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The Training Program’s Commitment to Diversity

Our Training Values

We are committed to the training of individuals from diverse backgrounds and holding diverse identities. We believe that the strength of our profession comes from our ability to examine and integrate different perspectives, question our own values and biases, and learn alongside and from one another. We recognize that our field has historically been dominated by White men who also hold other dominant identities, and that it is not uncommon for trainees holding marginalized identities to go through training without role models that reflect their identities. As our agency grows, we are committed to continue working to diversify our training staff, and to integrate feedback from trainees with diverse identities about our training program. We recognize that we exist within a predominantly White community, which can create unique challenges for trainees who identify as people of color. We also recognize that we exist within social structures in which many individuals feel unrecognized or unwelcome because of the identities they hold. We commit to supporting ALL trainees in building community with individuals holding shared identities within the CSUHN and the university, while also expecting staff of all identities to act as engaged allies in support of social justice.

Our Commitment to Students

We at CSU Health Network Counseling Services are deeply committed to creating a welcoming, supportive space in which you can truly be seen and valued in your entirety.  For those whose experiences of marginalization and oppression add extra layers to your distress – you and all of your identities are welcome here.

We recognize that prejudice, discrimination, and privilege continue to marginalize people in our country and all around the world. We own that the members of our staff, as imperfect human beings, are not immune and that we also struggle with our own biases, privilege, and identities. We will make mistakes –  and we also firmly commit to transparency.  Nothing will stop us from the vital work of continuously examining our biases and striving to do better.

We are dedicated to affirming respect, compassion, and acceptance for all, and we celebrate diversity with regard to all backgrounds and identities, including but not limited to: ethnic, racial, and cultural backgrounds; languages; mental health; sexual, gender, and affectional identities; physical, sensory, and cognitive/learning abilities; body sizes and shapes; ages; relationship and reproductive statuses; military service; religious, spiritual, and philosophical beliefs; socioeconomic statuses; substance use and those in recovery; and others for whom there is not yet commonly shared language to discuss your identities.

You are welcome here.

 

Opportunities for Diversity-Focused Training

We strongly believe that diversity training should be woven into every aspect of your training here. You can expect that all of your supervision and seminar experiences will include conversations about how your life experiences and identities impact your work as a clinician and professional. It is our expectation that you will lean into a process of active self-examination and support your peers and colleagues as they also engage in this work. It is our hope that in all of the seminars you attend, you will be thinking about how the historical roots of our profession have created biases rooted in White supremacist ideology and systems of oppression, and that you will work to become aware of and call out such unconscious biases when you identify them. We hope this will be an environment where you can learn from mistakes, feel both supported and challenged by your training community, and invest in your own growth as a social justice advocate.

Structured opportunities for focused diversity training are listed by cohort, below:

Postdoctoral Fellows:

  • All of our fellows participate in the senior staff Diversity Dialogues, which are 2-hour long discussions occurring once monthly. We believe that as a staff we need to be engaged in a constant process of self-examination and learning in order to continue to grow as clinicians, citizens of our community, and social justice advocates. As senior staff, we endeavor to engage in this process with the same vulnerability and commitment that we expect of our trainees, and perceive trainees and senior staff as part of a shared learning community.
  • One of our two postdoctoral fellows typically is offered the opportunity to co-facilitate the Advanced Practicum/GSA/Post-Masters Seminar. This allows the fellow to gain experience designing and guiding diversity-related discussions, and providing group supervision to less advanced trainees as they grow in this area.
  • Fellows and doctoral psychology interns can join an elective professional development group for trainees who self-identify as holding marginalized identities. This group is an opportunity to discuss the impact of these identities on our work as professionals, to process challenging experiences occurring within or outside of CSU, and to build community with other trainees who may share similar identities or experiences. The group meets for an hour twice monthly.
  • Interested trainees can elect to use their professional development time to attend meetings of the Transgender Support Team, an interdisciplinary team that meets monthly for an hour.
  • Over the summer, fellows and doctoral psychology interns can elect to work with students in the CSU Bridge Scholars Program. The CSU Bridge Scholars Program provides residential college-life experience to select Colorado State University first year applicants. The program is designed to assist students, especially those from first-generation and underrepresented backgrounds, in making a successful transition to Colorado State University. Trainees working with this program typically commit two hours weekly to this work (an hour of preparation and an hour of presentation and small group discussion).

 

Post-masters Fellows:

  • All of our fellows participate in the senior staff Diversity Dialogues, which are 2-hour long discussions occurring once monthly. We believe that as a staff we need to be engaged in a constant process of self-examination and learning in order to continue to grow as clinicians, citizens of our community, and social justice advocates. As senior staff, we endeavor to engage in this process with the same vulnerability and commitment that we expect of our trainees, and see ourselves all as part of a shared learning community.
  • Advanced pracs, GSAs, and post-masters fellows all participate in a weekly seminar focused on a combination of diversity-related discussions and case presentations. Diversity discussions typically focus on exploration of parts of seminar participants’ identities and how these impact their clinical work. Case presentations are focused more directly on providing clinical support and feedback. We encourage trainees to pick cases to present that highlight an issue related to diversity that has been challenging to them in their clinical work, and often follow these case presentations with more general discussion of how other trainees have been challenged by and worked with these same diversity-related themes.
  • Fellows and doctoral psychology interns can join an elective professional development group for trainees who self-identify as holding marginalized identities. This group is an opportunity to discuss the impact of these identities on our work as professionals, to process challenging experiences occurring within or outside of CSU, and to build community with other trainees who may share similar identities or experiences. The group meets for an hour twice monthly.
  • Interested trainees can elect to use their professional development time to attend meetings of the Transgender Support Team, an interdisciplinary team that meets monthly for an hour.
  • Over the summer, fellows and doctoral psychology interns can elect to work with students in the CSU Bridge Scholars Program. The CSU Bridge Scholars Program provides residential college-life experience to select Colorado State University first year applicants. The program is designed to assist students, especially those from first-generation and underrepresented backgrounds, in making a successful transition to Colorado State University. Trainees working with this program typically commit two hours weekly to this work (an hour of preparation and an hour of presentation and small group discussion).

 

Doctoral Psychology Intern:

  • All doctoral psychology interns participate in a year-long Diversity seminar that meets for 90 minutes weekly. This seminar focuses on the awareness, knowledge, and skills needed to function as a culturally competent psychologist. Although multicultural issues are naturally integrated into all training experiences during internship, this seminar provides an opportunity for interns to safely explore the impact of their own cultural history and experiences upon their work and to add to their multicultural knowledge base. Because we believe that learning to communicate effectively with individuals from different training and educational backgrounds is important to building cultural competence, this seminar includes both our doctoral psychology intern cohort and our masters intern cohort.
  • All doctoral psychology interns participate in a year-long Outreach seminar that meets for 60 minutes, twice monthly. The purpose of this seminar is to gain understanding of the role of outreach and prevention services and to develop the skills necessary to deliver effective programming. Special emphasis is placed on using nontraditional services to reach populations that often do not seek mental health services, such as culturally diverse students. This seminar includes both the doctoral psychology intern cohort and our masters interns in social work, who often bring unique perspectives in terms of how to work within systems to support social justice.
  • Fellows and doctoral psychology interns can join an elective professional development group for trainees who self-identify as holding marginalized identities. This group is an opportunity to discuss the impact of these identities on our work as professionals, to process challenging experiences occurring within or outside of CSU, and to build community with other trainees who may share similar identities or experiences. The group meets for an hour twice monthly.
  • Interested trainees can elect to use their professional development time to attend meetings of the Transgender Support Team, an interdisciplinary team that meets monthly for an hour.
  • Over the summer, fellows and psych interns can elect to work with students in the CSU Bridge Scholars Program. The CSU Bridge Scholars Program provides residential college-life experience to select Colorado State University first year applicants. The program is designed to assist students, especially those from first-generation and underrepresented backgrounds, in making a successful transition to Colorado State University. Trainees working with this program typically commit two hours weekly to this work (an hour of preparation and an hour of presentation and small group discussion).

 

Advanced Practicum Students and GSAs:

  • Advanced Pracs, GSAs, and post-masters fellows all participate in a weekly seminar focused on a combination of diversity-related discussions and case presentations. Diversity discussions typically focus on exploration of parts of seminar participants’ identities and how these impact their clinical work. Case presentations are focused more directly on providing clinical support and feedback. We encourage trainees to pick cases to present that highlight an issue related to diversity that has been challenging to them in their clinical work, and often follow these case presentations with more general discussion of how other trainees have been challenged by and worked with these same diversity-related themes.

 

Masters Interns:

  • All masters interns participate in a year-long Diversity seminar that meets for 90 minutes weekly. This seminar focuses on the awareness, knowledge, and skills needed to function as a culturally competent psychologist. Although multicultural issues are naturally integrated into all training experiences during internship, this seminar provides an opportunity for interns to safely explore the impact of their own cultural history and experiences upon their work and to add to their multicultural knowledge base. Because we believe that learning to communicate effectively with individuals from different training and educational backgrounds is important to building cultural competence, this seminar includes both our doctoral psychology intern cohort and our masters intern cohort.
  • Social work masters interns participate in a year-long Outreach seminar that meets for 60 minutes, twice monthly. The purpose of this seminar is to gain understanding of the role of outreach and prevention services and to develop the skills necessary to deliver effective programming. Special emphasis is placed on using nontraditional services to reach populations that often do not seek mental health services, such as culturally diverse students. This seminar includes both the doctoral psychology intern cohort and our masters interns in social work, who often bring unique perspectives in terms of how to work within systems to support social justice.

 

Practicum 1: 

  • Prac 1 students do not participate in any specific diversity-focused training, since their time here is limited and this is already a part of their graduate training program. All Prac 1 students participate in a weekly 90-minute seminar that will include discussion of diversity-related issues. Students are encouraged to bring discussion of their identities and how they impact their work here into the seminar.