Shining a Spotlight on the APA Internship Consortium in Applied Clinical Psychology—a Decade Following its Accreditation by the American Psychological Association

Several years ago, when exploring options to earn her PsyD in Clinical Psychology, Alyssa Cetoute was attracted to William James College for a primary reason: the first-generation Haitian-American saw the African and Caribbean Mental Health Concentration as a way to provide culturally competent care to the underserved communities and BIPOC populations with which she identifies. As the start of her fifth and final year looms, Cetoute has another reason to rejoice: she’s part of the William James College Internship Consortium in Applied Clinical Psychology, accredited by the American Psychological Association, which means she’s about to complete her remaining degree requirements without having to relocate. 

 “Consortium has been an amazing experience,” says Cetoute who brings 3,000+ clinical practicum hours to the table—a figure not including time she spends each week with clients at Melan Wellness, the private practice she launched in Methuen in 2022. After a decade spent working as a licensed mental health clinician, Cetoute completed her first psychological assessment after arriving at the site of her APA-approved internship. She began part-time last summer and, come August, will be working as a full-time clinical intern at the Dr. Leon O. Brenner Center for Psychological Assessment and Consultation.

Training on a National Stage

“It’s a very competitive process,” says Angela Wilbur, PsyD, Consortium Director, who likens the year-long, APA-accredited internship required for students to graduate with their doctorate to the national match program for medical and dental students in their final year of internship. 

 “The same standard applies to all sorts of professionals, including psychologists,” says Wilbur, a 2006 graduate of the PsyD in Clinical Psychology program at William James College,  who did her postdoc training at Lynn Community Health Center, one of the inaugural consortium sites—which was founded by Dr. Stephen D. Hayes, a William James College alum with a penchant for helping those in need. Wilbur stayed on after being named Director of Training and, in 2014, was part of the “very rigorous” initial APA-accreditation process at William James College. 

“The greater Boston area consistently ranks top of the list when it comes to most desired locations [for internship placement],” says Wilbur, underscoring why it made sense for William James College to gather a dozen sites that historically received high marks from students for providing great training experiences and create its own, exclusively affiliated APA-accredited internship. A unique piece of the significant application process is that there are no fees which makes the APA Internship Consortium a cost effective choice for students—from commuters and caregivers, to homeowners, parents, and business owners like Cetoute—who need to stay local for this final leg of their training. To date, more than 350 total interns have been trained since the Consortium’s inception.  

Unparalleled Opportunities

“Before consortium, because assessment was a new skill to me, I had a hard time finding opportunities to learn that did not require experience [administering them],” says Cetoute who, a year after arriving at the Brenner Center, has provided psychological assessments for a total of 14 individuals; she needs 25 by the end of the year when her contract concludes. Cetoute attributes her success to strong writing skills, invaluable feedback from a pair of supervisors, and practice—all of which positioned her to excel in a new area of a field she loves. 

“I’m happy flexing my new muscles,” says Cetoute who continues to fine-tune her skill set. At her clinical site, a private practice where she spends several hours each week, she has become adept at virtual testing which complements her in-person experience. Her hope is to take the experience gleaned from the internship consortium and use it to continue supporting individuals from marginalized communities.

“In my experience, people are less likely to have compassion—and take the time to understand the struggles, whether systemic or personal—when dealing with individuals of color in crisis,” says Cetoute whose research has been focused on the negative mental health outcomes of racial discrimination and racism through the media. 

“Vicarious trauma is affecting a lot of [Black and brown] people, but it’s not being treated—it’s being missed,” she says, underscoring the long-term effects of watching someone who looks like you get brutalized by the police, or die, on the evening news. 

 “We are meeting the needs of various high-risk communities and vulnerable populations by providing them with some of the best psychological care available and [invaluable] reports that might not otherwise be accessible,” says Wilbur who took the helm of the APA Internship Consortium in 2019 following Founding Director Dr. Randi Dorn’s retirement. This coming academic year marks the third time the program has been re-credentialed. 

Among its myriad benefits, consortium seminar allows for a safe space in which to address systemic issues and race issues and how to have difficult conversations with clients. A diverse supervisory staff brings a unique understanding of the power inherent in helping someone who looks like you, or doesn’t look like you, to their training. In short, participants are doing loads of independent work with lots of support. 

 “That we are able to train and license so many competent psychologists—desperately needed to meet the needs of clients on long wait lists—makes me feel as if I am doing my part to create more access,” says Wilbur, pointing to the aim of the internship consortium: To provide mental health services to diverse populations and provide psychology interns with rich exposure to clinical care, a high level of clinical supervision, professional models, and an opportunity to integrate psychological theory and professional practice.

 For Wilbur, who works part time in private practice, working one-on-one to help train the next generation of psychologists keeps both her thought process and perspective nimble. “It feels like, rather than one little pebble, I’m throwing in a larger rock and making a bigger splash,” she says of impact via a diverse range of sites—from prisons and testing centers, college counseling departments and community health centers, to hospitals and group practices—that allow clinicians to meet clients where they are. 

Cetoute is using the hands-on experience gleaned during her participation in the internship consortium—and her decade as an LMHC— to provide culturally competent care for folks who identify as BIPOC while remaining inclusive of all. 

“There is such a need in the community for providers of color,” says Cetoute who, during her second and fourth years of study, was awarded the the Specialized Training and Academic Retention (STAR) Fellowship. Funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students, STAR Fellowships aim to diversify the behavioral health workforce by retaining students who are underrepresented in the clinical psychology field, and equipping them with the knowledge, skills, and training to provide culturally responsive services in primary care settings and medically underserved communities.

“It’s important for me to represent,” says Cetoute whose long-term goal is to help bridge that gap in mental health disparities for people who look like her. 

“Everyone is deserving of quality, ethical, and culturally competent care; too often, the cultural piece is overlooked, and we can’t afford to miss that.” 

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