The Wright Institute Field Placement Program maintains an impressive list of approved practicum training sites throughout the wider San Francisco Bay Area. Our students also have had great success in attaining internships both locally and throughout the United States. One of the most distinguishing features about the Wright Institute Clinical program is that we also operate an extensive, sophisticated network of our own community-based practica, internship, and postdoctoral clinical placements. By facilitating our own network of clinical service agencies, we ensure that our doctoral students apply classroom knowledge of psychological science and theory to a broad spectrum of human problems confronting professional psychologists. Students are carefully supervised by several psychologists to develop their clinical skills by utilizing a variety of treatment and assessment interventions in diverse settings.
Because we are less dependent on external agencies, we are meticulous about controlling the quality of those external placements we approve for our students. In other words, our standards are very high, and when our students apply externally, training directors throughout the region are happy to offer placements to Wright Institute students.
Field Placement Sequence
Students accessing external field placements gain experiences that might not be available through our system network. These include field placements at in-patient psychiatric and medical hospitals, public community health and mental health centers, residential treatment programs, physical and cognitive rehabilitation centers, day treatment facilities, geriatric programs, forensic settings, child and family service agencies and more. While most of our students are placed "in-house" during the first two years, the third-year practicum is typically completed at an external placement. The third-year practica are impressive, and include premier Bay Area psychology and healthcare service/ training agencies, such as Veterans Administration sites, university and college counseling centers, medical centers, teaching hospitals, neuropsychological testing programs, family and child treatment programs, and more. The Wright Institute was instrumental in establishing the Bay Area Practicum Information Collaborative (BAPIC, www.bapic.info). Housed at our program, BAPIC is a coalition of Bay Area doctoral psychology programs and practicum agencies aimed at disseminating practicum training information, and coordinating a systematic practicum application process for doctoral students and agencies throughout the Bay Area. Read more »
Integrated Health Psychology Training Program (IHPTP)
For the past decade, the Wright Institute's Integrated Health Psychology Training Program (IHPTP) has provided a much-needed and highly sought after training experience in primary care. IHPTP offers three training programs: Practicum, Doctoral Internship and Postdoctoral Fellowship. IHPTP is sponsored by the Wright Institute, an APA-accredited doctoral program in collaboration with partnering community health organizations throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Read more »
Berkeley Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Clinic
The Wright Institute Berkeley Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Clinic provides brief and long-term, solution-focused, low-fee therapy for children, adolescents, adults and couples. Services are offered in English and Spanish. While the primary focus of training is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), exposure to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and schema-focused treatment is also emphasized. Read more »The Wright Institute Clinic
Since 1969, The Wright Institute Clinic has provided training in depth-oriented psychotherapy for students of The Wright Institute, while providing sliding scale psychotherapy services to the Bay Area Community and beyond. The Wright Institute Clinic meets the graduate program criteria for a practicum facility. The 12-month training year begins at the start of the Fall term and ends in the Fall term of the following year. The time commitment is approximately 15-18 hours per week, including your clinical caseload, intake interviewing, integrated assessments, individual and group supervision, didactic, and administrative paperwork. Additional time may be spent with our affiliate programs -Youth Radio, and The North Berkeley Senior Center. As a trainee at the Clinic you will be clinically and administratively supported by a personal mentor and Medi-cal advisor in additional to your individual supervisor and Clinic Conference Leader. The clinic is staffed by advanced students who fulfill the role of mentor/advisor and every trainee receives individual support around issues of clinical and professional development. Additionally, the clinic is staffed by a psychologist who provides training and individual support related to billing Medi-cal. Read more »The Wright Institute Assessment Clinic
The Wright Institute Assessment Services (WIAS) is a department of the Wright Institute Clinical Services, which is operated by the Wright Institute. Currently, WIAS operates the Wright Institute Advanced Supplemental Assessment Practicum and the Wright Institute 2nd Year (Y2) Assessment Program, whereby doctorate program practicum students receive training and conduct evaluations under the supervision of licensed psychologists. Read more »The Wright Institute Recovery Clinic (WIRC)
The Wright Institute Recovery Clinic (WIRC) is an outpatient community mental health clinic providing low-fee psychotherapy to adults with co-occurring addiction and mental health issues. The WIRC partners with Options Recovery Services, Inc., a non-profit day treatment facility working with a diverse population of clients. Many of these clients have been sentenced by drug court and most have experienced homelessness and/or incarceration. Read more »The College Wellness Program
The College Wellness Program serves students in two high schools located on the Contra Costa Community College campus in San Pablo. Gateway to College is an alternative high school for students with low GPA who are at risk of not graduating. Middle College works with students earning a high school diploma while simultaneously working toward the completion of AA degrees. We work with young people ages 13-21, many of whom face continuous traumatic stress and multiple kinds of oppression. The training is rooted in an integrative, social justice perspective, with an emphasis on community building and close collaboration with school staff. Read more »