Become a Clinical Site
Become a Clinical PsyD Field Site
The Office of Field Education is available to work with sites that are interested in becoming approved for clinical practicum, advanced clinical practicum and internship level training. William James College training requirements are program specific and will be provided upon request by the Office of Field Education by contacting: fieldplacement@williamjames.edu.
All William James College clinical psychology doctoral students complete five years of field placement. Years I and II are designated as clinical practicum, Year III is advanced clinical practicum, and there are two different paths for the completion of field education requirements during Years IV and V.
First-year students spend a minimum of 640 hours (16 hours per week) at their field sites; second year clinical practicum students spend a minimum of 800 hours (20 hours per week) at their sites. Practica typically run from late August through mid-June. A student seeking to commit more time to a site must have prior approval of his/her William James College faculty advisor and the Office of Field Education.
All clinical practicum students need at least one hour of individual supervision by a licensed independent social worker, licensed mental health counselor, licensed marriage and family counselor, or licensed psychologist/health service provider. An orientation to the site is required and sites are encouraged to provide appropriate structured learning activities throughout the training year.
Practica have training goals consistent with the curricular goals of Years I and II. At this stage, field placements emphasize exposure to varied populations and life span issues, theoretical orientations, assessment procedures and modalities of intervention. Students’ progress is assessed on the acquisition of particular knowledge, skills and attitudes.
All trainees engage in advanced clinical practicum training during Year III of the clinical doctoral program. The training occurs on a part-time basis and students spend a minimum of 960 hours (24 hours per week) at their sites. Advanced clinical practica typically run from late August through mid-June. As with other years of training, a student seeking to commit more time to a site must have prior approval of his/her William James College faculty advisor and the Office of Field Education.
All advanced clinical practicum students receive two hours each week of individual face-to-face supervision from a qualifying licensed supervisor (licensed psychologist HSP, board certified psychiatrist, or licensed independent clinical social worker). At least half of the supervision should be provided by a licensed psychologist who is also the primary supervisor.
At least half of the total hours of supervised experience in this advanced clinical practicum will be spent in “service-related” activities, defined by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as “treatment/intervention, assessment, interviews, report writing, case presentations and consultations.”
Advanced clinical practicum training goals are consistent with the curricular goals of the student’s training year and continue to address the full range of competencies endorsed by the APA and our doctoral program.
Students pursue one of two training paths after completing Advanced Clinical Practicum I.
- Many students complete Advanced Clinical Practicum II during Year IV and go on to apply for and complete a full time APA internship during Year V.
- Other students apply for and complete their internship during Years IV and V through the William James College APA-accredited Internship Consortium.
Internship training occurs during Year V in a full time APA-accredited internship or during Years IV and V on a half-time basis, (typically 27 hours/week half-time and 40 hours per week full-time) as part of the William James College APA-accredited Internship Consortium training program.
Please contact Dr. Angela Wilbur at angela_wilbur@williamjames.edu for information about becoming an APA-accredited Internship Consortium site or click here for additional information.
The Primary Supervisor’s responsibilities are to:
1. Work with the student to implement a training experience that fulfills the learning goals and competencies as outlined in the student’s learning contract.
2. Provide timely written evaluations (twice a year).
3. Ensure that the student is appropriately oriented to the site and has opportunities to engage in structured learning opportunities throughout the training year.
4. Attend the student’s Assessment and Planning Conference (typically held in May/June).
5. Conduct at least one instance of direct observation of clinical work each semester.
Field Education Office personnel are available to discuss any matters related to a student’s work and coordinate in-person or virtual site visits on a regular basis.
William James College’s Willingness to Participate form (WTP) is generally completed at the beginning of each training year by the Director of Training or their designee. It formalizes the interest of the site in training William James College students for the following academic year. It also describes the nature of the program, the kinds of training opportunities offered to students, pertinent site contact information, supervisor’s credentials and the requirements and prerequisites for students who train at the site.
Information from the WTP is stored in the Field Education Site Database for review by WJC students.
Please contact the Office of Field Education at fieldplacement@williamjames.edu to receive a current Willingness to Participate form.
Application and Notification Deadlines
Sites that train William James College Clinical PsyD doctoral students adhere to the application and notification deadlines set by the Massachusetts Psychological Association (MPA) Practicum Training Collaborative (PTC). These dates are shared annually with training sites. The PTC response deadlines do not apply to sites accepting entering first-year and advanced standing students, WJC APA-accredited Internship Consortium students, or APA internships which follow APPIC guidelines.
Student Evaluations
Field supervisors are asked to complete two written evaluations of their supervisees each year. Specific dates are shared with supervisors in advance. Ratings and comments from the evaluations are used to assess the student’s progress and inform future academic and field training learning goals, as well as to assign Field Education credit.
The Assessment and Planning Conference (A&P)
This annual conference, held toward the end of the second semester, is a unique feature of our program and has proven to be enormously gratifying for students, faculty, and field supervisors. In this meeting, students, their peers, advisors, current and future supervisors take a comprehensive review of the student’s field experience and make recommendations for future academic and field training experiences. Supervisor input is an essential component of this conference and is a requirement when training Clinical PsyD doctoral students.