 Kim Hays, Mollie Herman, Sarah Armstrong, Jef Kahn

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 Our “lived experience” and reports from colleagues of stress from self study preparation  Reflections on the shortfall of accredited internship positions  Might we learn anything that could improve the situation?

 To understand TDs experience with self studies: their feelings, strategies, and advice  To learn how much time was devoted to self study preparation  To solicit feedback for CoA regarding the self study

 Developed our research team  Obtained IRB approval at through Illinois State University  Obtained permission to APPIC Training Directors  Constructed our survey, Categorizing sites  Invited 671 TDs from American Sites via invitation.  Re-invited respondents  31% response rate (n = 211)  Analyzed results and writing with assistance of Dr. Jef Kahn

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 24% University counseling centers  22% “Other” Hospital Settings  15% Veteran’s Administration Hospitals  15% Community Mental Health  10% Consortium  10% Other settings  3% Correctional  2% Private Practice Sample Characteristics

 78% Accredited programs  15% Seeking Accreditation  1% On Probation  6% Not Accredited Sample Characteristics

 66% Female 34% Male  84% White (non-Hispanic)  3.5% Latina/Latino  3.5% Multi-Racial  2% African American  1% Native American Sample Characteristics

 To attract the highest quality interns 81%  To insure the quality of the training program 72%  To maintain our tradition of APA accreditation 36%

 To promote employment options for our interns 28%  To increase the quality of training in the field 27%  To bring distinction to our work setting 25%  To recruit and retain high caliber staff 16%  Other 8% (e.g. required by setting)

 Administrative Overhead required 60%  Financial (Application and site visitor fee) 50%  Other 30% (e.g. time required for a self study)  Lack of expertise to design program and write a self study 25%  Training time conflicts with service demands 25%  Lack of support from upper administration 20%  Lack of interest by co-workers 15%  Lack of funding to pay interns 15%  Lack sufficient staff 5% (n=20)

 How Training Directors Felt about Completing the Self study

 Strong positive influence 10%  Both a positive and negative influence 42%  No discernible difference 5%  Strong negative influence 14% (n=175)

Positive  It validates my work, feeling of accomplishment  Instructive to review and improve the program Negative  Excessive Time required and sacrificing evenings and weekends  Negative emotional reactions  Complaints about details and redundancy  Limited utility for improving program

 It would cause me duress to write another self study but it’s something I have to do 45% (n=80)  While a lot of work, the benefits make me feel ‘ok’ about writing the next self study (31% n=55)  I would sooner retire than write another self study (19% n=33)  It doesn’t really affect me either way to think about writing my next self study (4% n=7)  I look forward to my next self study (1% n=1)

 No significant differences between those who attended vs. those who did not attend the CoA workshops on “How to Write a Self Study” re: feelings about TD role.  Writing more self studies was associated with more negative feelings about being a training director. r =.28, p<.001

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 Reduce the redundancy (29%)  Make the self study shorter and simpler (16%)  Provide clearer instructions (14%)  Provide more outreach/consultation from APA (9%) (n = 140)

 Provide User friend templates to help organize data and report (6%)  Provide examples of “good answers” or self studies (5%)  Format that accurately reflects program individuality or allows for more flexible narratives (4%)  Require less data (4%) (n = 140)

 From the survey and the presenters

WHO WROTE IT  TD alone, with or without some input: 67%  TD plus other staff sharing the writing: 21% HOW WAS IT WRITTEN  TD got limited or no release time: 52%  Other staff got limited or no release time: 85%  TD never consulted with CoA: 40%  TD never consulted listserv: 63%

 Set aside enough time (22%) (Mean time = 224 hours)  Start early and plan ahead (15%)  Learn about self studies and site visits (18%)  Seek support and consultation (13%)  Stay on top of it (10%)  Ask for help from others (6%)  Get samples of, or read, other self studies (4%)

 Reduce the number of training goals  Check the “evolving” self study instructions on the CoA website The G&P (Guidelines and Principles) are being replaced. Standards of Accreditation in Health Service Psychology (SoA) and the Accreditation Operating Procedures (AOP) will be the new guidelines.

 Attend CoA workshops on “How to Prepare A Self Study” and “Site Visitor Training”  Begin collecting and organizing information now  Looking to the future, “groom” your replacement  Social Support, Self Care, Attitude

 American Psychology Association Board of Educational Affairs (BEA). (2011). BEA statement on accreditation. Nov, Retrieved from ement_Accreditiation.pdf ement_Accreditiation.pdf  American Psychological Association Commission on Accreditation. (2014) Standards of Accreditation in Health Service Psychology (SoA). Retrieved January 27, 2014 from