CAPS is a department within the Student Wellness unit of the Division of Student Affairs at UNLV. CAPS work collaboratively with Student Wellness departments (Student Health Center, Wellness Promotions, Jean Nidetch Care Center, Office of Student Conduct, Disability Resource Center, Military and Veterans Center Services, University Support Team, and Student Recreation and Wellness Center) to achieve the goals indicated by the Student Wellness mission statement.

The primary goal of CAPS services is to provide high quality services and programs that assist the students of UNLV with educational, social, and personal concerns that may interfere with their academic and developmental progress. We strive to provide quality, multiculturally-skilled, and wellness-focused counseling, training, education, research, consultation and outreach services in order to promote student academic success, healthy student development and to positively impact the university culture.

Our clinicians specialize in dealing with problems commonly experienced by college students of all ages and backgrounds. We collaborate with students to increase self-understanding and develop the skills necessary to overcome personal concerns that interfere with their academic functioning. In providing clinical services, the staff attends to remedial, developmental, and situational concerns, recognizing that the interaction between the stress associated with the academic environment and individual developmental periods may lead to problems that can be alleviated through brief therapeutic interventions.

Services and Program Objectives:

• Provide initial assessment and recommendations concerning student problems
• Provide crisis assessment, intervention, and follow-up care for students who present at risk for harm
• Provide effective brief clinical interventions to assist students in managing their personal and mental health problems so that they can return to their previous level of functioning
• Provide psychological services sensitive to the cultural and individual diversity of students
• Provide quality services in as short a time as possible
• Provide necessary referral to community providers for students who present with conditions that are beyond CAPS’ scope of services
• Provide assessment, documentation, and referrals in the interest of supporting students’ academic standing
• Provide consultation to students, parents, and spouses of students whose education at the University has been disrupted by personal problems
• Provide consultation and educational services to University faculty and staff for the assistance and referral of students who may be in personal distress
• Provide educational programs, workshops and materials which increase student understanding of common psychological concerns and enable students to take responsibility to develop the personal management skills needed to succeed in the university environment
• Provide comprehensive training to UNLV graduate students who are pursuing careers in the mental health profession
• Provide consultation to students, faculty and staff on psychological processes and issues that will enhance learning and academic success
• Provide ongoing quality assurance of services and programs

Student Wellness Mission Statement

The mission of Student Wellness is to advance the optimal wellness of UNLV students, thereby enhancing their lives and their academic success. To fulfill our mission, Student Wellness affirms the importance of working in partnership with the greater university community; respecting individual differences and cultural diversity; and providing quality services and programs that address the physical, emotional, social, environmental, intellectual, spiritual, and occupational dimensions of life.

CAPS Staff

The professional staff consists of psychologists, licensed clinical social workers, licensed couple and family therapists, psychological assistants, a psychiatrist, two psychiatric nurses, and a care manager. Additionally, there are a number of administrative staff and student workers who support the clinical staff and assist in CAPS operations. Each year, we typically have approximately 4-5 graduate-level practicum counselors and four doctoral interns.

UNLV CAPS adheres to the procedures established by the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC) for the recruitment and selection of doctoral interns. The internship site agrees to abide by the APPIC policy that no person at this training facility will solicit, accept, or use any ranking-related information from any intern applicant. APPIC Code: 2293

CAPS is part of the Student Wellness cluster, which embraces balanced, holistic health, and wellness. The doctoral internship is designed to train interns to be competent, entry-level generalist psychologists. The internship training program emphasizes professional identity development, ethical decision making, and multicultural competence. CAPS provide a setting in which interns increase and ;strengthen their abilities to practice psychology throughout their year. Interns successfully complete their internship when they reach a skill level of intermediate to advanced competence practice defined by having a sufficient ability to practice core skills without ongoing supervision. Training involves developing both core skills, and a positive professional identity that is essential for the work of an entry level psychologist. Interns work with a multidisciplinary staff who offer diverse backgrounds and various theoretical orientations, including evidence-based treatments. Interns have the opportunity to work within a university counseling center that includes a Behavioral Health Team, which serves as a bridge between the Student Health Center and CAPS to offer collaborative and integrated care. Interns gain experience by participating in a wide range of supervised professional activities within a large, urban, and diverse university counseling center, including:

• Individual, couples, and group therapy from a brief treatment model.
• Crisis assessment and intervention.
• Assessment and diagnosis.
• Individual Supervision.
• Group Supervision (Supervision of Supervision, and Case Conference)
• Seminars (Multicultural Seminar, Outreach & Consultation Seminar, Clinical and Professional Issues Seminar, and Professional Development Seminar).
• Provision of Supervision.
• Case management and referrals to community mental health care.
• Outreach, educational workshops and presentations, and consultations across the campus.
• Research, training, professional development, and other activities.
• Attendance and participation in staff, Clinical Assessment Team (consultation), Joint Provider (Student Health Center), and Cluster (Student Wellness unit) meetings
• Rotation Areas: Behavioral Health, Trauma, LGBTQ+, Sport Psychology, and Eating Disorders. Rotations include one hour of individual ;supervision/week with licensed staff.

UNLV CAPS Internship Competencies

The internship training program at UNLV CAPS reflects APA’s required Profession Wide Competencies for internship programs listed in the Standards of Accreditation for Health Service Psychology (American Psychological Association, Commission on Accreditation, 2015).

Competencies of CAPS Psychology Internship Program:

1. Research
2. Ethical and Legal Standards
3. Individual and Cultural Diversity
4. Professional Values and Attitudes;
5. Communication and Interpersonal Skills
6. Assessment
7. Intervention
   1. Individual Therapy
   2. Crisis Intervention
   3. Group Therapy
8. Supervision
9. Consultation and Inter professional/Interdisciplinary

Program Disclosure

After applicants successfully match to our site, they must also do a background check and screening for eligibility requirements. This is a standard procedure for all UNLV employees as doctoral interns are classified as UNLV staff. Further information is available here:

Internship Program Admissions

Briefly describe in narrative form important information to assist potential applicants in assessing their likely fit with your program. This description must be consistent with the program’s policies on intern selection and practicum and academic preparation requirements

The University of Nevada-Las Vegas Student and Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) is currently accepting applications for four full-time, one-year, paid (2000 hour) positions for the 2024- 2025 internship year. All the internship training is based on a Practitioner-Scholar model with a primary emphasis on competence in the practice of professional psychology that is influenced by the science of psychology. Theory, research, and practice mutually inform each other. Interns are guided and encouraged in their pursuit of observing, inferring, formulating, and evaluating clinical hypotheses. The integration of science and practice is encouraged through the use of seminars, readings from scholarly publications, generating clinical hypotheses to explore in supervision, learning the empirical bases that guide the use of comprehensive assessment, and participating in professional development activities on best current practices in clinical practice. A part of competent practice also includes being informed about the influential and current theoretical and research-bases of psychology and other related fields, especially evidence-based treatment.

Describe Any Other Required Minimum Criteria Used to Screen Applicants

Required Qualifications

We do not require any additional supplemental materials other than what is part of the standard AAPI. Please send an electronic copy of all materials via the AAPI website.

We require applicants to have the following:

• Applicants must be enrolled in a program currently accredited by APA or CPA or enrolled in a program that has successfully COMPLETED at least one of the following concrete accreditation milestones by the application deadline:
  1. 1. Submitted for Intent to Apply status
     2. Submitted an accreditation self-study
     3. Has been granted an APA/CPA accreditation site visit

• 400 hours (minimum) AAPI intervention hours
• Interns who match to our site must have successfully completed all required coursework (specified by their academic program) prior to the start of internship.
• Doctoral comprehensive exams must be passed by ranking deadline.
• Applicants should include as part of their AAPI three references, at least one of whom must have served as a clinical supervisor or directly observed some of the applicant's clinical work.
• Dissertation proposal must be approved by start of internship.

Preferred Qualifications

• Clinical experience with college student population preferred.
• UNLV CAPS seeks individuals who are team players, have strong communication skills, practice good self-care, are open to learning, value consultation and supervision, and value self-reflection as a tool for professional development.

Application Procedures

APPIC Match Number: 2293

Refer to the APPIC website for more details and complete application instructions for applying online. All application materials listed below are uploaded via the APPIC applicant portal. We do not accept any paper materials. Interested candidates should submit:

• Completed AAPI online.
• Cover letter.
• Current curriculum vitae.
• Official graduate transcript(s).
• The Academic Program’s Verification of Internship Eligibility and Readiness.
• Three letters of recommendation, with at least two from clinical supervisors who will speak directly about the quality of your clinical work and your engagement in clinical supervision.
• Background check upon hire, based on Student Wellness requirements.

All materials must be submitted for review online by November 24, 2023. This internship site agrees to abide by the APPIC policy that no person at this training facility will solicit, accept, or use any ranking-related information from any intern applicant.

We will notify applicants of selection for an interview by December 15, 2023. Interviews will be conducted by zoom and will be set up and conducted in late December 2023 and early-mid January 2024.

APPIC Phase I Match Day is Friday, February 16, 2024.

Financial and Other Benefit Support for Upcoming Training Year*

If access to medical insurance is provided:

Other Benefits (please describe): If an intern needs parental leave, they should consult with the Training Director as soon as feasible, who will consider a multitude of factors and come up with a plan that is in the best interest of the intern’s training needs, CAPS, cohort members, and UNLV.

Initial Post-Internship Positions

Provide an Aggregated Tally for the Preceding 3 Cohorts

For 2020-2023

Note: “PD” = Post-doctoral residency position; “EP” = Employed Position. Each individual represented in this table should be counted only one time. For former trainees working in more than one setting, select the setting that represents their primary position.

The UNLV CAPS Doctoral Internship is a 2000-hour experience, with the expectation of 500 hours of direct service activities. Interns will be able to gain experience through a wide range of activities, some of which will be negotiated individually by each trainee based on their interest areas and the needs of the center. The doctoral internship in professional psychology includes these components:

Direct Service:

• Initial Consultations/ Intake Assessments
• Brief Individual and Couples Counseling;
• Group Counseling
• Triage Coverage (4 hours/week)
• Supervision of a therapist in training
• Consultation

Training Activities:

• Training Seminars, including: Multicultural Seminar, Clinical and Professional Issues Seminar, Outreach & Consultation Seminar, and Professional Development Seminar.
• Individual Supervision
• Group Supervision (Intern Case Conference, Supervision of Supervision)

Other Activities:

• Prep time/Admin time/Dissertation time
• Specialty Rotation depending on the intern interests and center needs.

The UNLV CAPS doctoral internship recognizes the importance of cultural and individual differences and diversity in the training of psychologists. The training program is committed to providing a rich multicultural experience for interns. As a campus community, U.S. News and World Report named UNLV as tied for the most diverse college campus in 2016-2017. Additionally, UNLV was designated as a Minority Serving Institution (MSI) by the U. S. Department of Education in December 2012. See the following links for additional information:

• Minority-Serving Institution (MSI)
• U.S. News Ranks UNLV Among Nation's Most Diverse College Campuses

The University of Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV) is a large, urban, and diverse campus located in the heart of Las Vegas. According to the 2013 US Census estimate, the population of the Las Vegas metropolitan area was 2,027,828. The 2018 Census reported that the racial composition of Las Vegas was 62.7% White, 32.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.2% Black or African American, 6.7% Asian, 4.8% Multiracial, .7% Native American and .7% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. At UNLV, the main Paradise campus, where CAPS is located, is just over a mile east of the Las Vegas Strip.

UNLV is an Equal Opportunity Affirmative Action Employer Committed to Achieving Excellence Through Diversity.

CAPS offers bilingual therapy (Spanish).

CAPS/Student Wellness has ADA approved wheelchair accommodations for doors, hallways, and an emergency wheelchair stairwell system (Evacu Trac).

The UNLV CAPS internship program has been accredited by the American Psychological Association since November 8, 2016. For questions related to the internship program’s accreditation status, please contact the APA Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation:

Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation
750 First St., NE
Washington, DC 20002-4242
Phone: 202-336-5979
Email: apaaccred@apa.org
Website