving health, physical illness, and disability; and

• For those seeking a lifespan approach to their training, practicum experience with a range of age groups (children, adults, older adults) is an asset.

 

To be considered, applicants for positions in the Neuropsychology Track must have the following credentials:

• 600 hours of formal neuropsychological practicum experience (with a minimum of 200 hours spent in face-to-face neuropsychological activities),
• At least eight comprehensive adult neuropsychological assessment reports,
• Demonstrated proficiency in English as evidenced by writing reports or research articles, or pertinent coursework; and
• Completion of a graduate-level course (or other documented formal didactic training) in neuropsychological theory or neuropsychological assessment.

 

To be considered, applicants for positions in the Counselling Track must have the following credentials:

• A minimum of 600 hours of direct clinical contact including assessment, intervention, consultation, and supervision practicum experience, and
• Experience with a range of psychotherapeutic modalities. 

 

Diversity and Non-Discrimination Policy

The member sites of the London Clinical Psychology Residency Consortium are committed to employment equity, welcome diversity in the workplace, and encourage applications from all qualified individuals including members of visible minorities, aboriginal persons, and persons with disabilities.

The London Clinical Psychology Residency Consortium endeavours to provide an accessible work place for residents with disabilities. All sites can provide work space, parking, and equipment to meet the needs of residents with disabilities and successful accommodations have been made for residents in the past.

Applicants who may have specific questions about access and accommodations available at our setting are encouraged to contact the Director of Clinical Training early in the application process in order that their concerns or needs may be fully addressed, including during the application process.

Application and Selection Procedures

Application procedures involve submission of each the following using the AAPI Online: 

• Cover letter (which should describe which Track they are applying to and why they believe they are a good fit for training provided by that track)
• APPIC Application for Psychology Internship (AAPI)
• APPIC Academic Program’s Verification of Internship Eligibility and Readiness
• Curriculum Vitae
• Graduate transcripts
• Three letters of reference (complying with CCPPP guidelines) – Please note, the Consortium may contact referees directly for further information.

       

Letters of reference should comply with the guidelines endorsed by the Canadian Council of Professional Psychology Programmes for letters to Canadian internship programmes. This standardized format for letters of reference includes a review of the applicant’s current professional and personal skills and strengths as well as comments on areas for potential growth and development. Further information regarding these guidelines is available at:

http://ccppp.ca/index.php/en/reference-letter-guidelines .

Please note that we require no supplemental material to be sent with the application.

We recognize that the new process has resulted in concerns for applicants and we want applicants to know that we recognize that there may be some unforeseen "glitches" in applications (e.g., unusual paragraph spacing). Please know that we are not rating applications by how well they have managed a new and complex process but, instead, are rating their applications on their training and their goals and how well we fit in the process.

 

The application deadline, for all material to be submitted using the AAPI online, is Monday, November 7, 2011 by the end of the day (in the applicant's time zone). We expect to email applicants to let them know of that we have received their application, and if it is complete, by the end of the day on November 11, 2011. Applicants do not need to contact us before then to check on the status of their applications.

The interview notification date is set for: Friday, December 2, 2011 (this is the final date by which all applicants can expect to be notified of their interview status).

Start date for this predoctoral residency year is: Tuesday, September 4, 2012.

 

All applications will be carefully reviewed and rated by supervisory staff within the applicant’s Track. Applicant rankings are based on many factors, including (in no particular order) progress toward completion of dissertation, quality work and breadth and depth of assessment and intervention experience (particularly in areas related to the training offered in our Consortium), relevant didactic training (e.g., course work, workshops attended), academic accomplishments, letters of reference, faculty's impressions from the applicant interviews, research experience, quality of writing samples (e.g., responses to essays on the AAPI), goals of training, and other information from the application materials.

 

Note that applicants are not ranked based on the raw number of practicum hours reported in the APPI, as long as the minimum required hours for that Track have been completed. Students and programs should strive in their practica for experience with cases varying in complexity in different service delivery settings, with a variety of populations, presenting questions, assessment and therapeutic models and methods, case conferences, and supervisors to acquire the competencies for readiness for a successful predoctoral residency year. This is more important than the number of hours recorded.

A subset of applicants will be chosen by Friday, December 2, 2011 for interviews in January 2012. Applicants will be contacted by email with their interview status. Each Track has its own team of interviewers.

If an applicant is unable to travel to London for the interview, a telephone interview will be arranged at the expense of the Consortium. While we recognize that face-to-face interviews allow potential residents to meet the staff and become familiar with the setting, there is no prejudice against those applicants who are interviewed by telephone. In a typical year, many of our interviews are conducted by telephone and we have had applicants match with us following a phone interview. At the present time, we are unable to offer video-conferencing interviews.

The interviews typically follow a three-part format. The core of the interview is with the interview team, which includes representative supervisors from the Track. This approximately one-hour interview is the primary evaluative portion of the interview process. While it is an evaluative interview, there is also an opportunity for applicants to ask questions about the predoctoral residency during this interview.

Two additional interviews are offered so that applicants can learn more about our residency program. Applicants meet with the Director of Clinical Training, often in a group with other applicants, where they are provided with a more general overview of the Consortium and can have their general questions about the program answered. Applicants are also provided with the opportunity to speak with a current resident about his or her experiences as a resident in our program. Neither the Director of Clinical Training nor the residents are part of the formal evaluative process although, in rare circumstances, the Director of Training may comment on an applicant to their Track’s interview team. It is not a regular part of our application procedure to search for information on our applicants online (e.g., Google, Facebook) during the file review, interview or ranking process.

Applicants who have been offered an interview are also welcome to meet individually with potential supervisors to discuss details of training opportunities. When an offer is made for an interview with our Consortium, applicants will be asked if they would like separate additional meetings arranged with any specific supervisors to allow them to discuss details of training opportunities in their rotations. Interview applicants interested in such meetings should request them when arranging the date of the interview (note that, due to potential limited availability of some potential Consortium supervisors, these may need to be arranged for another date).

Given the large number of strong applications typically received by the Consortium, not all applicants can be offered an interview. However, some applicants will receive notification that they will be ranked without an interview. We strongly encourage these candidates to contact us for more information and can arrange for them to discuss the program with current residents, supervisors, or the Director of Clinical Training.

 

APPIC Policies

All selection procedures follow the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC) guidelines. This Consortium agrees to abide by the APPIC policy that no person at these training facilities will solicit, accept, or use any ranking-related information from any applicant. The twelve positions will be offered to applicants in order of their ranking within the Tracks through the National Matching Service. All ranking and offers will be in accordance with APPIC Match policies.

APPIC regulations make it clear that acceptance of a position is binding. We therefore ask that applicants and their Directors of Training or Department Heads carefully review their programme’s requirements for releasing the student to go on internship, to ensure that students who are applying for positions in our Consortium will indeed be allowed to begin their training experiences on Tuesday, September 4, 2012.

The deadline for submissions by both residents and by programs of their Rank Order Lists to the National Matching Service for Phase I has been set by APPIC as Wednesday, February 8, 2012.

APPIC Phase I Match Day has been determined by APPIC as Friday, February 24, 2012.

If any of our residency positions remain unfilled after Phase I of the match, we will follow APPIC guidelines for participation in Match Phase II. Because of the reduced timeline of Phase II, any interviews during that time will be by telephone only.

 

Policy on Handling Your Personal Information

In accordance with federal privacy legislation (Personal Information Protection and Electronics Documents Act), you should be aware that we are committed to collecting only the information in your application that is required to process your application. This information is secured within Psychological Services at London Health Sciences Centre and is shared only with those individuals involved in the evaluation of your application. If you are not matched with our Consortium, your personal information is destroyed within four months of Phase II Match Day.

 

If you are matched with our Consortium, your application and CV will be available only to those directly involved in your supervision and training including your rotation supervisors, your Track Coordinator, the Director of Clinical Training, and relevant administrative support staff. We will place an electronic copy of this material on a secured section of the relevant Consortium Site networks that will only be made available to those individuals directly involved in your supervision and training.

 

Information on Accreditation

 

The London Clinical Psychology Residency Consortium was formed by a partnership of the London Health Sciences Centre, St. Joseph’s Health Care (London), Child and Parent Resource Institute (CPRI), and Vanier Children’s Services. This new residency program had its first cohort of residents begin in 2008 and is been accredited as a Doctoral Internship Program in Clinical Psychology by the Canadian Psychological Association.

The program has recently expanded to include a new partnership with the Student Development Centre at the University of Western Ontario, and the first cohort of residents from this new five-member consortium will begin in 2012.The next accreditation site visit will be in 2013-2014.

 

Information on accreditation by the Canadian Psychological Association is available by contacting the following office:

 

Ann Marie Plante - Accreditation Assistant

Accreditation Panel for Doctoral Programmes and Internships in Professional Psychology

Canadian Psychological Association

141 Laurier Street - Suite 702

Ottawa, ON

Canada  K1P 5J3

Telephone: 1- 888-472-0657

e-mail: accreditation@cpa.ca; aplante@cpa.ca

website: http://www.cpa.ca/education/accreditation/

 

For More Information

 

If you have questions or want further information on the London Clinical Psychology Residency Consortium, please contact:

 

Dr. Brent Hayman-Abello, C.Psych.

Director of Clinical Training

Psychological Services

London Health Sciences Centre

339 Windermere Road

London, ON

Canada  N6A 5A5

Telephone: (519) 663-3466         

Fax: (519) 663-3176

E-mail: brent.haymanabello@lhsc.on.ca