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
Program Overview
The Pacific Psychology and Comprehensive Health (PCH) Clinic, which is part of Ƶ’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.
Additionally, interns are allowed to audit Healthcare Spanish I at no cost. This course helps participants to develop the skills needed to understand and to communicate in Spanish at a beginning level within the healthcare setting. The course also will help students gain valuable understanding of basic cultural issues related to Latine patients. Previous Spanish courses are useful, but not a prerequisite; all Spanish-speaking abilities are welcome. While the course will not show on transcripts, its completion will be noted on the end of internship certificate. Interns may audit Healthcare Spanish II when offered.
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 Ƶ:
Interns who were/are students in Ƶ’s PsyD or PhD programs are not eligible for Ƶ's employee benefits. Our plan documents exclude currently enrolled students from participating in the plans. If selected for internship, Ƶ 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.
Dedicated office with computer and phone; $250 professional development funds; paid parking at both clinic locations and access to discounted monthly mass transit pass; options for dental, vision, and flexible spending accounts for health care, transportation, and childcare. | ||
Annual Stipend/Salary for Full-time Interns | $35,000 | |
Annual Stipend/Salary for Half-time Interns | N/A | |
Program provides access to medical insurance for intern? | Yes | No |
If access to medical insurance is provided: | ||
Trainee contribution to cost required? | Yes | No |
Coverage of family member(s) available? | Yes | No |
Coverage of legally married partner available? | Yes | No |
Coverage of domestic partner available? | Yes | No |
Hours of Annual Paid Personal Time Off (PTO and/or Vacation) | 160 | |
Hours of Annual Paid Sick Leave | 160 | |
In the event of medical conditions and/or family needs that require extended leave, does the program allow reasonable unpaid leave to interns/residents in excess of personal time off and sick leave? | Yes | No |
*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)
2022-2025 | ||
Total # of interns who were in the 3 cohorts | 13 | |
Total # of interns who remain in training in the internship program | 4 | |
PD | EP | |
Academic teaching | 1 | |
Community mental health center | 3 | |
Consortium | ||
University Counseling Center | ||
Hospital/Medical Center | 4 | |
Veterans Affairs Health Care System | ||
Psychiatric facility | ||
Correctional facility | ||
Health maintenance organization | ||
School district/system | ||
Independent practice setting | 6 | |
Other |
“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 Ƶ 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: