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Predoctoral Internship Program

Overview

Wright State University

The School of Professional Psychology is located on the main campus of Wright State University near Dayton, Ohio.  In the tradition of the nation’s best universities, Wright State is dedicated to teaching, research, and service.  In addition, as a metropolitan university, Wright State has the distinct mission of providing leadership to improve the quality of life for the people of the Miami Valley.  Wright State’s link to area business, community, and research organizations in and around Dayton also offers a diverse student body unique educational opportunities.

The University services nearly 17,000 students with programs leading to more than 100 undergraduate and 50 graduate and professional degrees through six colleges and three schools, including the M.D., Psy.D., Ed.S., and Ph.D.  The School of Professional Psychology typically enrolls around 125 doctoral students in various levels of training and has been ranked among the top three schools of professional psychology in the country.

The University’s Ervin J. Nutter Center, a state-of-the-art facility and home to Wright State athletics and Dayton Bombers hockey, hosts over 20 national touring concerts and performances each year.  With a seating capacity of 12,000, the Nutter Center is continually ranked nationally among venues of its size. The contemporary Berry Room holds 250 people for weddings, receptions, conferences, and seminars.  The Nutter Center features a weight room, indoor track, several basketball courts and open gym time.  State-of-the-art exercise and recreational facilities are also located in the University's Student Union.

The University Libraries, consisting of the Paul Laurence Dunbar Library and the Fordham Health Sciences Library, are linked through the new OhioLINK system and internet to holdings of other major academic libraries in Ohio and to a wide range of databases for electronic research.  The Department of Archives and Special Collections includes an African-American collection, as well as sections on the Wright Brothers and early aviation history, local history, children’s literature, and university history.

Dayton Metropolitan Area

The greater Dayton, Ohio, area is rich in history and provides a wealth of cultural and entertainment options. The Dayton Ballet, Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, Dayton Opera, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, and Victoria Theatre Broadway Series offer a diverse selection of entertainment choices in beautiful venues.  Dayton is home to RiverScape, Dayton Art Institute, Victoria Theatre, Schuster Performing Arts Center, U.S. Air Force Museum, and the Dayton Dragons minor league baseball team.  And there are festivals galore. Kick up your heels and savor the flavors at Dayton’s CITYFOLK culture festival, Dayton Black Cultural Festival, International Festival, and many more.

Dayton is a mid-sized city within a metropolitan area that includes nearly 1,000,000 residents, Fortune 1,000 companies and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, which has one of the leading medical centers in the world.  Modern architecture and historical landmarks are found in the central city, while the surrounding communities offer comfortable suburban lifestyles.  There is a wide selection of apartments, condominiums, and homes at reasonable costs.  Primary and secondary education are in abundance in public, private, and parochial schools.

Located in southwestern Ohio’s Miami Valley at the confluence of the Great Miami, Stillwater, and Mad Rivers, the Dayton area boasts over 35,000 acres of parks and nature preserves.  Dayton is conveniently located at the intersections of I-75 and I-70, and home to the Dayton International Airport.

School of Professional Psychology

The Wright State University School of Professional Psychology (WSU-SOPP) maintains an American Psychological Association (APA) accredited Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.) program in Clinical Psychology, an APA accredited predoctoral internship program, and an Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC) member post-doctoral fellowship program.  The WSU-SOPP was among the first doctoral programs in the country to open a practitioner model of training in which the primary emphasis is on the application of psychological science rather than on generative research.  The program continues to be one of a few to offer education and training across the predoctoral and postdoctoral domains.  Accepting its first class in 1979, WSU-SOPP has been fully accredited by APA since the graduation of its charter class in 1982. 

Valuing and celebrating diversity, in all its forms, is a central theme of the WSU-SOPP mission statement.  The WSU-SOPP continues to devote itself to diffusing diversity throughout the program and is currently pioneering an innovative multiple identities approach to teaching diversity content and theory. In recent years, approximately half of the WSU-SOPP student body has been composed of ethnic minority and international students. This diversity is reflected among faculty and staff as well.  In additional, the school has been able to accommodate a number of students and faculty who have physical disabilities.  It is open and affirming of GLBT persons and those of minority religious backgrounds.  Many students are the first in their families to achieve post-secondary education.

The Predoctoral Internship Program

The WSU-SOPP offers nine full-time, twelve-month internships in professional psychology. The Internship Program is an APA* accredited (*American Psychological Association, 750 First Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242; (800) 374-2721).   Applications are accepted from doctoral candidates at APA accredited programs in clinical, counseling, school, and combined psychology.  Applicants are encouraged to have completed at least 1000 hours of graduate practicum experience that includes psychotherapy and psychological assessment.  Applicants should have completed their comprehensive examinations and proposed their dissertations or capstone projects by the application deadline.  Beyond these minimum criteria, admission is competitive, based upon quality of academic and practical preparation and personal goals, as well as the match between these goals and our program.  Matched interns are required to undergo a background screening.  No positions are automatically reserved for candidates from Wright State or any other predoctoral program.  The 12-month internship begins the first week of September and requires a minimum of 40 hours per week.  Each position carries a stipend of $18,000, heath and legal insurance, vacation, sick leave, and professional development time. Students are responsible for maintaining their own malpractice insurance at a level of $1,000,000/3,000,000.