Agency Description

The Lomi Psychotherapy Clinic is a Licensed Psychology Clinic by the State of California and is an affordable, non-profit counseling clinic and training program for predoctoral, postdoctoral and post-master's psychology interns. Each year, the Clinic provides over 8,000 hours of mental health care; clinic interns and staff provide brief and long-term therapy to individuals, couples, families, children and adolescents. Group therapy and psychoeducational classes are also offered, as needed. The Clinic has a grant-supported program offering short-term therapy for persons who are impoverished or homeless. The Lomi Psychotherapy Clinic serves a very diverse population in terms of socioeconomic, cultural, ethnic, religious and sexual orientation status. The Clinic's theoretical orientation is an integrative approach embedded in an awareness of the whole person's experience, with an emphasis on Somatic and Mindfulness therapy. The Clinic's ambiance is collegial, open and supportive within a professional and structured framework.

Agency Mission

The mission of the Lomi Psychotherapy Clinic is to provide affordable psychotherapy services to children, teens, adults and elders in Sonoma County. In addition, our mission includes providing a comprehensive training program for psychology interns, offering ongoing training to mental health care professionals, and providing educational workshops and groups to the public. Our approach emphasizes a holistic focus, drawing from Psychodynamic, Systems, and Cognitive-based approaches with an emphasis on Somatic and Mindfulness approaches to psychotherapy.

Population

Lomi clinical staff and supervisors work within a multicultural community. Our clients, as well as our interns, come from diverse social, economic, ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Lomi staff emphasize continuing education in the area of multicultural competence and regularly invite professionals from the community to present to our staff/interns in this area. Supervisors meet regularly to discuss multicultural issues affecting intern supervision, as well as ways in which we can be effective in training or interns to work with clients from diverse backgrounds. Our clientele includes persons with major psychological disorders such as bipolar disorder, PTSD, schizophrenia, anxiety and major depression. We serve a number of gay, lesbian and transgender clients, and clients with AIDS/HIV, chronic illness and disabilities. We also see families in crisis, children who have been abused, the homeless, unemployed, and persons with relationship issues and adjustment disorders. Our clientele reflects diverse cultural differences including African-American, Asian and LatinX origins.

Staff (#, Degree, Prof. Lic.)

# of Psychologists: 4

# of MFT: 9

Required days and times

Fridays from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. for trainings; hours to be arranged for group supervision on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday; hours to be arranged for individual supervision.

Training and Education Offered

During the first training year, interns solidify their basic skills of observation and assessment, relationship-building, treatment planning, and delivery of interventions from several theoretical perspectives. Training objectives include understanding the theoretical foundations of psychotherapy (focus, intent and goals of therapy); the therapeutic relationship; and key stages and processes of therapy. Interns discuss and engage in exercises designed to build their understanding and skills in the following areas: establishing a collaborative relationship; how to engage and inquire in therapeutic ways; holding a therapeutic frame; case formulation; assessment and treatment planning; and evaluation of one's work with clients. Specific attention is given to the development of good skills in maintaining case records and documentation practices; consultation with other professionals; and ethical/legal issues including informed consent, confidentiality, and mandated reporting. During the second training year, interns focus on developing more advanced psychotherapy skills, both broadening and deepening their range of interventions. In the second year, interns have the option to be assigned to a new group supervisor and a new individual supervisor where they address the second year training goals that they have developed. Second year interns will be encouraged to work with new types of clients (e.g., children, teens, couples, families) and/or new client issues (e.g., dual diagnosis, developmental disabilities). They are also able to continue working with some of their clients over the second year to learn longer-term therapy skills.

X-Cultural Training

Responsibilities

Both first and second year interns have the following responsibilities: 12 month commitment of 20 hours per week that includes: 10 hours of direct client contact, one hour of individual supervision, two hours of group supervision, three hours of didactic training, one hour clinic business meeting, and three hours of documentation, administrative, outreach and other agency activities.

Prerequisites

Application Procedures

Additional Comments

Only applicants who have submitted all required documentation will be considered for an interview.