Psychology Interns Get Top Notch Training While Providing Direct Service

One of Laguna Honda’s core values is to be a part of our community. In addition to enabling residents to connect to the community as much as possible, we also invite the community to be a part of Laguna Honda. One of the key ways we do this is through our psychology internship program.

For nearly two decades, we have drawn advanced graduate students and pre- and post-doctoral candidates from professional psychology programs throughout the Bay Area to our highly coveted internship positions. Interns follow either a neuropsychology track or a substance abuse treatment track and become an integral part of resident care teams. With staff supervision, the interns provide individual and group psychotherapy and conduct evaluations and assessments.

Nearly half of our current staff psychologists began as interns in our program, including Brenda Austin, Ph.D, who did one year of her two year post-doc training with us, and has been Co-Director of our Psychology Training Program for the last several years.   Many have gone on to impressive positions in the field around the country. Among the illustrious graduates of the Laguna Honda training program is Laura Howe, PhD., J.D., currently chair of the Legislative Action Committee for the National Academy of Neuropsychology.

“The internship program provides value and benefit for all sides,” says Dr. Lorraine Killpack, Co-Director of the Psychology Training Program. “Residents benefit from direct service, interns benefit from field training at one of the only skilled nursing programs in the country to offer it, staff is invigorated by energetic students who bring the most current field knowledge, and Laguna Honda’s reputation grows as our interns go on to esteemed positions nationwide, having received top notch training at our hospital.”