Welcome to Duke University Medical Center’s Clinical Psychology Doctoral Internship Program in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, led by Christian Mauro, PhD—a graduate of the internship. The program, started in 1948, has been accredited by the American Psychological Association since 1957 and is accredited through 2029.

The program has 10 full-time interns across two major tracks: Adult Psychology and Child Psychology. Interns also select a specialized concentration within their track. Psychology interns learn through a wide range of clinical experiences and didactic seminars, with opportunities to participate in ongoing research within their specific rotations.

Why Duke Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences?

A central vision of the Duke Clinical Psychology Doctoral Internship Program is to provide the breadth to ensure core competencies while giving opportunities to pursue depth into a specific concentration of clinical psychology. Each intern will spend approximately half of their time in their concentration and after the match will be able to rank their preferences for minor rotations based on their interests, training goals and rotation availability. 

Our internship program explicitly focuses on the development of a “growth mindset” in order to cultivate resiliency and instill values of life-long learning. Dweck’s (2006) research demonstrates that a “growth mindset” is one that embraces challenges, learns from constructive criticism, and focuses on effort.

Aims of the Internship Program

  • The overall aim of the program is to provide the breadth of training to ensure the development of all profession-wide competencies. Training takes place within the context and spirit of the scientist-practitioner and clinical scientist models with the goal of producing clinical psychologists who will be able to thrive in a variety of academic and health care settings. 
  • A second aim of the program is to help interns explore and develop areas of concentration to prepare them for early career development in research, clinical work and/or education.

Choose from Two Tracks

The Adult Psychology and Child Psychology tracks enable interns to integrate the multiple roles and responsibilities of a clinical psychologist in a health care setting. Interns learn through clinical experiences in a variety of settings and didactic seminars, with opportunities to participate in ongoing research within their specific rotations.

All interns participate in weekly core seminars designed to expose them to both basic and advanced concepts in clinical practice, including individual and cultural diversity, ethics and professionalism and theories and methods of supervision.

Adult Psychology Track

Applicants to the Adult Psychology track apply to only one of the following two concentrations:

  • Adult Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) concentration (three interns)
  • Adult Health concentration (three interns)

Child Psychology Track

Applicants to the Child Psychology Track are encouraged to apply to only one of the four concentrations listed below. However, they may apply to more than one if a clear rationale is stated in their cover letter.

  • Child Clinical-General Concentration (one intern)
  • Child Clinical-Trauma Concentration (one intern)
  • Child Clinical-Autism Concentration (one intern)
  • Child Pediatric Psychology Concentration (one intern)

A complete description of each concentration and rotation is provided under each track.

Commitment to Diversity & Statement of Non-Discriminatory Practices

Duke is a diverse community committed to the principles of excellence, fairness and respect for all people. As part of this commitment, we actively value diversity in our workplace and learning environments as we seek to take advantage of the rich backgrounds and abilities of everyone. We believe that when we understand, celebrate and tap into our uniqueness to creatively solve problems and address shared goals, our possibilities are limitless.
 
The Duke Clinical Psychology Doctoral Internship Program adheres to a policy of nondiscrimination in recruitment and retention of interns on the basis of gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or other personal characteristics that are irrelevant to success in an internship. We strive to maintain an environment of equal acceptance and respect for individuals regardless of personal, racial or ethnic background. 

Please visit Duke’s Office for Institutional Equity for more details on our policies, statements and procedures.
 

“I value the diversity of training experiences available at Duke, including opportunities to get thorough training in both assessment and therapy with patients from a wide range of backgrounds.”
— Francesca Scheiber, MA, Clinical Psychology Doctoral Intern