Training Program Overview
Welcome to Student Psychological Services (SPS). We are a Psychological Training Program and part of the Student Health Services of Santa Rosa Junior College. We offer services to enrolled students on the Santa Rosa and Petaluma campuses (see below Agency Mission and The Setting).
NEW FOR 2024-25: New equipment, furniture, resource books. We've spiffed up the place, and it looks great! New social worker staff for case management assistance. Also, now serving SRJC's new residence hall.
NEW FOR 2023-24: Additional licensed full-time staff, more therapists/outreach specialists with focus on Latinx and Black/African-American students; new full-time social worker for case management; new prevention staff for health promotion.
NEWLY ADDED IN 2022-23:
* New Facility with integrated mental and physical health services in the college main student services building, newly remodeled.
* Newly increased stipend, now $8000 for 10-month placement.
* Psychiatry services
* Both in-person and remote services. [Trainees spend some days on campus and some at home providing therapy.]
We are thrilled to be able to further enhance our placement!
SPS is a half-time BAPIC and Master's level site. We are also a half-time CAPIC one or two-year internship site. Each year the cohort has 8 therapists in training in total. Our BAPIC trainees are typically practicum students with at least one year prior practicum experience. Our master's level trainees have seen some clients prior to starting here. Therapists work 20 hours/week. Each new set of trainees begins in early August. Trainees provide individual and couples therapy, as well as educational outreach and prevention services, as part of the clinical and educational services at SPS.
SPS is an exciting site. Trainees are given substantial respect and responsibility. It is a busy setting, so trainees typically carry full caseloads for the duration of the program. Many trainees experience the rich opportunity to practice many therapy techniques with a broad range of generally "higher functioning" clients and discover who they are as therapists in the process. (see below The Services).
Trainees of multiple levels (and our Sport Psychology track) join in any given year’s cohort, greatly deepening learning and mentoring in a collaborative and integrative model. The Training Program at SPS supports the trainees' varied functions, realities and demands, providing in-depth training and support for practicum and intern therapists, creating a rich learning environment fostering the development of solid psychotherapy skills and therapeutic identity (see Philosophy, Training and Supervision).
Experienced, licensed mental health professionals, including Licensed Psychologists, provide weekly individual and group supervision (see Contact/Staff); weekly didactic trainings are given by a range of professionals from the program and the community. The topic of the trainings in the year mirror the developmental needs of incoming trainees, beginning with such topics as Developing Therapeutic Alliance and Crisis Intervention, and moving through a variety of Diagnostic topics, Professional Development issues, and a range of Intervention and stage of therapy skills (See Training Calendar).
Information for CAPIC Interns:
CAPIC internship-level trainees have the option to select from several training options:
First, interns may select either the one or two-year half-time program. Interns need to work a total of two years if doing a half-time internship, but some have already done one year elsewhere (or plan to do so in the future), and so we do offer a one-year option in addition to our standard two year program.
Next, interns may select a program option that provides 1000 hours per year, meeting licensure requirements for all 50 US states. This program entails working 24 hours each week (not including 7 weeks of vacation) for 12 months, (and of course two years total are required for licensure). A second option provides 750 hours per year and meets licensure requirements just for some states, including California. This program is intended for those who have 100% certainty they will only practice now and in the future in California. This program entails working 20 hours each week (not including 4 weeks of vacation) for 10 months (over a two-year period).
There is a stipend for CAPIC interns of $8000/year, with additional funds available if doing a 2-year placement and working in the summer.
Agency Mission
The mission of Santa Rosa Junior College’s Student Health Services is: “to maintain and improve the physical, mental, and social health of students through culturally-responsive care at Santa Rosa Junior College, and to strengthen and inspire the well-being of the diverse college community, towards supporting student success and life-long learning.”
Student Psychological Services (SPS) provides psychological treatment and support as part of this mission. In addition, SPS is committed to supporting each trainee therapist to develop his or her own style of therapeutic interaction within the framework of ethical and professional clinical practice in a collaborative and respectful setting. Within this program trainees learn about their interests, their strengths and limitations as clinicians, and they develop confidence to learn new skills. Supervisors and trainers seek to provide a collaborative environment for growth and learning as well as to provide new information as needed for the range of clinical demands. More importantly, trainees are provided with structure and creativity in supervision and training sessions to discover new ways of engaging and using themselves, following inquiry, expressing empathy, listening deeply, providing support and education, supporting change and growth, and responding to crisis situations. In this process trainees learn about themselves as clinicians and individuals, and how to manage the therapeutic relationship in ways that enhance the experience and growth of the client.
The Setting
Santa Rosa Junior College serves a large North Bay community, and has 20,000 matriculating students, with campuses in both Santa Rosa and Petaluma. Student Psychological Services, as part of Student Health Services, provides psychological services to enrolled students at both campuses, as a part of the health services made available through their health fee. We also serve students at our auxiliary campuses (Southwest Santa Rosa's Roseland Campus, Public Safety Training Center, and agricultural Shone Farm.) SPS services are designed to assess and treat psychological and mental health difficulties which interfere with the student’s academic, job, or personal functioning. The students who attend SRJC comprise a group with vast diversity, in all respects.
Please be sure to also to look at the other areas of the website for Santa Rosa Junior College to get an idea of the school, atmosphere and culture of the setting.
The Services
Many students are negotiating major life transitions, such as re-entry, leaving home, or adaptation to a new culture. Many are juggling academic demands, the responsibilities of family, and work and economic challenge. There are also students who have chronic medical or psychological diagnoses who attend classes and access health and psychological services. SPS is there to meet these varied needs. Demand for SPS services is very high, and trainees typically have full caseloads for the duration of the program. Clients range in age from 16 to 80, and vary widely in ethnicity, clinical presentation, capacity to engage, and needed treatment. In addition to individual and couple therapy, daily crisis Drop-In sessions are offered, which are fully utilized, and offer a single-session modality for trainees to experience. The treatment model is integrative, with a short-term frame and focus. Trainees can expect to encounter the gamut of diagnostic presentations, with about 40% in moderate to severe distress, and about 5% in crisis; most diagnoses tend to fall within the areas of depression, anxiety, relationship issues, trauma, eating disorder, substance use/abuse or dual diagnosis, with more rare instances of very mild or severe diagnoses.