Doctoral Internship in Clinical Psychology

With an emphasis in forensic psychology

“We are the only court-embedded diagnostic center in the nation.”
— Dr. Alexandra Tsang, Director

Program Overview

The Kane County Diagnostic Center (KCDC) offers a comprehensive APA-accredited Doctoral Internship in Clinical/Forensic Psychology.

Interns spend 12 months (September 1-August 31) completing 2,000 hours of supervised clinical and forensic work. As the psychology department for the 16th Judicial Circuit Court, KCDC provides interns with direct exposure to juvenile and adult offenders, multidisciplinary collaboration, and real-world forensic practice.

Applicant Information

  • Our internship aims to:

    • provide ethical, relevant psychological services to the court and community

    • keep building the skills of our staff and interns

    • prepare interns for clinical and forensic practice

    Interns build these skills in three core areas: psychological testing, psychotherapy, and consultation.

    Read our full Aims & Objectives

  • Training is built around two weekly seminars, one on assessment and one on therapy. Each starts with core skills and moves on to advanced forensic topics.

    Interns gain hands-on experience in:

    • Psychological assessment: court-ordered evaluations, from full test batteries to shorter consultation reports

    • Psychotherapy: about 8 to 10 individual or family cases, seen as outpatients and at the Juvenile Justice Center and Kane County Jail

    • Crisis response: including suicide assessments for probationers and specialty court clients

    Interns also take part in case conferences, group supervision, and live supervision. Over the year, their supervisor's role moves from teacher toward mentor.

    Read more about our Training & Experience

  • Acceptance of applicants to internship positions is contingent on passing their Comprehensive Examinations by the Rank Order due date, completing all academic coursework within a doctoral degree-granting program in clinical psychology, and successfully passing a criminal background check.

    The application deadline is November 15th. Applicants should submit their applications through the On-Line AAPI portal. The APPIC/NMS Program Code is 125011.

    Read our full Eligibility & Applications details

  • Interns receive a $36,407 stipend for the year. Interns also have access to health and dental insurance benefits, vacation, sick time, and court holidays. Teaching the Kids 1st program is an additional stipend.

KCDC is an APA Accredited Internship Site

Questions related to our program’s accredited status should be directed to the Commission on Accreditation (CoA):

Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation

750 First St, NE

Washington, DC 20002-4242

apaaccred@apa.org

Phone: (202) 336-5979