The program education and training objectives reflect both the requisite skills essential for psychological practice and the distinctive mission of the Consortium to cultivate skills in work with underserved groups from a Christian perspective. The aims of the program focus on building nine profession-wide intern competencies and two program-specific competencies:

• Research
• Ethical and legal standards
• Individual and cultural diversity
• Professional values, attitudes, and behaviors
• Communication and interpersonal skills
• Assessment
• Intervention
• Supervision
• Consultation and interprofessional/interdisciplinary skills
• Integration of faith and practice
• Work with underserved populations

Specifics about these competencies are listed below:

• As practitioner-scholars, interns will demonstrate an understanding of the complementary relationship between science and practice through actively utilizing and/or contributing to the professional scholarly literature as it applies to direct service provision (Research).
• Intern will demonstrate an understanding of the theories and/or methods of program evaluation and a commitment to excellence by engaging in regular and ongoing program assessment (Research).
• Interns will demonstrate knowledge of APA ethical standards in the practice of psychology and will demonstrate behavior consistent with these standards (Ethical and legal standards).
• Interns will develop their multicultural competence/credibility in work with a diverse spectrum of client populations and presenting problems (Individual and cultural diversity).
• Interns will develop their identity as a health service psychologist in a multi-disciplinary treatment setting through demonstrating an ability to evaluate their work and appropriately utilizing supervision and other collegial relationships to facilitate their personal and professional growth (Professional values, attitudes, and behaviors).
• Interns will successfully complete all internship requirements in preparation for licensure (Professional values, attitudes, and behaviors).
• Interns will demonstrate professionalism and leadership when working in team settings and use timely and effective written and verbal communication within professional settings (Communication and interpersonal skills).
• Intern will demonstrate use of a multi-method approach in assessment and diagnosis, which takes into account contextual factors and strengths in addition to presenting problems (Assessment).
• Intern will demonstrate knowledge of theoretical and empirical bases of psychology and will demonstrate the ability to integrate that knowledge creatively to a variety of clinical situations (Intervention).
• Interns will become proficient in their understanding of, and ability to practice with, a wide range of persons and disorders (Intervention).
• Intern will demonstrate understanding of program management, supervision models and/or techniques and will be able to integrate this effectively into practice (Supervision).
• Intern will demonstrate awareness of the salient issues involved in psychological consultation and will be able to integrate this into his/her role as a consultant (Consultation and interprofessional/interdisciplinary skills).
• Intern will demonstrate awareness of the interface between psychological and religious/spiritual aspects of personhood from a distinctly Christian perspective, while also respecting and valuing a diverse range of religious/spiritual perspectives in their work with clients (Integration of Faith and Practice).
• Interns will develop their understanding of the contemporary models of Christian integration and will learn how to apply to psychological practice (Integration of Faith and Practice).
• Interns will develop competence in a variety of psychotherapeutic, community-based and/or other systemic/ecological approaches specifically related to work with underserved groups (Work with underserved populations).